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Thegreatcornholio459 OP t1_je7ym03 wrote

Reply to comment by blipsman in ELI5: What is Universal Healthcare by Thegreatcornholio459

Ahh thank you and here in the US, it's different, usually there are requirements and is often separate depending on income and much expensive?

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horrifyingthought t1_je80zip wrote

No. The healthcare isn't more expensive. The fact it is both for profit and has absurd administrative costs is what drives prices up.

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YellsAtGoats t1_je8fsvt wrote

That, and outright bizarro hospital / private insurance markups. In your everyday life, you can go to any pharmacy and get basic cough lozenges at like $10 for a pack of 20 or more. But under hospital billing, those exact same lozenges can be $10 apiece.

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SilverSageVII t1_je85jo5 wrote

Yep this^ if anyone is interested, look up sticky ceiling in the medical industry. It is an economic theory explaining part of why cost is so high.

Edit: as I was searching for a link it seems that “sticky ceiling” was a term coined by NPR to refer to “price stickiness” that was tending toward highest prices in the medical field.

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darkmooink t1_je8w5qz wrote

You realise that you just said “healthcare isn’t more expensive. The prices are just higher.”

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roseumbra t1_je8xzvt wrote

I think they mean the actual cost to provide the healthcare isn’t higher, rather they just inflate the price to the consumer.

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horrifyingthought t1_jec3nnq wrote

... and? That would be correct. The cost to provide services isn't different when compared with comparable nations, but the structure and incentives of US healthcare are set up in a way that increases the price astronomically compared to other nations.

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DeHackEd t1_je80ygv wrote

Health Insurance is something you have to get like any other type of insurance, paying a monthly fee (or getting someone like your employer to pay it for you) and all the fun of shopping around and discovering what is and isn't covered, and what other catches might exist.

By contrast, for example, I had my appendix removed. I'm a Canadian citizen. Was in and out of the hospital, never even discussed a bill or price. Procedure was basically paid for by my (and everyone else's) taxes. Everyone is covered for life-saving procedures for sure at any hospital.

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YellsAtGoats t1_je8ffmx wrote

It gets interesting at the level of nonessential care and procedures.

I too am a Canadian citizen. If I suffer a serious trauma like a gunshot wound or severely broken bone or severed appendage, I'm well taken care of on taxpayers' money. But it's not so nice for illnesses like Cancer or for less-than-urgent needs like eye care and dental care. There, I could be on a waiting list for an MRI or CAT scan for months or years, or left to pay mostly out-of-pocket for things like eyeglasses and dental surgery.

Case in point, in the Canadian system, if you don't have private insurance to cover dental care and you have gum disease, you're left to pay tens of thousands of dollars to keep your teeth from falling out of your head. If you need vision correction for poor eyesight, too bad, if you don't have private insurance for that, you're paying out of pocket for glasses/contacts/LASIK just like any American schlub. I say case in point because that's all me.

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Irbricksceo t1_je8lyxw wrote

Good news, here in America dental care is also tens of thousands. I’m looking at another 32k soon, and I’ve already spent double that. And I have what is considered good dental

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concentrated-amazing t1_je8bk66 wrote

It's interesting to note that spending on healthcare is lower per capita in Canada, for example, vs. the US, with health outcomes such as infant mortality and life expectancy being better.

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