Health care

[Gaelic]

Originally posted by Donut: I have travelled extensively in the US (mostly in the South and East of the country) and I can honestly say that the only thing that can get an American angrier than talking about the NHS is to suggest that he might like give up his right to own a gun.

Hehe! That's probably true.

This is my semi-specialized subject as well. My feelings are as follows:

NHS is essentially a huge HMO. Having an NHS will not solve any of the problems caused by HMO's. Holding HMO's accountable will. There are two bills before congress right now that address that but there is a distinct difference between the two. One would allow a patient to sue an HMO that makes a decision that adversely affects a patient's health, just like anyone can with an individual doctor. It also limits punitive damages to $500,000. The other bill allows you to sue an HMO, but it would also allow you to sue your employer. It also caps punitive damages at $5 million. The former bill would protect patients and not increase health care costs a lot. The latter would protect patients, increase health care a ton, and give rise to many frivolous lawsuits. With the $5 million cap, HMO's would need expensive insurance policies, the costs of which would only be passed on to their customers which would not "hurt" that HMO at all. The same can be said of the half million cap, but the increase in costs to the consumer would be considerably less.

Something that neither of these bills do which I would like to see, is take the punitive damages away from the person bringing suit and his or her lawyer. Compensatory damages (lost wages, lost ability to work, REAL money losses) are and should remain uncapped. Right now, punitive damages are the parts of the suit that run into the millions and do nothing but line the pockets of lawyers and hand out money people didn't earn. That money should remain untouched by lawyers and plaintiffs and be put into a fund to pay compensatory damages to people who cannot afford to bring similar suits, or to pay court costs, or something like that. That would keep frivolous lawsuits down and help people at the same time.



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Gaelic

Wow!, thanks for the great information here! I know that there are more places to hear from in this great diversity of people on this forum. I learn something everyday from reading here. My wife is a physical therapist and I have really grown to appreciate the ups and downs of seeing how people get their medical attension when needed. She told me that Cuba has a really good health care system, I wish we all could find out what they are doing down there. Good fortune and hard work have allowed me to "afford" my HMO but the prices and benefits seem to get worse over time. 2 years ago they started chargeing me an extra 10$ for a co-payment now everytime I see a doctor. My prescription prices went up also. I get nurses alot when the matter is small and hardly see the same face when I return for treatment. Do you see the same GP over the long haul like a family doctor?

[Donut]

Originally posted by Conan: She told me that Cuba has a really good health care system, I wish we all could find out what they are doing down there. Do you see the same GP over the long haul like a family doctor?

Cuba has an excellent health care system. People from the NHS have been there in an attempt to find ways to improve our system.

Yes, you can see the same GP every time. Some patients have been with the same GP since the beginning of the NHS in 1948. The original motto for the NHS was to 'provide care from the cradle to the grave'


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Save Chip - Don't let Sarah win!
Official Titterer of the Laughing Hyenas

[This message has been edited by Donut (edited 06-20-2001).]

Conan, In regard to your first post:

I used to be involved with an HMO. The office that I was appointed to (nearest my home) employed a GP who refused to treat me for a broken foot because he saw a pack of cigarettes in my pocket. "If you won't take care of yourself, why should I take care of you?"
Needless to say, I had them reassign me to a different facility.

The Dr. there was a friendly old man who treated my foot, listened to my medical history and understood how and why I was getting ill quite frequently at the time. I would miss three days of work about every other month and since we needed a written Dr.'s excuse to return to work, I would go into his office on my way back to work and talk to his nurse..."Hi I'm Monique So&So, could you inform Dr. Whatshisname that I need a written excuse to return to work?"
Without ever actually seeing him ever again, I would recieve the writtten permission slip that he signed and go back to work with the absences never being questioned or my job ever being threatened. Through this office, many people were allowed to play hookie from work with no threat of losing their jobs.

In some cases (such as the first) they are not in the best interest of the insured because these Dr.'s are guaranteed payment regardless of their treatment of patients.
In others, they are not in the best interest of the companies paying for them (as in the second example).

I eventually got coverage from a nationwide insurance provider and could choose my own GP and see the same one on a regular basis.
It really makes a difference if you are going to be going to the Dr. on a regular basis even for check-ups for the GP to be familiar with you and your medical history firsthand and not view you as a numbered patient that they are getting payment for regardless of the consequences to you or the company that supports the job you may intend to retire from.

IMO,
Moni

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[Gaelic]

I wanted to make another comment here as well. I am not, in general, in favor of the way HMO's do business. However, health care is very much a "you get what you pay for" issue. When I joined my company, I had the option of an HMO or a PPO through our insurance company. The HMO is the setup most everyone is familiar with. A PPO is a preferred provider organization where you get to pick what doc you want to see, you can see a specialist at any time at your own discretion, but the copay is determined by whether or not the doctor is "in network." It costs me more every month to have the PPO, but I like having choice and greater control in my health care decisions. Many people, when given this option of HMO or PPO, select the HMO due to the lower monthly premium, then they gripe when they don't have as much control as they would like. To me this is like buying $5 nosebleed seats for a baseball game, but complaining when they don't let you in the $100 luxury box.



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Gaelic

[ogopogo]

Originally posted by Gaelic: I wanted to make another comment here as well. I am not, in general, in favor of the way HMO's do business. However, health care is very much a "you get what you pay for" issue. When I joined my company, I had the option of an HMO or a PPO through our insurance company. The HMO is the setup most everyone is familiar with. A PPO is a preferred provider organization where you get to pick what doc you want to see, you can see a specialist at any time at your own discretion, but the copay is determined by whether or not the doctor is "in network." It costs me more every month to have the PPO, but I like having choice and greater control in my health care decisions. Many people, when given this option of HMO or PPO, select the HMO due to the lower monthly premium, then they gripe when they don't have as much control as they would like. To me this is like buying $5 nosebleed seats for a baseball game, but complaining when they don't let you in the $100 luxury box.

Which is exactly what is wrong with two tiered health systems. The ones who can afford to pay the higher premiums get better health care than the ones who cant. It doesn't seem right to me.

[Wah]

NHS is going steady but is getting weaker over here - due to a vast increase in the population and illness. Some people blame it on asylum seekers, which was put forward by Hague to do something about it.

Stats have shown that 1 in 4 british children are overweight. This is conerning since high blood pressure, obesity and poor heart conditions are soaring steadily...

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Ok, here is a hypo. Say you got into a car accident and were treated by your GP and therapist staff. They knew it was because of an accident because your laywer sent them a itemized request for treatment costs for a law suit. Would you recieve a bill for all this treatment or would they forget about it? I got one under these cicumstances and had to pay them when the lawsuit was settled.
Conan

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[This message has been edited by Conan (edited 06-20-2001).]

[Gaelic]

Originally posted by Conan: Ok, here is a hypo. Say you got into a car accident and were treated by your GP and therapist staff. They knew it was because of an accident because your laywer sent them a itemized request for treatment costs for a law suit. Would you recieve a bill for all this treatment or would they forget about it? I got one under these cicumstances and had to pay them when the lawsuit was settled. Conan

I assume you are talking about in a NHS like in England and Canada.



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Gaelic

Yes, or even PPO folks. My wife had Aetna (PPO) for awhile but after her first couple of visits the "extra" costs were almost like you had no insurance at all. They were common things like lab work and medications.