8 ms·
When I visited Taiwan, I needed to get some urgent dental care done. I went to a small local clinic, where the dentist spoke good enough english, did great work
by diziet 9y ago
When I visited Taiwan, I needed to get some urgent dental care done. I went to a small local clinic, where the dentist spoke good enough english, did great work (including x-rays) and my total uninsured bill was less than my co-pay in the US would have been.
It is good AND affordable.
- adventured 9y agoThe average American dentist earns $175,000, the median is ~$155,000. What do you propose to do about that to reduce their income considerably to bring down overall costs vs what a dentist in Taiwan earns? US GDP per capita is nearly three times that of Taiwan, incomes are likewise far higher. It's equivalent to comparing costs in Switzerland versus Czech and being surprised that Switzerland is so much higher.
- diziet 9y agoI would be very fine paying 3x the rate of Taiwan as the uninsured rate for dentistry. I understand that the cost of labor is different.
- mtanski 9y agoPrice controls is a dirty term we refuse to talk about in the good 'ol USA. Most other healthcare systems in the world with low prices have some kind of combination of it when it comes to drugs and procedures performed. The AMA has been fighting any kind of single payer system for 50 years now. They know that a single payer system will result in some kind of price controls. On one hand you understand their point of view (maximizibf their income well being) and on the other hand you understand the issue with that for all of society. Having said that it's not just the income of doctor. Healthcare administration is expensive in the USA. Many doctors offices spend a non insignificant amount of money on just the billing, collection, insurance administration. The health insurance system as we naturally ended up with sucks up a non insignificant amount of money out of the system. It also leads to these weird distortions where every insured procedure is discounted to the insurance agency like 75%... But not if you deal direct. Additionally, operational insurance (malpractice indurance) is another non-insignificant contributor. Our culture and our legal system ensure that many doctors practices will pay a multiple of a practitioners salary in malpractice and related salary. If we want cheaper healthcare all of these need to be addressed one way or another. I am not hopeful that we can escape this local maxima that we're stuck in. Every attempt at change will be meet with fierce opposition from the current status quo.