health care: why so expensive?

**basti08** · March 24th, 2006 05:55 PM

wala nang mura sa mundong ibabaw....haayyyy

**niky** · March 24th, 2006 06:21 PM

Well, HMOs are both part solution and part problem. They gave out assurance plans that were palatable to consumers, but killed the private practitioners. What's worse, you really don't have a say on who your doctor will be... you have to use the one the HMO provides.

America's public health care system really isn't as good as in some other developed countries. This is because, paradoxically, they have the best equipped hospitals and the best-paid professionals. These cost money to maintain, and money to utilize.

Other highly industrialized countries have a well developed public health care infrastructure that the government supports through taxes. By taxing everyone equally to support this, they can keep the costs low for the end user.

But in the US, asking for additional taxing to support healthcare sounds precariously similar to "taxing to support welfare"... a kind of taboo subject for American taxpayers. Thus, the provision of healthcare for those who can't afford it and who are on Medicare or insurance is directly paid by other healthcare customers... which makes it expensive if you're not insured, assured or covered in some other way.

This equates to higher health care costs for private companies... and for a company like GM, with hundreds of thousands of employees and former employees, this becomes a nightmare.

**Flagg** · March 24th, 2006 06:49 PM

Bawal ang magkasakit... let's DOH it!

**smooth** · March 24th, 2006 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by badkuk

and...gasp...a microsoft windows-powered car?!?

any ideas on how to bring health care costs down?

ano kaya ung magandang alternative to state-funded pension/health care?

first of, i'm a physician and occassionally, also a patient. i also have a lot of relatives who become patients at one time or another. i state this simply to say that i can see from both sides of the same issue.

the doctor's pf is really a small part of what you pay for healthcare. a big chunk goes to medicines, to laboratory work-ups, and to taxes. medicines are becoming more and more expensive mostly because of R&D. for a drug to make it to market, it goes through several stages of scientific and clinical experiments and trials (usually anywhere from 5-8 years). then, after it gets through the scientific and medical scrutiny, it goes through licensing and governmental approval (and we know how expensive it is to deal with the government). tsaka pa lang siya maibebenta sa market.

with regards to lab work-ups, with the advent of defensive medicine because of the malpractice brouhaha, soon doctors will be forced to order more and more expensive laboratory work-ups. i can't imagine the time we will have to order DNA examinations for the common cold, but i think we're getting there.

**kinyo** · March 24th, 2006 08:50 PM

afaik, neurosurgeons command the highest PF ... say P500k for a single 3-hour procedure on a filthy rich patient

but even a caesarian procedure can be charged up to P40k on a lowly mother ... dikaya sapat na yung P10k (?) tutal wala naman katapusan yung mga pasyenteng kailangan i-caesarian?

fortunately, there are doctors who charge reasonably and contented to live a fairly decent life ... driving an old but well-maintained car

**badkuk** · March 25th, 2006 11:08 AM

ung medicare ba natin e parang insurance firm din ang pamamalakad? i.e. collect premiums/payments from members, invest the money in stocks, bonds, etc? or is it merely just accumulating payments in simple deposits lang?

**uls** · March 25th, 2006 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by smooth

first of, i'm a physician and occassionally, also a patient. i also have a lot of relatives who become patients at one time or another. i state this simply to say that i can see from both sides of the same issue.

the doctor's pf is really a small part of what you pay for healthcare. a big chunk goes to medicines, to laboratory work-ups, and to taxes. medicines are becoming more and more expensive mostly because of R&D. for a drug to make it to market, it goes through several stages of scientific and clinical experiments and trials (usually anywhere from 5-8 years). then, after it gets through the scientific and medical scrutiny, it goes through licensing and governmental approval (and we know how expensive it is to deal with the government). tsaka pa lang siya maibebenta sa market.

with regards to lab work-ups, with the advent of defensive medicine because of the malpractice brouhaha, soon doctors will be forced to order more and more expensive laboratory work-ups. i can't imagine the time we will have to order DNA examinations for the common cold, but i think we're getting there.

ive heard about that medical malpractice insurance thing. They say the premiums are so high its forcing doctors out of business. Mga kano kasi mahilig magdemenda. So they are suffering the consequences of their love for lawsuits---higher healthcare cost.

So it makes sense that a doctor, para maiwasan ang idemenda, he will ask a patient to undergo numerous lab tests (which cost a lot of money) to have a higjher chance of correct diagnosis.

**uls** · March 25th, 2006 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by smooth

first of, i'm a physician and occassionally, also a patient. i also have a lot of relatives who become patients at one time or another. i state this simply to say that i can see from both sides of the same issue.

the doctor's pf is really a small part of what you pay for healthcare. a big chunk goes to medicines, to laboratory work-ups, and to taxes. medicines are becoming more and more expensive mostly because of R&D. for a drug to make it to market, it goes through several stages of scientific and clinical experiments and trials (usually anywhere from 5-8 years). then, after it gets through the scientific and medical scrutiny, it goes through licensing and governmental approval (and we know how expensive it is to deal with the government). tsaka pa lang siya maibebenta sa market.

with regards to lab work-ups, with the advent of defensive medicine because of the malpractice brouhaha, soon doctors will be forced to order more and more expensive laboratory work-ups. i can't imagine the time we will have to order DNA examinations for the common cold, but i think we're getting there.

ive heard about that medical malpractice insurance thing. They say the premiums are so high its forcing doctors out of business. Mga kano kasi mahilig magdemenda. So they are suffering the consequences of their love for lawsuits---higher healthcare cost.

So it makes sense that a doctor, para maiwasan ang idemenda, he will ask a patient to undergo numerous lab tests (which cost a lot of money) to have a higher chance of correct diagnosis.

**smooth** · March 25th, 2006 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by kinyo

afaik, neurosurgeons command the highest PF ... say P500k for a single 3-hour procedure on a filthy rich patient

but even a caesarian procedure can be charged up to P40k on a lowly mother ... dikaya sapat na yung P10k (?) tutal wala naman katapusan yung mga pasyenteng kailangan i-caesarian?

fortunately, there are doctors who charge reasonably and contented to live a fairly decent life ... driving an old but well-maintained car

OT: are you a physician? i noticed that your avatar is a radiologic image.

**smooth** · March 25th, 2006 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by uls

ive heard about that medical malpractice insurance thing. They say the premiums are so high its forcing doctors out of business. Mga kano kasi mahilig magdemenda. So they are suffering the consequences of their love for lawsuits---higher healthcare cost.

higher than you can imagine, and more than the reported cost. less and less institutions abroad are performing high-risk procedures because of the potential for lawsuits.