The Economist on American healthcare
Jun 13th 2011, 2:02 pm
#1
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 14,577
The Economist on American healthcare
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democ.../health-reform
Gives you some insight into where your money is spent.
Gives you some insight into where your money is spent.
Jun 13th 2011, 8:31 pm
#2
Lapine Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Location: Austin, Texas in my own little world
Posts: 21,691
Re: The Economist on American healthcare
When I saw that my high school cheerleaders made fantastic money by going into medical marketing, I knew something was not quite right. None of them had the slightest interest in science, math or medicine but they were pretty and peppy.
Jun 16th 2011, 3:49 am
#3
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,847
Re: The Economist on American healthcare
Both me & She Who Must Be Obeyed (SWMBO) have a good chuckle when the gazillion health product ads come on the TV - wonderful, soothing music, smiley happy people (sounds like and REM record!) - meanwhile the small print and voice-over guy is telling you that you could DIE taking this product...
... we wait until the end of the advert and then chorus together with the phrase "and you may die..."
This sticks out for us because, being here from the UK only about 7 months, we're still not over the fact that this kind of advertising is all but non-existent in mainstream popular media channels back home...
I keep thinking oh Homer Simpson, imagining him seeing these ads and then rushing up from his sofa to buy these products, have the surgery on offer and/or sue somebody for the bad treatment or product he *might* have experienced in the past.
All of this costs money, little or none of which significantly, if at all, contributes to better health for the nation as a whole...
... as does covering the costs of a visit to the ER room by people without medical cover/insurance... and the small army of admin and finance people employed to collect this money.
I can't see how a fully privately operated healthcare system can possibly be better overall. It encouraged optimisation at the local level, and those of you who know anything about processes and process improvement, will know that optimising at the local level almost always sub-optimises or 'de'-optimises the system as a whole.
That said, for us specifically, it is great to have an appointment inside of 24 hrs, to have 30mins or more with our doctor, and to have the seemingly more comprehensive approach to general practice compared to back home...
... though in the end my minor physio for a shoulder issue ended up costing me the thick end of $1000 because of the level of my deductible... ouch!
Next time I'll just use an ice pack and kick the cat (we don't have a cat, but they sure do take a dump on our lawn!)
Rant over.
HTS
... we wait until the end of the advert and then chorus together with the phrase "and you may die..."
This sticks out for us because, being here from the UK only about 7 months, we're still not over the fact that this kind of advertising is all but non-existent in mainstream popular media channels back home...
I keep thinking oh Homer Simpson, imagining him seeing these ads and then rushing up from his sofa to buy these products, have the surgery on offer and/or sue somebody for the bad treatment or product he *might* have experienced in the past.
All of this costs money, little or none of which significantly, if at all, contributes to better health for the nation as a whole...
... as does covering the costs of a visit to the ER room by people without medical cover/insurance... and the small army of admin and finance people employed to collect this money.
I can't see how a fully privately operated healthcare system can possibly be better overall. It encouraged optimisation at the local level, and those of you who know anything about processes and process improvement, will know that optimising at the local level almost always sub-optimises or 'de'-optimises the system as a whole.
That said, for us specifically, it is great to have an appointment inside of 24 hrs, to have 30mins or more with our doctor, and to have the seemingly more comprehensive approach to general practice compared to back home...
... though in the end my minor physio for a shoulder issue ended up costing me the thick end of $1000 because of the level of my deductible... ouch!
Next time I'll just use an ice pack and kick the cat (we don't have a cat, but they sure do take a dump on our lawn!)
Rant over.
HTS
