3 ms·

http://epianalysis.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/usversuseurope/ http://epianalysis.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/usversuseurope/

by flexie 14y ago

carsongross 14y ago
No, I mean how could you possibly know if you paid for the service? I'm not going to defend the US healthcare system, which is a charming mixture of the worst aspects of monopoly markets and socialism.
- flexie 14y ago
  OK. It is a quick guess based on the taxes we have paid. Of course our taxes also went for other things like welfare, education, administration and defense, and as we all know many European governments have run deficits for years.
jimbokun 14y ago
I can't resist pasting this verbatim: "This leaves the last theory: do we pay higher prices for the same care? Among prescription drug costs, we pay far more than any other country, at least 20% more than Canada and over 60% more than New Zealand. For the same MRI’s and CT scans, we also pay more: $1,080 is the commercial average cost for an MRI in the U.S. as compared to $599 in Germany; at CT of the head costs $510 on average in the U.S. versus $272 in Germany. For a hip replacement, we again pay the most: $1,634 among public payers and $3,996 among private payers, versus $1,046 and $1,943 respectively in Australia. And physicians’ incomes are the highest: $187,000 on average among primary care doctors in the U.S. versus $93,000 in Australia; and $442,000 among orthopedic surgeons in the U.S. versus $154,000 in France." Here in the U.S. we pay roughly double FOR THE EXACT SAME PROCEDURES AND SERVICES. And, probably not coincidentally, doctors make roughly twice as much here as other countries. It seems we keep going round and round trying to attribute the differences between the U.S. and other systems to some philosophical differences, but the bottom line is we are simple being price gouged by an entire industry.

3 ms·

http://epianalysis.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/usversuseurope/ http://epianalysis.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/usversuseurope/

by flexie 14y ago

http://epianalysis.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/usversuseurope/ http://epianalysis.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/usversuseurope/

carsongross 14y ago
No, I mean how could you possibly know if you paid for the service? I'm not going to defend the US healthcare system, which is a charming mixture of the worst aspects of monopoly markets and socialism.
- flexie 14y ago
  OK. It is a quick guess based on the taxes we have paid. Of course our taxes also went for other things like welfare, education, administration and defense, and as we all know many European governments have run deficits for years.
jimbokun 14y ago
I can't resist pasting this verbatim: "This leaves the last theory: do we pay higher prices for the same care? Among prescription drug costs, we pay far more than any other country, at least 20% more than Canada and over 60% more than New Zealand. For the same MRI’s and CT scans, we also pay more: $1,080 is the commercial average cost for an MRI in the U.S. as compared to $599 in Germany; at CT of the head costs $510 on average in the U.S. versus $272 in Germany. For a hip replacement, we again pay the most: $1,634 among public payers and $3,996 among private payers, versus $1,046 and $1,943 respectively in Australia. And physicians’ incomes are the highest: $187,000 on average among primary care doctors in the U.S. versus $93,000 in Australia; and $442,000 among orthopedic surgeons in the U.S. versus $154,000 in France." Here in the U.S. we pay roughly double FOR THE EXACT SAME PROCEDURES AND SERVICES. And, probably not coincidentally, doctors make roughly twice as much here as other countries. It seems we keep going round and round trying to attribute the differences between the U.S. and other systems to some philosophical differences, but the bottom line is we are simple being price gouged by an entire industry.