Health care costs – US v. other countries

One thought on “Health care costs – US v. other countries”

1. Yuck…Comparing the cost of healthcare here in the old U.S. of A. as opposed to other industrialized nations.
   I wonder how “healthcare” is used in those other nations. Not by the patients. Not by the doctors and nurses and lab techs but by the investors of those nations. I guess what I am wondering is – “Is the healthcare market in those other countries used to turn a profit the same way it is here in the States?”
   Has anyone considered that? (Ever?) On one hand we have the government with Medicaid/Medicare where the government “gives away” healthcare at the expense of thousands of taxpayers. On the other hand we have comercial insurers trying to eek out a profit “managing” healthcare costs while not ending up on the 11:00 news for “kicking grandma out of the hospital and into the street too soon”. Then we have the consumers (who are clueless – well at least the majority perhaps). The baby boomers are all used to the old fee for service approach and the “generation X-ers” will pay upwards of $2500.00 for new muffler bearings on the classic chevy in their garage but require CPR when they see an ER co-pay of $50.00 or a pharmcy copay of 15 bucks. Then there are nursing homes that in some cases pale in comparison to the worst kennels and then there are government agencies getting paid to “watch this thirteen ring circus”…
   Then there are all those people who work in hospitals – God bless them – (I’d rather work in a federal or state penitentiary – (better benefits of course)). So those folks – all of them – from the CEO’s down to the staff nurses to the M.D.s to the guy mopping the floor all need paid for their services at a competitive wage. (Plus they need insured too).
   I think a more accurate “comparison” would be to compare the “health industry” to the “auto industry”. People require both: Healthcare and a car – They pay dearly for both – Some people don’t have a car – some people don’t have insurance – Some people have the car with the most power and best gas milage – some people drive a 74 Chevy Caprice that’s all rusty and gets 8 MPG and likewise some folks have a healthplan that pays for everything with little or no copay and others get stuck with huge premiums, huge copays and poor choice of providers.
   The “cost” of healthcare is undoubtedly ugly but the more one looks at the big picture – the bigger and bigger it gets and of course everyone wants to make a buck or two off of a slice of the picture. Yes the cost is ugly.
   But what is the “worth” of healthcare?

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