by Guest » Wed Apr 27, 2016 3:05 pm
Guest said:
There is no justification for million dollar medical bills or medication that costs thousands of dollars a month. America's medical system is beyond a sick joke. It's an absolute nightmare.
You are absolutely right. The US medical system costs about 50% vs other countries in terms of % of expenditures on health care vs GDP. For that extra cost the US gets the benefit of responsiveness - kind of. In terms of actual results, most people don't live longer or I don't think are healthier, they just get treated faster. Any Republican politician that says the old way was just fine is an idiot. The old system was bloated, corrupt and overly expensive. The new obamacare is more bloated, more corrupt and more overly expensive. It benefits very few at the expense of very many.
Several years back (I think before obamacare was enacted, looked but couldn't find the original reference) John wrote an article saying that obamacare was a joke and if they were serious we would work on developing AI Dr's and nurses, which would drastically bring down health care costs. At the time, I was skeptical. Now I think "why not?" 50% of what happens at an urgent care facility could probably be figured out with a couple of diagnostic tests and a smart phone with a good camera and a well programmed app. Computers being able to classify based on pattern recognition will make this very likely to occur. Why do I go to the Dr now? pink eye (take a picture use pattern recognition - issue prescription), sinus infection (answer a couple questions, take a picture of the mucus, compare against other patterns), poison ivy (take a picture, use classification to diagnose). This will happen, because what idiot would go to the Dr. spend $120 to get 5 minutes of their time when they could pay a few dollars and get an equivalent diagnosis?
As to your other comment:
People have a right to affordable health care. You should have to lose everything you own to stay alive.
Beware the "right" word. A right means that it has to be fulfilled no matter the cost. The payment comes from somewhere. Despite what our modern day governments are presently doing, every price has to be paid. Where does the money come from to pay? you and me. How is it extracted? more and more taxes with little to no accountability. No thank you. You and many others claim you have a right to take my property or to spend money allocated for something else on something corrupt like the health care system. Personally I want to involved in that choice. I want to be able to order prescriptions without going through a pharmacist, I want to be able to self diagnose and procure the means to heal without spending $100's of dollars when $10's of dollars will do. When I go to a physician, I want them to tell me what things cost, not some corrupt system that modifies the cost based on whatever insurance I have. I want insurance to work like insurance. If I get in a car wreck and it costs millions of dollars, I want it to be covered. Everything else, I get to take care of.
I don't discount that good governance will look out for the health and welfare of it's less privileged. But that's not what we have now. And single payer will simply lower the bar for everyone and result in rationing. Personally I believe too much government and regulation is the problem, not too little.
Regards,
Jack
[quote]Guest said:
There is no justification for million dollar medical bills or medication that costs thousands of dollars a month. America's medical system is beyond a sick joke. It's an absolute nightmare.[/quote]
You are absolutely right. The US medical system costs about 50% vs other countries in terms of % of expenditures on health care vs GDP. For that extra cost the US gets the benefit of responsiveness - kind of. In terms of actual results, most people don't live longer or I don't think are healthier, they just get treated faster. Any Republican politician that says the old way was just fine is an idiot. The old system was bloated, corrupt and overly expensive. The new obamacare is more bloated, more corrupt and more overly expensive. It benefits very few at the expense of very many.
Several years back (I think before obamacare was enacted, looked but couldn't find the original reference) John wrote an article saying that obamacare was a joke and if they were serious we would work on developing AI Dr's and nurses, which would drastically bring down health care costs. At the time, I was skeptical. Now I think "why not?" 50% of what happens at an urgent care facility could probably be figured out with a couple of diagnostic tests and a smart phone with a good camera and a well programmed app. Computers being able to classify based on pattern recognition will make this very likely to occur. Why do I go to the Dr now? pink eye (take a picture use pattern recognition - issue prescription), sinus infection (answer a couple questions, take a picture of the mucus, compare against other patterns), poison ivy (take a picture, use classification to diagnose). This will happen, because what idiot would go to the Dr. spend $120 to get 5 minutes of their time when they could pay a few dollars and get an equivalent diagnosis?
As to your other comment:
[quote]People have a right to affordable health care. You should have to lose everything you own to stay alive.[/quote]
Beware the "right" word. A right means that it has to be fulfilled no matter the cost. The payment comes from somewhere. Despite what our modern day governments are presently doing, every price has to be paid. Where does the money come from to pay? you and me. How is it extracted? more and more taxes with little to no accountability. No thank you. You and many others claim you have a right to take my property or to spend money allocated for something else on something corrupt like the health care system. Personally I want to involved in that choice. I want to be able to order prescriptions without going through a pharmacist, I want to be able to self diagnose and procure the means to heal without spending $100's of dollars when $10's of dollars will do. When I go to a physician, I want them to tell me what things cost, not some corrupt system that modifies the cost based on whatever insurance I have. I want insurance to work like insurance. If I get in a car wreck and it costs millions of dollars, I want it to be covered. Everything else, I get to take care of.
I don't discount that good governance will look out for the health and welfare of it's less privileged. But that's not what we have now. And single payer will simply lower the bar for everyone and result in rationing. Personally I believe too much government and regulation is the problem, not too little.
Regards,
Jack