Originally posted by Monique
I know, they run those places like it's a business and they don't need the customers.
See, this is a major difference between the US and (western) Europe. In the US it is all privately owned and people flock to the areas that are most profitable and comfortable to live in. About a year ago I read about a research which showed that certain areas in the US have a grave shortage of doctors, while other areas are completely overcrowded by them. Ofcourse Europe consists of all small countries, so coverage is much more uniform.
Oh, I agree here too, if doctors don't want to see you because the TYPE of insurance that you have, that is just rediculous and shouldn't even be on their mind. [/B]
Unfortunately, many times a doctor can't see a patient with a particular insurance because they are not on the "plan". Not out of choice...for instance, United for Seniors HMO dropped eastern Georgia because they were losing money in that region.
Doctors did not drop it. If a United for Seniors wanted to see a doctor, they could, but would have to pay a office visit (say $75) and if any tests had to be ordered, the ordering doctor, who is not part of United for Seniors ,cannot get the referral and precertification so that the insurance can pay for it. This is becoming more and more common. Instead, these poor folks have to drive 45 miles into Atlanta to see a doctor or hospital on their plan.
As for medicine being a business, unfortunately, it has to be so... in part. With one doctor requiring ancillary staff of at least 2 phone people, 2 nurses (one to take care of patients and one to take care of referrals), an insurance specialist, a check in person to verify and ask permission from the insurance each time, a person to pull files, an office manager, a computer specialist etc. (our practice of three docs have over 20 ancilllary staff... they cannot be asked to work for free.)
They want their raises, 401K, dental and medical and disability insurance, workman's comp, disability insurance, three weeks of paid vacation and paid continuing medical ed ,uniform allowance and this is in addition to malpractice premiums more than half a doc's salary, a rent of $25,000 a month, 18 phone lines (always busy) costing over three thousand a month etc. Docs are taking it out of their paychecks (as I stated, Georgia docs average less than plumbers and chiropractors) but still the overhead grows. If we don't keep ourselves in business, there is no service to the patients if we go out of business and move to another state...as it is already happening.
I don't like our system as it is. It is broken. We need to salvage it. We have a lot to learn from socialized medicine...negatives and positives. The AMA, American Medical Association, favors a nationalised health insurance...just getting rid of the bureaucratic nonsense with all the different paperwork and rules will be more cost effective. Medicare is already a form of it, though wrought with bureaucracy, it is the
same from patient to patient. The rules and regulations change from one private insurer to another.
Uninsured patients are bankrupting our local hospitals as insured patients don't necessarily pick up the difference anymore.
However, a socialized medical system won't work for the simple reason that americans will not give up the right to sue, so that's out. (Can't expect a doc to pay for huge malpractice premiums on a civil servant's salary. ) In addition, we are too big and inhomogenous.
The Canadian medical system is pretty good until you get very sick and the "limit" has been spent. They have a back door... us, which is why they work. (For instance, a 8 year old with a leukemia that is 80% curable could not be treated in Canada until the new year came around due to the budget deficit in her area hospital. She was in a blast crisis and waiting 3 months was sure death. Her mother took her 3 hours south to Dartmouth Hithcock medical center in New Hampshire, and had her treated successfully with induction therapy within 2 weeks.) That is just one small sample.
However, socialized medicine has it right when it allocates care to children and infants, and denies protracted, futile care in those who are elderly. (50% of all medicare dollars are spent on the last year of a elderly person's life.) Right now, if you want your 99 year old mother to have full artificial resuscitation and life suuppport costing $10,000 a day in the ICU, you have every right to it...and trust me, this happens.
Don't know what the answer is but just the acknowledgment that we are not the best system in the world will be a first step...In short, Canada's health care system achieves more for less than the U.S. system. But to be perfectly honest, neither country is close to the top of the heap when you look around the globe. Back in 2000, if memory serves, the World Health Organization ranked countries' medical systems on the basis of how much bang they got for their buck. The world leaders were the French and Spanish. Canada ranked 30th; the U.S., 37th.
