American Healthcare BS

[Dracula]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/health/for-medical-tourists-simple-math.html?hp

Is Obamacare a good solution to the mess of a healthcare system we have? Most likely, no. But the article above shows how corrupt our system is. How can you defend our system when it would cost this man over $100,000 for a hip replacement here, but only $13,000 in Belgium? It's funny how without competition or regulation, the free market does the opposite of what it's defenders say it does. This case demonstrates why the legal bribery that our government engages in makes our so-called democracy a sham. It also provides a clear case of how our health care system is far from the best system in the world today.

 

[bbsam]

Obamacare may not be a good solution, but it is the beginning of solving a problem that has been evident for decades. There is no reason Obamacare can't be amended and tweaked in positive ways down the road to make it work for America.

 

[DriveInDriveOut]

The article is not bad but it really only scrapes the surface of the many reasons our healthcare is so high.

From the article: "Manufacturers tweak old models and patent the changes as new products, with ever-bigger price tags."
This is a great point. The crooked, backwards patent laws are a huge part of the problem.

However, as is the case with many medications, American companies pay BILLIONS in research, and are trying to recoup these expenses (and continue making huge profits to appease wall street). I'm not sure that this guy mentioned in the article going to a foreign country to get a cheaper hip is a realistic solution, because the foreign hospitals and manufacturers paid basically nothing to make these medical innovations possible in the first place.

He basically is just cheating the system; not that I can blame him, the prices are way out of a normal person's reach. Good healthcare is for the most part a privilege of the rich, as it has historically always been.

 

[island1fox]

Also --Why do Foreign political leaders and Rich people --travel to the U.S. for Medical treatment --Because it is so Expensive ??? Or because we pay for the best doctors with no salary caps that most countries put on them .All the good doctors flee to America.
Also if you risk a hip replacement in Belgium --they use parts from broken waffle irons.

 

[klein]

Also --Why do Foreign political leaders and Rich people --travel to the U.S. for Medical treatment --Because it is so Expensive ??? Or because we pay for the best doctors with no salary caps that most countries put on them .All the good doctors flee to America.
Also if you risk a hip replacement in Belgium --they use parts from broken waffle irons.

You live in the past !

What foreign leader recently (like in the past 2 years) ?
Former Canadian and even US doctors are fleeing back to Canada for better pay !
And to be honest, I can see yourself fleeing back to Canada, too - for better retirement (old age pension, free healthcare, and more).

 

[moreluck]

You live in the past !

What foreign leader recently (like in the past 2 years) ?
Former Canadian and even US doctors are fleeing back to Canada for better pay !
And to be honest, I can see yourself fleeing back to Canada, too - for better retirement (old age pension, free healthcare, and more).

Even Bieber won't go back.....dammit !!

 

[klein]

Either will his monkey ! But's it's in Germany !

 

[EmraldArcher]

The reason health care costs are so high is because hospitals are forced to provide treatment to people who have no chance of ever paying for it.

​Let doctors refuse treatment to people who can't pay and costs will come down.