Vegas Free-for-All - A Health Care System I Won't Miss

A Health Care System I Won't Miss

jatki

Aug 4, 2013
11:43pm

Quote

Originally posted by: alanleroyII
The real answer is bypassing the bloated, non competitive, monopolistic healthcare system we have and opening it up to competition from outside the US. If there is any cost saving in Obamacare it is miniscule compared to 10 fold reductions we are seeing in countless examples.

22,000 pages of new laws would not have helped American Manufacturing compete in the 90's. Outsourcing large swaths of US Manufacturing provided consumers better products at lower prices.

The healthcare industry needs a healthy dose of outsourcing and real competition to provide the best possible healthcare at the lowest possible price.

Don't even get me started on the AMA.

On one side that sounds like a good idea, but, if a flood of subpar dr.'s and surgeons were allowed
to set up shop in this litigious society we have here, I believe the courts would be even more bogged
down than they already are. I would suspect the # of attorneys per 1000 would jump dramatically.
Instituting tort reform could be helpful I suppose.

J

alanleroyII

Aug 5, 2013
12:29am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: jatki99

On one side that sounds like a good idea, but, if a flood of subpar dr.'s and surgeons were allowed
to set up shop in this litigious society we have here, I believe the courts would be even more bogged
down than they already are. I would suspect the # of attorneys per 1000 would jump dramatically.
Instituting tort reform could be helpful I suppose.

J

1. All of the articles quoted above indicate the quality of care is equal or better than that received here. It's just less expensive. Of course the vendors would have to be certified. I'm not talking about a sidewalk clinic in Mumbai, but advanced, state of the art medical facilities...that work better and cheaper than our own.

2. Since patients with these major medical problems would have their procedures outside of the USA, their recourse for issues would not be in the US court system. So no. There would be no more US court cases. There would be fewer. There would be no additional US attorneys. There would be fewer.

Don

Aug 5, 2013
12:49am

Block User

Oh sure, . . . the day after DonDiego arranges to have his hemorrhoids removed at a sidewalk clinic in Mumbai, alanleroyII informs him that the service may be substandard.

And the airfare is non-refundble !

pjstroh

Aug 5, 2013
1:06am

Block User

Quote

There's no shortage of competition in the US for healthcare services - its just isn't very transparent. You probably have at least 5 hospitals within 45 minutes of your house. There isn't an Expedia.com for medical procedures where consumers can see the range of prices for each of them. That would be nice wouldn't it? It would give consumers the ability to choose services within their price range...and it would presure providers to keep prices more in line with their competitors.

But wait! The ACA actually got the ball rolling on this very front. They are now publishing the prices charged by your neighborhood hospitals so you can get an idea for which ones are taking out alot more than your tonsils...maybe your life savings too. People are free to opine about the entirety of Obamacare but I cant imagine objecting to this provision. In fact, I cant imagine anyone who would not want to make this provision much stronger.

Dan Svatass

Aug 5, 2013
1:46am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: nemesis
The first black president has turned out to be just one more plain ole normal human being with all the warts and blemishes all the rest of us have and just isn't that great at his job.

Oh cool. Thank you nemesis! With melbedewy gone, we did get kind of deep into a thread without feeling the need to note that President Obama is black. Thank you for reminding us. Of course his race (black, as you point out) is totally relevant to what we've been discussing.

After all, we wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to note that President Obama is black. Because he is black. A black guy. Our President is a black guy.

Dan Svatass

Aug 5, 2013
1:50am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: pjstroh
People are free to opine about the entirety of Obamacare but I cant imagine objecting to this provision.

We're much too busy debating the long-reported truth that superior medical care can be found abroad at a fraction of the (typically hidden and indecipherable) cost in the US.

Dan Svatass

Aug 5, 2013
2:03am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: BobOrme

Break down the individual costs for each item. What were the doctors' charges? What were the operating room charges? What were the charges for crutches? What were the charges for medicines? What were the charges for 5 days in a hospital room? What were the charges for a week of rehab? Where was he staying during rehab and what were the lodging costs for that week? What was the cost of the roundtrip plane ticket? What transportation did he use while in Belgium and what did that cost? I'm sure that if all of these expenses were paid out-of-pocket by the "medical tourist", he must have claimed all of those expenses as deductible on his tax returns for that year. A true journalist would want specific information to back up the numbers used in a "story" if the "story" is a factual account of what happened. When "unknown" is listed as the charges for the surgeon as part of the costs to have the hip replacement done in America, credibility is walking out the door and running down the street before the rest of the "story" is even told!

I don't believe it. To believe it without any documented proof is still blind allegiance to a single politician. That is you.

Next thing you know, the "media" will be telling us we put a man on the moon!

nemesis

Aug 5, 2013
4:52am

Block User

It's no big deal to me Chilly. I am part of a very harmonious bi-racial family. I mentioned it only because its the only thing about him that stands out. Everything else is pretty bland and, frankly, not-so-much if you take away the job he managed to con the voters into.

Sorry to take one of your favorite clubs away from you.

Don

Aug 5, 2013
5:12am

Block User

From somewhere on the internets:
"In 1965, the House Ways and Means Committee estimated that the hospital insurance program of Medicare - the federal health care program for the elderly and disabled - would cost $9 billion by 1990. The actual cost that year was $67 billion.

In 1967, the House Ways and Means Committee said the entire Medicare program would cost $12 billion in 1990. The actual cost in 1990 was $98 billion.

In 1987, Congress projected that Medicaid - the joint federal-state health care program for the poor - would make special relief payments to hospitals of less than $1 billion in 1992. Actual cost: $17 billion.

The list goes on. The 1993 cost of Medicare’s home care benefit was projected in 1988 to be $4 billion, but ended up at $10 billion."

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."__ George Santayana

Dan Svatass

Aug 5, 2013
5:14am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: nemesis
I mentioned it only because its the only thing about him that stands out.

I believe you when you say that the only thing about President Obama that stands out about him to you is that he is black. Thank you for your honesty.

«‹4 ›»

Already a LVA subscriber?
To continue reading, choose an option below:

Diamond Membership

$3 per month

Unlimited access to LVA website

Exclusive subscriber-only content

Limited Member Rewards Online

Join Now

Platinum Membership

$50 per year

Unlimited access to LVA website

Exclusive subscriber-only content

Exclusive Member Rewards Book

Join Now