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| The American Health Care System is Killer in the age of Covid -19. |
The bloated US healthcare system were pretty much exposed during the Pandemic , just like the inept U.S. government . EVEN with Obama-care , or Covered California it's still expensive , at the whim of the Healthcare corporations . In order to get it like it's in Canada , you have have to have no income .This argument isn't for (1)>>"universal healthcare being more effective", it's for our system being less effective than other systems, including universal healthcare, there is a difference. If we start at the assumption that our system is one of the worst in the world we arrive at the conclusion that most healthcare system are better. This isn't a case for universal healthcare, it's an argument against our system. The recession triggered by the coronavirus pandemic is one of the worst in modern American history, with more than 11 percent of workers unemployed lost their insurance . People have spent their whole lives paying into the system. The insurance pays the bills and they get world class treatment. Out of pocket was a few hundred dollars each time. (2)>>Hospitals jack up the rates they charge to insurance companies to enormous amounts because the insurance will fight them tooth and nail to pay. So they charge $20 per pill of pain meds because they know the insurance is going to refuse to pay 90% of that. The problem comes when people don't know that they can work with the hospital to lower their bills when they don't have insurance. The secondary problem being that people pick the lowest price insurance available and then don't make sure they understand their coverage. Insurance is fairly good at hiding what they do and don't cover behind a wall of legal jargon. (3)>>A lot of us are limited to getting what our employer provides. Personally funded insurance is prohibitively expensive. I know a lot of people who are only working where they are (or working at all, in the case of a few close to retirement) because they need insurance. Healthcare is an inelastic service supplying inelastic goods, and absent the kind of regulations that remove incentives for insurance companies to charge only as much as what little competition they have (plus things like waste in terms of EOL care and a culture of overmedication happily supported by a pharmaceutical industry facing the same counterproductive incentives), the system in place is simply too lucrative for those it benefits to ever be changed without external intervention. So we're left to bargain our bills like it's a medical flea market, or drown in unavoidable debt if an unaffordable calamity strikes like Covid -19.Part of the problem is that we don't have a "free market" so to speak. The price of healthcare is incredibly opaque in the US: how much it is going to cost you for a particular treatment is frequently impossible to get out of providers -- they don't know how much your provider is going to cover necessarily and they are loathe to predict (this comes from personal experience rather than a well understood source), and the cost varies widely between locations (see the nytime article on saline bags). Because of this, I expect that people don't actually buy healthcare the way they do other things, so the market forces are poor drivers of cost.
The American Healthcare System is evil and redundant .
While the nation has (3.1)>>Obama-care in one form or another , it's still not government run , but controlled by Wall Street INC. The HMO's , the big Insurance fat cats use a marketing system that has the affordability rates shooting sky high , with medical bills that crush most Americans . Just because it's called Obama-care , it's still the same rip off conglomerate that has driven the U.S. Healthcare system as one of the worse .This. For the amount of money the US spends per capita, you would expect everyone to have top notch care and superb health. What actually happens is relatively poor outcomes and coverage (relative to comparable nations). Basically, it's among the least efficient healthcare systems in existence...it maintains the results it does by pouring HUGE amounts of money into the system. The US healthcare system is a monument to perverse incentives, unintended consequences and political inertia. It is astonishingly bad — indeed, it’s so astonishingly bad that even people who believe it’s bad don’t appreciate quite how bad it is.
The High Cost of American Healthcare .
(4)>>>The United States is the only profit-motivated healthcare system in the world, and perhaps it is no coincidence that this country also has the most expensive healthcare of any nation. Americans spent $3.2 trillion on healthcare (almost $10,000 per person on average) in 2015, accounting for 17.8% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Each year, health care payers and providers in the United States spend about $496 billion on billing and insurance-related (BIR) costs, according to Center for American Progress estimates presented were enormous . Yet, with a pandemic like this you'd think the government had it under control ? The financial costs are most obvious, and they are truly extraordinary. For a family of four, the US system costs about $13,000 a year more than that of Switzerland, which itself is substantially more expensive than any other. The US system costs more than twice as much, per person, as the universal coverage provided by the UK’s NHS. Even the government-funded part of the US system costs more per capita than the NHS. That is why in my opinion a government or public option for healthcare is beneficial to both us as individuals and for the system to run more efficiently. By forcing people to have health insurance, something only the government can really do, everybody pays into the system and when everyone participates it's easier to balance the cost of treatment for the sick and the premiums of the healthy. I believe that the government would also do a better job at maintaining a leaner system as opposed to a private company which is motivated a little bit more by increased profits. So in theory we get cheaper, better coverage and the system has enough flexibility to accommodate variation. It is important to point out that this entirely suppositional, and is the result of a systemic feedback problem in how prices and reimbursement are determined, impacting the market. Not because there is some conspiracy to make healthcare expensive. This is simple economics.
Covid -19 , Ventilator Nightmare .
Perhaps the killer aspect of the American Healthcare system is how Covid exposed it a the number one factor why over 500,000 people died . It was NOT THAT THE LITTLE VIRUS, it was so treatable. American healthcare system killed those people over $$$. It was more about profits over people . The Pandemic made the U.S healthcare system vulnerable , it also reveals that why and why there should be a government takeover of all the made for profit healthcare systems in America. The virus was just a scratch in the mirror . What if a nuclear bomb went off in a U.S. City , radiation sickness spreading . Just THINK THAT ! YOU'd think twice that any healthcare care institution would be able to help any of the sick ? Made for profit healthcare last year sent many Americans to their deaths , (5)>>by sticking them in Ventilators while waiting for money to pay for the covid treatments . Around 40% to 50% of patients die on ventilators when they have severe respiratory distress but at least 80% of coronavirus patients put on ventilators in New York City have died, The Associated Press reported, citing state and city officials.
LAST WORD : WHY AMERICAN'S SHOULD DUMP THEIR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
According the to Emergency Medical and Treatment Labor Act of 1986, hospitals cannot turn away patients because of their inability to pay. So the hospitals wind up eating the expense for the emergency care of uninsured people in critical circumstances. They have to make up that expense somewhere else ... i.e., from the insured patients. The reality really sick patients are stuck with horrible bills , secondly the made for profit American healthcare system has denied treatment , (6)>>dumped elderly people in the streets . An important reason is the US system of private health insurance. In stark contrast to these nations, the United States relies largely on a direct-fee system, in which patients under 65 (those 65 and older are covered by Medicare) are expected to pay for medical costs themselves, aided by private health insurance, usually through one’s employer.Whereas mortality rates have risen in the U.S. consistent with comparable countries in the past few decades, the rates of amenable mortality across the country are poor. This measure tracks mortality as it relates to preventable and treatable issues and is directly tied to health care access. Moreover, disease burden, which factors in years lost due to disability and premature death, is also high in the U.S. compared to similar countries. With Covid -19 the system is at the brink of collapse . It must be replaced with a system that put's (7)>>PEOPLE over PROFITS.
NOTES AND COMMENTS :
(1)>>"universal healthcare being more effective". It should, therefore, come as no surprise that healthcare for all—“universal healthcare” (UHC)—has been a highly appealing social objective in most countries in the world, even in those that have not got very far in actually providing it.The United States, which can certainly afford to provide healthcare at quite a high level for all Americans, is exceptional in terms of the popularity of the view that any kind of public establishment of universal healthcare must somehow involve unacceptable intrusions into private life. If you're in the health care field, then potentially that isn't a bad thing for you, from a business perspective. If you look at it from an overall prospective though, the more money that's spent towards health care means the individual has less money to spend on other things. The more overall unhealthy the general populace is, the more those costs are soon spread to other individuals, namely through the aforementioned distribution of health care costs onto taxpayers or insured patients. Even in the cost of medications, where as that first link shows, those coupon programs tend to encourage use of the more expensive option, which also increases in price at a greater rate than the other, due to some of that discount.Now, if we had a more accessible health care system in general, those with chronic conditions would probably have a greater quality of life, to the point where they could likely return to being at least productive. Instead of simply being doomed to a life on disability, in itself a rather flawed, inefficient way of getting people the help they need.The COVID-19 pandemic also underscores the precariousness of a system in which insurance is linked to employment. Initial unemployment claims rose from 282,000 for the week ending last March 14 to 6.6 million, 5.2 million and 4.4 million, for the weeks ending last April 4, April 11, and April 18 2020, respectively, compared with a previous record high of 695,000 from 1982 . Many of these newly unemployed individuals will lose their health insurance. Although they are permitted to purchase insurance on the federal exchange, switching networks disrupts continuity of care, which is particularly detrimental for those living with chronic health conditions. Furthermore, the majority of families are unable to afford health insurance upon becoming unemployed, given that more than half of American families live paycheck to paycheck . (2)>>Hospitals jack up the rates they charge to insurance companies to enormous amounts because the insurance . Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that many hospitals charged more than 20 times the cost of some services, particularly for certain services like CT scans and anesthesiology. The researchers said that the pattern of charging suggests that hospitals strategically look for surreptitious ways to boost revenue.The markups occurred in all types of hospitals, both private and nonprofit, the researchers said. Yet hospitals with the highest markups, on average, tended to be for-profit hospitals with strong power within their markets, because of either their system affiliations or their dominance of regional markets. In other words, those hospitals that can mark up prices, do mark up prices, according to the researchers. The pricing can have serious consequences for the payer, the researchers said. For example, hospitals whose costs for a CT scan run at about $100 may charge a patient $2,850 for a CT scan, the study found. (3)>>A lot of us are limited to getting what our employer provides. Personally funded insurance is prohibitively expensive. My EXPERIENCE with employer provided care is that it's not EXACTLY FREE , if you work for the public sector [ schools, county , etc] there is a portion that your employer pays and what you pay will vary . That gift of employer healthcare is at the whim of Union negotiations , increasing costs of healthcare providers , third party public retirement systems . It reminds me of gambling on what the year to year costs go to the employee to employer . Most costs are much higher than the public sector , marked up by 50%. Fore every year public employee healthcare costs have gone up 25 %! (3.1)>>Obama-care in one form or another. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also called “Obamacare,” may be the biggest insurance scam in history. The industries that profit from our current health care system wrote the legislation, heavily influenced the regulations and have received waivers exempting them from provisions in the law. This has all been done to protect and enhance their profits.In the meantime, the health care crisis continues. Fewer people, even those with health insurance, can afford the health care they need because of out-of-pocket costs. The ACA continues that trend by pushing skimpy health plans with low coverage and restricted networks.This is what happens in a market-based system of health care. People get only the amount of health care they can afford, rather than what they need. The ACA takes our failed market-based system to a whole new level by forcing the uninsured to purchase private health plans and using the government to sell and subsidize them.Sadly, most Americans are being manipulated into supporting the ACA and do not even know they are being bamboozled. That is how scams work. Even after the con is completed, victims do not know they have been manipulated and ripped off. They may even feel good about being scammed, thinking they made a deal when they really had their bank accounts picked. But it is the insurance companies that are the realizing windfall profits from the Obamacare con even as it falters. (4)>>>The United States is the only profit-motivated healthcare system in the world. In the wealthiest country in the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the core of a healthcare system that is structurally incapable of dealing with the pandemic. Federal and local governments, health insurers and employers have pledged to help Americans pay their way through this crisis, but to do so requires a dramatic overhaul of a system which has for decades prioritized cost over care.For most Americans, health care looks something like this: A patient purchases health insurance, or receives it from his employer. The insurer then directs the patient to use physicians in its network, with whom it has negotiated reimbursement rates. The patient is given little or no information about the comparative cost or quality of any particular doctor. The patient then visits his doctor. After an interview and an examination, the physician orders tests, procedures, or medications on the patient's behalf. The insurance company reimburses the doctor for a large share of these costs, though it might occasionally haggle if it feels the doctor has spent too much on the patient. The patient receives a bill in the mail from the insurer for his part of the expenditure; that bill is only vaguely related to the services rendered to the patient, and is generally presented in a way that makes it impossible to decipher the relationship between services and costs.Health spending in the U.S. increased by 4.6% in 2018 to $3.6 trillion or $11,172 per capita. (5)>>by sticking them in Ventilators while waiting for money to pay for the covid treatments . Many forms of ventilation use masks to help get oxygen into the lungs. Doctors’ main concern is around mechanical ventilation, which involves putting tubes into patients’ airways to pump air in, a process known as intubation. Patients are heavily sedated, to stop their respiratory muscles from fighting the machine.Those with severe oxygen shortages, or hypoxia, have generally been intubated and hooked up to a ventilator for up to two to three weeks, with at best a fifty-fifty chance of surviving, according to doctors interviewed by Reuters and recent medical research. The picture is partial and evolving, but it suggests people with COVID-19 who have been intubated have had, at least in the early stages of the pandemic, a higher rate of death than other patients on ventilators who have conditions such as bacterial pneumonia or collapsed lungs.Human Rights Watch said.The potential financial burden resulting from medical care or hospitalization may deter many Americans, particularly those who are uninsured or underinsured, from seeking care. Many insurance companies have waived all out-of-pocket costs for coronavirus treatment, for some patients slashing a million-dollar-plus bill to nothing. But those waivers are entirely voluntary, and many have already expired. Medical bills for uninsured COVID-19 patients are covered by the federal government, but the rules are complex, and hospitals must apply for the money.Many insurance companies have waived all out-of-pocket costs for coronavirus treatment, for some patients slashing a million-dollar-plus bill to nothing. But those waivers are entirely voluntary, and many have already expired. Medical bills for uninsured COVID-19 patients are covered by the federal government, but the rules are complex, and hospitals must apply for the money.(6)>>dumped elderly people in the streets . The evil of the U.S. Healthcare system is defined by Elder Dumping . Some examples are of Gabino Olvera is a 42-year-old man who is mentally ill, paraplegic, and homeless. He was dropped off by Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in a soiled hospital gown with a catheter bag and no wheelchair in a neighborhood populated by many other homeless people . Carol Ann Reyes, an elderly woman suffering from dementia, was dropped off by Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center in front of Union Rescue Mission, an organization that serves the needy and homeless, wearing just a hospital gown . This practice is known as “patient dumping. Not only is patient dumping wrong, it’s also illegal under federal law. Patient dumping used to be a pervasive problem all across the U.S., particularly in situations when patients could not pay for treatment or didn’t have insurance. BUT it STILL HAPPENS ! Hospitals that infringe upon a patient’s rights to save on their bottom line need to be held responsible. Families of patients who have suffered injuries as a result of illegal patient dumping practices can hold the hospital accountable by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Working with experienced hospital negligence attorneys, victims and their families can get the answers and compensation they deserve.(7)>>PEOPLE over PROFITS . Health insurer practices like “fail first” and prior authorization lead to higher costs for patients and treatment delays. Patients deserve a system that provides access to the care they need, when they need it. Countries with universal nonprofit healthcare don’t have millions of people struggling to afford healthcare. And they don’t have millions of people skipping out on prescriptions because they cost too much money. From Switzerland to Italy, and Norway to France, healthcare is considered a basic human right. No one questions the notion that everyone, no matter who they are, is entitled to lifesaving and affordable healthcare. But the differences in healthcare outcomes in the U.S. and in Europe go beyond just universal healthcare. You see, healthcare isn’t a profit-making machine in Europe the way it is in the U.S.Suddenly, there was money to be made off of healthcare in America, and a lot of it. Banksters realized that these once-nonprofit hospitals, health insurers, and nursing homes had the potential to become absolute gold mines. Former Senator Bill Frist's family, for example, made billions in the 1980s and 1990s privatizing formerly county and city hospitals, slashing salaries, busting unions, and raising prices.Slowly but surely, corporations and the wealthy elite took over our healthcare system, and have left us with a healthcare nightmare. That’s why according to a new study by a prominent think-tank, the United States ranks dead last in a review of healthcare in the industrialized world. For the fifth time in a row, the U.S. has been ranked last in the Commonwealth Fund’s annual review of healthcare in developed nations. In fact, this is the story of the U.S. healthcare system. I mean, what kind of “system” is a loosely connected jumble of bureaucratic insurance companies vying to rip every cent out of your cold dying hands?
