[Banks]

I just learned that the average cost for staying at hospital is $4,350 per day, or $24,000 for five days.

(This is in U.S.)

I'm baffled.

This post has been edited by Banks: 9 February 2012 - 09:15 PM

[iNow]

You know what's worse? More than 50-60% of all bankruptcies in the US are the result of medical expenses. You know what's even worse than that? Of those 1 out of every 2 bankruptcies that came from medical costs, more than 70-80% of them had health insurance coverage.

http://www.cnn.com/2....medical.bills/

[Phi for All]

One of the big culprits is the disposable environment of US hospitals. They don't autoclave hardly anything anymore.

I'm not sure if there is a solution to this. Risk of infection is reduced dramatically when they use single-patient supplies like gloves, syringes, gowns, scalpels and masks. The disposables are touted as cheap, but they aren't as cheap as a good quality scalpel that's sterilized after every use, not by a long shot. And what makes the disposables even more expensive is the actual disposal, which has to be done by licensed hazardous materials handlers.

Of course, the doctors have to minimize risks to a ridiculous point so they aren't sued for malpractice, another big culprit in why hospital stays are so expensive. Add the fact that the rates for insured people are higher than non-insured, due to slow payment practices by the medical insurance companies. It's not crazy, it'$ in$ane.

[Banks]

iNow, on 9 February 2012 - 09:20 PM, said:

You know what's worse? More than 50-60% of all bankruptcies in the US are the result of medical expenses. You know what's even worse than that? Of those 1 out of every 2 bankruptcies that came from medical costs, more than 70-80% of them had health insurance coverage.

http://www.cnn.com/2....medical.bills/

And how are the number of bankruptcies going to help the U.S. Economy? Makes you think.

[iNow]

I'm all for a single payer system in the US. Too bad so many people think that healthcare for all needs to be sacrificed in the name of freedom.

[Phi for All]

iNow, on 10 February 2012 - 02:11 AM, said:

I'm all for a single payer system in the US. Too bad so many people think that healthcare for all needs to be sacrificed in the name of freedom.

They think this partly because they've been through so much media spin on the subject. Insurance companies have lied or at least skirted the truth about the single-payer systems in Canada and the UK and have paid a lot of money to plant these untruths vigorously (another reason why healthcare insurance should not be done for profit - they not only use your premiums to figure out ways to turn down your claims, they also use your money to make sure there's no government competition).

How else do you explain the Harris poll that shows Americans are the least happy people among the top ten nations with their present healthcare system? After all the logic of NOT paying for private profit and the prospect of decreased costs, why do people still talk about a single-payer system as some kind of Communist plot they refuse to even listen to? In spite of the fact that the Veterans Health Administration, which is a true single-payer socialized medicine operation, was cited in a Rand Corp study on Comparison of Quality of Care for Patients in the Veterans Health Administration and Patients in a National Sample and was found to be of superior quality, Americans stop listening and start shaking their heads as soon as you say "socialized medicine".

That's spin at work, imo.

[iNow]

Here's another pretty fantastic article that shows just how very not fantastic the US is doing on this issue.


http://blogs.scienti...den-safety-net/