Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mises]

[Fox]

I think there's a lot of strength to the case of simply paying for all minor to moderate treatments with cash up front. I still prefer the catastrophic ones to be covered under a government plan than a private one; insurance is one of those businesses where a large portion of potential customers are liabilities rather than assets. It's only natural to expect a company to try their best to dump liabilities, and as such, they can't be trusted on this matter. Universal health care for major issues coupled with paying in cash for minor and moderate ones -- combined with reducing general practicioner to a bachelor's degree -- would do a lot of good I think.

[conrad2]

Insurance companies suck out about 30% of total US expenditures for health care. And for what? They treat no patients, they dont perform surgeries, they dont find cures. They skim a lot of money and thats it. This is complete madness. I believe in capatalism, but you should at least be required to perform some service or function to earn a profit. Health care is far to important. Every single doctor in the US should refuse to treat anyone until health insurance companies are outlawed. This will help thier bottom line as well.

[ontheway]

[mises]

Ron Paul earned 6$/hr in the late 60's as an OBGYN in Dallas at a private hospital. Since then, something has gone haywire.

The interesting thing about the company I listed above is that it exists without competition. So 40bucks to see a Dr is without market competition to drive down costs. It is also without a reform (as Fox mentioned) on who is able to provide medical services. You don't need 8 years to learn how to deal with a broken toe. 4 would suffice (more than suffice). Open it all up and prices will come right down. Catastrophic insurance will be affordable too. I have catastrophic insurance on my car and spend 130$ a month (and that covers other people I might harm up to a few million bucks).

[bacasper]

[mises]

In 4 years, that can be covered. And with hyper-specialization, the students would learn 1) the trade (broken toes) and 2) how to spot potential complications that must be referred to infection specialists etc. Would it be impossible to learn signs/symptoms of larger problems in 4 years?

Anyways, typical GP's don't have specialized knowledge about anything. Jack of all trades, master of none. To take an example, how many know about Vitamin D? Are they up on the research? How about low-carb diets? Do they know? Or do they know enough about everything to pass exams but not enough about one thing to be of any use. Really, aren't they just drug dealers anyways?

[Sergio Stefanuto]

I remain firmly convinced that a freer, competitive marketplace is the solution to America's government-created healthcare farce.

I strongly discourage a massive government system, particularly in the belief that doing so will bring down costs. There is a fundamental difference between bringing down costs and not paying costs. In the UK and Canada, there's a considerably greater chance than in the US that you might be dead by the time they find out what's wrong with you, and that will "bring down the cost" of medical care because you won't need any.

[Fox]

[Pluto]

The problem isn't health insurance specifically, the problem is the third-payer model more generally. This is a problem for patients, this a problem for doctors, this is a problem for health care providers and this is a problem for the government and taxpayers. The reason is that nobody knows what anything costs. If the patient would begin by asking, "How much does this cost?" then that would exact a lot more cost discipline throughout the health care industry. However, nobody thinks about it because they just assume thier insurance or Medicare will pay for everything. The same applies to drugs, medicines and prescriptions as well. There are a lot of generics on the market that perform the same function for less than, literally, 4% of the cost.

If you have an hour or so to kill, John Stossel gives a brilliant overview on health care in America.

20/20 Special, Sick in America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEXFUbSbg1I

[Senior]

[bacasper]

[bacasper]

[Fox]

[Ya-ta Boy]

While I'd love to destroy the insurance companies, yada, yada, yada,...

Does anyone else think that people who put all their faith in invisible, ineffable, mysterious 'free markets' are no different in any way from people who put all their faith in invisible friends who live in the sky? Same, same.