3 ms·

To be fair, stories like this occur in countries with socialized healthcare. People often do come to the US for niche specialized healthcare that is cutting edg

by avgDev 2y ago

To be fair, stories like this occur in countries with socialized healthcare. People often do come to the US for niche specialized healthcare that is cutting edge. US healthcare is great for the wealthy and those who can afford it. It isn't great for everyone and in general ranks average or poor in some cases.

hiddencost 2y ago
[flagged]
1-more 2y ago
When someone criticizes US healthcare, they are almost always using "healthcare" to mean "the care that everyone receives on average" and not "the healthcare received by those with good insurance." Private jets fly from around the world to The Cleveland Clinic and The Mayo Clinic every day, but that's not what's at issue for most people.
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  They also aren't criticising the fact that the US funds most healthcare advancements that are then bought in bulk by socialised programmes once the hard work of discovery and validation is done, and raises the average for everyone. Until Trump cancels the funding, at which point they suddenly remember it, but only in the context of Trump criticism.
- thfuran 2y ago
  And the routine care at sites like the Cleveland Clinic is often not particularly good even with good insurance. But they do have a lot of fancy specialists.
- DanielHB 2y ago
  In Brazil the top private hospitals were full of people speaking in Spanish and English. Private care is only better if you pay out of pocket though, most people with private insurance in Brazil don't get to go to those hospitals.
- DANmode 2y ago
  This assuming you already have some idea what's going on. I was turned away from any attempt at diagnosis, because neither facility seemed to know (or care) which department to send me to... I was ready to sign a blank check - but they seemingly refuse to hurt their stats with potentially unsolvable cases... Form a reply if you disagree...downvoting doesn't change the fact that even these top facilities end up embarrassing us as a nation...
pyuser583 2y ago
I've known Canadians facing severe health issues who stay in the US because it's more affordable when you consider the higher wages. That's not true for everyone, but I'm not talking about the super-rich either. Just plain middle class.
DanielHB 2y ago
I have been through the healthcare systems of Brazil (private) and Sweden (public). I can say that private healthcare is only strictly better if you pay out of pocket, not through insurance. Public healthcare is FAR more efficient though, I am always amazed how _fast_ doing exams in Sweden are. Like my doctor asked me to take an MRI, put it in the system, scheduled an appointment within a week for me automatically and I was in and out of an MRI clinic in 20 minutes (and I was attended to exactly on time of my appointment) all of that just using my ID card. Bloodwork is usually drop-in so I can just go directly from the doctor without an appointment. In Brazil with private healthcare I would have to find the MRI clinic myself and see which one was covered by my insurance and try to get an appointment within a reasonable time (by calling multiple clinics). And when getting there I would probably have to wait at least an hour to actually get the MRI done. That is if insurance didn't contest the need for it in the first place. And god forbid I forget to bring the insurance paperwork with me. Oh yeah, in Brazil I also need to personally go pickup the MRI and personally bring it to the doctor and do another visitation, while in Sweden it is all digital and the doctor just called me on the phone to tell me the results. My father took ~4 months to schedule a life-saving cancer surgery, insurance kept contesting the surgery. My partners mother in Sweden had cancer surgery approved and done in less than 10 days. Yes the care in Sweden is usually worse than in Brazil private. I wouldn't say it is so much about doctor quality, more about doctors feeling a bit rushed to see patients. But it is so much faster and easier. Usually you need fast care, not personalized care. And of course a lot of things are just not covered in the Swedish public system (for example some skincare problems) that could be covered in some private in Brazil. The only thing better about the Brazilian clinics was that some of them had marble floor on the lobby while the Sweden ones usually had concrete floors or tiles. Overall I prefer the Swedish system much better than the private Brazilian system.

by avgDev 2y ago

hiddencost 2y ago

[flagged]

1-more 2y ago

When someone criticizes US healthcare, they are almost always using "healthcare" to mean "the care that everyone receives on average" and not "the healthcare received by those with good insurance." Private jets fly from around the world to The Cleveland Clinic and The Mayo Clinic every day, but that's not what's at issue for most people.

robertlagrant 2y ago
They also aren't criticising the fact that the US funds most healthcare advancements that are then bought in bulk by socialised programmes once the hard work of discovery and validation is done, and raises the average for everyone. Until Trump cancels the funding, at which point they suddenly remember it, but only in the context of Trump criticism.
thfuran 2y ago
And the routine care at sites like the Cleveland Clinic is often not particularly good even with good insurance. But they do have a lot of fancy specialists.
DanielHB 2y ago
In Brazil the top private hospitals were full of people speaking in Spanish and English. Private care is only better if you pay out of pocket though, most people with private insurance in Brazil don't get to go to those hospitals.
DANmode 2y ago
This assuming you already have some idea what's going on. I was turned away from any attempt at diagnosis, because neither facility seemed to know (or care) which department to send me to... I was ready to sign a blank check - but they seemingly refuse to hurt their stats with potentially unsolvable cases... Form a reply if you disagree...downvoting doesn't change the fact that even these top facilities end up embarrassing us as a nation...

pyuser583 2y ago

I've known Canadians facing severe health issues who stay in the US because it's more affordable when you consider the higher wages. That's not true for everyone, but I'm not talking about the super-rich either. Just plain middle class.

DanielHB 2y ago

I have been through the healthcare systems of Brazil (private) and Sweden (public). I can say that private healthcare is only strictly better if you pay out of pocket, not through insurance. Public healthcare is FAR more efficient though, I am always amazed how _fast_ doing exams in Sweden are. Like my doctor asked me to take an MRI, put it in the system, scheduled an appointment within a week for me automatically and I was in and out of an MRI clinic in 20 minutes (and I was attended to exactly on time of my appointment) all of that just using my ID card. Bloodwork is usually drop-in so I can just go directly from the doctor without an appointment. In Brazil with private healthcare I would have to find the MRI clinic myself and see which one was covered by my insurance and try to get an appointment within a reasonable time (by calling multiple clinics). And when getting there I would probably have to wait at least an hour to actually get the MRI done. That is if insurance didn't contest the need for it in the first place. And god forbid I forget to bring the insurance paperwork with me. Oh yeah, in Brazil I also need to personally go pickup the MRI and personally bring it to the doctor and do another visitation, while in Sweden it is all digital and the doctor just called me on the phone to tell me the results. My father took ~4 months to schedule a life-saving cancer surgery, insurance kept contesting the surgery. My partners mother in Sweden had cancer surgery approved and done in less than 10 days. Yes the care in Sweden is usually worse than in Brazil private. I wouldn't say it is so much about doctor quality, more about doctors feeling a bit rushed to see patients. But it is so much faster and easier. Usually you need fast care, not personalized care. And of course a lot of things are just not covered in the Swedish public system (for example some skincare problems) that could be covered in some private in Brazil. The only thing better about the Brazilian clinics was that some of them had marble floor on the lobby while the Sweden ones usually had concrete floors or tiles. Overall I prefer the Swedish system much better than the private Brazilian system.