Hospitals in the Unied States are ripping people off! Corrupt healthcare system...
Hi everyone,
Up to $800 dollars for an IV bag? That's right! Here in the United States we are facing a serious problem that is very unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. In case some of you didn't know, American healthcare is not the best in the world but it is the most expensive. I would like to briefly talk about this problem that many are facing today.
"Hospital charges represent about a third of the $2.7 trillion annual United States health care bill, the biggest single segment, according to government statistics, and are the largest driver of medical inflation, a new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association found." Source Credit
" A typical in-patient stay in a hospital is about 5 days, and that may cost you over $10,000.This figure does not include major procedures, ambulance fees, or other charges." Source Credit
Stitches
26 years old Deepika Singh had gashed her knee and the three stitches she received at the California Pacific Medical Center's emergency room cost her $2,229.11. And, Orla Roche, a toddler that had split open her forehead on a table after tumbling from a couch had her forehead sealed with a dab of skin glue for $1,696. (Source Credit)
"At Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, Daniel Diaz, 29, a public relations executive, was billed $3,355.96 for five stitches on his finger after cutting himself while peeling an avocado. At a hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., Arch Roberts Jr., 56, a former government employee, was charged more than $2,000 for three stitches after being bitten by a dog. At Mercy Hospital in Port Huron, Mich., Chelsea Manning, 22, a student, received bills for close to $3,000 for six stitches after she tripped running up a path. Insurers and patients negotiated lower prices, but those charges were a starting point." (Source Credit)
Ridiculous pricing
- Tylenol - " Charge to patient: $15 per individual pill, for a total of $345 during average patient stay" Source credit
- Neck brace - that is worth around $20 dollars, you will be charged more than $150 dollars in the hospital.
Image Credit
- IV bag - that costs less than $1 dollar, you will be charged more than $130 in a United States hospital.
Image Credit
- Alcohol swab - "$23 per swab, for a total of $322 during average patient stay."
Source Credit
- Overhead light - Patient gets charged $93.50 dollars for the cost of using overhead light in operating room.
Source Credit
- "Use of blood pressure cuff charge to patient: $20" Source Credit
- " Charge for nurse to hand you medicine taken by mouth Charge to patient: $6.25 per instance, for a total of $87.50 during average patient stay" Source Credit
- Cup for medicine - " Cost is for the plastic cup used to administer medicine, not the actual medicine inside it Charge to patient, per cup: $10, for a total of $440 during average patient stay" Source Credit
- Gloves - " Charge to patient: $53 per non-sterile pair (sterile are higher), for a total of $5,141 during average patient stay " Source Credit
- Patient belong bag - " Like a grocery bag, to hold your personal items Charge to patient: $8" Source Credit
The list goes on and on...
Health care
Unlike America, nearly all European countries have a universal health care system. And, many other countries including, Russia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, South Korea, North Korea, and the list goes on... click here to find out more. So if you visit a hospital in Europe or any of those countries that I listed your costs will be zero.
Personal experiences
My father was in a hospital for a broken leg in Germany and the taxi that took him to the hospital did not charge him anything, the hospital paid for the ride. And on top of all that he was treated exceptionally with no cost at all.
A good friend in England had a car accident and had multiple serious surgeries with zero charges.
My personal experience
Now I understand that the universal health care is not free and that everyone is paying for it by having wages being deducted from everyone's paychecks but at least there is no 3rd party such as insurance companies to scam people and inflate the prices in the hospitals. I my self had a surgery (septoplasty) on my nose for a correction of a deviated septum in Bulgaria (Europe). Since I was outside the country for a long time I did not qualify for their universal coverage and I had to pay out of pocket and it only cost me $500 dollars. I had to stay 5 days in the hospital for supervision because I had excess bleeding. I received exceptional service when I was in the hospital. It has been more than 5 years since then and I have been very satisfied with the results. If I had done the same surgery in America I would have probably paid $15,000 dollars just to the surgeon alone and if I had staid 5 days in the hospital and if you have read my post so far, you can only imagine how expensive everything would have been.
I remember when I was a kid going to the Emergency room in Florida. I was not feeling well and my parents took me there and I received just some basic blood tests and x-rays and nothing more. I was fortunate to have had insurance through my mom's policy and yet the bill with the insurance was over $1000 dollars. And I was at the emergency room for no more than 3 hours. So, yea...
Videos
Here is a really brief cool video where Adam summarizes some of the information that I have mentioned.
Here is also a video from Bernie Sanders agreeing with President Trump on healthcare
And if you haven't already, I will also recommend you to watch "Sicko" a documentary movie by Michael Moore where he talks more about health care in the United States compared to that in other countries.
References
http://www.pacifichealthsummit.org
http://www.thedailysheeple.com
The only thing government can do to lower healthcare costs is to deregulate. Anything else is a wealth-redistributive scheme.
I feel like regulations are mostly in favor of those with big pockets that want to make their pockets even bigger by bribing politicians and other influential figures . I think regulations should only be there to stop immoral and unethical things and that's it.
Say no more! :)
That's not that much.
It is all about profit, did you know oncologists actually receive incentive bonuses for prescribing certain chemotherapy drugs. The healthcare industry is in the business of keeping people sick not curing sickness, it's very sad.
Yeap, they do get bonuses. It's all about profit with the health industry as you said and so is the Prison industry (where they try to keep as many people locked up for profit), the military and weapon industries (cause wars to sell their weapons), food industry (where they poison our food with all kinds of garbage just to make money), automobile industry (where instead of making durable cars with gold metal sensors , they use cheap plastic material), the list goes on and on. Basically our economy is based on profit and greed instead of effective and efficient progress that will help lead us humans forward...
generation, thanks for the updated information. As an American travelling in Paris, I had to see Doctor at Charles Degalle Airport. I was suffering from a bleeding Sinus infection from a cold, The care was outstanding and the costs very reasonable. A lot lower than visiting emergency in the US for the same care. I got on the plane and headed to Heathrow Airport in London all cured....
The good thing is, if we don't have an emergency situation we can always buy a plane ticket and go overseas to get treated and even if the plane ticket is over $1500 dollars it will still probably be cheaper :)
agreed...
This might be your best post yet. This topic should get much more media coverage that it does currently. I thin the media in the US are more concerned with reporting what Donald Trump tweeted at 2am rather important issues that effect everyone soon or later.
I know bro, the issues will not be fixed because they don't want to fix them. They people that are in charge love it the way it is. So sad...
ill bring my own gloves haha
I have three children one of them got really sick when she was around 8 years old, the costs were ridiculous. We had insurance but was still stuck with over $350,000 in medical bills. Took forever to get out of that debt or so it felt like forever.
Wow, that is insane! This needs to change but I am afraid that greed and evil is prevailing :(
What really is insane is that when modern medicine failed and I started doing research on my child's condition I found a cure in nature, the cure cost me $30 So now I just use doctors to get diagnosis then I research natural treatments. Many countries use this as first line of treatment for patients in their country
It is why I rarely go to doctors I think mostly it is a scam
I agree. I think mainly surgeries are good and everything else is treated by nature. And sometimes problems can even be cured without surgery.
I'm allergic to bee stings and must carry an epipen to literally save my own life. They have gone from $100 to $600 recently. it costs about $3 to make.
So what is causing this run away price gouging?
1)malpractice insurance. It is high because America is one of the most litigious countries on earth. Say I got an infection from using an epipen. I would wager I'd get at least $10,000 if I sued.
2)Corporate profit motive and excessive executive compensation. in the Medicare program about $.03 out of every dollar goes to administration costs. For private health companies that is $.34 of every dollar.
So what my solution? We euthanize the private healthcare system. Extend Medicare to medicare for all and then limit malpractice to actual losses(cost incurred plus loss of wages).
If you think we can't afford that we already spend twice per person on total healthcare cost compared to countries like the UK and Japan and have worse outcomes( meaning we die sooner). No country that has instituted single payer has repealed it because it works.
Yea there are too many 3rd insurance companies(that need to be eliminated) that are scamming people and it should be only 1 government insurance .
Holy fuck that sounds ridiculously overpriced... just to melk the poor customers in need for health care... :/
At least that's one positive thing here in Germany... you won't be broke after a stay in the hospital!
My parents lived in Germany from 1990 to 1992 and they loved it there. My dad has never stopped talking about Germany ever since then :)
I have a poker friend who was stationed in Germany while he served in the Air Force. After he retired, he and his wife immediately moved back to Germany. I think the notion that America is the best country is starting to erode...
Every country has propaganda to make their people feel like they live in the best place but as far as Germany goes it really is an amazing place to live in.
It is so true. Between the insurance companies, big pharma, and the hospitals and doctors, we don't stand a chance. They go unchecked and bleed us dry. It's terrible that the quality of care you receive is based on how much you can pay. Upvoted, resteemed, and followed :)
Exactly my point! :)
I'm glad to see posts like yours addressing the issue. I only hope the United States will eventually do something about it.
Very interesting article. I am an older person and, evidently, when one reaches a certain age in the state where I live in the USA you must get checked by a doctor in order to continue to drive. I went for the appointment and, since he was a specialist and does that type of checkup and I had not had to see him before, he asked me a few questions and said he would have to write my primary doctor, who had already told me his office didn't do a checkup for driving. He wrote my primary doctor and got my records and sent me a bill for over $300. I am on a fixed income and that seemed really over the top to me for the service provided.
For me that is pure racketeering! Taking hard earned money from desperate people by doing almost nothing...