dogloverus

I get the impression from reading about US healthcare on here that people arent happy but more worryingly that US doctors are money grabbing swindlers.

I must say I find that unfair. From what I have seen of US medics they work very hard, long hours incur large debts to become doctors. Also they are dedicated. They pay thousands in malpractice. This drives up their costs which is passed onto the patient. Also insurance companies dont pay that much so I feel the vibe is ? a bit unfair.

Yes Brits may be astonished they cannot get antibiotics for their cold like in England paying nothing at point of use but surely that is a fault of the UK system rather than the American one. If in the US you are forced to self manage a cold why is that bad?

Healthcare is expensive due to malpractice and profit hungry insurance companies not the doctors. Doctors earn a good salary but given the years of training and debt why is that so bad? I found in England people didnt begrudge paying their lawyer, accountant etc etc handsomely but would hesitate to pay anything for healthcare. It is a culture thing.

Yes US healthcare is a culture shock. However increasing numbers of British doctors are coming to work in the US because even with everything the working conditions are better and long term prospects better than in England. With the right credentials also it appears British trained medics can make it into the system here too.

fatbrit

You speak as if the doctors are not responsible for the current ridiculous state of the U.S. healthcare debacle. As the most qualified people in the system, they need to stand up and be counted if they feel the system is wrong and not just whine and carry on.

The malpractice cost is a direct result of the lack of universal healthcare (whereby the costs of malpractice are absorbed by the whole system) and their reluctance or inability to police themselves. If a doctor messes you up in the UK through negligence, the system itself takes care of the cost and you do not need to factor that cost into damages. Moreover, if a doctor is consistently negligence, the GMC will strike him/her from the register, thus protecting everyone.

Yep, the insurance companies are a parasite on the service doctors give. If I as a layperson stand up and shout it out, it's not nearly as effective as a doctor doing it. I don't hear much of a shout, though, from the medical profession. More of an acquiescence to maintain the unsustainable status quo, really.

Jerseygirl

"I found in England people didnt begrudge paying their lawyer, accountant etc etc handsomely but would hesitate to pay anything for healthcare."

Many people pay for the treatment they receive from the NHS...it's funded by income taxes. Many more pay for private insurance...even if it's provided by their employers...that benefit is taxable.

Gillymonkey

Why would you want antibiotics for a cold? A cold is a virus, antiobiotics don't work for viruses!

Bob

Experience has seen fantastic level of care with superb facilities, to the complete opposite. So not very different to the UK in that respect.

Big difference I see though, someone working minimum wage in the UK, compared to the CEO of a major company can expect to receive the same level of care in the UK, which they wouldn't in the US.

Sure, there's the postcode lottery and sure that CEO probably has private insurance to jump queues, but neither will likely worry about being made bankrupt.

Here in the US, someone on minimum wage is unlikely to have a job offering medical insurance that is of any worth, certainly at an affordable level. Even if it was only $250 a month, when paying out income tax too, that will affect the poor person far more than the high paying person in the US, who probably pays far less or nothing for his premium.

So sure, the NHS is covered by tax and isn't free as a lot like to remind everyone, because of those "lay abouts", but at the end of the day, those on the bottom end of the money scale are in a much better off position and they're contributing just as much tax as a percentage, which affects them far more on a day to day basis than a higher earner does.

Giantaxe

So in other words they come here because they can make more money. Hardly a surprise given the system now eats up over 16% of GDP. Why this is a good thing for patients and the overall economy is a little baffling.

dogloverus

sorry this is a typical brit attitude so if we come here for a better life and more salary it is ok

however if a british doc does the same heaven forbid they are satan!!

why exactly?

dogloverus

in england GPs give antibiotics for cold because people dont understand it doesnt help against viruses and the patients tend not to budge until they get it.

also if one doctor doesnt give it another one will so the patient will ultimately get what they want.

Bob

Doctors aren't exactly paid a shit wage. I knew a couple of consultants on 110-150K a year and this was 15 years ago, sure they had to be at the higher end of the scale and had a fair bit of experience.

If you were talking about nurses, you'd have a point.

Bob

News to me.

I'm sure it happens. Never happened to me, nor do I personally know any doctor in the UK to have given anyone I know antibiotics for a cold.

Politely told to piss off and have some Beechams powder perhaps.

Giantaxe

You missed my point. I was highlighting the fact that when healthcare eats up a significantly higher percentage of GDP than in any other western country, there is more money to be made here by someone or other. Now if US healthcare produced significantly better health outcomes than in those countries, I certainly wouldn't begrudge doctors getting paid more. It doesn't. And it leaves 50m or so without insurance. In other words, the productivity of the US healthcare system is very poor in comparison. In the light of this, why is it a good thing that doctors get paid more?

And btw, I certainly wouldn't claim that doctors were the biggest problem in the healthcare access mess here, but their resistance to change doesn't help.

dogloverus

Unfair tbh. If a doctor practises defensively and orders more tests to cover a lawsuit, whose fault is that? maybe the patient has to understand the doc aint always gonna get it right. also more tests will ultimately result in a higher bill.

Misleading to say the system takes care of the cost in the UK. The NHS litigation bill is about to break through the billion pound barrier and rising rapidly every year. Who pays for that? The system with ultimate reduction in resources. Of course they factor that cost in the damages. The US has state medical boards who are just the same with re: to negligence.

What do u expect the doctor to do then? Work as a charity? Their costs are extremely high with 6 figure bills just for litigation insurance. Even in england the NHS is being dismantled so this idea that system can be brought here is nonsense also. Having spoken to doctors they want less litigation less red tape and less patient expectation. However you cant expect stellar everything without someone having to foot the cost.

Sally Redux

The 'system' here is nothing more than a corrupt racket.

Jerseygirl

This has to be a wind up.

Sally Redux

I agree.