Men in Orange or Men in Black?

[Farmhand]

Well why is the MRI more expensive when billed through the hospital than when done privately. These are the things that need to be looked at, our system is similarly abused by private doctors not treating people back to health but simply putting patients into a perpetual treatment situation where the causes are not treated only the symptoms. The reason for the higher costs billed to the taxpayer should audited and transparent. Why is it so ? How is the cost justified ? I can only speak for my own views on the system I am under, the doctors do not seem to want to do anything unless the person is critical or seriously ill or injured. There are many people in Australia who could work if they could get proper treatment for their medical issues, but due to the apathy or greed of the doctors they just keep the patient in a revolving door of GP visits and drug prescriptions. Hence the patient eventually becomes dependent on the taxpayer due to inaction by the private medical system itself. When the money runs out due to not being able to work the patient must still receive some kind of treatment. Private doctors see a huge profit from billing the taxpayer endlessly for more and more patients, it is so bad here that it takes about 7 to 10 days to even get to see a Private GP. They don't want to diagnose and treat the problem, they want to have as many cash cows as possible. We would not accept it from the mechanic fixing our car, eg. we take the car to the mechanic and he won't tell us what the reason for the knocking is but he offers to stop or lessen the knocking if we keep coming back every two weeks so he can perform a perpetual running repair.

How does a already disabled person on a pension get medical insurance ? How can they pay for any new health treatment they may require, or get private treatment for existing problems related to the disability ?

Are we expected to be insured from birth to death ?  Insurance companies are notorious for not paying when they should anyway. And on top of that insurance companies go broke if too many people claim more than they pay.

Universal health care seems to work OK in Canada. The two tier system in Australia is broken, if you can still walk they consider you to be ok, its like here take some pills and come back when you are totally ruined, then we might do something, or go to a private doctor you cannot get insurance for or afford without it.

In a civilized country if a person needs medical treatment they should get it. However I do not agree with public treatment of simple weight issues and other personally treatable problems.

The total world debt is in the 100 trillion range I think, if the debt of all countries is added up there is not enough money to pay the debt, it does not exist. All will crumble sooner or later and no ones insurance will pay for squat anyway. Insurance companies are part of the problem.

eg. due to natural disasters in Queensland (floods) and the resulting insurance claims, the insurance premiums are now so high to insure a property against flood it is not affordable for most. So what happens when most who can't afford insurance and the homes they fill with consumer items get destroyed again. Life is a risk we ought to accept that and forget insurance.

Cheers

[ramset]

Farmhand
I get the feeling that taking better care of ourselves is going to be our only real defence  against poor and elusive health care.

reducing our health risk Liability by taking Control of our own health is a very good alternative.

and the result is a better quality of life .

thx
Chet
PS
My friends In Canada don't seem all that happy with their health care.

[Farmhand]

Ramset, it occurs to me, I may have come across the wrong way,    I agree about the costs issue. I have personal experience with the MRI Scan procedure as well as CT Scans ect. The MRI usually takes a lot longer and is inherently more "dangerous" if that is the right word. I haven't done it yet but i could do a rough estimate of the staff involved and guess the costs for their services. I bet it would agree with the lower actual cost.

For an MRI, here at least there are four people involved for the actual procedure and also there is the clerical staff as well ect., A Technician (operates the machine), a Radiologist (doctor), a Nurse to inject dyes ect., and an orderly or assistant, can take up to 30 minutes or more. With a CT scan it takes two people and 10 minutes, maybe 20.

Most of the costs, I think is the Technician, probably name their own price when they know the public is paying as well as maintenance, and burned up in hospital type costs.

Cheers

[Farmhand]

Farmhand
I get the feeling that taking better care of ourselves is going to be our only real defence  against poor and elusive health care.

reducing our health risk Liability by taking Control of our own health is a very good alternative.

and the result is a better quality of life .

thx
Chet
PS
My friends In Canada don't seem all that happy with their health care.

Well then maybe the Canadian system is a bit like Australia. Depends who you ask I guess, it is the idea of it if it is done efficiently that is attractive. It is good to be able to go to the hospital when we get ourselves injured and not worry about the bill.  Emergency health care is fairly good.

I agree taking good care of our health and not ruining ourselves making money is important, health and safety adds to costs short term and to the employer but reduces costs later to the taxpayer in a universal system, meaning a system anyone can use. I wouldn't object to some cost but many would.

Take care

Cheers

[Magluvin]

If all the money was put into a Universal system then we could all have good health care and better emergency care for all. Off course anyone who wants a private doctor can do it but with no help from the taxpayers. All insurance is a scam for some of the payers, otherwise it would not work.

Not quite. Consider each town, in each county and in each state, and put them all in a bowl(country).

In the towns, there are individual hospitals, individual doctors offices of all kinds. They all do their own things and sometimes work together. People get sick/any sort of injury, then they go to the hospital or doctor, hopefully get fixed, then pay the doctor, or the insurance pays the doctor. 

Now say it all comes under control of the country, every detail.  That 1 organization is in control of everything and everyone in the healthcare biz, making the rules, overseeing, getting paid(gov pay/tax paid), more buildings, computers, people, lawyers, electricity, transportation, communications, forms, books, pens, copy machines, furniture, etc.  Then there is the big boss, and all the higher ups below him, and it branches out to the janitors. Then insurance for all of them that work this organization. The good stuff, not the bronze plan. Then there is the criminal activities within the organization, all the way to the higher ups. Mismanagement, passing the buck, scandals, etc..
It adds soo much to hold 'up' just that portion of it all, and it all comes out of your pocket on top of what ins normally costs. Out of your pocket.

How much extra is it going to cost 'whom' to accomplish that?  Would it not be cheaper to just impose fair regulations in the healthcare/health ins industry, and not introduce a whole new mega corporation/branch of gov of which drains soo much money from the pool, that what is left to divvy out in patient cost will be rationed down to something that is not recognizable as we knew it all to be. People are already experiencing it just like Bill(pirate).  Thanks for sharing Bill.

The big shots wont want to give any of what they pull in, and in fact will want raises with million dollar bonuses while lil Jonny is possibly dying in the waiting room. And these bigshots, when they need to line their pockets further, they will look to pull it from the doctors pay, because they are just making way too much money than the average worker. Adding taxes to medical equipment does not make healthcare cheaper or better in any way. But its in the law. I can go on and on.

But if all is separated, individual doctors offices, hospitals, insurance companies, then you have competition that should keep prices from getting way out of hand. The first thing is to allow buying ins across state lines. Step across some of those lines and pricing varies greatly eliminating competition from outside the lines.  Thats a big one.  Impose larger penalties for fraud, incompetence, etc. If your a doc and want to live the good life, then you best be a straight shooter and know your stuff. Im fine with that. People get fixed, live longer, suffer less.  Good for him. Deserves it. But if he is living in poverty, maybe his job doesnt mean that much to care enough to do a high quality job. Healthcare is a serious thing. Put it this way. If you had a choice for a job, would you rather be a doctor as they are today, or the President of the USA, with all the responsibilities but paid at poverty level during your term? Which would you choose if those were the choices? 

Ugg, I gota get some dinner.    Im thinking a big salad.    Theres my healthcare plan.

Mags