Rant about prescription costs

[wyliec]

One thing is for sure, 30 years ago we did not have prescription drugs being advertised on TV, we did not have ambulance-chasing lawyers advertising on TV, and you didn't have to wait 3 months to see a doctor. And health insurance cost a fraction of what it does now. Am I wrong to see a connection?

That is pretty sad about having to wait 3 months to see a dr. Are you saying that's a general rule in the U.S.? I can only speak to the area in which I live, and I called the dr's office at 8:30 A.M. yesterday and he saw me at 4 P.M. the same day. I had to drop my previous dr. when he became part of a concierge practice which cost the patient an extra $1600 a year, and not billable to your insurance. For that price, you were guaranteed same day service. We do have a lot of the ambulance-chasing lawyers on t.v., but I haven't seen it for medical malpractice; we do have a lot for personal injury. I know an attorney that specializes in medical malpractice, but he doesn't advertise. I guess I should be thankful for the area in which I live. Also, 30% of the practicing drs. at Upstate Medical Center where I work are from other countries.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

FREE HEALTH CARE

I think we still have one of the best systems in the world no matter what some of your polatitions like to say, For an example, I went to get a stress test and the doctor said something wasnt right. He said he needed to operate and by 6;00 AM the next morning was on the operating table and they put 2 stents
in one of the main arteries.The cost to me ZERO dollars. they dont even send a bill. Cost of medication maximum $20.00 per prescription, government picks up ballance. The wife had breast cancer, they operated immediately and then went on keemo and all the treatments and is now cured and never seen a bill, also for cancer there is no cost for any medication. Yes, we pay 6% tax on most purchases of new vehicles clothing etc. but that is a small price to pay for the average person unless you want to buy expensive toys every year. This is in Saskatchewan Canada. We do not need to pay any insurance premiums etc,
Hope you all have good health in the new year

" FREE ", :roflblack: only to those Canadians who " Don't Pay Any Taxes ".... Canadians are among the Highest taxed people on the planet. Annnnnnnnnd that's how the health care is FREE ..... Do the math ......... Mike :thumbup:

 

[Rob Rodriguez]

I'd glady pay another $5K-$15K in taxes per yr if it meant no out of pocket cost healthcare.

In fact lots of the people in the USA that don't pay or pay very little taxes (low income) get some of the best healthcare in the world at little to no cost.

Its the middle class that works their butt off that gets screwed as usual.

 

[R FUN]

Blueknight911, I do not know were this FREE health care is you talk of. We all pay but the money is managed better in my opinion. If your system in so much better, why is the US the only country on the planet as you put it that does not have socialized health care, but dont worry, Trump will fix it.
I have worked in Canada all my life and do not know were this high taxes are you talk about.
Roger

 

[Bob Denman]

Then you must have better Politicians than we do... :banghead:

:congrats:

 

[RinconRyder]

Come on up any time Bob. You are always welcome. I'll even subscribe to Fox News for you

Be careful what you offer. I was once in hospital for 8 days and the only news channel they had was Faux. I was almost crazy by the time I got out. :banghead:

 

[UtahPete]

" FREE ", :roflblack: only to those Canadians who " Don't Pay Any Taxes ".... Canadians are among the Highest taxed people on the planet. Annnnnnnnnd that's how the health care is FREE ..... Do the math ......... Mike :thumbup:

Mike, I don't know where you're getting your information, but it's just not so. That's the propaganda that our capitalistic health care system has been feeding us for decades.

 

[UtahPete]

Completely agree we need a rational solution. I don't think we will have one any time soon. Politicians are too busy fighting among each other and "big business" completely controls how "healthcare" works in this country. Neither gives a damn about the people that actually use healthcare and neither lives in the "real world"

Since it seems a lot of people in the USA are against a government controlled healthcare system like most other countries have I think we need to go the route of people obtaining their own insurance rather than employers providing insurance.

In my opinion employer sponsored healthcare is a major driving force in why/how the costs are out of control.

Why?

• Because most people have no idea what they are paying for health care (comes out of their check automatically) or what the true overall cost is.
• Employers have a large enough pool of money (or are able to achieve the $ required) to meet these over inflated costs year after year.

If everyone had to purchase their own health insurance on their own two thing would happen.

• People would be in shock at what health insurance really costs
• Very few would purchase health insurance because no one would be able to afford it

Insurance companies, hospitals, etc, etc would be forced to have more reasonable costs because they wouldn't be able to sell their product at current pricing.
The old,"how much does it cost?, how much do you have?" wouldn't/couldn't be the pricing model as it currently is.

Would this solve the entire issue. Absolutely not, but its a step in the right direction.

You nailed it.

 

[UtahPete]

Having been in private practice ... if your lawyer is charging $340 an hour for work actually done by his/her legal secretary, that is absolutely fraud and you have a legitimate complaint to the local Bar association. You are entitled to an itemized bill showing what the lawyer did to earn the $340 an hour. Not only that, but they would have to produce time slips showing what they did, when they did it, and how long it took them. I'd bet that if you asked for such an accounting, the first response you'd get is an offer to simply cut the bill in half. Thing is, most people are too shy to ask for such an accounting ... and there are some lawyers who know this and depend on it. When I was licensed back in 1982, we had an honorable profession. Now it's 90% ambulance chasers. This kind of thing drove me crazy in short order which is why I spent most of my career in the Army and Air Force, both in uniform as a JAG and as a civilian attorney.

You have my utmost respect and admiration. Thank you for your service in both the military and civilian life. I'm sure with an attitude like yours, you didn't retire filthy rich, as most doctors and lawyers expect to do.

 

[UtahPete]

Then you must have better Politicians than we do... :banghead: :congrats:

Their system is less susceptible to fraud and self-dealing, than ours.

 

[ARtraveler]

When I worked in a CPA office as a "staff accountant" back in the 90's, we had to keep track of our time spent on various clients down to 1/10th of an hour. That was so they could bill the client for time spent. I am guessing the time was credited to the "partners" and not the grunts doing the work behind the scenes. :thumbup:

 

[UtahPete]

When I worked in a CPA office as a "staff accountant" back in the 90's, we had to keep track of our time spent on various clients down to 1/10th of an hour. That was so they could bill the client for time spent. I am guessing the time was credited to the "partners" and not the grunts doing the work behind the scenes. :thumbup:

I worked for Touche, Ross & Co back in the 90s as a senior auditor. I did see some of the billing to clients and it was broken down by associate, manager and partner time.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

FREE h c

Blueknight911, I do not know were this FREE health care is you talk of. We all pay but the money is managed better in my opinion. If your system in so much better, why is the US the only country on the planet as you put it that does not have socialized health care, but dont worry, Trump will fix it.
I have worked in Canada all my life and do not know were this high taxes are you talk about.
Roger

From YOUR post on this ... " cost to me ZERO dollars " .... " they don't even send a Bill " ..... " never seen a Bill "..... " no cost for any medication " ...." we do not need to pay any insurance payments " ......... ANNNNNNNNNND Trump will never award any Terrorists ..... $ 7,000,000 for their pain and suffering :yikes::yikes::yikes: ... I am not anti-Canadian , but I am anti-BS ...............annnnnnnnnd a Happy New Year .........Mike :thumbup:

 

[UtahPete]

From your post on this ... " cost tome ZERO dollars " .... " they don't even send a Bill " ..... " never seen a Bill "..... " no cost for any medication " ...." we do not need to pay any insurance payments " ......... ANNNNNNNNNND Trump will never award an Terrorists ..... $ 7,000,000 for their pain and suffering :yikes::yikes::yikes: ... I am not anti-Canadian , but I am anti-BS ...............annnnnnnnnd a Happy New Year .........Mike :thumbup:

Mike, Mike, Mike. Love you bro' nojoke But what does this have to do with the problem of paying for health care in the US?

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Health Care

Mike, Mike, Mike. Love you bro' nojoke But what does this have to do with the problem of paying for health care in the US?

Pete, Pete, Pete. I love you too BRO nojoke...... It doesn't have anything to do with paying for Health care in the U.S. and my last post to .... " R Fun " didn't say it did. There are many, many ways to determine what the word " FREE " means ...and He used a bunch of them............. annnnnnnnnnnnd I don't have any warm and fuzzy feelings towards folks who appear to be " Trump Haters " :banghead::banghead:....Mike :thumbup:

 

[UtahPete]

Pete, Pete, Pete. I love you too BRO nojoke...... It doesn't have anything to do with paying for Health care in the U.S. and my last post to .... " R Fun " didn't say it did. There are many, many ways to determine what the word " FREE " means ...and He used a bunch of them............. annnnnnnnnnnnd I don't have any warm and fuzzy feelings towards folks who appear to be " Trump Haters " :banghead::banghead:....Mike :thumbup:

Okay, bud. I respect and appreciate you too much to pursue this further. nojoke

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

You also need to add in the costs you pay for the supplementary insurance and the cost to the government for Medicare, etc. over and above whatever you paid over your working years for Medicare.

About the only cost not included in the insurance premiums and my out of pocket cost of $12,000+ per year above is the Government's current contribution to the Medicare program that helps pay for my medical care. Retirees are covered by Part A at no out of pocket cost. I haven't seen nor looked for info on how much the Part B premium retirees pay does or does not cover actual medical costs of the retiree. Part B is an insurance pool just like BCBS, Aetna, and all the others. The presumption of the total BCBS premium, me + Uncle, is that it pays for all of my medical expenses as part of the total insurance pool. That means, of course, that many people in the pool pay in a lot more than they cost in benefits.

If the billed charges for medical care and prescriptions are in fact bloated fictitious numbers and the real cost is closer to what I and my insurance plans pay the providers, then how badly are those without insurance, or with only a weak insurance plan, being gouged? Everybody, insured or not, should be charged about the same rate for a given procedure or prescription. I can see an insurance company getting somewhat of a break due to volume and buying power, but when the provider accepts 5% to 20% of the billed amount as payment in full, the pricing scheme is seriously broken.

Other evidence of the broken pricing scheme is that in spite of providers screaming about inadequate payments non-profit hospitals and for profit medical groups continue to build marble palaces. Some of the most gorgeous buildings in town are hospitals.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Then there's the fact that we don't allow the same drugs that are made overseas to be sold here, limiting supply. So if you have increased demand and limited supply, what do you get? High prices.

You ever looked closely at the label on your prescription bottles, the ones that are handed to you just as they come from the pharmaceutical companies? You might be surprised at just how many of them do come from overseas, especially India.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

If anybody thinks that the Canadian Healthcare system is better than ours: I'm pretty sure that they'd be happy for us to join them up there!

Keep in mind the two parts of medical care, the technology and the delivery. The US is undoubtedly the leader, but not necessarily by much, when it comes to technology and expertise in treatment of illness and injury. However, we are sadly far from the top of the list when it comes to delivery. Most every developed country in the world does a better job of providing care to its people than we do. So, which is worthy of more praise, great medical technology that 20% + of the population can't access, or mediocre care that everyone has access to? Guess which one has the lower infant mortality rate. In this list, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html, out of 225 countries 54 have a lower infant mortality than the US.

 

[wyliec]

So, which is worthy of more praise, great medical technology that 20% + of the population can't access, or mediocre care that everyone has access to? Guess which one has the lower infant mortality rate. In this list, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html, out of 225 countries 54 have a lower infant mortality than the US.

Firstly, before I'm accused of hating kids, all children should have access to healthcare. Would you explain what I have bolded? Are you making an all encompassing statement that there are children in all states that don't have access to healthcare? Lately I've seen statements on various threads where comments seem to be all encompassing, all fit under the same umbrella type statements. In any case, in NYS children have access to healthcare at no cost or little cost based on family earnings. I'll admit that I don't know how this plays into other states, and was wondering if that's what you meant by access?