5 ms·

Sutter Health is my local hospital monopoly. They're the only reason that Sacramento is the most expensive place in the country to have a baby. And the quality

Sutter Health is my local hospital monopoly. They're the only reason that Sacramento is the most expensive place in the country to have a baby. And the quality isn't exactly high. I know someone who just had knee replacement surgery and they were sent home a few hours after their surgery. When my grandpa had the same surgery in the 90s, they had him stay for a few days to recover. Now they just want to churn and burn their 'customers'. In addition, my wife after giving birth was only allowed to stay the bare minimum. It's shockingly gross how we've commoditized access to healthcare into this assembly line style racket. Contrast to Europe, when I hit my head on a train and needed stitched, I got a free ambulance to their ER where two nurses and a doctor immediately stitched me up for less than 40 EUR and was given world class care. We're doing something wrong in America when we pay the most extreme prices for the most basic care. We're getting gouged so executives can line their pockets. We should be rioting but we all just accept it. And it's not like Obamacare or Biden have done a single thing to change things. Obamacare just forced everyone to buy insurance... it didn't really change the fact that when you go to use it you get crappy care. And even when you go to a place like UCSF, the quality of care isn't that great. They put my wife's IUD in wrong and we ended up with a second kid. Healthcare in America is shit quality.

datavirtue 3y ago
On top of the highway robbery of private health insurance we have a defacto single payer public healthcare system for retirees and those on public assistance that is the government's largest expense, currently sitting in the #2 spot (a major issue that keeps getting kicked down the road), after that you have interest on the debt that is borrowed to fund everything, and then defense (and no, defense can't be cut, don't even go there). We are heading for a surprise failed bond auction (where private investors cause a government shutdown because they refuse to purchase bonds). Biden is going after a major elephant in the room: the sprawling UnitedHealth monopoly. And Trump took the first stab at the other sprawling healthcare monopoly: regional hospitals. If the people do not start voting in moderate statesman and serious legislators then all their petty dumb ass concerns are going to get crushed out of existence in one fell swoop of mandatory fascist-socialism...if they are lucky. Honestly, I can't venture to guess the fallout of a bond auction hiccup. All I know is that it will involve pain for everyone in the world.
Alupis 3y ago
Sutter is not a monopoly, especially in the Sacramento area. In Sacramento there's Kaiser, Dignity, Sutter and UCD, plus numerous smaller office chains such as Hill Physicians, etc. What you likely meant is your employer's health plan is only Sutter... which is entirely a different thing. > I got a free ambulance to their ER where two nurses and a doctor immediately stitched me up for less than 40 EUR and was given world class care With most health insurance plans, everything you described would cost you only a co-pay as well (usually $20-40). Uninsured people are the ones stuck with $10k ambulance ride bills... after all, someone has to pay for the services.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Even with the government funded healthcare here in Spain people don't spend thousands a month in taxes. In fact very few people pay that much anyway. I'm genuinely shocked how much health insurance costs in the US. I'm glad we just cover this through the state here. It works fine and I never have to pull out my wallet.
  - Alupis 3y ago
    Majority of people in the US don't pay thousands a month in healthcare/insurance either. Really premium, high-end health insurance plans can exceed $1K monthly for families, yes, but regular plans don't. In addition, for employer-based health insurance, the individual often pays only a small portion of the total monthly premium (1/3 is common, but varies). > I'm glad we just cover this through the state here. You mean you cover this through your taxes. The state does not just literally or figuratively print money to pay for health care. In the US, over 40% of the population pays $0 income taxes, yet still has access to government provided healthcare via Medicaid. In fact, when you combine Medicaid and Medicare, the US has the largest national healthcare system in the world - in terms of dollars spent and people covered.
    - smokey_the_bear 3y ago
      I have the cheapest kaiser plan available, with a 10k deductible. It is 1900/month for my family.

datavirtue 3y ago

On top of the highway robbery of private health insurance we have a defacto single payer public healthcare system for retirees and those on public assistance that is the government's largest expense, currently sitting in the #2 spot (a major issue that keeps getting kicked down the road), after that you have interest on the debt that is borrowed to fund everything, and then defense (and no, defense can't be cut, don't even go there). We are heading for a surprise failed bond auction (where private investors cause a government shutdown because they refuse to purchase bonds). Biden is going after a major elephant in the room: the sprawling UnitedHealth monopoly. And Trump took the first stab at the other sprawling healthcare monopoly: regional hospitals. If the people do not start voting in moderate statesman and serious legislators then all their petty dumb ass concerns are going to get crushed out of existence in one fell swoop of mandatory fascist-socialism...if they are lucky. Honestly, I can't venture to guess the fallout of a bond auction hiccup. All I know is that it will involve pain for everyone in the world.

Alupis 3y ago

Sutter is not a monopoly, especially in the Sacramento area. In Sacramento there's Kaiser, Dignity, Sutter and UCD, plus numerous smaller office chains such as Hill Physicians, etc. What you likely meant is your employer's health plan is only Sutter... which is entirely a different thing. > I got a free ambulance to their ER where two nurses and a doctor immediately stitched me up for less than 40 EUR and was given world class care With most health insurance plans, everything you described would cost you only a co-pay as well (usually $20-40). Uninsured people are the ones stuck with $10k ambulance ride bills... after all, someone has to pay for the services.

wkat4242 3y ago
Even with the government funded healthcare here in Spain people don't spend thousands a month in taxes. In fact very few people pay that much anyway. I'm genuinely shocked how much health insurance costs in the US. I'm glad we just cover this through the state here. It works fine and I never have to pull out my wallet.
- Alupis 3y ago
  Majority of people in the US don't pay thousands a month in healthcare/insurance either. Really premium, high-end health insurance plans can exceed $1K monthly for families, yes, but regular plans don't. In addition, for employer-based health insurance, the individual often pays only a small portion of the total monthly premium (1/3 is common, but varies). > I'm glad we just cover this through the state here. You mean you cover this through your taxes. The state does not just literally or figuratively print money to pay for health care. In the US, over 40% of the population pays $0 income taxes, yet still has access to government provided healthcare via Medicaid. In fact, when you combine Medicaid and Medicare, the US has the largest national healthcare system in the world - in terms of dollars spent and people covered.
  - smokey_the_bear 3y ago
    I have the cheapest kaiser plan available, with a 10k deductible. It is 1900/month for my family.