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My wife was assessed as a preeclampsia risk during all her pregnancies. The last one they were so concerned she was airlifted to the state's top maternity and n

by shirro 9y ago

My wife was assessed as a preeclampsia risk during all her pregnancies. The last one they were so concerned she was airlifted to the state's top maternity and neonatal hospital. I can't imagine getting the same level of care in a profit motivated healthcare system without bankrupting our family. I doubt that it is the focus on infants that is the real problem in the US but it might be difficult to say what the real problem is without getting into a shitstorm as health care has become so politicised.

refurb 9y ago
I can't imagine getting the same level of care in a profit motivated healthcare system without bankrupting our family. That happens all the time in the US without bankrupting people.
- webnrrd2k 9y ago
  It also happens all the time with bankrupting people. I have several friends that have gone bankrupt due to medical conditions, one who's now homeless because he contracted MRSA in the ER, and it took 9 months in sub-ICU and several long, expensive surgeries. His insurance capped at at 1 million per year, but his bill was way over that by 6 months. I think it ended up being 1.5 or 2.5 million total, but I could be wrong. So I'm not quite sure what you point is... That it's possible to get expensive care without going bankrupt? Sometimes the US medical system works well?
- shirro 9y ago
  Bankruptcy wouldn't be the worst outcome. Our private medical insurance and income were never considered in our treatment and while controlling health care costs is a concern everywhere I never felt it influenced the delivery of services. We have more doctors per capita, more hospital beds, better life expectancy and spend less on health care and do it with a comparable tax burden and lower public debt. Nowhere in the article does it acknowledge that the developed countries with falling maternal mortality rates have very different healthcare systems to the US. It just might be a factor in this.

by shirro 9y ago

refurb 9y ago

I can't imagine getting the same level of care in a profit motivated healthcare system without bankrupting our family. That happens all the time in the US without bankrupting people.

webnrrd2k 9y ago
It also happens all the time with bankrupting people. I have several friends that have gone bankrupt due to medical conditions, one who's now homeless because he contracted MRSA in the ER, and it took 9 months in sub-ICU and several long, expensive surgeries. His insurance capped at at 1 million per year, but his bill was way over that by 6 months. I think it ended up being 1.5 or 2.5 million total, but I could be wrong. So I'm not quite sure what you point is... That it's possible to get expensive care without going bankrupt? Sometimes the US medical system works well?
shirro 9y ago
Bankruptcy wouldn't be the worst outcome. Our private medical insurance and income were never considered in our treatment and while controlling health care costs is a concern everywhere I never felt it influenced the delivery of services. We have more doctors per capita, more hospital beds, better life expectancy and spend less on health care and do it with a comparable tax burden and lower public debt. Nowhere in the article does it acknowledge that the developed countries with falling maternal mortality rates have very different healthcare systems to the US. It just might be a factor in this.