One word - Reaganomics.
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They also managed to miss Baltimore, meaning they managed to miss all three of the top ranked hospitals in the US while bragging about medical care knowledge. I actually think Cleveland is the perfect example of why the narrative of people flying in is garbage. For three generations members of my family have been doing some type of medical work, generally nursing, at pretty much every hospital in the area. Just in conversation with my sister I get to hear horror stories in the quality difference in the local hospitals. She’s at the Clinic and yeah she has treated a large number of wealthy and powerful people. She also did her training at our local county hospital. At Metro she witnessed frequent protocol violations due to simple supply shortages. The same medical staff is frequently employed in both the two local globally ranked hospitals (UH and the Clinic) and the other hospitals with less stellar outcomes. The difference comes down to the ability of those at Metro or Lutheran to pay. Sure, you can get excellent healthcare in the US, if you’re wealthy, but if you look closely you’ll notice that the Clinic can’t even be bothered to have a level one trauma center despite being a world class hospital in a high crime neighborhood. Poverty will kill you quickly here.
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Absolutely. The Clinic does serve non-wealthy people, ostensibly at the same quality of care. But the reality is that patients in the 5th Floor always get attention from the celebrity specialists, while if you are an average patient, you’re lucky to see a Fellow. You’re only going to see one of the big names if you have a really obscure condition that they can publish on.
ETA: Also, a big part of my point is that the wealthy aren’t going to these places just for the quality of care, or even the celebrity status of the specialists there. The global elite are going to places like The Cleveland Clinic because 1. They are getting luxury treatment, 2. Separate from the plebs.
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They are definitely getting luxury treatment. I forgot to attach my favorite horror about the US health system that is demonstrated by Cleveland. The University Circle neighborhood has 2 top 100 global hospitals according to US news rankings, the Clinic and UH. The neighborhoods surrounding the circle have infant mortality rates on par with North Korea, Zimbabwe, and Gaza. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2013/apr/12/michele-walsh/expert-says-infant-mortality-rate-near-university-/ We have beautiful islands of privilege, not a good health system.
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I just want to thank the people above me in this sub thread for calling bullshit better than I could.
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So that your Bronze-level health insurer can offer you $2500 to get your surgery done in India.
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Blue Cross/Blue Shield licensees lost their tax-exempt status in '86, and in '94 BCBS allowed licensees to be for-profit. Why a nongovernmental organization should have such power is thanks to someone in the 1960s deciding that a public/private partnership was the way to go for Medicare.
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And curlers.
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It’s forty-two pounds of polished granite, beveled on the belly and a handle a human being can hold. And it may have no practical purpose in itself but it is a repository of human possibility and if it’s handled just right, it will exact a kind of poetry…
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Men With Brooms is an underrated film.
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I mean, as far as your typical loser under dog sports film, it doesn’t do anything special. But for some reason it is an amazing feat. Plus Leslie Nielsen high on mushrooms. What more could you want?
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Or Cuba ! But I guess mayo Pete would be upset.
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Well you have to explain why so much people do medical tourism in France to me then.
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I know nothing about curling but I love cricket, and you could have just as well described cricket.
It’s not a sport; it’s a game.
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Just to add to my earlier comment.
I looked in a BNF earlier today (for unrelated reasons) and decided to look at how much hypodermic needles cost.
£2.78 for a pack of 100.
Considering the cost of treating diseases that needle reuse might cause, I struggle to see any benefit in doing that. One infected person would wipe out the savings from reusing hundreds of thousands of needles, and that isn’t even including the cost of autoclaving the reused needles.
If you give me more time I’m sure I could take apart more of that anti-universal healthcare propaganda.
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I’m a similar situation with my current employer. It’s been frustrating to have to pay co-pay and a bill for a simple visit renewing my prescriptions. I’m like “this isn’t a lab, WTF.” It’s not a huge bill to me but I can see someone else just refusing to keep their prescriptions up if getting renewal means skipping a utility bill or the rent (impossible to do).
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Well, of course the Evil, Socialist NHS refuses to pay full price to the struggling needle makers who are just creating jobs, so they don’t have to reuse them. Denying people healthcare choices in such a fashion is right up there with the excesses of the Khmer Rouge doncha know.
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Remember when ACA made denial of insurance claims based on pre-existing conditions a thing of the past? Guess who made sure that wouldn’t happen:
In 2018, President Donald Trump’s administration rolled back Affordable Care Act regulations and allowed so-called “junk plans” in the market. Consumers mistakenly assume that the plans with lower monthly costs will be better than no insurance at all in case of a medical catastrophe, but often the plans aren’t very different from going without insurance altogether.
Hospital officials at Jackson told the Miami Herald that, based on his insurance, Azcue would only be responsible for $1,400 of that bill, but Azcue said he heard from his insurer that he would also have to provide additional documentation: three years of medical records to prove that the flu he got didn’t relate to a preexisting condition.
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Would the non-existence of three years of medical records be sufficient on its own, or would he also have to get a note from every doctor he did not see over that time period?
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