health care: why so expensive?

[badkuk]

i was reading an article about GM offering to "buy out" older workers. as we all know, part of GM's troubles has to do with the generous medicare and pension plans for its workers. which led me to ask:

why is health care so expensive?

can anything be done to make it cheaper?

[uls]

GM had a contract with its employees back in the 50's or 60's (correct me if im wrong) that when they retire, GM would shoulder pension and health care cost.

Health care cost in the US has been rising ever since... thats why GM is in deep **** now coz its still paying the pension and health care cost of thousands of its retirees.

Health care cost in the US has skyrocketed... (kaya mataas sweldo ng nurse, kaya dami nag nunursing) everything has gone up (hospitalization, prescription medicine)

Taga kasi mga big pharma. hospitals have to cover costs for treating uninsured patients by charging insured patients higher.

no simple solution to that... the Bush admin protects the interests of big pharma and the medical establishment.

[Tacoma_34]

GM had a contract with its employees back in the 50's or 60's (correct me if im wrong) that when they retire, GM would shoulder pension and health care cost.

Health care cost in the US has been rising ever since... thats why GM is in deep **** now coz its still paying the pension and health care cost of thousands of its retirees.

Health care cost in the US has skyrocketed... (kaya mataas sweldo ng nurse, kaya dami nag nunursing) everything has gone up (hospitalization, prescription medicine)

Taga kasi mga big pharma. hospitals have to cover costs for treating uninsured patients by charging insured patients higher.

no simple solution to that... the Bush admin protects the interests of big pharma and the medical establishment.

$25/hr lang ang nurse eh, liit. Stable lang ang job nila.

[uls]

$25/hr lang ang nurse eh, liit. Stable lang ang job nila.

well, by 3rd world standards, mataas na yun

anyway, here's an article that explains why healthcare is so expensive:

http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/a...economist/2760

[theveed]

well, mahal prof fees ng doctors sa US, mahal din gamot, domino effect din yan pre.

[niky]

It's not really a problem with healthcare per se, but due to a lot of blunders on the part of GM, particularly in regards to its dealings with the United Auto Worker's union. Simply put, when GM was on a high, they agreed to huge benefits packages that they're now having a hard time meeting.

Same thing happened to Nissan before, when things started going sour for them.

Of course, Renault bought out Nissan, and under Carlos Ghosn, they went from a couple of billion dollars under to a billion or two over the line in jst a few years.

Poor GM, though... no one's rich enough to buy them out, yet.

[nicolodeon]

no one's rich enough to buy them out, yet.

eh di si fafa bill gates.

[uls]

eh di si fafa bill gates.

katakot naman mag invest sa isang company on the brink of bankruptcy

[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?

[smooth]

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.

[uls]

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]

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]

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.

[uls]

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.

well, can we say the the US is the most dangerous place to be a physician? hehe

Ya i empathize with the doctors. The american public will always grab a chance at getting a big pay off (winning a big lawsuit). Americans are spoiled rotten.

[uls]

here a Foxnews item re healthcare in the US http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188822,00.html

[oldblue]

the only way to make it cheaper is to promote healthy living. kaya yata pataas ng pataas yan kasi sobra dami nag-claim, dahil na din sa consuming way of life ng mga Americans.

[_Qwerty_]

well.. dito sa atin mataas na rin presyo nang mga HMO..

[basti08]

wala nang mura sa mundong ibabaw....haayyyy

[niky]

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]

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