By T.R. Reid -- Five Myths About Health Care in the Rest of the World - washingtonpost.com "many nations -- Germany, Britain, Austria -- outperform the United States on measures such as waiting times for appointments and for elective surgeries In some ways, health care is less "socialized" overseas than in the United States. Almost all Americans sign up for government insurance (Medicare) at age 65. In Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, seniors stick with private insurance plans for life. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the planet's purest examples of government-run health care. Germans can sign up for any of the nation's 200 private health insurance plans -- a broader choice than any American has. If a German doesn't like her insurance company, she can switch to another, with no increase in premium. The Swiss, too, can choose any insurance plan in the country. In France and Japan, you don't get a choice of insurance provider; you have to use the one designated for your company or your industry. But patients can go to any doctor, any hospital, any traditional healer. There are no U.S.-style limits such as "in-network" lists of doctors or "pre-authorization" for surgery. You pick any doctor, you get treatment -- and insurance has to pay. U.S. health insurance companies have the highest administrative costs in the world; they spend roughly 20 cents of every dollar for nonmedical costs, such as paperwork, reviewing claims and marketing. Overseas, strict cost controls actually drive innovation. In the United States, an MRI scan of the neck region costs about $1,500. In Japan, the identical scan costs $98. Under the pressure of cost controls, Japanese researchers found ways to perform the same diagnostic technique for one-fifteenth the American price. (And Japanese labs still make a profit.) The key difference is that foreign health insurance plans exist only to pay people's medical bills, not to make a profit. The United States is the only developed country that lets insurance companies profit from basic health coverage"
Think Fox news will cover this? this is what's so red azzing. so much misinformation out there, and most people aren't going to dig up the truth. they'll just go with the sound bites of the group they follow, limbaugh, hannity, levin, on the right, matthews, olberman on the left. some people i know swear by walton and johnson; scary huh?
id like to see a fact check on this, and it certainly depends on how stats were done, but i like to see the other side of the argument. even if this is true, i think the rub is that the US is much larger than all the other countries listed and that they are not comparing the us system to one other system, but cherry-picking from other systems. still, i think this may disspell rumors.
I read an interesting article recently that addressed the medical billing in other countries compared to America. In France for example, because healthcare is so highly subsidized doctors make much less than doctors in America. Their offices are less lavish, they don't have large administrative staffs, etc. One way French doctors get by without the large staff and keep administrative costs manageable is the Carte Vitale program. One swipe of the card reveals the patient's medical history. Another swipe takes care of the billing. Integrating similar technology into our own healthcare in this country would reduce healthcare costs by billions, I bet. The Japanese are a country of hypochondriacs I learned, too. IIRC, they see physicians on average about 15 visits a year while the average American sees a physician about three times a year. Yet they spend less than half of what Americans pay per person. I used to think that our way was the best way, but in the last few months after reading about the way other countries do healthcare, we're not even close. There are a lot of options out there that we should be looking at to improve our own situation, but our country's political leaders are too busy pointing fingers and playing politics.
A few years ago Taiwan was looking at their own healthcare situation as a country. They sent representatives around the world to study the different systems used, presented options to their people and then selected what would serve them the best. Why can't we do this? I mean aside from the fact that there's very little money to be made by our political leaders with this method...
Doctors also spend a ton of money in administration and dealing with insurance companies. A good friend of mines wife runs a modest obstetrician's practice in a small country town. He pays her big money and has an additional staff of 2 who do nothing but deal with insurance companies. Part of it's because he is as dumb as a sack of rocks but dealing with all the insurance crap is tedious and cumbersome. When I look at this little country practice that needs 2 admin assistants and an office manager (my buddy's wife) you know something is terribly wrong. Its just the doctor and a part time nurse. That's a disproportionate business model if I ever saw one.
I'm still getting medical bills from my mom who passed away over a year ago. The medicare billing is a crazy system. Every bill for every service from every provider first goes to medicare who pays what they want to cover, then they pass it to the private insurance who pays what they want to pay, then they return it to the provider, who finally bills the patient whatever is left. It takes forever, it involves hundreds of people. There isn't just one hospital bill. There is a ambulance bill, a hospital bill, an emergency room bill, a rehab hospital bill, a wheelchair bill, two specialist bills, a radiology bill, two doctors bills, about six mystery bills and on and on. Just getting all of this giant cluster into one database and cutting a lot of waste would benefit everybody including the bottom line.
ive often heard people against "socialized" medicine say it will result in lower Dr. earnings and therefore result in worse Drs over the years. maybe, but i doubt it. funny, i havent heard anyone remark about the >60% of docs in the US that regret having chosen their profession (and it aint because of wages)
Be very careful when paying these bills. I have seen contractual adjustments charged to patients many times in the last two years. This is a fairly common fraud when patients expire. I have also seen providers try to bill patients for Medicare co-pays for Hospice and Home Health visits. There is no such thing. Make sure anything you pay is a legitimate patient liability. Most folks will pay medical bills for a deceased family member with an estate without asking questions to speed up the probate.
