Healthcare... America and the rest

[pErvinalia]

Most people also have to pay the difference between what a doctor charges and the amount the government reimburses them for.

They don't "have to" pay the gap. Bulk billing (that is, no gap fee), is widespread. I haven't paid for a doctor's visit for 15 years or so.

[Hermit]

you're knowledge

Hah! Your arguments are invalid because...

Oops. Sorry. I was channeling.

[Tero]

Seduced and Betrayed by Donald Trump - The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/opini ... trump.html

[Hermit]

Most people also have to pay the difference between what a doctor charges and the amount the government reimburses them for.

They don't "have to" pay the gap. Bulk billing (that is, no gap fee), is widespread. I haven't paid for a doctor's visit for 15 years or so.

Not many doctors left who bulk-bill. There isn't a single one within at least a 100 kilometres of where I live. Not so much of a problem on the Gold Coast or any other major, densely populated area, I suppose, especially if you have a car or a reasonable public transport system at your disposal.

[Forty Two]

New thing in Trump plans will be caps on how much your can sue for, for malpractice.

In Europe, they have things like "loser pays" the legal costs of the winner, which limits malpractice suits. Europe also limits jury trials, and has these things judged by judges, and their awards are much lower than in the US. Also most European countries prohibit contingency fee arrangements.

In New Zealand and some Scandinavian countries, injury claims bypass the courts and go through a public administrative system to determine if a medical error was avoidable and compensation is warranted. Damages are decided according to a pre-set schedule based on the type of injury.

In Sweden, average awards were $22,000 in 2004. That's far less than the median damages of $400,000 for U.S. medical liability cases in 2005, with 21% of awards topping $1 million.

Those big meanie Swedes....

[pErvinalia]

No Dutchy. You are as clueless about other systems as the Americans are.

You see, this is where you come across as such a total douche.

Dutchy is Dutch. He doesn't know all about about the 190 odd health systems in the world, much less Australia's. Why would he? That doesn't make him "clueless." He doesn't know how your system works, and he just fucking inquired about Australians not paying for health insurance there. You could have just answered him - of course he doesn't know the details of the Australian health system. But, no, you have to -- like in so many of your posts -- add the pepper of an insult.

You owe me a new irony meter. You could have just simply answered Dutchy the last 78 times you took the piss out of him and the Dutch.

Look - you, pErvin - don't know anything substantively about the American healthcare system. You pretend to, but you don't.

What don't I know about the US system? I put it to you that you just anally extruded that piece of made up bullshit.

Does that make you "clueless?" The not knowing much about it part does not make you clueless. You really have not much of a reason to know. And, your knowledge is pretty much based on blog posts and commentary, maybe the odd news article here and there.

I virtually never comment on US healthcare. You are lying like there is no tomorrow.

It's not necessary to insult the guy/gal before you answer. You can just answer it, if you care to discuss the matter.

Physician heal thyself.

And, shit - Dutchy hates my ass, but I have no problem coming to his defense here, because this just illustrates the poison you are to most discussions....

Oh have a fucking cry you big baby. You've been dumping on Dutchy for the last year. Talk about no self awareness.

[pErvinalia]

Most people also have to pay the difference between what a doctor charges and the amount the government reimburses them for.

They don't "have to" pay the gap. Bulk billing (that is, no gap fee), is widespread. I haven't paid for a doctor's visit for 15 years or so.

Not many doctors left who bulk-bill. There isn't a single one within at least a 100 kilometres of where I live.

That's because you live in the middle of nowhere. The capital cities are full of bulk billing doctors. Bulk billing is at its highest level ever.

[Tero]

What juries? Europe does not use juries. Those are for English speaking countries. The other difference is that criminal and civil suites are carried as one case.Judge determines compensation to victim by the accused. Including rape.

In the US the victim of malpractice may need that 1 million to take care of themselves if disabled. In Scandinavia the state pays for the care of the disabled.

[Hermit]

Most people also have to pay the difference between what a doctor charges and the amount the government reimburses them for.

They don't "have to" pay the gap. Bulk billing (that is, no gap fee), is widespread. I haven't paid for a doctor's visit for 15 years or so.

Not many doctors left who bulk-bill. There isn't a single one within at least a 100 kilometres of where I live.

That's because you live in the middle of nowhere. The capital cities are full of bulk billing doctors. Bulk billing is at its highest level ever.

I did say the problem is not as acute in major, densely populated area, especially if you have a car or a reasonable public transport system at your disposal.

Still, a third of doctors in Australia no longer bulk bill. Since the cost of a standard consultation under 20 minutes has gone up to 78 dollars, while the government's contribution stays frozen at $37.05, it's reasonable to expect more of them to leave the bulk billing system. By "leaving the system": I mean, they will still collect the government's payments, but they will also collect the difference from their patients. Medicare is becoming less of a cover and more like a subsidy. Oh well. It's the government the majority of Australians voted for. Not as different as the miserables in that shithole also known as the USofA as I would like.

[Brian Peacock]

Black dude fixed healthcare, so we Republicans must repeal it! let's also fix Medicare to look like....the old Obamacare! We are so smart!

This is how the healthcare Jenga puzzle works. Remove a block and the whole thing falls apart. Maybe that’s the point. If Trump and the congressional Republicans repeal the sections of the law via a 50-plus-one reconciliation vote in the Senate, namely the subsidies and the mandate since each prong is linked to the budget, they’ll infuriate the $900 billion health insurance industry by forcing insurers to accept patients with pre-existing conditions but accompanied by a massive loophole created via the repeal of the mandate.

In case you didn’t notice, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is more than a little complicated. Health insurance in general is confusing by itself, but when we combine the viral confusion with the incendiary rage experienced by certain Americans when the word “Obamacare” is mentioned in public, we have a toxic cocktail of fear, anger and confusion. Americans have an insufferable tendency to do crazy things when they’re scared, angry and confused. With Obamacare, the dominant reaction is to kill it. Stupidly.

That means only a minuscule fraction of people who hate the law are actual Obamacare users. The majority is telling a small minority of ACA users that they’re not allowed to have insurance they like, because reasons.

I like that wording. I'm going to use that from now on. Because reasons.

The only non-Obamacare users who might have a gripe or two are Americans making more than $250,000. Their Medicare taxes go up a little. Oh, and people who use tanning beds are charged more.

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/28/the-mis ... condition/

The only solution is to repeal Obamacare entirely, root and branch, and return to the status quo ante.

The status quo is what's in place at the moment.

[Hermit]

The only solution is to repeal Obamacare entirely, root and branch, and return to the status quo ante.

The stays quo is what's in place at the moment.

Oh shut your gob, spoilsport. Seth enjoys using words of a language he never learnt. Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur. It makes him look as though he knows something. He likes using legalese for the same reason, even though he does not always manage to get the spelling right.

[Brian Peacock]

Et domino mundi sic tuesdi.

[Forty Two]

No Dutchy. You are as clueless about other systems as the Americans are.

You see, this is where you come across as such a total douche.

Dutchy is Dutch. He doesn't know all about about the 190 odd health systems in the world, much less Australia's. Why would he? That doesn't make him "clueless." He doesn't know how your system works, and he just fucking inquired about Australians not paying for health insurance there. You could have just answered him - of course he doesn't know the details of the Australian health system. But, no, you have to -- like in so many of your posts -- add the pepper of an insult.

You owe me a new irony meter. You could have just simply answered Dutchy the last 78 times you took the piss out of him and the Dutch.

You weren't taking the piss out of him. Don't pretend you were busting his chops. And, it wasn't tit-for-tat. He didn't come at you, and then you retort. He asked a fucking basic, legitimate question, and like you very often do, you add an insult to your response.

Look - you, pErvin - don't know anything substantively about the American healthcare system. You pretend to, but you don't.

What don't I know about the US system? I put it to you that you just anally extruded that piece of made up bullshit.

Fuck off. The point is that nobody knows all the different health systems in the world, much less know about their details. Australia is little country of about 30 million or so people total. You think the rest of the world fucking studies your health care system? Fuck off. People are no more "clueless" by virtue of not knowing the details of Oz's healthcare system than they are of not knowing the details of the health care system of Laos or Samoa. You're just so myopic that you think the world revolves around Australia, such that if they don't know how shit works there, they're "clueless."

Does that make you "clueless?" The not knowing much about it part does not make you clueless. You really have not much of a reason to know. And, your knowledge is pretty much based on blog posts and commentary, maybe the odd news article here and there.

I virtually never comment on US healthcare. You are lying like there is no tomorrow.

Oh stop pretending you don't get the point.

It's not necessary to insult the guy/gal before you answer. You can just answer it, if you care to discuss the matter.

Physician heal thyself.

Suck a bag of dicks.

And, shit - Dutchy hates my ass, but I have no problem coming to his defense here, because this just illustrates the poison you are to most discussions....

Oh have a fucking cry you big baby. You've been dumping on Dutchy for the last year. Talk about no self awareness.

I'm not crying, asshat. I'm telling you why you post like total dickface, and why you're a douche. It has nothing to do with my exchanges with Dutchy, so stop deflecting. You called the guy "clueless" because he, a Dutch person, didn't know the ins-and-outs of the Australian healthcare system.

[Scot Dutchy]

Medicare is becoming less of a cover and more like a subsidy.

That's what it sounds like to me. The money has to come from somewhere? Taxes seem the logical conclusion. Only a country like Norway has literally free health care because of oil income and carefully managed money reserves which Britain could have but Thatcher spent it.

We dont have any form of private care. People on benefit dont pay for it. Everyone must be insured and insurers cant pick and choose.
My one time in Ozland I was very much under the impression health care was expensive but I was maybe misinformed.

[Hermit]

My one time in Ozland I was very much under the impression health care was expensive but I was maybe misinformed.

Medicare was introduced by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1973 or thereabouts. Before that, you either insured yourself or paid out of your pocket, though elementary and emergency care was available at hospitals for free. Since Whitlam was turfed out of government in 1975, conservative governments have attempted to kill medicare by way of a thousand cuts and the Labor party has managed to make good only part of the damage whenever it was their turn to govern. So, yeah, the situation is slowly deteriorating, but I don't know how you got the impression that health care was expensive. Was it maybe that as a tourist you were not entitled to the Australian government's health cover, and had to insure yourself? That would have been expensive, and it is a lot more expensive now.