Comparing U.S. and other medical systems

[Puckstop31]

sparks' dad had a really bad time when he was in hosp - he was sent home way too soon because so many other people with H1N1 were filling up the beds.

I sure hope her dad is doing ok now. Anywhere there are baby boomers topping up the population - too few staff, too few resources.

H1N1? Really? Can you prove that? If it were not for H1N1, he would have been fine?

I have not seen anywhere near the epidemic the media promised us.

As for staff... Its not much of a issue here. I hear nurses are in high demand though. The health care industry is one of the few that continue to grow.

I wonder why Canada has too few staff and too few resources???

[Louie and me]

I really hesitated to get into this debate but being a Canadian originally from England I have experienced both national health care systems and cannot imagine what my life would have been like without them.
I recently had my annual physical that included blood tests, a mammogram and a bone density scan. My husband (a heart patient and type 2 diabetic) also had his physical with blood tests and is waiting for an appointment for a colonoscopy as a preventative test.
Since age 45 my husband has had quadruple bypass surgery, three angioplastis and replacement of both hips due to avascular necrosis. I have had surgery for melanoma followed by a sentinal lymph node biopsy. Dispite how it may sound, we are both active and in pretty good health.
I have heard of people who have experienced delays in treatment both in the UK and here in Canada but never for any condition requiring urgent care.
A friend from Missouri just had a defibrillator replaced and the cost was over $250,000US. Fortunately he had health insurance paid for my the Canadian company he used to work for. Now that is scary.

[Grace]

After reading all the responses, it seems that no matter where one lives, no matter the health insurance/care available, there are both good and bad situations.

. . . . . I am a diabetic and I have several items that I have to buy on a monthly basis. However, they aren't expensive when compared to how much they cost in the USA . . . . . .

BIngo!! This is my main gripe about medical care/supplies in the US - especially for those of us on Medicare.

Medicare seems to think that a non-insulin dependent diabetic should get by testing only once a day - so they will only pay for one strip/day. Being pro-active, I think it important to know what different foods do to my blood glucose - so I test frequently. I can buy 200 strips from Canada (on-line) for $100. Here in the USA companies charge $100 for 100 strips - twice as much!

This being a pet board, I will include some info about pet meds. I use Revolution once a month - prevents ear mites, heart worm, round worm, etc. Buying on-line from a place in Australia (thank you Ellie), I save $20/month over the cost in this country. That's a savings of $240 each year.

[pomtzu]

I have to agree with Gretchen (Grace) - there is good and bad in every system.

I too am on Medicare and a supplemental private insurance, and those combined cost me a little over $200 per month. With both of those, I have no out of pocket that I have to pay - ever! What Medicare doesn't pay, the supplemental picks up the balance. However I have no prescription coverage since it is quite expensive, and doesn't even cover full cost. For what few meds I take, it's a whole lot cheaper just to pay it on my own, and can get great prices thru Sam's or Canadian pharmacies. Even my brother who takes a pharmacy worth of meds, finds it cheaper thru Sam's or Canada than to carry prescription coverage here.

I cannot fathom having to wait months, or longer, for a non-emergency procedure. The longest I ever waited for a surgical procedure was a couple of weeks, and diagnostic tests such as an MRI or CT Scan, just a few days - blood tests no wait - just walk into the lab and it's done right away. Doctors are plentiful with no real wait for an appointment, and I can go to any doctor of my choice without any referral being necessary.

So even tho I believe that our system in the U.S. has many flaws and in need of fixing, I still prefer what I have over what some other countries have. This country needs to find a way to cover all of it's people that want to be covered. If you don't want insurance, then that's fine, but for those that desperately want and need it but can't afford it, there needs to be some kind of solution.

[sparks19]

Yeah that's kind of my biggest gripe about that system. I guess because the money is being taken from us BEFORE we even get to see it and anytime we buy anything (that includes nessecity items) so everyone says it's "free" when it's not really free it's just being taken from you before you get to see it and it's still not enough because they keep making more and more cutbacks.

But beyond that... because it is seen as "free" people overlook the wait times for non life threatening things. So yeah if you are about to die without the surgery you get it right away but otherwise you need to just suffer and live your life in pain until they finally find an opening for you... or until you get to my grandmothers age and they just try to wait you out rather than waste their time giving her the hip replacement she needs so badly.

When my step dad went in for his second surgery... he couldn't get an actual date and time for the surgery. He had to just sit and wait for them to call if they had a cancellation. Luckily after just over a week he got a call one night telling him he had to be in for 7 am the next morning because they had a cancellation. then he was booted out about 30 hours later when he was SUPPOSED to stay for 5 days. if they hadn't had that cancellation who knows when he would have gotten in because they couldn't or wouldn't give him a date.

but like Grace said... there is definitely pros and cons to each system although the cons seems to be weighing down the pros for both systems. There's gotta be some middle ground.

[cassiesmom]

One thing I would like to see change is the way services are paid for. (I work in a claims office) We received a claim for a service that is not covered under the insurance plan I work for. The patient had the service at a hospital in the PPO network, so the claims came in with the billed charges and the contracted rates. But the patient will not get to know the contracted rates - she will get a bill for the services at the billed charges, which are a LOT higher than the contracted rates. That stinks.

The other thing that is frustrating to no end is the cost of prescription drugs.

[sparks19]

One thing I would like to see change is the way services are paid for. (I work in a claims office) We received a claim for a service that is not covered under the insurance plan I work for. The patient had the service at a hospital in the PPO network, so the claims came in with the billed charges and the contracted rates. But the patient will not get to know the contracted rates - she will get a bill for the services at the billed charges, which are a LOT higher than the contracted rates. That stinks.

The other thing that is frustrating to no end is the cost of prescription drugs.

This I agree with. the way the billing and rates and stuff go here is ridiculous. I know we did a TON of pricing and shopping around when I was pregnant and it AMAZES me the differences between what the customer sees and what insurance sees and not only that but the differences in price between a customer with insurance and a cash customer

there needs to be regulation in that area for sure

[Cataholic]

One thing I would like to see change is the way services are paid for. (I work in a claims office) We received a claim for a service that is not covered under the insurance plan I work for. The patient had the service at a hospital in the PPO network, so the claims came in with the billed charges and the contracted rates. But the patient will not get to know the contracted rates - she will get a bill for the services at the billed charges, which are a LOT higher than the contracted rates. That stinks.

This happened to me. J had speech, covered at 20 visits a year, cause anyone knows that speech problems clear up on that 20th visit, duh!

Anyhow, I asked if I could continue the service, at the discounted rate, and was denied. Add that on top of the fact the insurer did not count the payments made for additional speech treatment as medical care going towards the significant deductible, and things stunk.

I think one of the largest lobbying groups in DC is the insurance industry. Too bad, as that will keep things the way they are for a long time now.