vetgam wrote:
So Tony, are you saying your out of pocket cost was $250 that year? Are your taxes in Australia ridiculously high? What has been your experience with a national health care system? Does it work better in your experience? Big debate here in the states.
Hoping to not open a can of worms Greg, but I firmly believe USA should look to the experiences of countries like Australia for health care.
Some years ago, a left-leaning government created "Medicare", which provided universal basic healthcare to everyone.
In order to limit overall costs, "common fees" were established by the government for various medical services (including the humble general practice GP doctor out in the suburbs), and if medicos charged more, insurers were banned from covering the gap. Similarly, public hospitals offered multi-bed wards, operating doctors were as provided (is no selection of particular surgeons, so many doctors were newly qualified, and "boutique" doctors stayed away from the Medicare system) Waiting lists could be quite long in non-emergency cases.
But the up side (and boy, is it an important one!) NOBODY DIES from being unable to afford medical attention. That is not an unrealistic expectation of a civilised society.
Some GPs make a good living "bulk-billing" their patients, meaning that the latter have no out of pocket expenses seeing their GP. This has the deliberate benefit of limiting the number of people turning up at ER departments at hospitals, and encouraging people to seek medical attention before a problem escalates.
The government pays for Medicare by charging a tax surcharge (I think it is about 4%) which can be reduced if the taxpayer takes out private medical insurance. Private patients enjoy some attractive advantages, such as:-
Choice of specialist
Reduced waiting list time
Private rooms in hospitals (including private hospitals if desired)
Cover for elective surgery (strictly controlled by the government. eg no government subsidies for cosmetic surgery, and bizarrely, limited government subsidy for my spinal surgeries which are deemed elective.. WTF??)
Obviously, people on higher incomes will elect to take out private health cover rather than wear the tax surcharge. Private insurance premiums vary greatly, depending on extent of cover (medical, hospital, extras, dental etc, age of patient etc, while pre-existing illnesses are handled by extended waiting periods), age when starting out with the cover (premiums ramp up the older you are when you join up). For instance, my cover does not include maternity expenses lol!
In my case, as a 71 year old pensioner, I chose to have hospital-plus private health cover, and then negotiate with the specialist surgeon, for them to charge the no-gap common fee. My GP bulk-bills for my visits, so no out-of-pockets, and when in hospital, almost all costs are covered (physio, registrars, rehab equipment and assistance etc) With a fortnightly premium of $54, I am hugely in front!. (2015 $70k, 2016 $30k, 2017 prediction $200k)
Sorry for the long-winded masssively off-topic reply Greg. To be honest, most of us here in Australia can't understand how US society can even contemplate milliona of pwople "falling through the healthcare cracks" due to being unable to afford treatment