Simple numbers for simple people...
Oct. 20th, 2010 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mijanI've heard people rant about the evils of "socialist" medicine - the high taxes, the long waits, etc.
Well, for any of my fellow Americans who have needed health care, you KNOW that the waits are pretty damned long around here. You've probably also experienced the ugly side of billing - that your insurance certainly NEVER covers everything, and that even with decent insurance, you're going to spend a small fortune.
But let's look at cost. Nothing but cost. Here's a REPORT from CNN Money:
"Employees' share of premiums for a family plan is up an average 14%, to $3,997, vs. just a 3% rise in the total bill, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation."
So... our share of the insurance cost is rising, the actual insurance cost is rising, and simultaneously, our co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles are also rising. In 2009, the average cost of healthcare, per capita, in the United States was $8,047. And as a nation, we spent 17.3% of our entire gross domestic product on health care! That's fucking INSANE.
Wow... Canada spent an average of $4,089 per capita in 2009 on health care. And that's TOTAL! Not "insurance"... TOTAL. And that's about 10% of their GDP.
Why is this so fucked up? Overhead, partially. Inefficiency, partially. Americans who don't take care of their own health, partially. But LARGELY because after the insurance premiums in America are paid... we keep paying. Oh yes. THROUGH THE FUCKING NOSE. Have you ever gotten sick? Gone to the ER? Gotten a bill in the mail for thousands of dollars? Had to take out a loan, set up a payment plan, or sell a possession to afford health care? Even with insurance, we keep paying. And paying. And paying. Co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, and so on.
I've got damned good health insurance... for an American. I still pay $100 to go to the ER. $25 to see my PCP. $45 to see my rheumatologist, cardiologist, ophthalmologist, dermatologist, ob/gyn, and neurologist. Don't laugh - this shit could happen to anyone. I've always been an athlete and if most American ate a diet like mine, we'd solve the type-2 diabetes crisis and turn the heart disease statistics upside down. I don't smoke and I seldom drink. And I STILL got sick. And every time they say, "You need to have ___ checked by ____ specialist," there goes another $45, minimum.
So... for my insurance alone, I just found out that the base cost to my employer (who pays 95% of my premium) is $5,760 per year. That means if I NEVER get sick, I'm automatically costing $5,760 per year. Think about that. It's part of my employee benefits, so it's mine - and it means that I'm effectively shelling out that much before I even see a doctor. Wow folks, that's ALREADY over what Canadians spend per capita. My income is almost exactly average for an American. Oh, and of course, I pay taxes. My taxes cover all those people who can't pay for medical care because our economy sucks and people are losing their jobs or are under-employed. So on top of my premium, and all the co-pays and co-insurance and deductibles I pay, I'm also paying in taxes.
Right now, spending a direct, average amount of $4,089 sounds pretty damned CHEAP, doesn't it? And with longer life expectancies and lower infant mortality rates, that means the Canadian plan is more effective, too.
Oh, and when all is said and done... have any of you ever had to fight with an insurance company for approval, or a claim that got denied, or simply the filing process itself? Keeping track of all that paperwork can be pure hell, on top of already feeling like shit.
So why are we still trapped in our insurance-based system?
EDIT: I mis-read something in the CNN article, and I am changing a paragraph to reflect what I realize it actually meant.
EDIT AGAIN: Another objection I often see to UHC is about the right of the doctors to earn a profit. What's a profit, I ask? It's a paycheck, right? Adjusted for the exchange rate at the time this chart was posted, all based on 2005 data (recent enough for argument, as far as I'm concerned):
Well, for any of my fellow Americans who have needed health care, you KNOW that the waits are pretty damned long around here. You've probably also experienced the ugly side of billing - that your insurance certainly NEVER covers everything, and that even with decent insurance, you're going to spend a small fortune.
But let's look at cost. Nothing but cost. Here's a REPORT from CNN Money:
"Employees' share of premiums for a family plan is up an average 14%, to $3,997, vs. just a 3% rise in the total bill, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation."
So... our share of the insurance cost is rising, the actual insurance cost is rising, and simultaneously, our co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles are also rising. In 2009, the average cost of healthcare, per capita, in the United States was $8,047. And as a nation, we spent 17.3% of our entire gross domestic product on health care! That's fucking INSANE.
Wow... Canada spent an average of $4,089 per capita in 2009 on health care. And that's TOTAL! Not "insurance"... TOTAL. And that's about 10% of their GDP.
Why is this so fucked up? Overhead, partially. Inefficiency, partially. Americans who don't take care of their own health, partially. But LARGELY because after the insurance premiums in America are paid... we keep paying. Oh yes. THROUGH THE FUCKING NOSE. Have you ever gotten sick? Gone to the ER? Gotten a bill in the mail for thousands of dollars? Had to take out a loan, set up a payment plan, or sell a possession to afford health care? Even with insurance, we keep paying. And paying. And paying. Co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, and so on.
I've got damned good health insurance... for an American. I still pay $100 to go to the ER. $25 to see my PCP. $45 to see my rheumatologist, cardiologist, ophthalmologist, dermatologist, ob/gyn, and neurologist. Don't laugh - this shit could happen to anyone. I've always been an athlete and if most American ate a diet like mine, we'd solve the type-2 diabetes crisis and turn the heart disease statistics upside down. I don't smoke and I seldom drink. And I STILL got sick. And every time they say, "You need to have ___ checked by ____ specialist," there goes another $45, minimum.
So... for my insurance alone, I just found out that the base cost to my employer (who pays 95% of my premium) is $5,760 per year. That means if I NEVER get sick, I'm automatically costing $5,760 per year. Think about that. It's part of my employee benefits, so it's mine - and it means that I'm effectively shelling out that much before I even see a doctor. Wow folks, that's ALREADY over what Canadians spend per capita. My income is almost exactly average for an American. Oh, and of course, I pay taxes. My taxes cover all those people who can't pay for medical care because our economy sucks and people are losing their jobs or are under-employed. So on top of my premium, and all the co-pays and co-insurance and deductibles I pay, I'm also paying in taxes.
Right now, spending a direct, average amount of $4,089 sounds pretty damned CHEAP, doesn't it? And with longer life expectancies and lower infant mortality rates, that means the Canadian plan is more effective, too.
Oh, and when all is said and done... have any of you ever had to fight with an insurance company for approval, or a claim that got denied, or simply the filing process itself? Keeping track of all that paperwork can be pure hell, on top of already feeling like shit.
So why are we still trapped in our insurance-based system?
EDIT: I mis-read something in the CNN article, and I am changing a paragraph to reflect what I realize it actually meant.
EDIT AGAIN: Another objection I often see to UHC is about the right of the doctors to earn a profit. What's a profit, I ask? It's a paycheck, right? Adjusted for the exchange rate at the time this chart was posted, all based on 2005 data (recent enough for argument, as far as I'm concerned):
| Specialty | US Average Salary | Canada Average Salary (n/1.212) |
| Family Medicine | $164,952 | $167,064 |
| Int. Medicine | $170,889/ $169,450 (hospitalist) | $248,721 |
| Ob/Gyn | $253,160 | $261,412 |
| Gen. Surgery | $278,433 | $247,375 |
| Anesthesia | $309,019 | $205,441 |
| Urology | $317,778 | $279,982 |
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-21 03:13 am (UTC)What drives them is the true relentless desire to solve medical problems and find cures and treatments for people. They don't give a shit about profit as long as they get paid a fair salary (because it's damned hard work - 70 hour weeks or more) for their knowledge and effort. And to be honest, researcher salaries are dirt-low anyway. They're in it because the scientific mystery drives them, as does the need to improve medical knowledge and techniques.
The nation would need to invest some of the health care budget into research... but it ALREADY DOES. And if the system weren't profit-driven, they'd be able to put more effort into finding cures for diseases that desperately need attention... and less into things like "viagara" because it can turn a profit. Research needs to go where the medical NEED is, not where the profit is. But right now, pharmaceutical research is profit-driven. I worked in an oncology lab for one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Their drug development "pipeline" is insane.
Trust me, the USA has people who are curious, intelligent, and driven enough to keep improving medical technology. And also, improvements help keep down cost in the long run. If you could CURE a person with type-1 diabetes instead of keeping them on insulin for their whole life, it's cost-efficient, right? And it's better for everyone, especially the patient. Improved treatments for diseases reduce complications, which cost money.
So... even if a universal health care system was trying to minimize cost, it would still be in their best interest to keep pushing research forward. It would be in their best interest to keep good technology available.
And as I know from all of my Canadian friends and family (most of my family lives there), the quality of health care up there is excellent. High-tech, very advanced... just like the USA. They don't have as many MRI machines, but by and large, they've got everything we have, and they don't WASTE nearly as much money as we do.