Something I have difficulty getting my head around is the idea of medicine as business. I know that it is. I just have difficulty with the idea of Doctors also being business people.

[eta] that doesn't apply to cosmetic procedures, I'm just talking necessary medicine here.

[flint] something else you might want to get your head around: my wang! [/flint]

i should have just posted that as Flunt. damn

lol I just laughed and scared the dog who was asleep at my feet :P


I know...I know....damn that human nature. And waiting...damn waiting...I heard this one guy had to wait 150 years and then they amputated the wrong leg....and he was left on a gurney in the corridor to recover. I heard that.

oh hell, they do that here. not too long ago a guy went to the VA hospital where they were supposed to remove a testicle (cancer, i think). He woke up to find out they'd removed the wrong one.

yep, now he's completely nutless.

that is why medical care is not something to try to save money on. pay for the good stuff.

Most docs are not good business people.

Our medical system over here is not too bad. I think it's way better than that in the US, but it's not perfect.

A lot more people are heading towards private health these days, mostly thanks to the conservative government we've had for the last 12yrs. I'll be interested to see what changes are made to both the private and public health sectors over the next couple of years if they give Johnny the big A.

I wonder why they're having to recruit them, then?

An ob-gyn in Long Island will pay $143,148 a year for malpractice insurance. (This is compared to $85,772/year for a general surgeon in the same area.)

In Illinois, an OB could pay as much as $170,000 a year (compared to about $75,000 for a general surgeon.) It's not as high in every state, but I'm pretty sure traveling to a neighboring state is not an option for most residents.

Hi SamIam! Good to see one of your random visits!!

To the Haters.
Would it really bother you that much to let me have some proper healthcare for my husband before he kicks the bucket and leaves me on this ridiculous piece of insanity called earth, broke and crazy?

Should I really have saved 6 digits just in case my young husband had terminal cancer? Really?

This is a pretty sore spot for me right now. I'm in danger of cussing at people again. Universal Healthcare would enhance my life right now is all I'm going to say. And don't call me lazy or a welfare slut. My husband and myself are very hard-working people. (Unless I'm dicking around with you guys on the cellar)

Just nevermind. Really. Fuck it. It's like banging my head against a wall.

When I go to the doctors for a checkup, (every 15 or 20 years, whether I need it or not) and she runs the routine battery of blood tests, I feel better when she tells me everything is OK.

At least until I get the receipt from the insurance company that says for almost $700 in tests, they paid $36.... and the lab accepted it. I wonder how good a job they did on checking for problems?

Yo Cic, just let rip, don't hold back. please. you may not feel better, but you might, and you won't feel worse.

The reality is, though, that there is no perfect healthcare system, no perfect insurance system. You'd be just as fucked in the UK. Life just sucks, sometimes. With Universal healthcare comes universal awareness that wasting the doctor's time is a bad thing. So diagnoses often come too late...

Cancer is just a bummer, no matter what insurance and cover you have. Sorry it happens to be your bummer right now. I have you down as rthe type of person who doesn't give up, though, so good luck, you will get there.

Hmmmm... I make enough. I should work less. That is what my family says. But seriously, I want to work really hard to make a better life for my kids and be sure my wife is set up if I kick it early, and or save for when we/she gets older. I know that few of you will believe this but after I retired from the military I more than trippled my salary and work twice + the hours. My average work week is 50 to 110 hours a week, every week. I will have a period of 3 or 4 days off in a row everyother month and one 2 week period a year where I am off from my regular job, but often I just work somewhere else. I currently have one job as an employee, 4 as an independent contractor, and one where I don't have to do shit as I draw retirement pay from the military. I feel driven to make more, work harder, for as long as I can until I am dead. Life goes on.

Old man goes to dr. Gets a shot and a scrip. Dr tells him if not better tomorrow comeback.
Old man, why, going to give me my money back? :bolt:

Yeah, the "real" price should be somewhere between the two. My Doc charges $120 for an exam, which is what a "self-paying" patient pays. Medicare pays 80% of their $110 allowable, but most of the private insurance companies pay $32 to $50. I think that if you accept Medicare, it's illegal to charge someone a discounted price, if they're a "self-pay".

Technically you are correct. A few places I work do it. Why? to help the patient, not because they are getting rich off of this group of patients.