45% Of Doctors Would Consider Quitting If Congress Passes Health Care Overhaul

tieguy

Banned
No one can answer what the future holds.
In a few months from now, however, we shall see which country had it right , once again.

So then one of the features of your plan is gambling. Hoping your plan got it right this time.

Hieny you're not exactly selling this thing very well. Americans like a free market society that brings life saving vacines to market quickly.

So now you're telling me the government likes to take their sweet time bringing life saving vacines to market and they like to gamble that there will not be an epidemic.

I realize that you can not predict the future but surely someone so knowledgable on this terrific govenment provided plan can tell me how many canadians have to die before the government considers it an epidemic?

Heiny you're not doing a good job of educating me here.
 

klein

Für Meno :)
So then one of the features of your plan is gambling. Hoping your plan got it right this time.

Hieny you're not exactly selling this thing very well. Americans like a free market society that brings life saving vacines to market quickly.

So now you're telling me the government likes to take their sweet time bringing life saving vacines to market and they like to gamble that there will not be an epidemic.

I realize that you can not predict the future but surely someone so knowledgable on this terrific govenment provided plan can tell me how many canadians have to die before the government considers it an epidemic?

Heiny you're not doing a good job of educating me here.

Listen, our vaccine is an updated version, then yours. We will only need 1 dose of it.
You`ll get 2 shots, we will only need 1.
You and your free market showed what happened in 1976 with flushots.
You killed and paralizyed more people, then the flu did.
Good going !
Health Canada won`t take that chance, since it`s not even proven these shots are even effective, yet. Nor, if there are big side effects.
Whos the real gambler here ...
Go ahead, be the first to get it.

Actually, Teeguy, why don`t you line yourself up to be the very first, so co workers and friends, family, can wait a week, to observe if your still doing fine, then decide to get a shot themselves.

Besides, speaking of free market.:
Who has the `buy American Policy`` in place... Puts tariffs on goods like Canadain Lumber, now Chinese tires.
We sure don`t.

You can`t even buy cuban cigars in your free market. Odd, we can.
 
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bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
Heartland is a right wing advocacy group, who among aother things:
The Institute has been actively involved in debate over tobacco policy, opposing restrictions on smoking and criticizing science which documents the harms of secondhand smoke.[11] Given the close financial and organizational relationship between the tobacco industry and the Heartland Institute, Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights described the Heartland Institute as "an active partner of the tobacco industry".[12]

Heartland has been criticized for employing executives from such corporations as ExxonMobil and Philip Morris on its board of directors and in its public relations department.[13][14] The Heartland Institute disputes this criticism, stating that "no one on Heartland's board of directors works for a tobacco company (Roy Marden retired years ago) or for an oil company (Walter Buchholtz was on the board but no longer is)."[15] Heartland states that it does not accept government funds and does not conduct "contract" research for special-interest groups
Oh, so it's a hack job like the polls taken by Fedex and posted on Brownbailout? The right wing in this country would resort to such heinous and disgusting behavior? Oh, wait, Fedex is run by the same right wing crowd. Hmmm. Playbook gettin kinda thin fellas.
 

1989

Well-Known Member
Listen, our vaccine is an updated version, then yours. We will only need 1 dose of it.
You`ll get 2 shots, we will only need 1.
You and your free market showed what happened in 1976 with flushots.
You killed and paralizyed more people, then the flu did.
Good going !
Health Canada won`t take that chance, since it`s not even proven these shots are even effective, yet. Nor, if there are big side effects.
Whos the real gambler here ...
Go ahead, be the first to get it.

Actually, Teeguy, why don`t you line yourself up to be the very first, so co workers and friends, family, can wait a week, to observe if your still doing fine, then decide to get a shot themselves.

Besides, speaking of free market.:
Who has the `buy American Policy`` in place... Puts tariffs on goods like Canadain Lumber, now Chinese tires.
We sure don`t.

You can`t even buy cuban cigars in your free market. Odd, we can.


Yes we can, and we have a market for them. It just isn't legal.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
I heard this morning from Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld that the first H1N1 vaccine out will be a nose spray (with live virus) and not for the very at risk people. A shot version (dead virus) will come out a few weeks later for the very at risk people.
 

klein

Für Meno :)
I heard this morning from Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld that the first H1N1 vaccine out will be a nose spray (with live virus) and not for the very at risk people. A shot version (dead virus) will come out a few weeks later for the very at risk people.

Yes, the nose spray will be used for children over the age of 6 here.
It's a lighter dosage.
Not sure about the live virus thing... that doesn't make sense.
 
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klein

Für Meno :)
So then one of the features of your plan is gambling. Hoping your plan got it right this time.

Hieny you're not exactly selling this thing very well. Americans like a free market society that brings life saving vacines to market quickly.

So now you're telling me the government likes to take their sweet time bringing life saving vacines to market and they like to gamble that there will not be an epidemic.

I realize that you can not predict the future but surely someone so knowledgable on this terrific govenment provided plan can tell me how many canadians have to die before the government considers it an epidemic?

Heiny you're not doing a good job of educating me here.

Here is another US gamble :
The United States has ordered 195 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine from five companies -- MedImmune, a unit of AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis, Australia's CSL, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis.
(notice our Quebec Company is mentioned) ?

Notice the number ordered ? 195 million for a population of over 300 Millionen ?

Canada orders 50.4 Mill units for 30 Million population.

I wonder who is gambling and left out over 100 Million of thier citizens... and considering you'll need 2 shots for each one.
That leaves out more then half your population.

Now, bitch to Congress ! Since your soo good at it.
 

moreluck

golden ticket member
You got it wrong, K. Children are in the high risk group and should not get the nose spray with the live virus.

I know it seems totally backwards, but the nose spray is for the folks who are NOT in the high risk group. It DOES contain live virus......unless you want to argue with a doctor who teaches medicine ...

Isadore Rosenfeld, M.D., a professor of medicine at New York Hospital Weil Cornell Medical Center and and contributing editor of Parade Magazine, is widely recognized as one of this country's preeminent doctors.

If you check out the poll about whether or not people are getting shots, we in the U.S. probably don't need much vaccine if that poll is any indication.
 

klein

Für Meno :)
You got it wrong, K. Children are in the high risk group and should not get the nose spray with the live virus.

I know it seems totally backwards, but the nose spray is for the folks who are NOT in the high risk group. It DOES contain live virus......unless you want to argue with a doctor who teaches medicine ...

Isadore Rosenfeld, M.D., a professor of medicine at New York Hospital Weil Cornell Medical Center and and contributing editor of Parade Magazine, is widely recognized as one of this country's preeminent doctors.


If you check out the poll about whether or not people are getting shots, we in the U.S. probably don't need much vaccine if that poll is any indication.

Sorry, moreluck, I probably heard my news wrong the other day on TV.
And, I agree. Somewhere else I posted what a waste of money Canada was spending on soo many vaccine units ordered.
But, I'm certain, they will be giving a lot away to 3rd world countries.
Or sell them to the US, if you need them.

It's only $8.00 a unit. It's not too bad of a waste. Will go to good cause.
 

brett636

Well-Known Member
Do you really think doctors in mass are going to quit. I'm pretty sure someone who spent thousands of dollars for medical school. Then invest years of their life studying in a specialized medical field are going quit becuase of public option.

Lets say doctors do quit in mass because of public option. How many doctors do you know of. Who have huge amounts of disposable income that they just can quit and not practice and still live the kind of life they are living. Doctors are very intelligent. Thats why they go school for years. 4 Years Pre-med then whatever years needed for their speciality. That's a lot of scarifice to just throw away becuase of public option. No doctor who is mentally sane is going to quit over public option.

FYI I know someone who stood in the unemployment with a Harvard Degree in Business. If someone with a Harvard Degree in Business can't find job. Doctors won't be quiting and attempting a career change. Do you know how employers respond to someone with a high level of education. I'm sorry but you're overqualified for the position.

It did not say every doctor would quit, only around 45% of them. Certainly some are fresh out of school and have loads of student loans to pay off, or they just want to enjoy a full career of being a doctor. Plenty of others ,though, are just like the rest of our workforce, made up of a good percentage of baby boomers who have been working for decades and who has the choice to retire at will. Their student loans have been paid off many moons ago, and their practice has provided them with a life they have enjoyed up to this point. Should they end up dealing with a boatload more new patients, all of whom are covered by government insurance plans which mandate how much they will pay for services causing those doctors to lose money on each service provided it will make more sense for them to close up shop rather than have to service the new clientele at a loss. This closure of doctors office after doctors office increases the load on the practices still operating causing longer wait times to see a doctor. Ultimately, you have fewer doctors to service more patients and we will begin to see rationing of care, but that is a whole other topic to get into.
 
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The Other Side

Well-Known Troll
Troll
Brett,

its no secret you buy into the nonsense sold to you by your leaders in the republican party.

Every post you make demonstrates the power of propaganda and repetition. The more they repeat stuff like this to you, the more you buy into it.

Doctors make a fortune in this country, more than any doctor in any other country in the world. This is not a profession you just quit.

What you fail to realize is the number of years and education it takes to become a doctor. Additionally, the investment necessary to start a practice is staggering, and to believe that a doctor will just quit because a patient will come in with insurance vs. no insurance is rediculous.

There isnt a doctor in this country who will quit a practice if health care reform passes. This is pure nonsense and the type of mis-information spread around by political factions of the right wing.

Do yourself a favor, wait for the actual bill to get passed in the house, then read it yourself, dont listen for the cliff notes from FAUX news, and come on this board and actually cite something contained in it you disagree with.

What I cant understand from people like you is how you can be against providing insurance to all american citizens whether private or co-oped with the goverment.

How can you in the right wing whack jobs support free health care in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN with US TAXPAYERS money and not support americans getting health care with some goverment help.

We pay for the health care of Iraqis and Afghan people, we pay for innoculations for Iraqi children and yet you argue against the same for american children...

I dont get it.

Some 49 million people in this country are without health care..this burden is killing our infrastructure. Something needs to be done and outrageous profits need to be put in check.

FAUX news has a firm grip on you Brett, and I feel sorry for you.

:peaceful:
 

diesel96

Well-Known Member
It did not say every doctor would quit, only around 45% of them. Certainly some are fresh out of school and have loads of student loans to pay off, or they just want to enjoy a full career of being a doctor. Plenty of others ,though, are just like the rest of our workforce, made up of a good percentage of baby boomers who have been working for decades and who has the choice to retire at will. Their student loans have been paid off many moons ago, and their practice has provided them with a life they have enjoyed up to this point. Should they end up dealing with a boatload more new patients, all of whom are covered by government insurance plans which mandate how much they will pay for services causing those doctors to lose money on each service provided it will make more sense for them to close up shop rather than have to service the new clientele at a loss. This closure of doctors office after doctors office increases the load on the practices still operating causing longer wait times to see a doctor. Ultimately, you have fewer doctors to service more patients and we will begin to see rationing of care, but that is a whole other topic to get into.

A boatload of ideas have proposed to ease pressure..... from boosting loan repayment programs for medical students studying primary care to narrowing the salary gap between primary care doctors and specialists like brain surgeons and cardiologists.
As part of the health care overhaul, Obama quoted as saying the need to "elevate the profile of family care physicians and nurses as opposed to just the specialists who are typically going to make more money."
Typically, those trained to intervene after a heart attack, most likely earn duoble/triple than those who help prevent the heart attack from happening in the first place.
Another way expand access to primary care by encouraging doctors to adopt a team approach by relying more heavily on nurse practitioners and health educators for basic care and counseling.
Nurse practitioners already operate in hundreds of private clinics set up in pharmacies, like CVS and Walgreen offering basic services like flu shots and treatments for minor ailments. They are faster than a visit to a primary care doctor and less expensive than a trip to the emergency room.
States can offers loan repayments for new doctors who agree to work in community health centers in underserved areas for a period of time.
Another way to expand primary care is to have some specialists provide the equivalent of primary care, obstetrician-gynecologists serve as primary care physicians for many women — a model that could be used for patients who rely on other specialists.
So there are many innovative ways and ideals to reform Healthcare, instead of just screaming obscenities and displaying moronic signage with the contention on doing nothing.

People wonder who is behind the town hall riots when anyone discusses health care reform, or Obamacare – the answer is Conservatives for Patients Rights is headed by one Rick Scott.... who isn't a doctor... but used to be the CEO of a hospital, and under his watch, his medical administration defrauded Medicare of $1.7 billion through a practice called upcoding, wherein a Medicare patient gets treated, but Medicare is billed for additional tests that never took place. (That's fraud.)
 

beatupbrown

Well-Known Member
A friend and fellow small-business owner has just hired a lawyer to sue her health insurance company. She said they invented a pre-existing condition so they could avoid paying for doctor bills that resulted from a recent auto accident. They want to refund the premiums and leave her holding the bill.

I expect she will prevail in making the insurance company pay up, and if she is lucky she will get the insurance company to cover her legal bills, too. Which means that, at best, she will have broken even financially.
For the insurance company, the worst thing that could happen is they will have to do what they promised to do in the first place. They may pay a little extra, but they will face no fine. If health insurance companies choose not to, there is no way to make them do the right thing other than by suing them. The company will stretch out the in-house appeals process, string you along and then hang you out to dry.

http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main...ies-do-the-right-thing-on-health-care-reform/
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
: Physicians Are Talking About: The Million Med March on Washington

"I'm tired, mad as hell, and just not going to take it anymore," says Richard Chudacoff, MD, a gynecologist from Las Vegas. "I am going to Washington, DC. At noon, on Thursday, October 1, 2009, I will be on the Mall with a few other physicians."

Dr. Chudacoff is not talking about vacation plans. Rather, he intends to unite with other physicians in what he calls the Million Med March.

"We simply decided that we will not work that day and perhaps the day before and maybe even the day afterward," says Dr. Chudacoff. "Perhaps we will show the country that physicians are worth more than a $5 copay; that physicians are more important than a mid-level healthcare worker; and that our profession is needed, our services are required, and our practice is a calling to be respected, not a trade that is to be negotiated to the lowest bidder."

A letter posted by Dr. Chudacoff on www.obgyn.net in June has been spreading like wildfire across the Internet, finding its way to personal blogs, discussion groups, and professional forums. On June 23, it was posted to Medscape's Physician Connect (MPC), a physician-only discussion group, where it sparked a flurry of responses. A number of MPC postings suggest that Dr. Chudacoff will have plenty of company on October 1.

"Finally, something constructive," says a dermatologist. "I'll see you in DC on October 1. Some of the office staff, including our nurse, expressed a wish to be there too. Bring spouses and friends and anybody else who actually cares about healthcare in the US."

"I have cleared my schedule and plan to attend," responds a vascular surgeon. "I think this type of grassroots action, unaffiliated with hospitals, insurance companies, or the AMA, is likely to get the most sympathetic attention."

"This is the best proactive effort I have heard from physicians," says an MPC family medicine physician. "Actions speak louder than words."

"I can be there without changing my schedule," adds an anesthesiologist. "I was just terminated from my office-based practice where I have been for 7 years."

One physician's decision to take a stand and unite with his fellow colleagues has given doctors a simple way to show the public and elected officials that healthcare, for them, is not a political agenda. It is their life and livelihood. And in recent weeks, the partisan discussions in the Senate and House of Representatives on healthcare legislation have seemingly marginalized -- and at times even maligned -- physicians.

"I was for nationalized healthcare," says a family medicine physician, "but I thought that meant providing a safety net for needy Americans. But this monster of a bill is something quite different."

"Politicians and payers have turned our profession into a political football," retorts an anesthesiologist.

President Obama's recent tonsillectomy remark, in which he insinuated that doctors make medical decisions based on what they would be paid for a procedure rather than the best treatment for the patient, has further incensed physicians. "As a hard-working, conscientious physician, I am offended. It's like racial stereotyping. Only now it's about a group that is mostly overworked, tired, and saving people's lives," retorts a family medicine practitioner.

If the president is looking for greed within the healthcare system, Dr. Chudacoff suggests that he not take aim at primary care physicians. Chudacoff adds, "Medicine is going corporate, and we physicians are just flipping burgers so corporations have an improved bottom line."

Although fair compensation is an important issue among the organizers of the Million Med March, it is not the only issue. Medicine has become a toxic environment in which to work. Dr. Chudacoff underscores the situation. "Quality of care suffers with less time to see patients and less reimbursement received when we do see patients. We cannot do pro bono work as we have in the past because we have to see an ever increasing number of patients. This extra work is forced upon us when insurance companies, especially Medicare and Medicaid, constantly refuse to pay us in a timely fashion for our time and efforts. And then once we do see patients, our clinical acumen is stifled as we must follow a cookbook approach to patient care. It is time that we stand up for ourselves."

A vascular surgeon comments, "We can lead the way to real reform. Now is clearly the time to act, not just type."

On July 10, an MPC contributor and one of the supporters of the Million Med March launched a Website, www.millionmedmarch.com, to build support for the October event. The site announces a physician grassroots movement to re-establish honor, dignity, and worth to the medical profession. "The Million Med March movement has taken off, on so many sites, and within so many communities. Why now? The debate on national healthcare has forced this conversation, and this conversation has pushed us over the tipping point."

The mandate as stated on the Million Med March Website includes the following points:

•Services must be adequately reimbursed so that we may spend more time with our patients and not be forced to see an unsafe number of patients to pay for increased business costs.
•Less money must go into the hands of insurance companies' administrative costs, and more money must go towards patient care and medical research.
•We must abolish third-party payers or prevent a single-payer system for office visits and medical services; these services are costly to the patient, physician, and society as a whole.
•Our patients need access to brand-name drugs that are as affordable in the United States as in Canada and Mexico.
•We must have medical malpractice reform, with caps on all damages, so that we can practice without the fear of needless and unwarranted lawsuits that only benefit attorneys.
Some MPC contributors voice concern that the Million Med March scheduled for October will occur too late to have any meaningful impact on healthcare reform. "The health reform bill is going nowhere," says an anesthesiologist. "Let's make a major statement between its failure and the next attempt to marginalize the docs."

A plastic surgeon adds, "Stand up for our profession and come to DC."
 

brett636

Well-Known Member
A boatload of ideas have proposed to ease pressure..... from boosting loan repayment programs for medical students studying primary care to narrowing the salary gap between primary care doctors and specialists like brain surgeons and cardiologists.
As part of the health care overhaul, Obama quoted as saying the need to "elevate the profile of family care physicians and nurses as opposed to just the specialists who are typically going to make more money."
Typically, those trained to intervene after a heart attack, most likely earn duoble/triple than those who help prevent the heart attack from happening in the first place.
Another way expand access to primary care by encouraging doctors to adopt a team approach by relying more heavily on nurse practitioners and health educators for basic care and counseling.
Nurse practitioners already operate in hundreds of private clinics set up in pharmacies, like CVS and Walgreen offering basic services like flu shots and treatments for minor ailments. They are faster than a visit to a primary care doctor and less expensive than a trip to the emergency room.
States can offers loan repayments for new doctors who agree to work in community health centers in underserved areas for a period of time.
Another way to expand primary care is to have some specialists provide the equivalent of primary care, obstetrician-gynecologists serve as primary care physicians for many women — a model that could be used for patients who rely on other specialists.
So there are many innovative ways and ideals to reform Healthcare, instead of just screaming obscenities and displaying moronic signage with the contention on doing nothing.

People wonder who is behind the town hall riots when anyone discusses health care reform, or Obamacare – the answer is Conservatives for Patients Rights is headed by one Rick Scott.... who isn't a doctor... but used to be the CEO of a hospital, and under his watch, his medical administration defrauded Medicare of $1.7 billion through a practice called upcoding, wherein a Medicare patient gets treated, but Medicare is billed for additional tests that never took place. (That's fraud.)

There plenty of nurse practictioners opening up clinics to treat minor issues people have. I will let you onto a little secret as to why they are opening up those clinics...its called *gasp* profit. If we get this public option healthcare plan, and enough government insured patients walk through their doors they will most likley lose money on each one of those patients giving them two options. Close their doors, or stop accepting government insured patients. Once enough offices stop accepting government insured patients I'm sure the .gov will step in and tell them they have to accept them. Forcing these offices to lose money on these public option insured patients. This will cause untold numbers of clinics, doctors offices, and other primary care facilities to close simply because they are losing money. Nothing good will come from a public option healthcare plan, and we will all suffer because of it.

That article on Rick Scott was quite amusing. Its written to scare small minded liberals like yourself, and even has the token George W. Bush thrown in for good measure. In the article it says he has put $5 million of his own money along with another $15 million of donations in order to put together those town hall protests, but allow me to let you onto another little secret. That $20 million dollars is not enough to pay for the millions of people who have shown up at these town hall protests not to mention the million or so who were in Washington on 9/12. I know the truth hurts, but in reality those people really do not want government intrusion into their health care. Luckly for the future of our nation the health care proposals are looking less and less likely to happen every day.
 

klein

Für Meno :)
There plenty of nurse practictioners opening up clinics to treat minor issues people have. I will let you onto a little secret as to why they are opening up those clinics...its called *gasp* profit. If we get this public option healthcare plan, and enough government insured patients walk through their doors they will most likley lose money on each one of those patients giving them two options. Close their doors, or stop accepting government insured patients. Once enough offices stop accepting government insured patients I'm sure the .gov will step in and tell them they have to accept them. Forcing these offices to lose money on these public option insured patients. This will cause untold numbers of clinics, doctors offices, and other primary care facilities to close simply because they are losing money. Nothing good will come from a public option healthcare plan, and we will all suffer because of it.

That article on Rick Scott was quite amusing. Its written to scare small minded liberals like yourself, and even has the token George W. Bush thrown in for good measure. In the article it says he has put $5 million of his own money along with another $15 million of donations in order to put together those town hall protests, but allow me to let you onto another little secret. That $20 million dollars is not enough to pay for the millions of people who have shown up at these town hall protests not to mention the million or so who were in Washington on 9/12. I know the truth hurts, but in reality those people really do not want government intrusion into their health care. Luckly for the future of our nation the health care proposals are looking less and less likely to happen every day.

You got it backwards Brett.
Yes, open up a new clinic...and less and less clientel will be walking thru those doors.
Must be 1 out of 3 Americans now, that can't go, because they have no insurance.
With every jobloss, an average of what, 3 or 4 become uninsured (the whole family).

And in a few years, more and more companies won't be able to pay for employer's health-bennies.
They will drop it. Or, they will outsource or relocate elsewhere.

I agree with you, no national healthcare this time.
But, in 10 - 20 years, when over 50% of americans have no insurance.. they will vote it in.
 

brett636

Well-Known Member
You got it backwards Brett.
Yes, open up a new clinic...and less and less clientel will be walking thru those doors.
Must be 1 out of 3 Americans now, that can't go, because they have no insurance.
With every jobloss, an average of what, 3 or 4 become uninsured (the whole family).

And in a few years, more and more companies won't be able to pay for employer's health-bennies.
They will drop it. Or, they will outsource or relocate elsewhere.

I agree with you, no national healthcare this time.
But, in 10 - 20 years, when over 50% of americans have no insurance.. they will vote it in.

Not if we institute the right free market approach to healthcare today. Our superior form of healthcare will remain that way if we believe more in the individual, and less on bigger central government.
 

klein

Für Meno :)
Not if we institute the right free market approach to healthcare today. Our superior form of healthcare will remain that way if we believe more in the individual, and less on bigger central government.
You know, came across many websites, but none of them ever said the USA has the best Healthcare.. so, I used your word "superior" to google. Ofcourse Europe comes up a few times, not USA though :

European Democracies Control Insurance Profits — And Enjoy Superior Health Care For Much Less Money

August 25, 2009

In an interesting article in The Washington Post, “5 Myths About Health Care Around the World,” the author, T.R. Reid, says he has traveled the world studying how other developed democracies provide health care. Reid writes, “Instead of dismissing these models as ‘socialist,’ we could adapt their solutions to fix our problems.”
Reid writes, “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.”
These are the five myths Reid identifies:
  1. It’s all socialized medicine out there. Not so. Many wealthy countries — including Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland — provide universal coverage using private doctors, private hospitals and private insurance plans.
  2. Overseas, care is rationed through limited choices or long lines. Generally, no. 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, 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.
  3. Foreign health-care systems are inefficient, bloated bureaucracies. Much less so than here. It may seem to Americans that U.S.-style free enterprise — private-sector, for-profit health insurance — is naturally the most cost-effective way to pay for health care. But in fact, all the other payment systems are more efficient than ours. 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. France’s health insurance industry, in contrast, covers everybody and spends about 4 percent on administration. Canada’s universal insurance system, run by government bureaucrats, spends 6 percent on administration. In Taiwan, a leaner version of the Canadian model has administrative costs of 1.5 percent; The world champion at controlling medical costs is Japan, even though its aging population is a profligate consumer of medical care. On average, the Japanese go to the doctor 15 times a year, three times the U.S. rate. They have twice as many MRI scans and X-rays. Quality is high; life expectancy and recovery rates for major diseases are better than in the United States. And yet Japan spends about $3,400 per person annually on health care; the United States spends more than $7,000.
  4. Cost controls stifle innovation. False. Any American who’s had a hip or knee replacement is standing on French innovation. Deep-brain stimulation to treat depression is a Canadian breakthrough. 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.)
  5. Health insurance has to be cruel. Not really. American health insurance companies routinely reject applicants with a “preexisting condition” — precisely the people most likely to need the insurers’ service. … Foreign health insurance companies, in contrast, must accept all applicants, and they can’t cancel as long as you pay your premiums. The plans are required to pay any claim submitted by a doctor or hospital (or health spa), usually within tight time limits. The big Swiss insurer Groupe Mutuel promises to pay all claims within five days. “Our customers love it,” the group’s chief executive told me. The corollary is that everyone is mandated to buy insurance, to give the plans an adequate pool of rate-payers.
http://daytonos.com/?p=7212
 

brett636

Well-Known Member
You know, came across many websites, but none of them ever said the USA has the best Healthcare.. so, I used your word "superior" to google. Ofcourse Europe comes up a few times, not USA though :

European Democracies Control Insurance Profits — And Enjoy Superior Health Care For Much Less Money

August 25, 2009

In an interesting article in The Washington Post, “5 Myths About Health Care Around the World,” the author, T.R. Reid, says he has traveled the world studying how other developed democracies provide health care. Reid writes, “Instead of dismissing these models as ‘socialist,’ we could adapt their solutions to fix our problems.”
Reid writes, “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.”
These are the five myths Reid identifies:
  1. It’s all socialized medicine out there. Not so. Many wealthy countries — including Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland — provide universal coverage using private doctors, private hospitals and private insurance plans.
  2. Overseas, care is rationed through limited choices or long lines. Generally, no. 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, 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.
  3. Foreign health-care systems are inefficient, bloated bureaucracies. Much less so than here. It may seem to Americans that U.S.-style free enterprise — private-sector, for-profit health insurance — is naturally the most cost-effective way to pay for health care. But in fact, all the other payment systems are more efficient than ours. 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. France’s health insurance industry, in contrast, covers everybody and spends about 4 percent on administration. Canada’s universal insurance system, run by government bureaucrats, spends 6 percent on administration. In Taiwan, a leaner version of the Canadian model has administrative costs of 1.5 percent; The world champion at controlling medical costs is Japan, even though its aging population is a profligate consumer of medical care. On average, the Japanese go to the doctor 15 times a year, three times the U.S. rate. They have twice as many MRI scans and X-rays. Quality is high; life expectancy and recovery rates for major diseases are better than in the United States. And yet Japan spends about $3,400 per person annually on health care; the United States spends more than $7,000.
  4. Cost controls stifle innovation. False. Any American who’s had a hip or knee replacement is standing on French innovation. Deep-brain stimulation to treat depression is a Canadian breakthrough. 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.)
  5. Health insurance has to be cruel. Not really. American health insurance companies routinely reject applicants with a “preexisting condition” — precisely the people most likely to need the insurers’ service. … Foreign health insurance companies, in contrast, must accept all applicants, and they can’t cancel as long as you pay your premiums. The plans are required to pay any claim submitted by a doctor or hospital (or health spa), usually within tight time limits. The big Swiss insurer Groupe Mutuel promises to pay all claims within five days. “Our customers love it,” the group’s chief executive told me. The corollary is that everyone is mandated to buy insurance, to give the plans an adequate pool of rate-payers.
http://daytonos.com/?p=7212

Thats funny, you post all that yet when world leaders need serious health care I don't see them flocking to Canada, Germany, or the UK for treatment.
 

klein

Für Meno :)
Thats funny, you post all that yet when world leaders need serious health care I don't see them flocking to Canada, Germany, or the UK for treatment.

Yes, we have them comming here, too. Just doesn't make your news.
And you won't change my mind...


Saturday, September 26, 2009

We favour our health care to U.S. system: poll

By Steve Rennie, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Last Updated: 10th July 2009, 2:22pm

OTTAWA — Canadians think their American neighbours would be wise to look north as they grapple with a massive health-care overhaul.
That’s the conclusion drawn from a new poll published as Capitol Hill legislators debate a plan to cover nearly all Americans with government-run health insurance.
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey suggests 82% of Canadians believe our system is better than U.S. health care.
The Canadian health-care system has been in the spotlight for weeks at congressional hearings, where it has alternately been characterized as the gold standard and a rusty system plagued with problems and delays.
By the end of the month, the House of Representatives hopes to vote on a health reform plan, and U.S. President Barack Obama has said he wants legislation by October.
Last week, the two leaders of the Senate health committee announced that they’d come up with a government-run insurance option to compete with private insurance plans.
The plan carries a US$611-billion price tag — cheaper than the original $1 trillion estimate — and is supposed to cover 97% of Americans.
Currently, 47 million U.S. citizens — mostly the poor — have none. The U.S. also has the highest health-care costs of any country in the industrialized world.
Those figures might explain Canadians’ preference for their own health-care system, said Harris-Decima vice-president Jeff Walker.
“I think what’s happened over the last year or two is that even more problems associated with the U.S. health-care system have come to light,” he said.
“President Obama has certainly put them at the centre of his agenda to deal with problems in that system.
“I think there’s a growing sense that going fully private, or having some version of an almost fully private model like the American one, doesn’t necessarily serve the broader interest the way Canadians would want it to be served.”

The poll also suggests 70% of Canadians think their health-care system is working well or very well, while the remainder feel the system is either not working well or not working well at all.
 
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