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> But a significant portion of the population expects to pay what they would pay for insurance-covered human surgery, eg a couple hundred dollars at most. Time

> But a significant portion of the population expects to pay what they would pay for insurance-covered human surgery, eg a couple hundred dollars at most. Time travelled from the 1990s, or one of the few who’s never had normal middle-class health insurance in the last decade. I haven’t had a plan that wouldn’t put us into at least high-four-figures if anyone gets actually-sick, since the ‘00s. Not even the best-available plans to me at any time (which I’ve noticed tend to make little or no economic sense, if you run the numbers) would keep it in the hundreds. Mid-thousands at best (and the higher premium just makes it break-even anyway) [EDIT] Example: a recent tonsillectomy cost us $2,500 or so. We have middling-leaning-good insurance. It's not some ultra-high-deductible thing. Everything went great, no complications, out of the hospital like an hour after waking from surgery. I don't know how people who make median wages afford kids, with medical & housing costs the way they are. A specialist copay for a 30 minute routine check-up visit (fucking prescription med control rules are a cash-cow for doctors, what a joke) of which ten minutes was with a doctor, was $95 out of pocket the other day, for which we received nothing we actually needed aside from checking a bureaucratic box. Surgery of any kind being in the hundreds is fantasy-land from where I sit. Usually I'm shocked at how cheap veterinarian bills are without insurance. They're usually much cheaper than the same thing on a human with insurance.

GlenTheMachine 3y ago
For some reason, a certain part of humanity thinks that vets should be doing the work just out of kindness, eg free or nearly free. Minor surgery on your dog still requires anesthesia, x-rays, IV fluids, scalpels, etc etc, and those are usually exactly the same supplies as for human surgery. They cost the same. Also bear in mind that the nature of veterinary practice is different from eg a surgical practice. If you need surgery, you don’t go to “the local surgeon”. You get referred to a hospital or a specialty surgical practice. Ever seen a Yelp review for a heart surgeon? Neither have I. But if your dog needs surgery, you go to the little vet practice down the street. The vets in that practice are generally exactly the same people you bring your dog to for their shots. They aren’t protected by a layer of administration and lawyers. They get Yelp reviews all the time — very, very bad ones. Death threats. Because they had the temerity to tell a patient that a cardiac bypass on Benji was going to cost $10,000, and the family couldn’t afford it so Benji died. Vets are in your community in a way that surgeons aren’t. That exposes them to direct abuse to a far greater degree than surgeons. My wife knows a vet who was sued because an owner claimed that the rabies vaccine “gave the cat autism”. Really.

GlenTheMachine 3y ago

For some reason, a certain part of humanity thinks that vets should be doing the work just out of kindness, eg free or nearly free. Minor surgery on your dog still requires anesthesia, x-rays, IV fluids, scalpels, etc etc, and those are usually exactly the same supplies as for human surgery. They cost the same. Also bear in mind that the nature of veterinary practice is different from eg a surgical practice. If you need surgery, you don’t go to “the local surgeon”. You get referred to a hospital or a specialty surgical practice. Ever seen a Yelp review for a heart surgeon? Neither have I. But if your dog needs surgery, you go to the little vet practice down the street. The vets in that practice are generally exactly the same people you bring your dog to for their shots. They aren’t protected by a layer of administration and lawyers. They get Yelp reviews all the time — very, very bad ones. Death threats. Because they had the temerity to tell a patient that a cardiac bypass on Benji was going to cost $10,000, and the family couldn’t afford it so Benji died. Vets are in your community in a way that surgeons aren’t. That exposes them to direct abuse to a far greater degree than surgeons. My wife knows a vet who was sued because an owner claimed that the rabies vaccine “gave the cat autism”. Really.