OT: I Thonk I Figured Out The Healthcars Problem

Expand the VA system to include everyone and put the private hospitals out of business, and then buy them for pennies on the dollar.

I know two people now who refuse full time work because of the cost of medical care. And now or soon companies over a certain gross are supposed to supply it. So now we will have a bunch of people working less the 30 hours a week for the $15 minimum wage. And these assholes thing they are going buy a new car and house on $450 a week, after paying a grand a month for health insurance. (I do not mean those employees who took the job because it was all hat was out there, I mean the "social engineers" who caused the problem)

The government HAS a single payer system in place, just expand that and become serious competition with these gouging motherfuckers and show them what it means to lose money because you just went too far.

I'll slide the penny under the door.

T^T

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

On Sunday, July 3, 2016 at 1:42:30 AM UTC-4, jurb...@gmail.com wrote:

Expand the VA system to include everyone and put the private hospitals out of business, and then buy them for pennies on the dollar.

Like most simple solutions, it is not all that simple.

a) The VA healthcare system is a mixed bag at best. Entirely wretched for the majority of veterans once past immediate wound care and immediate rehabilitation - such as it is. Pretty good whilst the patient is still bleeding from the initial trauma.

b) The general public is not about to put up with that level of care, free or otherwise. Full Stop.

c) The Medical Profession attracts a certain type of individual because of the prestige (and money) attached, not only for the 'doing good for others' part. Once the medical profession is reduced to patient-factory processing, both those aspects will go away.

d) CHOP/UPenn completed the first full double hand transplant on an 8 year old boy about a year ago. Successful, so far.

http://www.chop.edu/news/world-s-first-bilateral-hand-transplant-child-performed-children-s-hospital-philadelphia#.V3jzRLgrK00

That sort of thing will come to a complete stop under the patient-factory model.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

>"The Medical Profession attracts a certain type of individual >because of the prestige (and money) attached, not only for the >'doing good for others' part. Once the medical profession is reduced >to patient-factory processing, both those aspects will go away. "

Seems like that is pretty much how it is in other countries, but they are not complaining all that much.

Expanding the VA would mean a bunch more money expended on the VA. One would hope that would make room for improvement. In fact some of their hospitals are rated pretty good. Others of course are dismal. Wherever the four star generals go, use that as a model.

Doctors make more here than any other country yet are not more competent on average. Those who pioneer in the field should of course be rewarded somehow, first hand transplant, head transplant or whatever. But they are not average.

Normal healthcare is almost like a factory already, but for a 15 minute visit that used to cost $10 it costs what now ? I do not mean the copay. And what happens is the nurse who makes half as much takes your vitals, gives the doctor a form with you pulse, BP etc., you tell him where it hurts, he takes out a pad and writes some illegible hyroglyphics on it and you are done.. And he gets how much for that ? And he wants to see how many patients per hour ?

Part of the problem is the college conspiracy. Educators and their cohorts are just as greedy and doctors have ridiculous amount of debt. I would estimate that with younger doctors the cost of student loans is more of a drag than malpractice insurance. I read that the malpractice insurance costs are not as big of a part of the financial load as we were lead to believe. Maybe they are for those who have had claims against them. But like good drivers who do not have accidents or alot of tickets, I am sure some pay less.

Hear about those hot Women doctors from Russia who will marry you ? Well they can come here and test out of alot of medical school so they have alot smaller debt load. They get licensed and they can make like three times as much here. And Russia is no slouch when it comes to medical technology. They developed RK which is the forerunner of Lasix.

Speaking of which, I had a cataract done back in 2011. They got me to 20/20 but I still need the vitrectomy(sp) which is cleaning the fluid in the eye.. I can't stand to look at a white wall. Plus, reading glasses at 6 diopters is not enough for me to see up close.

Anyway, I have heard of people getting cataract surgery and then the doc say "Then we'll touch it up with Lasix". Just what kind of insurance does that person have ? For them to pay just so you don't need glasses to drive ? And this was not long ago. the new technology for cataracts includes ultrasound. They measure the distance to your retina and thus can choose the proper lens even though your vision is totally obscured as mine was. I was awake for mine, I found it interesting. But I digress.

Anyway, the way you put it makes you think that money attracts people who will be more diligent in their job, have a better work ethic and probably be more competent. Well more skill of course will bring you more money, but the other two attributes not so much. For ethics and diligence it is pot luck. There are some things money cannot buy.

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

On Sunday, July 3, 2016 at 4:42:09 PM UTC-4, jurb...@gmail.com wrote:

"The Medical Profession attracts a certain type of individual >because of the prestige (and money) attached, not only for the >'doing good for others' part. Once the medical profession is reduced >to patient-factory processing, both those aspects will go away. "

Seems like that is pretty much how it is in other countries, but they are not complaining all that much.

Expanding the VA would mean a bunch more money expended on the VA. One would hope that would make room for improvement. In fact some of their hospitals are rated pretty good. Others of course are dismal. Wherever the four star generals go, use that as a model.

Doctors make more here than any other country yet are not more competent on average. Those who pioneer in the field should of course be rewarded somehow, first hand transplant, head transplant or whatever. But they are not average.

Normal healthcare is almost like a factory already, but for a 15 minute visit that used to cost $10 it costs what now ? I do not mean the copay. And what happens is the nurse who makes half as much takes your vitals, gives the doctor a form with you pulse, BP etc., you tell him where it hurts, he takes out a pad and writes some illegible hyroglyphics on it and you are done. And he gets how much for that ? And he wants to see how many patients per hour ?

I guess we are lucky being in the Philadelphia, PA region, and with decent heath-care (which we pay for ourselves). Last year in June, I got my left hip replaced. My out-of-pocket was $21 (total) for some TED stockings. The surgery was day one, I was home the next day, climbing stairs the following day, and driving in 10 days, free-of-restrictions in 30 days. Our MD spends as much time as we need with us, his nurse does take BP and weight, asks us about any changes since the last visit, then leaves the rest to the Docs. A typical visit last about 20 minutes of face time, 8-10 with the nurse, the rest with the doc. If it is an annual check-up, it will last at least 30 minutes with the Doc and includes a full skin exam as we are fair-skinned.

You get _exactly_ what you allow yourself to get with health-care. And if you cheap out going in, you will suffer going out. Happily, we can afford the care we get, Obama made sure it was available to us, and we go pretty high up on the available options. That we are both reasonably healthy and both able to afford and to be scrupulous about health care is a good thing. But there are no simple one-size-fits-all solutions without a complete revamping of the system, not merely replacing it with an equally fractious and broken alternate.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA