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I’m so sorry. My father-in-law has had his “elective” surgery to deal with a hernia cancelled twice due to hospital overcapacity, and all we can do is pray that

I’m so sorry. My father-in-law has had his “elective” surgery to deal with a hernia cancelled twice due to hospital overcapacity, and all we can do is pray that Germany’s current restrictions will have kept the numbers low enough for his current appointment this week and likely follow up procedure to deal with tachycardia to happen. They’re not even talking about rescheduling the hernia surgery anytime soon - he’s making do with a compression band. This is why it is other people’s business whether someone is vaccinated.

sm4rk0 5y ago
I assume your opinion is "more vaccinated people => less load on hospitals", but this article hints it could be the opposite.
- gumby 5y ago
  The article says no such thing, and in fact doesn’t even address that issue. The closest is the following: “It may not all be COVID on their death certificate, but deaths are up just huge, huge numbers.” The person quoted isn’t commenting on hospitals at all. For example my uncle doesn’t have COVID on his death certificate but his doctor says that his case was simple enough that he could have been saved had he been able to be admitted.
  - sm4rk0 5y ago
    The article quotes an MD: "The number of hospitalizations in the state is now higher than before the COVID-19 vaccine was introduced a year ago" The person I'm replying to mentioned "hospital overcapacity".
    - gumby 5y ago
      True, but that statement doesn’t make the implication you claim; the other arm of the statement would have to be an assertion that the hospitalization rate would (or would not) have been higher had no vaccination been performed. “Fortunately” (well for this argument anyway) there are natural experiments going on (including between US states, between counties in large states like California, and between European countries) that appear to demonstrate that vaccination does in fact reduce hospitalization
      - sm4rk0 5y ago
        But reducing hospitalzitation alone isn't fair enough metric. What about people being disabled/dying from cardiovascular diseases as a consequence of mRNA therapy? They aren't taken into account by pharma and politicians. They are even going further against the common sense by blaming global warming!?
diogenescynic 5y ago
I don’t disagree but I think we should also be demanding more capacity from our hospitals and maybe just maybe demanding actual universal healthcare. It’s so bizarre to me that that’s not even on the table but it’s because most just assume we have to have a for-profit medical system.
- ericd 5y ago
  Isn't Germany's healthcare system already universal, and their support for elderly people quite generous?
  - MandieD 5y ago
    Nearly universal: there is a universal legal requirement that you have health insurance, and about 90% of the population is a member of one of the very strictly regulated Krankenkasse (the "public" option), with most of the remaining 10% is covered by more loosely-regulated (but still strict by US standards) private insurance. Nearly universal: there are, by many estimates, at least tens of thousands of people who fall through the cracks - mostly (former) small business owners, other independent contractors, and widows of government employees who cannot afford their private insurance anymore, and are too old/unemployed to require a Krankenkasse to take them in. Doctors own their own practices, or are employed by practices or hospitals. They have the choice to not accept Krankenkasse repayment rates, in which case they can only accept private patients (privately insured, or self-paying). Germany's health economy looks more like the US than it does the UK. Overall, it is less expensive for similar quality, and American-style ruinous 6-figure bills are unheard of.
    - ericd 5y ago
      Thanks for the explanation! With the exception of the implication that Krakenkasses aren’t required to be available to all (why? Strange that there would be age/employment requirements), that sounds excellent, at least from a US perspective. I think a public option that can negotiate and isn’t just a price taker goes a long way to reining in the excesses of the private options and the providers, if they want to remain competitive. We don’t really have that normalizing force in the US. But it’s nice to retain the private options so you have the option to pay more for better/quicker service.

sm4rk0 5y ago

I assume your opinion is "more vaccinated people => less load on hospitals", but this article hints it could be the opposite.

gumby 5y ago
The article says no such thing, and in fact doesn’t even address that issue. The closest is the following: “It may not all be COVID on their death certificate, but deaths are up just huge, huge numbers.” The person quoted isn’t commenting on hospitals at all. For example my uncle doesn’t have COVID on his death certificate but his doctor says that his case was simple enough that he could have been saved had he been able to be admitted.
- sm4rk0 5y ago
  The article quotes an MD: "The number of hospitalizations in the state is now higher than before the COVID-19 vaccine was introduced a year ago" The person I'm replying to mentioned "hospital overcapacity".
  - gumby 5y ago
    True, but that statement doesn’t make the implication you claim; the other arm of the statement would have to be an assertion that the hospitalization rate would (or would not) have been higher had no vaccination been performed. “Fortunately” (well for this argument anyway) there are natural experiments going on (including between US states, between counties in large states like California, and between European countries) that appear to demonstrate that vaccination does in fact reduce hospitalization
    - sm4rk0 5y ago
      But reducing hospitalzitation alone isn't fair enough metric. What about people being disabled/dying from cardiovascular diseases as a consequence of mRNA therapy? They aren't taken into account by pharma and politicians. They are even going further against the common sense by blaming global warming!?

diogenescynic 5y ago

I don’t disagree but I think we should also be demanding more capacity from our hospitals and maybe just maybe demanding actual universal healthcare. It’s so bizarre to me that that’s not even on the table but it’s because most just assume we have to have a for-profit medical system.

ericd 5y ago
Isn't Germany's healthcare system already universal, and their support for elderly people quite generous?
- MandieD 5y ago
  Nearly universal: there is a universal legal requirement that you have health insurance, and about 90% of the population is a member of one of the very strictly regulated Krankenkasse (the "public" option), with most of the remaining 10% is covered by more loosely-regulated (but still strict by US standards) private insurance. Nearly universal: there are, by many estimates, at least tens of thousands of people who fall through the cracks - mostly (former) small business owners, other independent contractors, and widows of government employees who cannot afford their private insurance anymore, and are too old/unemployed to require a Krankenkasse to take them in. Doctors own their own practices, or are employed by practices or hospitals. They have the choice to not accept Krankenkasse repayment rates, in which case they can only accept private patients (privately insured, or self-paying). Germany's health economy looks more like the US than it does the UK. Overall, it is less expensive for similar quality, and American-style ruinous 6-figure bills are unheard of.
  - ericd 5y ago
    Thanks for the explanation! With the exception of the implication that Krakenkasses aren’t required to be available to all (why? Strange that there would be age/employment requirements), that sounds excellent, at least from a US perspective. I think a public option that can negotiate and isn’t just a price taker goes a long way to reining in the excesses of the private options and the providers, if they want to remain competitive. We don’t really have that normalizing force in the US. But it’s nice to retain the private options so you have the option to pay more for better/quicker service.