6 ms·

I mean, is that supposed to be unreasonable? Sounds about right to me.

by helsinki 3y ago

thatfrenchguy 3y ago
around 10 times the price of other developed countries?
- persedes 3y ago
  Is this supposed to be after insurance? Otherwise I'd pass on a 40$ physical....
  - Freedom2 3y ago
    I actually pass on a $400 one as well. The quality of the physical only increases with price, after all!
- isaacremuant 3y ago
  Well, it depends. Are you getting it immediately? Because a lot of "countries" with alleged healthcare simply delay it and you have to fight a bureocracy shield and even the paid insurance sucks and tries to use the public one. USA is terrible at healthcare for those that don't have a safety net but many countries, such as UK, are terrible for the middle income/stable job types, because you don't even have options (unless you pay a fortune) without months on end. It's just a different type of scam. There's definitely better implementations.
  - munk-a 3y ago
    As someone living in Canada I will freely admit that it can be extremely difficult to book a complex surgery, especially if the condition is not considered life threatening - but for common medical care it's trivial to just show up at a walk-in and get treatment for free - ditto for lab tests. Regular checkups are free and usually prescheduled though not everyone has a stable GP (and it can be a bit difficult to find a GP up here - there are ways to forcefully claim a GP though).
- throwaway4good 3y ago
  It is not 10 times the price; you are just paying in a different manner.
  - vimy 3y ago
    Are you sure? Doctor: € 25 (Of which you get at least half back) Standard lab test: € 20 (Real cost is € 50 or something) Still pretty far from € 400.
    - rootusrootus 3y ago
      Presumably there are insurance premiums or taxes that you are ignoring.
      - vimy 3y ago
        Yeah, taxes are really high but that's not relevant in this case. The actual costs are just way lower. US healthcare costs are too high in the US because of the broken insurance system. I don't think it needs to become a public system like Europe. I don't see anything inherently wrong with private insurance. But the system needs a reset, back to normal prices. One of the reason costs are too high is because hospitals, doctors, labs, know that insurance will haggle down so they just overcharge a lot. That's how you end up with an ER band-aid costing $ 500.
    - zmnd 3y ago
      Now calculate the difference in income taxes on 200k+. You are just paying it differently.
      - Google234 3y ago
        Doctors don’t make 200k+ in those countries either
      - munk-a 3y ago
        Taxes in the US aren't actually that much lower than in other countries - and the exploitation of all your juicey tax loopholes usually requires a pretty expensive accountant not accessible to the average person.
- em500 3y ago
  I don’t know about other European countries, but an annual physical exam is not a thing here in the Netherlands. I don’t know any person who’s ever done one here, and I don’t know where to get one if I wanted. We go to the GP if we have specific complaints, not if we feel like getting some test or checkup.
  - kreddor 3y ago
    Same here in Denmark, though we do have to get a physical exam when getting a driver's license.
pharrington 3y ago
Costwise, sure. Pricewise for the person getting the exam, its insane.

I mean, is that supposed to be unreasonable? Sounds about right to me.

thatfrenchguy 3y ago

around 10 times the price of other developed countries?

persedes 3y ago
Is this supposed to be after insurance? Otherwise I'd pass on a 40$ physical....
- Freedom2 3y ago
  I actually pass on a $400 one as well. The quality of the physical only increases with price, after all!
isaacremuant 3y ago
Well, it depends. Are you getting it immediately? Because a lot of "countries" with alleged healthcare simply delay it and you have to fight a bureocracy shield and even the paid insurance sucks and tries to use the public one. USA is terrible at healthcare for those that don't have a safety net but many countries, such as UK, are terrible for the middle income/stable job types, because you don't even have options (unless you pay a fortune) without months on end. It's just a different type of scam. There's definitely better implementations.
- munk-a 3y ago
  As someone living in Canada I will freely admit that it can be extremely difficult to book a complex surgery, especially if the condition is not considered life threatening - but for common medical care it's trivial to just show up at a walk-in and get treatment for free - ditto for lab tests. Regular checkups are free and usually prescheduled though not everyone has a stable GP (and it can be a bit difficult to find a GP up here - there are ways to forcefully claim a GP though).
throwaway4good 3y ago
It is not 10 times the price; you are just paying in a different manner.
- vimy 3y ago
  Are you sure? Doctor: € 25 (Of which you get at least half back) Standard lab test: € 20 (Real cost is € 50 or something) Still pretty far from € 400.
  - rootusrootus 3y ago
    Presumably there are insurance premiums or taxes that you are ignoring.
    - vimy 3y ago
      Yeah, taxes are really high but that's not relevant in this case. The actual costs are just way lower. US healthcare costs are too high in the US because of the broken insurance system. I don't think it needs to become a public system like Europe. I don't see anything inherently wrong with private insurance. But the system needs a reset, back to normal prices. One of the reason costs are too high is because hospitals, doctors, labs, know that insurance will haggle down so they just overcharge a lot. That's how you end up with an ER band-aid costing $ 500.
  - zmnd 3y ago
    Now calculate the difference in income taxes on 200k+. You are just paying it differently.
    - Google234 3y ago
      Doctors don’t make 200k+ in those countries either
    - munk-a 3y ago
      Taxes in the US aren't actually that much lower than in other countries - and the exploitation of all your juicey tax loopholes usually requires a pretty expensive accountant not accessible to the average person.
em500 3y ago
I don’t know about other European countries, but an annual physical exam is not a thing here in the Netherlands. I don’t know any person who’s ever done one here, and I don’t know where to get one if I wanted. We go to the GP if we have specific complaints, not if we feel like getting some test or checkup.
- kreddor 3y ago
  Same here in Denmark, though we do have to get a physical exam when getting a driver's license.

pharrington 3y ago

Costwise, sure. Pricewise for the person getting the exam, its insane.