3 ms·

I haven't heard of such stories here personally (Germany), it may exist, though my guess is that such behaviour is reserved for the upper class. There's also on

by ce4 5y ago

I haven't heard of such stories here personally (Germany), it may exist, though my guess is that such behaviour is reserved for the upper class. There's also only one article on wikipedia in another language for this concept. Health insurance is compulsory (most have the basic form that is cheap and subsidized and some have fully private insurance). We have another issue though: Doctors and clinics have admitted to overtreating private patients even if an operation is risky or won't be too benefitial (e.g. artificial hips at an age 85+ or similar). Just to cash in 6 figures because the private plan is known to pay it. In such cases relatives will of course also have an influence on such treatments. Edit: style/grammar Edit2: what i have witnessed personally is that it's very easy to get pills for anything in the US. I once had a torn toe nail and got codeine for 40 days, that totally baffled me. I would not have gotten opioids at home for such a thing, maybe Novalgin for a few days on request and over the counter NSAID else

rconti 5y ago
Yeah, it can go either way. The profit motive means private facilities have an incentive to charge for care as long as someone is willing to pay, even if there's not a 'real' long-term benefit. On the other hand, some of the scare tactics in the US that have been used against government-run health care is that some bureaucrat is "rationing" care, deciding when it's "worth" paying for a procedure, which is of course true. Then again, as in the German model, there's nothing preventing you from paying out-of-pocket or acquiring additional private insurance coverage above what the state provides. And of course it's a personal issue, how much money you are willing to spend and how much you are willing to undergo to prolong your life, however briefly. As for pills, after too many decades of dependance and addiction, it's getting harder to get narcotics in the US (finally?) I'm currently sitting with my leg up being iced after an ACL replacement surgery on Thursday. My prescription for an opiate is for 20 pills (3 days worth) and has no refills. As it runs out in a day, I've talked to my doctor, and it sounds possible-but-not-easy to get a new prescription, if necessary. I'm hoping to not need it, but it at least sounds possible if I do.
- ce4 5y ago
  Oh, I hope you recover soon! > there's nothing preventing you from paying out-of-pocket or acquiring additional private insurance Of course not, but from what I whitnessed, it's not really common. One ongoing personal health issue has changed my thinking about it (the commons plan treatment is more or less absent or negligent at best) but I do get strange looks when I tell that I pay out of pocket for that, even from colleagues that I know have similar issues and are much more wealthier than me. At some point they have had enough docs and gave up, living with it. You also cannot add general private health insurance as an addon (only stuff like dentist coverage), but you need to make a switch-once-and-for-all decision to private insurance (there's no going back to the subsidized commons model, it's possible via exceptions, but generally very hard). The earlier in life you do make this decision to switch, the cheaper the health plan gets - at an older age there's chances they will deny you or exclude treatment for known health issues & ask heavy prices. Switching between different private health plans is also difficult, for the same reasons. Although since 2010 or so, insurers must reserve 30% or so of accumulated capital to be transferred in case one switches private insurance funds. But old plans before that "don't vest" or how to say, when switching. The saying goes "it's easier to get divorced than to switch your private helth insurance"

by ce4 5y ago

rconti 5y ago

Yeah, it can go either way. The profit motive means private facilities have an incentive to charge for care as long as someone is willing to pay, even if there's not a 'real' long-term benefit. On the other hand, some of the scare tactics in the US that have been used against government-run health care is that some bureaucrat is "rationing" care, deciding when it's "worth" paying for a procedure, which is of course true. Then again, as in the German model, there's nothing preventing you from paying out-of-pocket or acquiring additional private insurance coverage above what the state provides. And of course it's a personal issue, how much money you are willing to spend and how much you are willing to undergo to prolong your life, however briefly. As for pills, after too many decades of dependance and addiction, it's getting harder to get narcotics in the US (finally?) I'm currently sitting with my leg up being iced after an ACL replacement surgery on Thursday. My prescription for an opiate is for 20 pills (3 days worth) and has no refills. As it runs out in a day, I've talked to my doctor, and it sounds possible-but-not-easy to get a new prescription, if necessary. I'm hoping to not need it, but it at least sounds possible if I do.

ce4 5y ago
Oh, I hope you recover soon! > there's nothing preventing you from paying out-of-pocket or acquiring additional private insurance Of course not, but from what I whitnessed, it's not really common. One ongoing personal health issue has changed my thinking about it (the commons plan treatment is more or less absent or negligent at best) but I do get strange looks when I tell that I pay out of pocket for that, even from colleagues that I know have similar issues and are much more wealthier than me. At some point they have had enough docs and gave up, living with it. You also cannot add general private health insurance as an addon (only stuff like dentist coverage), but you need to make a switch-once-and-for-all decision to private insurance (there's no going back to the subsidized commons model, it's possible via exceptions, but generally very hard). The earlier in life you do make this decision to switch, the cheaper the health plan gets - at an older age there's chances they will deny you or exclude treatment for known health issues & ask heavy prices. Switching between different private health plans is also difficult, for the same reasons. Although since 2010 or so, insurers must reserve 30% or so of accumulated capital to be transferred in case one switches private insurance funds. But old plans before that "don't vest" or how to say, when switching. The saying goes "it's easier to get divorced than to switch your private helth insurance"