More on healthcare

[pecunium]

The Denver Post has a decent column up, Debunking Myths about Canadian Healthcare

There is also a forum for discussing it.

It's interesting, as one reads the comments (almost 450, at this count) to see the difference between those who think the US system needs to change, and those who don't.

Those who want to see it change cite studies, and polls. Those who don't cite opinion pieces, or make unspported statements (someone blamed Natasha Richardson's death on there being no helicopter; never mind that she refused treatment).

Most of the "rebuttals are things on the order of, "The US is best", and, "We don't want the beauraucrats making decisions". There are also the, "Gov't can't do anything right crowd."

When a Canadian opines (esp. those who have lived both places) that they like/prefer the Canadian system, they are called liars.

But my favorite comment was this one

I'm a Canadian, and I can tell you that we do have American-style care here in certain areas. I went to my medical provider when a member of my family broke a leg. I was astonished by the invoice for the operation: consultation fee, anaesthetic, bandages, various drugs, needles, assistance of three people, specialist- the invoice was three pages long. The total was nearly $1350.00. And I was very interested because I'd never seen a medical invoice before.

When another member of my family broke an arm, there were two operations, three casts, and twenty rehab visits without every seeing a single piece of paper.

Of course, the broken leg was my dog. The broken arm was my son.

You Americans treat your children the way we treat our dogs.

Comments

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Then who would see that a company is ripping off the (government/insurance company) for so much? I spoke with the company that makes the device and they said that the charges that my insurance company made were completely unreasonable. So did the specialists at the clinic we go to once a year, as did his local therapists. Everyone was suprised that they got away with charging so much, but since it isn't often that someone uses such a thing, the research isn't always done. Costs are out of control. Because of that, my son cannot get another device although he sorely needs one, because of thieves like the people who sold us the first device.

Plus if people see invoices, they can tell if they are padded, if they charged for procedures that never happened, and so on. Is it ok for you if you found out they charged for two braces and a week of inpatient therapy if you never got it?

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I don't need to see those invoices. The auditor does, but I don't.

I don't care, directly, if they listed extra treatment/equipment, because the fraud won't affect me directly (if there is fraud). Part of how such frauds work is because most people can't spot it. I was billed for drugs I didn't get when I had my kidney stone. I doubt it was itentional. I protested it, because I had to pay. If I didn't have to pay then the drugs they forget to chart will probably balance the accidental extras.

If there was a single insurer, then the ability to pull a shuck and jive (if only one person in a year, in a market; per insurer, uses a thing, there is no way to easily compare it) is a lot less, because all the charges will be going to the same, "company".

It's part of the economy of scale.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I see no reason why people should not be a part of their care, part of what is happening, and involved in that. I want to see what is being billed, what my treatment is, what is going on. I want transparency. Maybe because in the grand scheme of things you're better off than my son, and can be lax like that, but when you have costs like we do, you want to keep an eye on who you are working with and how they operate. I'm not about to write a blank check. It will only hurt me and my children down the road. Why medicaid does not do an EOB is beyond me. So wasteful, if you ask me. We're talking thousands and thousands for this one issue alone. And I think if people are aware of costs, they'd be more careful of what they do, at least some people, and would question as a whole why things are the way they are.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I am involved in my treatment. Invoices aren't about treatment, they are about payment.

If the bill is paid, you don't have costs. That's the whole point of the people I know who live in Britain and Canada. They don't pay a cent for needed care.

They have insurance for drugs, and dental and optical, but that has nothing to do with what the billing for things like iclysdale's kidney replacement, or my mass of tests to make sure I didn't have a bronchial infection not a drug reaction.

If I'd had to pay for them (or worry that my insurer might deny them) it would have been different.

But it was completely transparent. The doctors made suggestions, we talked about risks, benefits, probabilties, methods (the worst for anxiety was the spinal tap, the riskiest was the pulmonary biopsies, the most lasting were the punch biopsies).

As for the "blank check", it doesn't apply. Unless you know the charges are out of line, how can you prevent it? Insurers are good at spotting blatant fraud. They pay professionals to do that.

We shouldn't have to.

[zeeth_kyrah]

I'm receiving Medicaid, and the particular program I'm on now sends me a regular statement, outlining the charges made to my account, and whether and how much each item was covered.