14 ms·

Eh.. I'm open to see what happens. I'm currently being ground to a bloody pulp through the US medical machine. It has been one of the most stressful experiences

Eh.. I'm open to see what happens. I'm currently being ground to a bloody pulp through the US medical machine. It has been one of the most stressful experiences of my life. It can't possibly get worse if Amazon gets its fingers into a small part. If they can squeeze even a few percentage points of improvement out of the process it'd be a huge win in my book. The current system makes one want to give up.

stainforth 4y ago
Lol why do you think these moves are about improvement of the process? Like its said they have a fiduciary duty to squeeze profit out of their moves. Improvement of the experience for the customer is at least orthogonal to that.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
femiagbabiaka 4y ago
It can always get worse. :)
smcleod 4y ago
I think it's better to look at what works well in countries other than America - A solid public health system and more regulation on private industry. The improvisation of human health has a long history of negative consequences and it's very hard to go back on.
- yibg 4y ago
  While I agree, it seems like the probability of this happening in the US any time soon is almost nil. Where as the probability of One Medical making at least some improvement is non zero.
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    I don't know. I don't see any good reason to think that on the whole, One Medical will have a positive effect on the health care system. I guess we shall see.
    - yibg 4y ago
      Not like they are the only player in town. If they don’t make things easier people just don’t use them, no harm done. So they are either good for consumers or not relevant. What’s the downside?
      - JohnFen 4y ago
        I could see them leading a march to the worsening of health care overall in a number of ways. I don't think it's as simple as "if they're not good, nobody will use them". Health care in the US doesn't really work that way, which is part of the problem with US health care.
        yibg 4y ago
        I’m not a fan of US health care, but in the case of private healthcare providers isn’t that exactly how it works? Insurance etc maybe not do much, but what kinds of disproportionate power does something like One Medical have?
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  The best option is open enrollment for Medicare or state equivalent and tax funded subsidies for low-income individuals. Unfortunately this option is unattractive to either the left or right
  - skinnymuch 4y ago
    Why is this unattractive to the left? The left wants any change. Obviously universal health care is preferred, but only the right and some centrists wants to restrict the things you mentioned.
    - s1artibartfast 4y ago
      On the left I think it is a case of the perfect being the enemy of the good. One possible explanation for why we got the ACA instead of open Medicare when Democrats had the power under Obama is open Medicare enrollment has a greater chance of preventing Universal single pair down the road. Open Medicare enrollment is also in some ways close to the status quo of Medicaid. Lastly, it is a risky option because it pits Medicare directly against private insurance- what if it isn't cheaper or people don't like it
klyrs 4y ago
You want Amazon to run your medical history through its recommendation and spot-pricing algorithms????
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
tshaddox 4y ago
> If they can squeeze even a few percentage points of improvement out of the process it'd be a huge win in my book. That would be s/improvement/profit though, right? I bet they absolutely can manage that squeeze, and I bet it won't register as "improvement" from your perspective.
munificent 4y ago
The reason it's so bad is because dentists, doctors offices, hospitals and health insurance companies have also gone through this same massive consolidation. CVS Health Corporation owns almost 10,000 drug stores and fills more than 20% of all US prescriptions. It also owns Aetna, the largest health insurance company in the US. It's the fourth largest US company by revenue. Another health insurance company is number five. The largest health care operator in the US is HCA Healthcare which runs 187 hospitals, and has $60 billion in revenue.
- Scubabear68 4y ago
  TIL…all that. Wow. I had no idea CVS owns Aetna!
corbulo 4y ago
The problem is how 'health' is defined (or lackthereof) and overprescription of drugs. It doesn't really seem like the medical industry is going in any particular direction other than developing more subscription drugs (whos primary sure sign that theyre doing anything is the side effects) and marketing them after using regulatory capture to approve them. One time cures barely get any funding or marketing or regulatory acceleration because they're simply not as profitable. It's a really deeply cynical industry that I don't foresee fixing itself without near-total or total collapse.

stainforth 4y ago

Lol why do you think these moves are about improvement of the process? Like its said they have a fiduciary duty to squeeze profit out of their moves. Improvement of the experience for the customer is at least orthogonal to that.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

femiagbabiaka 4y ago

It can always get worse. :)

smcleod 4y ago

I think it's better to look at what works well in countries other than America - A solid public health system and more regulation on private industry. The improvisation of human health has a long history of negative consequences and it's very hard to go back on.

yibg 4y ago
While I agree, it seems like the probability of this happening in the US any time soon is almost nil. Where as the probability of One Medical making at least some improvement is non zero.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  I don't know. I don't see any good reason to think that on the whole, One Medical will have a positive effect on the health care system. I guess we shall see.
  - yibg 4y ago
    Not like they are the only player in town. If they don’t make things easier people just don’t use them, no harm done. So they are either good for consumers or not relevant. What’s the downside?
    - JohnFen 4y ago
      I could see them leading a march to the worsening of health care overall in a number of ways. I don't think it's as simple as "if they're not good, nobody will use them". Health care in the US doesn't really work that way, which is part of the problem with US health care.
      - yibg 4y ago
        I’m not a fan of US health care, but in the case of private healthcare providers isn’t that exactly how it works? Insurance etc maybe not do much, but what kinds of disproportionate power does something like One Medical have?
s1artibartfast 4y ago
The best option is open enrollment for Medicare or state equivalent and tax funded subsidies for low-income individuals. Unfortunately this option is unattractive to either the left or right
- skinnymuch 4y ago
  Why is this unattractive to the left? The left wants any change. Obviously universal health care is preferred, but only the right and some centrists wants to restrict the things you mentioned.
  - s1artibartfast 4y ago
    On the left I think it is a case of the perfect being the enemy of the good. One possible explanation for why we got the ACA instead of open Medicare when Democrats had the power under Obama is open Medicare enrollment has a greater chance of preventing Universal single pair down the road. Open Medicare enrollment is also in some ways close to the status quo of Medicaid. Lastly, it is a risky option because it pits Medicare directly against private insurance- what if it isn't cheaper or people don't like it

klyrs 4y ago

You want Amazon to run your medical history through its recommendation and spot-pricing algorithms????

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

tshaddox 4y ago

> If they can squeeze even a few percentage points of improvement out of the process it'd be a huge win in my book. That would be s/improvement/profit though, right? I bet they absolutely can manage that squeeze, and I bet it won't register as "improvement" from your perspective.

munificent 4y ago

The reason it's so bad is because dentists, doctors offices, hospitals and health insurance companies have also gone through this same massive consolidation. CVS Health Corporation owns almost 10,000 drug stores and fills more than 20% of all US prescriptions. It also owns Aetna, the largest health insurance company in the US. It's the fourth largest US company by revenue. Another health insurance company is number five. The largest health care operator in the US is HCA Healthcare which runs 187 hospitals, and has $60 billion in revenue.

Scubabear68 4y ago
TIL…all that. Wow. I had no idea CVS owns Aetna!

corbulo 4y ago

The problem is how 'health' is defined (or lackthereof) and overprescription of drugs. It doesn't really seem like the medical industry is going in any particular direction other than developing more subscription drugs (whos primary sure sign that theyre doing anything is the side effects) and marketing them after using regulatory capture to approve them. One time cures barely get any funding or marketing or regulatory acceleration because they're simply not as profitable. It's a really deeply cynical industry that I don't foresee fixing itself without near-total or total collapse.