Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
May 12th 2014, 3:05 pm
#91
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
This strikes a bit of a chord with me. My Brother-in-law was involved in a very nasty car wreck early 2012 and is quadriplegic as a result. He's 31 and fortunately he was able to get coverage on my Mother-in-laws insurance policy (very rare that an insurer would do that for someone that age). Sadly she lost her job and with it he has lost insurance coverage.
I think the moment I / my wife got ill, and lost our jobs etc, we would be on the first plane back to England with no intention of ever returning to this grotesque capitalist system.
May 12th 2014, 3:32 pm
#92
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
The actual medical is fine, it's the billing systems (if you can call them that) that are messed up.
I got an explanation of benefit a couple of weeks ago saying that blood work that my wife had done by her in-network OB/GYN was out of network and I was liable for $6.5k!
It wasn't the best of timing as it came just after we'd got some bad news as a result of that visit but I called up the insurance company and was basically like wtf?! All they would say to me was they had covered their portion and the rest was up to me (I would normally rate my insurance as very good but I was fuming with them).
After 3 days of messages to the OB/GYN office to see why they had sent blood work out of network without telling me (and why the fee for said blood work was in excess of $7.5k - the insurance kicked in $1k hence where the $6.5k came from) and they were like, oh you'll only get billed $25 for that, they just up the price to recoup costs from the insurer. Apparently most people don't get their EOB so quickly.
This just highlights to me how messed up the system is. It's all inflated and fictitious and it's an absolute nightmare trying to figure it all out. I'm really glad we have good insurance which takes care of things most of the time.
I got an explanation of benefit a couple of weeks ago saying that blood work that my wife had done by her in-network OB/GYN was out of network and I was liable for $6.5k!
It wasn't the best of timing as it came just after we'd got some bad news as a result of that visit but I called up the insurance company and was basically like wtf?! All they would say to me was they had covered their portion and the rest was up to me (I would normally rate my insurance as very good but I was fuming with them).After 3 days of messages to the OB/GYN office to see why they had sent blood work out of network without telling me (and why the fee for said blood work was in excess of $7.5k - the insurance kicked in $1k hence where the $6.5k came from) and they were like, oh you'll only get billed $25 for that, they just up the price to recoup costs from the insurer. Apparently most people don't get their EOB so quickly.
This just highlights to me how messed up the system is. It's all inflated and fictitious and it's an absolute nightmare trying to figure it all out. I'm really glad we have good insurance which takes care of things most of the time.
I have been here over 16 years now and I can say without any doubt that dealing with health insurance issues (claims, co-pays, deductibles, in network, out of network, pre-authorizations, HSA's, FSA's, etc) has been the single biggest PITA issue related to living in the US. It pains me to see so many health care workers spending so much of their time dealing with health insurance issues (e.g. claims, billing, coverage issues, etc.) We must waste billions of dollars every year on that alone.
On the other hand, the health care my family of 6 has received has been first class. I live in a region (Washington DC/Baltimore) that contains some of the best doctors and hospitals in the world. Of course, if you don't have a good health insurance plan, then you probably won't have access to this first class care.
May 12th 2014, 3:50 pm
#93
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
Yup, that sums it up for me. In Illinois the healthcare we had was amazing -- far better than what I've seen from the NHS. But the system itself is very messed up, not just for the uninsured but even for a lot of folks who HAVE insurance.
May 13th 2014, 7:46 pm
#94
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
Those billions of dollars would more than compensate for the cost of a single payer health care system.
May 13th 2014, 9:41 pm
#95
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Location: Dixie, ex UK
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
A sizeable proportion of those that do have insurance are happy with the excellent, albeit expensive, service, and it appears that few politicians are willing to risk an electoral backlash if they risk destroying the current system entirely.
May 13th 2014, 11:05 pm
#96
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
Yes - so typical of the "I'm alright Jack" attitude of most Americans............
May 13th 2014, 11:08 pm
#97
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
The entire country is built upon the foundation about looking out only for yourself. Even my wife's disabled mother has been brain washed into believing that an employer shouldn't offer contracts to people and they should be 'at will'. It's this mentality that holds so many people back.
May 13th 2014, 11:48 pm
#98
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
At least part of it, though, is a case of "I worked my butt off to get it. If you want it badly enough, you can too". Unfortunately, while that might have been commonly achievable in the 1970's, and possible in the 1980's, it has been progressively tougher ever since, with many people now trapped, especially since the economy imploded in 2008-2009.
May 14th 2014, 1:35 am
#99
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
I do think there's a bit of 'pulling the ladder up after themselves' mentality here.
But in addition, those receiving healthcare in the US are over diagnosed and over medicated. All of which, of course, adds to the coffers of the insurance companies and the healthcare providers. I've worked in the diagnostics field and it's interesting to note how many unnecessary tests are ordered in the US.
My partner recently broke his ankle, clean break of the fibula. Not terribly serious. He's probably received about 5 X-rays in the course of his care until the boot came off. 5. Why? One at the beginning of course is necessary and maybe, maybe, one in the middle to ensure healing is ongoing. But the others? I'd like to see the cost-effectiveness of so many x-rays in a simple fibula break compared to your normal NHS amount. I don't believe that these additional x-rays actually contributed to his care. And he, as an ex-nurse, didn't think so either. But the ortho place gets paid for every visit and every x-ray from the insurance company....Having an insurance company between you and your healthcare provider can never be a cheaper model than something like the NHS. Never.
But in addition, those receiving healthcare in the US are over diagnosed and over medicated. All of which, of course, adds to the coffers of the insurance companies and the healthcare providers. I've worked in the diagnostics field and it's interesting to note how many unnecessary tests are ordered in the US.
My partner recently broke his ankle, clean break of the fibula. Not terribly serious. He's probably received about 5 X-rays in the course of his care until the boot came off. 5. Why? One at the beginning of course is necessary and maybe, maybe, one in the middle to ensure healing is ongoing. But the others? I'd like to see the cost-effectiveness of so many x-rays in a simple fibula break compared to your normal NHS amount. I don't believe that these additional x-rays actually contributed to his care. And he, as an ex-nurse, didn't think so either. But the ortho place gets paid for every visit and every x-ray from the insurance company....Having an insurance company between you and your healthcare provider can never be a cheaper model than something like the NHS. Never.
May 14th 2014, 4:45 pm
#100
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
This strikes a bit of a chord with me. My Brother-in-law was involved in a very nasty car wreck early 2012 and is quadriplegic as a result. He's 31 and fortunately he was able to get coverage on my Mother-in-laws insurance policy (very rare that an insurer would do that for someone that age). Sadly she lost her job and with it he has lost insurance coverage.
May 14th 2014, 4:58 pm
#101
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
My partner recently broke his ankle, clean break of the fibula. Not terribly serious. He's probably received about 5 X-rays in the course of his care until the boot came off. 5. Why? One at the beginning of course is necessary and maybe, maybe, one in the middle to ensure healing is ongoing. But the others? I'd like to see the cost-effectiveness of so many x-rays in a simple fibula break compared to your normal NHS amount. I don't believe that these additional x-rays actually contributed to his care.
May 14th 2014, 5:06 pm
#102
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
Now with ACA, it probably won't make much of a difference if someone can stay on Cobra indefinately since the ACA option to get health insurance coverage is now available until Medicare kicks in.
May 14th 2014, 5:13 pm
#103
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
Do not think that applies in Colorado, it seems to be totally income dependent, if your income is low enough you get it and do not have a choice to go ACA.
Cobra would for most be horribly expensive.
Cobra would for most be horribly expensive.
May 14th 2014, 5:20 pm
#104
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
As far as Cobra or ACA, they may not be perfect but when you have medical bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, they can be the difference between bankruptcy and living a reasonable lifestyle until Medicare kicks in during a disability claim.
Last edited by Michael; May 14th 2014 at 5:29 pm.
May 14th 2014, 6:56 pm
#105
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Re: Anyone got anything good to say about the US medical system?
I was concerned about that with the large number of CT scans and MRIs that are ordered. When reading around the subject, it seems that as a cancer cannot be ascribed to one specific dose of radiation, doctors don't worry about getting sued for this.