Medical care Thoughts

[A&A]

I don't want this to be too political or "ranting" of a thread but I really have some questions about the Medical Care system here and perhaps some of you have some answers, thoughts and so forth.

So, my experience with the medical system here has been amazingly excellent. Granted it has only been issues involving my 1 year old son, but then again those to me are the most urgent and important (not where i go for my check-up) so I would want the best.

I will not go into details, but it was several hospital emergency trips (very scary) (both with and without insurance experiences) and pediatrician visits, vaccines, tests, the works. The whole experience was great and as someone posted in another post: I never felt so looked after.

We got health insurance down here and the cost and services offered for the price compared to what we were paying in the States is amazing (even if you go 1=1 peso/dollar it is still better and no co-pays, deductibles, and all that and "everything covered from Dental to shrink, to plastic surgery.)

So my question is: How can a country that has many economic issues, defaulted on its loans, etc. achieve a level of health care that in terms of cost to service that is far and above what you would expect in the States?

(And I am coming out of NYC, our son was born there, so I am used to "top notch" hospitals and not some rural clinic.


And instead of discussing the States, I would really like to know how they pay for it here? (and I am not even discussing the fact that there is Free Universal Health Care as well...but it is on the table).


OK Discuss...


**and also we had an experience with the free hospital and it was great and the exact same doctors as at the private hospital, just the building was run down.

 

[gouchobob]

In the U.S. you have a system where the employer generally pays the bill not the individual. The person getting the service doesn't care or know how much a particular service costs. The provider also realizes this and starts billing accordingly. After all somebody else is paying for it. Anytime you have a system like this costs are going to get out of control. Coincidentally, costs in the U.S. started rising rapidly when employer provided health insurance became predominant in the seventies. Before that health care costs were not an issue.

In Argentina the individual pays for insurance. The person receiving the service pays the bill via insurance. Costs can't get ahead of what individuals can afford so costs remain affordable.

A bit of simplification but this basically the difference in my opinion.

 

[jp]

I've found the medical care great. Comprehensive to the point of seeming unnecessarily comprehensive. I'm not used to be this probed, scanned, examined and analysed every time I go to the doctor. Maternity care and neo-natal care we received was extraordinary, and I'm eternally grateful for the care we received when we needed it most.

In Argentina the individual pays for insurance.

I'd be surprised if this was true. Most people receive private medical insurance through their employer.

 

[gouchobob]

I'd be surprised if this was true. Most people receive private medical insurance through their employer.

Only about 10% of the population has insurance, about 40% have no insurance, and around 50% in Obras Sociales. My guess is that most people that buy health insurance in Argentina do so out of their own pocket, versus the U.S. where employers are the main payers.

 

[gouchobob]

To clarify I think health care in the US simply costs too much. The reason it costs to much is in large part the way its paid for. If all people in the US had to pay for health insurance out of their own pockets the outcry would be so loud that the system would be reformed the next day.

 

[Roxana]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but as well as I remember, the poorest 20% of the US population does not have access to health care.

 

[steveinbsas]

In the U.S. you have a system where the employer generally pays the bill not the individual. The person getting the service doesn't care or know how much a particular service costs. The provider also realizes this and starts billing accordingly. After all somebody else is paying for it. Anytime you have a system like this costs are going to get out of control. Coincidentally, costs in the U.S. started rising rapidly when employer provided health insurance became predominant in the seventies. Before that health care costs were not an issue.

A bit of simplification but this basically the difference in my opinion.

In addition to employer provided insurance that takes responsibility for payment for medical services out of the hands of millions, US government funding for Medicare, Medicaid, workers' compensation, the Department of Veterans Affairs, public hospitals, and other government public health activities directly pays for about 45% of the total health care in the US.

When were Medicare and Medicaid implemented?

 

[gouchobob]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but as well as I remember, the poorest 20% of the US population does not have access to health care.

This is drifting off topic a bit. Actually the way it works is most people are covered through their job. Healthcare for the poor is provided by the government. The poor and very wealthy are O.K., its the middle class that has a problem they have to much income for government assistance not enough to pay for the high costs.

 

[gouchobob]

When were Medicare and Medicaid implemented?

Both were established in the 1960's, although there was government spending on health care for the poor before that. Of course health care costs weren't a big issue at the time.

One reason health care is less expensive in Argentina is that the providers get paid a lot less money. A good doctor in Argentina probably makes a small fraction of what his America counter part makes. Why is this? I believe its the deep pockets that the employer based system has created that they can bill. The same is true with medications, you can buy the same drugs in Argentina for a fraction of what they cost in the states. Every hospital has to have all the latest equipment. I remember reading a few years ago that hospitals just in Boston had more MRI's than all of Canada. The hospitals can do this as they just add it to the bill that someone else pays.

 

[jp]

Only about 10% of the population has insurance, about 40% have no insurance, and around 50% in Obras Sociales. My guess is that most people that buy health insurance in Argentina do so out of their own pocket, versus the U.S. where employers are the main payers.

Just going by experience, but my empoyer paid for my insurance - it was the industry standard thing to do and I've never met a professional person who works here (except freelancers) who don't receive insurance through their company.

I'd expect most people with private medical insurance to be receiving it through their employer.