Another reason I hate snakes!

Everskyward said:
I knew what the price was for a colonoscopy before I had one. In fact I had to pull out my credit card and pay for my share in advance. Surprisingly I got an unexpected refund a few months later. I think it was because it was considered a routine screening which was completely covered under insurance and not subject to the deductible.
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So then you actually didn't know what it was going to cost in advance.:D

The point of my post though was that I would hate to be in the position of having to shop cost for a complicated medical procedure. How would I know whether I was getting what I paid for, or getting ripped off. I would rather pay more for a higher quality service, but if all I have to go on is a price sheet, how can I tell costly quality from expensive shoddy.
 
There's better ways to fund and administrate all this that eliminates 2/3rds of the cost without touching quality.
 
Henning said:
There's better ways to fund and administrate all this that eliminates 2/3rds of the cost without touching quality.
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Fire all the doctors and put veterinarians in charge?
 
JOhnH said:
So then you actually didn't know what it was going to cost in advance.:D
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Thats true. :rofl:

Should have read my insurance policy better. But at least the doctor/facility was honest and refunded the money.

JOhnH said:
The point of my post though was that I would hate to be in the position of having to shop cost for a complicated medical procedure. How would I know whether I was getting what I paid for, or getting ripped off. I would rather pay more for a higher quality service, but if all I have to go on is a price sheet, how can I tell costly quality from expensive shoddy.
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That's also true. I would also not want to comparison shop for a complicated medical procedure for the reasons you state in this post and others. Living things do not all respond the same to identical medical treatments, and I think there are many more variables involved than what laypeople think. This is from a layperson who has had a complicated, expensive, medical procedure for a condition she couldn't have imagined previously.
 
JOhnH said:
Fire all the doctors and put veterinarians in charge?
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Make the money selling energy and water. Pay everyone on salary, pay cost for drugs, suit proof system. Eliminate the "business" from healthcare. That is where all the big expenses exist.
 
It might not be such a bad idea:

We just had a dog treated for rattlesnake bite two weeks ago. The antivenin was $875 per dose, they told us it might take up to three doses and it only took one. Her bill for hospitalization, lab work and antivenin came in at about $1200. Ignoring the fact that its stupid to mess with rattlesnakes, this is an example of gouging disguised as health care.
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Even if you can get a doctor/hospital to provide a quote in advance, they will bill you 3x the quote in the end, just like an A&P. It never fails. :D
 
write-stuff said:
Leftists hate snakes.
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Now them's fightin words!:nono:

I happen to be afraid of snakes. I'm not afraid of taking on loud mouthed blowhards. My martial arts training is a little stale (like 40 years), but I remember a few tricks. (mostly how to take a punch and to fall down without hurting myself).:D
 
write-stuff said:
Maybe it was leftists like snakes? I can't remember. Ask FC. If he likes snakes, then it must be leftists that dislike them.
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I like snakes. Snakes eat roaches, mice, and rats. Snakes, lizards... I'm good with all of them.
 
Henning said:
I like snakes. Snakes eat roaches, mice, and rats. Snakes, lizards... I'm good with all of them.
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Yep. Lots of good reasons to like snakes. None of them work on me.

And the next person to walk up behind me and drape a snake over my shoulder will fare worse than the last person that tried it.:yikes:
 
JOhnH said:
Yep. Lots of good reasons to like snakes. None of them work on me.

And the next person to walk up behind me and drape a snake over my shoulder will fare worse than the last person that tried it.:yikes:
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Chicks dig pythons...:rofl:;)
 
Henning said:
I like snakes. Snakes eat roaches, mice, and rats. Snakes, lizards... I'm good with all of them.
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That's what I tell my wife, but she refuses to understand.....

One time she was working in her garden, and I hear ear splitting scream..... she comes running in telling me there is a snake in her garden. I go out to investigate and there is a little grass snake, about 6-8 inches long trying to hide under the leaves..... :lol::lol::lol:

Once in the Philippines there was a lizard in my hotel room..... it kept me awake saying something that rhymes with tuck tu..... :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
azure said:
Or they have insurance that pays the entire bill, minus a nominal co-pay, and they don't look too carefully at the insurance statement. But things are changing fast, and within 5 years if not sooner I would bet plans like that will cease to exist.



I agree with Henning, health care should be divorced from the free market. Nearly every country in the first world has some form of universal health coverage, we are one of the few exceptions. The trouble is that without some way of controlling the skyrocketing cost of medical care, we would never tolerate the level of taxation needed to fund a universal coverage plan that provides quality care.
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Those plans ceasing to exist would be a great start. People might actually lose it on a hospital when they're charged $40 for a single Tylenol pill if the dollars actually came from their pocket.

As far as what other "first world" countries do... Most are in debt to their eyeballs and are completely broke on paper. They play political games with the international banking system and each other in a huge circle jerk. Not sure anyone looking for rational solutions sees any of their stupid games as reasonable. Jumping off a bridge because the other guy did, isn't very bright.
 
denverpilot said:
Those plans ceasing to exist would be a great start. People might actually lose it on a hospital when they're charged $40 for a single Tylenol pill if the dollars actually came from their pocket.
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I don't have first-hand info, but my understanding is the reason they work is because they have strict governmental control on pharmaceutical costs and on what providers can charge. Doctors simply don't make as much over there as here. Big pharma's profit margin is smaller.

But I agree that the only way we're going to see that kind of control over here is if people start having to actually pay their medical bills. The thing is, though, lots of people have been doing that all along and the only thing that has changed is the number of people being bankrupted by meds that cost five and even six figures per year (mostly cancer drugs and certain rare diseases, not hospital overcharges): it continues to go up.
As far as what other "first world" countries do... Most are in debt to their eyeballs and are completely broke on paper. They play political games with the international banking system and each other in a huge circle jerk. Not sure anyone looking for rational solutions sees any of their stupid games as reasonable. Jumping off a bridge because the other guy did, isn't very bright.
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We're already jumping, we've been committed to the jump for a long time. As long as the goal is "reducing the deficit" instead of paying off our debts, all we're doing is putting off the inevitable a little while longer.
 
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