Monday, August 31, 2009

Great Article on Healthcare

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101778.html?referrer%3Dfacebook

-ER Doc

10 comments:

Bubba said...

Nothing mentioned about how many frivolous lawsuits their doctors and hospital gets and how much malpractice insurance these doctors pays and how big are the settlements? That will be an interesting comparison to know.

HopefulLeigh said...

Great article. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Settlements and lawsuits would likely be more limited, since the medical costs (past and future) would no longer be an issue.

Anonymous said...

As an emergency room doctor with no lawsuits so far, work 12 shifts a month in a state with tort reform, still pay aprrx 18,000 a year for malpractice insurance

Anonymous said...

Wow, I vote for Japan's system.

For all the good things about healthcare in other countries, there is little talk about what is wrong (except for Canada and Britian, which we know are so much less than perfect).

What is the age limit for aggressive treatment in these other countries? In the US, there isn't one. Britian and the Netherlands deny certain treatments to the elderly (in some cases, this means over 50 years old).

Healthcare rationing makes sense in certain (many, in fact) cases. But government flunkies, who couldn't care less, shouldn't be in charge of these decisions.

Anonymous said...

have you ever been denied a claim on your insurance? been told you have to pay more for an out of network doc??been dropped from your insurer?? it happens all the time...that is healthcare rationing. i would rather the govt make rules than have the "for profit" insurance companies ration my care based on what saves them the most money

Anonymous said...

The article is a very liberal slant and misrepresents the truth. I have personally worked as a doctor in New Zealand and can tell you that care is rationed. It's next to impossible to have your gallbladder removed even if you have major disease. You go on a wait list that can be greater than 6 months. CT scans and MRIs are hard to get. I let an "old guy" of 80 years old die from high potassium. Crutches only for patients with fractures. Like it or not the article fails to mention other factors in delivering quality medical care. Americans have poor heath bc they eat bad things and want a quick fix. A doctor or medical system cannot change behavior that is ingrained into society. Doc sensitive

Bummed Out said...

Why can't the government post the whole health care reform bill online and let us, the people, look at it. This way well have a real intelligent debate on what the final bill should contain. As it is right now it's the Republican's words against the Democrat's, and we know they are both lying. Republicans said "illegals will be covered", Democrat's said, no that's not on the bill, well show us the bill.

SerenityNow said...

They entire bill is posted.

Re: Doc Sensitive
-1....No one is proposing a socialized system here as they have in New Zealand. We dont want their system or Canadas or the Frenchs. We are talking about a separate public choice plan. A 2 tiered system. That has been skewed as socialized or pre-socialized medicine. Readers need to look up what real socialized medicine is (basically the govt controls everything even the hospitals and doctors). We will never have true socialized medicine here.
-2....Healthcare is already rationed here. We have talked about this. Being denied claims, diagnostic tests, being dropped, etc IS rationing care. You gave an example of gall bladders in New Zealand. I argue you see the same exact thing in the Hospital we both work in in the States. People come in time and time again for their gall bladder pain...and unless they have great insurance they dont take those gall bladders out until they become infective and a surgical emergency. Hell....we tell the people without insurance to "follow up with a surgeon" knowing full well they NEVER will be able to. Let's not kid ourselves people. Care is rationed here too. And some of that is OK. But in the end here in the US, money talks.....

-ER Doc

Anonymous said...

They won't even take infected ones out. Government run health care is socialized health care! If you let the government manage the health industry, it spells the end for private insurers. The government will start putting price controls on everything which will make private insurers leave the business. It's a bad idea to let the government run anything!