Post Punk Kitchen Forum

The original article: http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/b ... illing-us/

Short version, 10 things the Consumerist learned from it: http://consumerist.com/2013/02/22/10-th ... ealthcare/

I was a bit surprised to read some of the behind-the-scenes details. It makes me a lot more pessimistic that any good change will come to US healthcare anytime soon.

Well, that's depressing.

i'm glad spam revived this thread. i listened to an interview with the author and it really makes me wonder (like a lot with the US nowadays) how the situation can ever be resolved. Medicare/caid is a behemoth, but there's no other way that disabled/elder folks will get care without it. And that doesn't even touch the black hole of not having health insurance (working part time, for example), and having to pay huge amounts just for a plan, not even to use it.
My kid had medicaid, and I learned a lot about what happens when you call up a hospital and dispute a claim; if you have some confidence and know a little about your rights [and probably, to be honest, are a person of privilege] you have a good chance of getting these prices knocked down. If you don't, you're SOL. it is just wrong. It kills me that I moved to a developing country and can get better, cheaper medical care here than I could ever afford in the US. And if you figure corruption nibbles away oh, 30-40% of the public funding for medicine where i live [more up north where conditions are really shocking], it's ridiculous that with the amount of money we spend on health care in the US that decent, accessible care isn't available to everyone.
(i would like to credit patent-breaking for this, as i think that Brazil and India and SA's {i think} patent-breaking is really a game changer, but i think in reality it isn't a huge budgetary factor)

I thought #4 and #6 were interesting.

I also thought it was interesting that malpractice insurance was listed as an issue.

The $50 aspirin was also not mentioned. I would be interested to know if that is a myth or if hospitals price gouge to compensate for people who can't pay.

The first step to solving a problem is making people aware of it. That awareness moves around, eventually opening the possibility of action. I think most Americans don't know about these issues. Bringing these issues out into the daylight is the first step in making them go away.

the $50 aspirin thing was discussed at least in the interview I heard ($24 niacin pill)- the author blamed that squarely on the Charge Master document, and it was considered as something thrown at the uninsured to compensate for the larger discounts negotiated by insurance companies.

That is terrible. I would have been bad if it was about compensating for people who couldn't pay, but that is Robin Hood in reverse. Thanks for posting.