XPost: alt.autos.toyota, rec.autos.driving, alt.society.liberalism   
   XPost: alt.fan.michael-moore   
   From: crwlrjeff@yahoo.com   
      
   "sms88"  wrote in message   
   news:k095ps$mqb$1@dont-email.me...   
   >   
   >   
   > On 8/12/2012 1:08 PM, Jeff Strickland wrote:   
   >>   
   >> "sms88"  wrote in message   
   >> news:k08prb$d1q$1@dont-email.me...   
   >>> On 8/12/2012 10:00 AM, Jeff Strickland wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> You went to the county heath clinic. You paid $25, the officed billed   
   >>>> the government $400 for the three minutes you were served.   
   >>>   
   >>> Unlikely. The county clinics are highly subsidized up front. While the   
   >>> amount of care received probably cost the government well over $400,   
   >>> there was no need to submit any bills since the government already   
   >>> paid for the doctors, nurses, laboratory, and support staff. It's more   
   >>> efficient than submitting forms for reimbursement for every patient.   
   >>   
   >> That doesn't really change my argument very much. Does the office bill   
   >> the government after the service or before? Either way, it costs more   
   >> than $25, and taxpayers pick up the shortfall.   
   >   
   > That's true. And since the person will go to the county clinic only when   
   > the problem becomes serious, the costs end up being much higher than if   
   > they had preventative care available to them.   
   >   
   > That's why the U.S. spends the most money per capita on health care but   
   > has poorer outcomes than countries that spend far less.   
   >   
   > We choose to personally spend more money on health care, education, etc.,   
   > in exchange for much lower taxes than other countries. The fact that we   
   > actually end up spending far more money overall is something that is   
   > difficult to make people understand.   
      
   America spends more per capita because if the doctor prescribes a Bandaid,   
   and the adhesive sticks too hard, the patient will sue. They have to test   
   the Bandaid to a ridiculous degree, and they have to test the patient to be   
   sure their skin is not gonna have a reaction to the glue. If you have a   
   headache, they need a brain scan to be sure that Aspirin is gonna take care   
   of you. Aspirin is not expensive, but the brain scan costs a bundle. Doctors   
   are sued for stuff they should not be sued for, and they test for stuff that   
   has no bearing on the problem that you came in for because if they miss it   
   they you will sue them even though what did you in had nothing to do with   
   what made you go to the doctor in the first place. THIS DRIVES UP THE COST   
   OF HEALTH CARE so that America pays more per capita than the entire rest of   
   the universe.   
      
   But, I submit that the OP did not wait until the illness was at an advanced   
   state and the cost to cure was high because of it. I maintain that the cost   
   is high just because the cost is high, and lots of variables feed into that   
   problem.   
      
   I once had a horrible razor blade accident that took 9 stiches, the cost was   
   well in excess of $600 at the Urgent Care. Not even the emergency room, just   
   a lowly urgent care clinic in a strip mall behind Target. $600 for 9   
   stiches. The girl swabbed the job site with some iodine for a couple of   
   minutes, the doctor came in with a knitting needle and some twine. $600 in   
   less than 20 minutes. I am not one to visit the doctor unless I have an   
   acute event of some sort. I have lots of chronic problems that simply cannot   
   be fixed, or maybe they can be fixed, but they are "just life", and fixing   
   them is simply not worth my time and trouble. I'm an Old Guy that hurts   
   everywhere, but unless there is a bone sticking out or copious loss of   
   bodily fluids, I just don't care enough to have it looked at. I paid the   
   cover charge, and they billed my insurance, then billed me for what the   
   insurance didn't cover.   
      
   The point is, it is a pile of horseshit to say that people sit at home and   
   fester, then go to the ER in the final minutes of their life to get a cure   
   in the knick of time. Most that go to the ER have a sudden, acute, event   
   that they deem to be serious. Yes, some take a paper cut to the ER, but the   
   vast majority of paper cut victims do not arrive at the ER in the back of a   
   meat wagon. The meat wagon brings in something more than 90% of ER patients,   
   the paper cuts are walk-ins that frankly the ER should send to the local   
   urgent care instead of give up the valuable space and resources to cure.   
      
   I'm sure that TigerCrap, whatever, and his girlfriend did the right thing by   
   going to the local clinic as opposed to the ER, and he gets a Brownie Point   
   for paying the $25 deductable instead of hitting the ER for free service,   
   but the point is that the services he(she) received cost far more than $25,   
   and unless he(she) has health insurance for the rest, then you and I are   
   paying the tab for him. Do not be fooled, I'm sure he pays the same taxes,   
   so he paid into the fund for the services he received too, and he also pays   
   into the fund that serves others in the community. But, he should be aware   
   that the services cost far more than the $25 Cover Charge they hit him at   
   the door with.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)