OT: Interesting regarding HBO

[TROGDOR]

You can't compare them directly because they are completely different animals, but there are similarities you have to admit.

You are paying a premium for "shit you don't even use" so that others (in the minority) can get the benefit of the general populous.

[Big Little]

I will admit there are some similarities but again MEB will be covered by the enormous profits the insurance companies are going to make.

Really the ACA didn't do ENOUGH. It didn't change the way insurance/pharm/docs are price gouging their consumers.

Great article if you haven't read it:

http://www.uta.edu/faculty/story/231...ndAndGreed.pdf

[Riccardo]

Haha.... swish

Ok, i'm gonna make this thread go nuclear...

Imagine if they tried to run healthcare that way. Oh wait...

nm

[BigSlizz]

It broke a while back and I just didn't fix it. Just got a smart TV and it has sling player built in. Was thinking about ordering a new one.

[TROGDOR]

I will admit there are some similarities but again MEB will be covered by the enormous profits the insurance companies are going to make.

Really the ACA didn't do ENOUGH. It didn't change the way insurance/pharm/docs are price gouging their consumers.

Great article if you haven't read it:

http://www.uta.edu/faculty/story/231...ndAndGreed.pdf

It's a little more systemic than just the insurance/pharm/docs.

It's easy to hide behind the phrase "it's a complex system" but there is some truth to it.

Our doctors are expected to pay a small fortune in schooling to become certified to practice. Add to that the insurance craziness b/c of the way people in this country operate, looking for the next small slip up in order to cash in on someone else's dime. They have to be expensive or they would be spending the rest of their lives digging out the financial hole they are pushed into just to pursue their career choice.

Pharma has a similar burden with insurance and risks for R&D for the next cureall.

I know, i know, corporate greed and profits...but that's playing the game that
built this country. You risk your money, you get paid when it works out...otherwise you pack you bags.

[Riccardo]

Corporate "greed" and profits is ridiculous

Funny how people that think oil and pharma companies are so greedy don't seem to have a problem with Apple and Microsoft, both of which are much more profitable from a percent of revenue perspective than Exxon-Mobile or Pfizer.

[Big Little]

I agree with some of that to an extent. Our country though has one of, if not the worst, health care systems on the planet. I can pull up 100 charts to show you but this one is actually in a CPE (continuing education for CPAs) and is pretty enlightening



Our Pharma industry has gotten out of control.. selling drugs that cost $300 to manufacture for $8000? Come on.. Our Medicaid/Medicare system is completely f'd to. I have a client of mine that is a Medicare wholesale, he charges $300 for a $20 pair of crutches, guess who foots that bill? Yeah we do

Reform was and is needed, but it is barely scratching the surface of what is wrong in this country

[TROGDOR]

Our Pharma industry has gotten out of control.. selling drugs that cost $300 to manufacture for $8000? Come on.. Our Medicaid/Medicare system is completely f'd to. I have a client of mine that is a Medicare wholesale, he charges $300 for a $20 pair of crutches, guess who foots that bill? Yeah we do

Reform was and is needed, but it is barely scratching the surface of what is wrong in this country

I understand the argument, but i'm gonna channel slag here. "Numbers/stats in a vacuum are meaningless".

How much money did the pharma company spend to R&D, FDA regulations, etc? They have every right to set a price that recoups that cost.

In that same vein, Comcast/Verizon/etc has every right to try to recoup some of the cost of upgrading/maintaining the infrastructure that is required to give you internet/cable.

[Riccardo]

Nonsense

Those charts and comparisons are meaningless. The only thing relevant is cost - yes ours is more expensive than anywhere else. If that makes it the "worst", that's your opinion. To me, health care technology is a key metric, and US is the best. People don't come to the US from all around the world for top-notch health care for serious illness for no reason

[Big Little]

How can you look at that and say it's meaningless?!

You really think people from all over the country come to the US for treatment?

First paragraph in this article explains your beliefs

http://people.howstuffworks.com/10-h...re-systems.htm

[TROGDOR]

How can you look at that and say it's meaningless?!

You really think people from all over the country come to the US for treatment?

First paragraph in this article explains your beliefs

http://people.howstuffworks.com/10-h...re-systems.htm

Actually it's 2 different things, the article discusses only the financial aspects while Riccardo is referring to actual treatment side of things.

You have to be naive to think that the extremely wealthy from any country you list isn't going somewhere else outside of their country's "better" health care system. I'd wager a majority of those, if you gathered the stats, are coming to the US for treatment and surgery.

[Riccardo]

Bwaa... Cuba and Russia in the top 3!

How many people go there for treatment when diagnosed with cancer? Laughable.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapoth...fe-expectancy/

[Big Little]

For the amount we pay the service is terrible, same goes with cable/internet

I never said they don't leave their country I just think it's absurd to think they all come to the US for treatment

American exceptionalism at its best

[D Leff]

Ok, i'm gonna make this thread go nuclear...

Imagine if they tried to run healthcare that way. Oh wait...

Count it!

[TROGDOR]