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How can the US Healthcare system be improved...and be more affordable?

KitKat2023

KitKat2023

Active member
My husband has decent healthcare from his employer and there are some extra benefits that would be nice if we actually needed them. But what concerns me are the costs of things that people need such as scans/x-rays and other various tests. Each time I need bloodwork to test my thyroid hormone levels, it's $300. My very first cat scan at a hospital setting was $3,000...and I think we ended up paying $1,500. $1,500 is a huge amount of money for a lot of people, especially if those tests need to be run every few months due to cancer. Americans can't afford what's needed for good healthcare.

So what's the answer?

I have Canadian friends who love their healthcare system...until they find out they can't get some tests or surgeries they want, and then they head over here and pay cash to get it done.

My UK friends love their healthcare...until they have to wait half a year to get their surgery approved and by then they're in complete misery.

So what's the best answer?
 
I don't think you can have both. One way to keep costs down is Crack down on anybody cheating the system. Includes patients, doctors, drug companies, medical device manufacturers, health organizations.
I still believe our system is best.
And those with "free" medical pay for it through taxes. But just about forget about medical elective items. And if government funded, you can expect euthanasia to become a thing, and it might not all be elective.
 
Ours isn't perfect up here. That's for sure. But show me one nation with an affordable health care system with zero wait times for surgery.

This is based on my personal experience up here in Canada following serious injuries resulting from an accident and being in the hospital for a month. And requiring follow-up surgery twice. I had no problem with the care and service in the hospital. Multiple expensive exams and I didn't have to pay a dime. I didn't have to worry about anything. I have heard of longer wait times for non urgent surgery such as hip or knee replacement but as far as in hospital and after care, I had no problem.
 
Honestly I don't think ours can be both improved and made more affordable.

Pick one of the two.

We have amazing quality. But it comes at a cost. It can be cheaper if we can cut out a layer or two of gubmint/insurance waste. But the quality is amazing.

A few weeks ago I went in to the emergency room. Within 15 minutes I had already had an X-Ray. Maybe 15 minutes later I had a consult and an order for a CT scan. Another 15 minutes later and the CT scan was done. While waiting for the results from the CT scan I got an appointment scheduled with a specialist for the next day. It cost me a $25 co-pay. Everything else was covered 100%.

Couple of years ago I had a bunion removed. It was considered an optional surgery. I think that cost me right about $2500 total. Had it been a necessity the coverage would have paid almost all the bill, but being elective, they only covered 80%.

Quite a few years ago I had a kidney stone emergency, required lithotripsy. They stabilized me and gave me options on when and where I could have the procedure done. I chose a 2 or 3 day delay to get it done at a very local facility, but had it been more urgent I could have had it done the next day.

How do we improve that?
 
snowstorm said:
Y does everyone keep forgetting that healthcare is not right and certainly shouldn’t be an entitlement. there’s no
Inalienable human right the healthcare never has a been never should be. Reap what you sow
Click to expand...

To this we agree.

The only way that healthcare can be a 'right' is if we can also compel others to serve us. So doctors and nurses, will by law, or by force, be made to care for others regardless of their own desires. Too tired, sorry, you have to care for these people. Too little compensation for the effort you put in to learn, sorry, you have to provide care. Essentially healthcare workers are slaves in a system where healthcare is a proclaimed 'right' of everyone. Why not housing? And food?
 
NorthernRedneck said:
Ours isn't perfect up here. That's for sure. But show me one nation with an affordable health care system with zero wait times for surgery.

This is based on my personal experience up here in Canada following serious injuries resulting from an accident and being in the hospital for a month. And requiring follow-up surgery twice. I had no problem with the care and service in the hospital. Multiple expensive exams and I didn't have to pay a dime. I didn't have to worry about anything. I have heard of longer wait times for non urgent surgery such as hip or knee replacement but as far as in hospital and after care, I had no problem.
Click to expand...


But 18 months for an MRI?

 
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