6 ms·

Wouldn't it be nice to have an ultrasound and not know the price, nor care? That's what countries with single-payer are like. America needs to give up on this

Wouldn't it be nice to have an ultrasound and not know the price, nor care? That's what countries with single-payer are like. America needs to give up on this nonsense. There should be riots.

minikites 7y ago
Americans in general are in love with the idea of the "just world". If someone gets sick, it's because they did something to deserve it. If we treat their illness for free, they won't learn. Additionally, lots of employers also love holding their employees hostage via healthcare and they spend millions lobbying to this end.
- sjg007 7y ago
  Yep, your comment is underrated. Employees need to protest though.. these rising deductibles and coinsurance out of pocket costs are getting out of hand.
en4bz 7y ago
Except you often have to wait weeks for non-life threatening issues. In the US you can get imaging done same or next day.
- minikites 7y ago
  >Except you often have to wait weeks for non-life threatening issues. So it's preferable to have a system where people go bankrupt for routine care? https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304901?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=a5697b7e-8ffc-4373-b9d2-3eb745d9debb&=& https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2018.3049...
  - en4bz 7y ago
    You're presenting a false dichotomy. If people are being gouged then you can pass laws to limit that. You don't need single payer to solve these issues. Everyone knows the pricing system is BS. If that's the case then we should pass laws to change this.
    - velcrovan 7y ago
      Single payer is the best way to solve these issues though.
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  It's hardly unusual to wait weeks for non-life threatening issues in the US, especially for specialists or in rural areas. https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1178 https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1178 > Previous studies have shown that the average wait times to see a neurologist are increasing. The average wait time for a new patient to see a neurologist in 2012 was 35 business days, up from 28 business days in 2010. The average wait for a follow-up visit in 2012 was 30 days, up from 26 days in 2010. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-relationships/new-patient-wait-times-for-dermatologists-in-15-major-cities.html https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-rel... > The average wait for a new patient seeking an appointment with a dermatologist in a major metropolitan area is 32.3 days, according to a recent survey conducted by Merritt Hawkins.
- FireBeyond 7y ago
  I had injured ligaments and tendons in my dominant wrist after an airbag went off during a car accident. Splinting in the ER, sure. "Follow up with a Physical Therapist, get that started." ... "We can book you in in 10-12 weeks."
- axaxs 7y ago
  Give it up, dude. I lived in a top 20 city, with great insurance. Any specialist visit was at least 3 weeks out. GP 2 weeks, 1 if I settled for a nurse practitioner. Our health care sucks, and there is no defending it.
- astrodust 7y ago
  It's not life-threatening, so you're going to have to wait for people with life-threatening issues to get treated first. Why is this so hard to understand? This is how it works when "throw more money at the problem" isn't an option.
aianus 7y ago
As mentioned below, the price doesn't matter when nobody is available to see you. Also, the opportunity cost of sitting around with a broken hip waiting to be seen can be higher than going to a privatized country/province and paying for the surgery, in which case you're a super-sucker who paid extra taxes for decades just to end up paying out of pocket for surgery anyways. Anyways, the US system is probably worse overall but it can work quite well (better than socialized medicine) for upper-middle-class people and above which is why it's still around.
- velcrovan 7y ago
  Funny, I have a sister in Canada and a sister in Switzerland, neither of them have had trouble getting ultrasounds. My wife's grandmother is also in Canada and was treated the same day for her broken hip. I'm really sick of being told things are impossible in the US that are normal in other developed countries.
  - aianus 7y ago
    I live in Canada and have waited 4 months for a specialist at great personal cost (but not financial cost). I have also seen my mother suffer for 6 months on a surgery wait list and then recover slowly and painfully in a room with 4 other people who were constantly screaming during the night. And she was a lucky one because the hospital was so overcrowded that other patients were living, sleeping, and recovering in the literal hallway. Google "hallway medicine Ontario" to see I'm not making this up. It's not a perfect system by any stretch and it's much better than nothing but I bet upper-middle-class and above citizens in the USA enjoy better care.
    - johnpowell 7y ago
      I live in the United States and in June of last year I was told to make a appointment with a ear, nose, and throat doctor. So I called and was told the earliest they could see me was in October. I started chemo before my original appointment with that doctor. (Yes, it was mouth and neck cancer)
  - 7y ago
tyfon 7y ago
I'm having an ultrasound (at a private clinic) in about two weeks to check for a gall bladder stone. I have no idea what it costs but I guess out of pocket it would be about $20 "co payment", same as when I had a MR scan for my neck earlier this year. If you're out more than $200ish a year you don't have to pay the "co payments" anymore either, but that's only happened once for me. If you need to go to hospital it's free regardless. Norway here, guess we have a tax funded "single payer" system. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Wouldn't it be nice to have an ultrasound and not know the price, nor care? That's what countries with single-payer are like. America needs to give up on this nonsense. There should be riots.

minikites 7y ago

Americans in general are in love with the idea of the "just world". If someone gets sick, it's because they did something to deserve it. If we treat their illness for free, they won't learn. Additionally, lots of employers also love holding their employees hostage via healthcare and they spend millions lobbying to this end.

sjg007 7y ago
Yep, your comment is underrated. Employees need to protest though.. these rising deductibles and coinsurance out of pocket costs are getting out of hand.

en4bz 7y ago

Except you often have to wait weeks for non-life threatening issues. In the US you can get imaging done same or next day.

minikites 7y ago
>Except you often have to wait weeks for non-life threatening issues. So it's preferable to have a system where people go bankrupt for routine care? https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304901?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=a5697b7e-8ffc-4373-b9d2-3eb745d9debb&=& https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2018.3049...
- en4bz 7y ago
  You're presenting a false dichotomy. If people are being gouged then you can pass laws to limit that. You don't need single payer to solve these issues. Everyone knows the pricing system is BS. If that's the case then we should pass laws to change this.
  - velcrovan 7y ago
    Single payer is the best way to solve these issues though.
ceejayoz 7y ago
It's hardly unusual to wait weeks for non-life threatening issues in the US, especially for specialists or in rural areas. https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1178 https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1178 > Previous studies have shown that the average wait times to see a neurologist are increasing. The average wait time for a new patient to see a neurologist in 2012 was 35 business days, up from 28 business days in 2010. The average wait for a follow-up visit in 2012 was 30 days, up from 26 days in 2010. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-relationships/new-patient-wait-times-for-dermatologists-in-15-major-cities.html https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-rel... > The average wait for a new patient seeking an appointment with a dermatologist in a major metropolitan area is 32.3 days, according to a recent survey conducted by Merritt Hawkins.
FireBeyond 7y ago
I had injured ligaments and tendons in my dominant wrist after an airbag went off during a car accident. Splinting in the ER, sure. "Follow up with a Physical Therapist, get that started." ... "We can book you in in 10-12 weeks."
axaxs 7y ago
Give it up, dude. I lived in a top 20 city, with great insurance. Any specialist visit was at least 3 weeks out. GP 2 weeks, 1 if I settled for a nurse practitioner. Our health care sucks, and there is no defending it.
astrodust 7y ago
It's not life-threatening, so you're going to have to wait for people with life-threatening issues to get treated first. Why is this so hard to understand? This is how it works when "throw more money at the problem" isn't an option.

aianus 7y ago

As mentioned below, the price doesn't matter when nobody is available to see you. Also, the opportunity cost of sitting around with a broken hip waiting to be seen can be higher than going to a privatized country/province and paying for the surgery, in which case you're a super-sucker who paid extra taxes for decades just to end up paying out of pocket for surgery anyways. Anyways, the US system is probably worse overall but it can work quite well (better than socialized medicine) for upper-middle-class people and above which is why it's still around.

velcrovan 7y ago
Funny, I have a sister in Canada and a sister in Switzerland, neither of them have had trouble getting ultrasounds. My wife's grandmother is also in Canada and was treated the same day for her broken hip. I'm really sick of being told things are impossible in the US that are normal in other developed countries.
- aianus 7y ago
  I live in Canada and have waited 4 months for a specialist at great personal cost (but not financial cost). I have also seen my mother suffer for 6 months on a surgery wait list and then recover slowly and painfully in a room with 4 other people who were constantly screaming during the night. And she was a lucky one because the hospital was so overcrowded that other patients were living, sleeping, and recovering in the literal hallway. Google "hallway medicine Ontario" to see I'm not making this up. It's not a perfect system by any stretch and it's much better than nothing but I bet upper-middle-class and above citizens in the USA enjoy better care.
  - johnpowell 7y ago
    I live in the United States and in June of last year I was told to make a appointment with a ear, nose, and throat doctor. So I called and was told the earliest they could see me was in October. I started chemo before my original appointment with that doctor. (Yes, it was mouth and neck cancer)
- 7y ago

tyfon 7y ago

I'm having an ultrasound (at a private clinic) in about two weeks to check for a gall bladder stone. I have no idea what it costs but I guess out of pocket it would be about $20 "co payment", same as when I had a MR scan for my neck earlier this year. If you're out more than $200ish a year you don't have to pay the "co payments" anymore either, but that's only happened once for me. If you need to go to hospital it's free regardless. Norway here, guess we have a tax funded "single payer" system. Wouldn't have it any other way.