U.S. Friends.
You have undoubtedly heard folks from other countries complaining that medical costs in the U.S. are higher than they need to be?
Then you hear, from U.S. sources, that this isn’t so and that U.S. medical services, coverage and prices are excellent – unlike those poor countries that ‘suffer’ under socialistic medical systems.
Mmmm. Well I’m a U.S. citizen and a New Zealand citizen and I’ve tasted what life is like on both sides of this question.
Today, here in New Zealand, I’m buying insurance for two upcoming overseas trips.
On my first trip, I’m going to the U.S. for three weeks.
On the 2nd trip, I’m going to Europe (Portugal, France, the U.K., Sweden, Denmark and Norway) for four months.
Cost for New Zealand medical insurance to cover me in the U.S. for three weeks (23 days) is $295 USD.
That’s $12.83 per day.
Cost for New Zealand medical insurance to cover me in Europe for four months (122 days) is $468 USD.
That’s $3.84 per day.
That’s over three times more.
*WHY*, you say?
Well, in countries where they ‘suffer’ under Socialized Medical Systems, the cost of medical care is directly related to what it costs to deliver that medical care.
But in countries where the private for-profit folks get to ‘help’ deliver medical care, they, of course, need a cut to help pay for their help.
But is the medical care in the U.S. is superior to that delivered by socialized medical systems?
Don’t just drink the kool-aid being offered up by those in the U.S. who make big profits ‘helping’ to deliver medical care. Go and read the international statistics that describe how much each country spends per citizen to provide medical care. And then look at the the results delivered in terms of longevity and infant mortality; among other things.
You will see that the costs of medical services delivered in the U.S. are significantly higher than in most other countries. And yet the measurable results of those medical services are of lesser quality.
As I said at the beginning, “…in countries where they ‘suffer’ under Socialized Medical Systems, the cost of medical care is directly related to what it costs to deliver that medical care.”
The reason why the delivery of medical services in the U.S. is more costly is because there are additional players in the circle.
So, a consumer of U.S. medical services is *not* just paying what it costs to deliver that medical service. They are also paying towards the profits of at least three additional players – all of whom want a cut of the pie. And, as all corporations do, they are keen to maximize their profits and minimize their costs to get the biggest slice of the pie they can.
The three extra players?
Well, the first are the medical services delivery corporations that have taken over the medical world in the U.S. in the last few decades
When is the last time you heard of a doctor in the U.S. having a ‘private-practice’?
Nope. Most of them have been swept up into medical services delivery companies. Most doctors now are the employees of these companies. And, in exchange for having their equipment supplied to them and having their medical malpractice insurance paid for them, they now have to see a new patient every 15 minutes and, if they want to write prescriptions for additional, specialized tests, they have to fill out forms to justify the costs. And corporate bean-counters, in the medical services delivery companies they work for, end up making judgements as to whether the tests are justified or not. Remember, a corporation wants to maximize its profits and minimize its costs.
The second player in the mix is the medical insurance companies.
There is very little socialized medicine for the U.S. citizen. So most people are driven to insure themselves against medical mishaps. I recall that for the last 10 years I lived in the U.S., before I left in 2009, I paid over $800 a month to have medical insurance coverage. And then there still was a big deductible and a co-pay percentage after that. And these medical insurance companies? They want to maximize their profits and minimize their costs too.
And then the third player is Big-Pharma.
Every wonder why prescriptions cost so much more in the U.S. than in other countries? Well, Big-Pharma is so big, that it is hard for the U.S. government to touch them. But then very few in the U.S. legislative branch would want to touch them anyway because they make so many large and fine political contributions to very people who would be the ones to control them. But after all, these lovely little corporations just want to maximize their profits and minimize their costs too.
Google around and compare the cost of various prescriptions for exactly the same drugs between the U.S. for profit corporate controlled system and those terrible socialized medical systems that so many people in other countries ‘suffer’ under.
Who you vote for makes a difference, my friends.
And all the propaganda you hear about socialized medicine being bad – is just that – propaganda.
The VAST majority of us who read this blog are already in agreement with the premise I’d be curious to know how you feel about adding a 4th player: Big Religion? How many of the hospital systems are associated with religion whose NFP status affects how much they take in — fungible dollars. And how it limits/changes what services and products they offer?
Thank you for reminding us all, again, and as often as needed/can be done, that who we vote for MATTERS! When you say it’s a matter of life and death — this is literally true.
Joel, Thanks for you feed-back. I’m afraid I don’t know a lot about the conjunction of medicine and religion in the U.S. In general, I do not think that religions and their facilities should operate tax-free. That seems like a clear bias for religion and against the secular.