3 ms·

When compared to health insurance almost anywhere else in the world, it's dire value for money.

wincy 8y ago
It’s pretty good for my daughter. She was born with Spina Bifida and we’re paying $300 a month for an ACA plan. She’s cost probably a million dollars by this point so it’s worked out pretty well for us. In a country with socialized medicine they’d probably have just let her die, as the doctors had given her a prognosis that she might not last a year. My wife dug up some research on some treatments they hadn’t considered, and now our daughter’s condition is greatly improved, and her prognosis adjusted to slightly below average lifespan (Spina Bifida adults have kidney problems because they often have to catheter themselves and suffer long term backing up into the kidneys, which eventually causes kidney failure). It’s a weird case too because if she gets the care she needs she stands to live a long life, be of normal intelligence, she has a good chance of walking, etc. She’s so darned cute and gregarious, cooing and laughing, you’d never know she had all these problems if you saw her out and about. So I guess my daughter is the reason insurance is so expensive. But after getting page after page of “100% covered $3000” pages for each day she’s spent in the hospital, I’m really glad to have the insurance I do, because a place where the government decides how much to spend on care would have given up on her months ago.
- rswail 8y ago
  In a "country with socialized medicine" that is in the 1st world (ie US/CA/UK/AU/NZ/EU etc) she'd probably get exactly the same treatments. Oh and the cost of that hospital room would have been literally a tenth of the cost. I (or my insurance) wasn't charged half of that for a post-operative 48 hours in an ICU after quad bypass surgery. The US already has a third of its population covered by "socialized medicine". That's what Medicare/Medicaid/Tricare /VA are. The "socialized" adjective is a canard introduced by the health care "industry" in the US to scare people. US Medicare admin costs are below 5% pa, the health insurance "industry" doing the same thing, are 20% of their revenue.
  - wincy 8y ago
    You’re right I guess. My uncle has no insurance and was just diagnosed with cancer. He’s getting chemo same as anyone else. He supposedly owes tons of money in medical debts but still has over 800 credit score. The US medical system is a really weird beast.
- ex3ndr 8y ago
  In the countries with "socialized medicine" it will just cost zero with same level of treatment.
  - peteretep 8y ago
    + no risk of getting kicked off the insurance for some bullshit technicality.
- brohee 8y ago
  The rumors of "death panels" in countries with socialized medicine are pure scare mongering. In France I've seen multiple cases of no expanses spared in clearly hopeless cases, to the point I think it was borderline excessive and that palliative care would have been better...
- peteretep 8y ago
  There is _some_ truth to what you're saying, but only a bit. > the government decides how much to spend on care This is true, there are limits to what the government will pay. The NHS, which isn't far from the gold-standard for socialized medical care, does indeed not stock some drugs that are deemed too expensive. Here's a good write-up of QALY's and the NHS: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-28983924 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-28983924 If your child had been born with spina bifida in the UK, all treatment would have been free. This treatment would include (from 2018) pre-natal surgery, post-natal surgery, physiotherapy for life, occupational therapy for life, special educational needs, mobility aids for life, and all manner of treatment for association problems, including kidney treatment for life[0]. Here's a summary of the NHS treatment for it: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/spina-bifida/treatment/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/spina-bifida/treatment/ > In a country with socialized medicine they’d probably have just let her die How much research did you actually do on this point? I'm always amazed by how much Americans suck up the death panels bullshit. If a fraction of what all y'all believe about socialized medicine was true, then free medical care wouldn't be free at point of use in literally every other civilized country on the planet. That you are willing to believe all the world except Americans are idiots for the way we have our healthcare setup beggars belief, and reflects poorly.

It’s pretty good for my daughter. She was born with Spina Bifida and we’re paying $300 a month for an ACA plan. She’s cost probably a million dollars by this point so it’s worked out pretty well for us. In a country with socialized medicine they’d probably have just let her die, as the doctors had given her a prognosis that she might not last a year. My wife dug up some research on some treatments they hadn’t considered, and now our daughter’s condition is greatly improved, and her prognosis adjusted to slightly below average lifespan (Spina Bifida adults have kidney problems because they often have to catheter themselves and suffer long term backing up into the kidneys, which eventually causes kidney failure). It’s a weird case too because if she gets the care she needs she stands to live a long life, be of normal intelligence, she has a good chance of walking, etc. She’s so darned cute and gregarious, cooing and laughing, you’d never know she had all these problems if you saw her out and about. So I guess my daughter is the reason insurance is so expensive. But after getting page after page of “100% covered $3000” pages for each day she’s spent in the hospital, I’m really glad to have the insurance I do, because a place where the government decides how much to spend on care would have given up on her months ago.

rswail 8y ago
In a "country with socialized medicine" that is in the 1st world (ie US/CA/UK/AU/NZ/EU etc) she'd probably get exactly the same treatments. Oh and the cost of that hospital room would have been literally a tenth of the cost. I (or my insurance) wasn't charged half of that for a post-operative 48 hours in an ICU after quad bypass surgery. The US already has a third of its population covered by "socialized medicine". That's what Medicare/Medicaid/Tricare /VA are. The "socialized" adjective is a canard introduced by the health care "industry" in the US to scare people. US Medicare admin costs are below 5% pa, the health insurance "industry" doing the same thing, are 20% of their revenue.
- wincy 8y ago
  You’re right I guess. My uncle has no insurance and was just diagnosed with cancer. He’s getting chemo same as anyone else. He supposedly owes tons of money in medical debts but still has over 800 credit score. The US medical system is a really weird beast.
ex3ndr 8y ago
In the countries with "socialized medicine" it will just cost zero with same level of treatment.
- peteretep 8y ago
  + no risk of getting kicked off the insurance for some bullshit technicality.
brohee 8y ago
The rumors of "death panels" in countries with socialized medicine are pure scare mongering. In France I've seen multiple cases of no expanses spared in clearly hopeless cases, to the point I think it was borderline excessive and that palliative care would have been better...
peteretep 8y ago
There is _some_ truth to what you're saying, but only a bit. > the government decides how much to spend on care This is true, there are limits to what the government will pay. The NHS, which isn't far from the gold-standard for socialized medical care, does indeed not stock some drugs that are deemed too expensive. Here's a good write-up of QALY's and the NHS: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-28983924 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-28983924 If your child had been born with spina bifida in the UK, all treatment would have been free. This treatment would include (from 2018) pre-natal surgery, post-natal surgery, physiotherapy for life, occupational therapy for life, special educational needs, mobility aids for life, and all manner of treatment for association problems, including kidney treatment for life[0]. Here's a summary of the NHS treatment for it: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/spina-bifida/treatment/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/spina-bifida/treatment/ > In a country with socialized medicine they’d probably have just let her die How much research did you actually do on this point? I'm always amazed by how much Americans suck up the death panels bullshit. If a fraction of what all y'all believe about socialized medicine was true, then free medical care wouldn't be free at point of use in literally every other civilized country on the planet. That you are willing to believe all the world except Americans are idiots for the way we have our healthcare setup beggars belief, and reflects poorly.