The hospital emergency room.

[BawanaRik]

So are you saying you approve of their decision to admit the lady with the sore knee ahead of your father?

I would never admit them ahead of a life threatening situation and had at least three or four beds open on standby in case of an incoming traffic accident.

With the insurance situation what it is the er might be their only option for care. Clinics just wont take you without insurance or cash up front. At least not here.

Cash up front for non emergencies sounds very fair.

Good idea!

 

[kikstand454]

We could've foregone the entire ACA debacle and saved all of us some time and money by simply subsidizing state ran free clinics and then freeing up hospitals to make ER's for life threatening injuries only.

Problem solved.

Can I now get the difference in budget wired to my account?

 

[BawanaRik]

It costs about half as much in countries where it's free.

But they get half as much health care. And they have that ten buck a gallon gas to help them in shape and healthy.

And it's not free. Everyone pays. If it was free I would be there now.

No ID card?

Take that minor problem else where.

 

[two fingers]

Yep. Some people just don't get....... anything. This woman called 911 because McDonald's was out of McNuggets.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[BawanaRik]

Yep. Some people just don't get....... anything. This woman called 911 because McDonald's was out of McNuggets.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The last time I was at MickyDees I pay for the food and I'm waiting for my change.

Some girl, might have been the manger starts screaming like I'm an idiot for wanting my change. Crazy hysterical screaming. Violent like calm down girl type screaming.

I didn't call 911.

I left. It's not worth dealing with crazy negative people.

They do not add to your life. Do not add them to your life.

 

[BawanaRik]

There is no free health care in the world.

It's hard to imagine anything that's "free".

TANSTAAFL.

Ever read the Moon is a Harsh Mistress? Good book.

 

[BawanaRik]

I had the privilege of spending five or so hours in my local hospital Monday night into Tuesday morning. My father complained of chest pain, slurred speech, and difficulty walking, so I drove him in. My father is old school, and absolutely, positively, demanded no 911 or ambulance ride.

Upon arrival, I found it so very interesting how people define a medical emergency in 2013. We sat around people who didn't "feel good". A young lady near us thought she might have the flu. One lady was there with her four kids, and she was having knee pain. Another man hurt his finger in the car door when he closed it. I overheard a woman talking to her daughter about a vaginal infection. In came a woman who had a sore back. Later in the evening a couple came in who wanted someone to clean their ears out since it was hard for them to hear. One guy thought he had gall bladder problems and wanted an operation to fix them. Maybe it's just me, and I don't get what a medical emergency is. Maybe I was just hyper sensitive because of the condition of my father.

-Mike

Sometimes it's better to call 911. They can call ahead and have everything set up when you get there.

 

[MJ5150]

I'm about to the point where I agree with you. My pop though, not so much. Maybe this last experience will persuade him.

-Mike

 

[David Jayne]

We could've foregone the entire ACA debacle and saved all of us some time and money by simply subsidizing state ran free clinics and then freeing up hospitals to make ER's for life threatening injuries only.

Problem solved.

Can I now get the difference in budget wired to my account?

Nope. Who makes the call ? You wanna be the guy that tells the person with their severed fingers in an ice bucket they're out of luck? It's not so easy.

 

[blue4]

I do not, but my gripe in this thread are the people who abuse the system.

-Mike

They probably got that idea when a president of the United States told an group in Cleveland that "People have access to health care in America, after all you just go to an emergency room." Whether or not that's exactly what he meant who knows, but that's what he said.

 

[blue4]

^^^The above quote comes from the Houston Chronicle.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

But they get half as much health care. And they have that ten buck a gallon gas to help them in shape and healthy.

Compare ranking standards of medical care between the US and most other developed nations, half as much care? Pull the other one.

No ID card?

Take that minor problem else where.

While I'm sure this varies country to country, no need for ID here other than when you register with your local/family doctor (GP), and I'm fairly sure you'd need some form of ID to register with a doctor in the US too. As for emergencies, no ID is required, all they might ask is what happened and what allergies you have.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I'm about to the point where I agree with you. My pop though, not so much. Maybe this last experience will persuade him.

-Mike

My grandfather died of a heart attack after telling my grandmother he didn't want to cause a fuss about a little chest pain. Some things just aren't worth f**king about over!

 

[spade2you]

Nope. Who makes the call ? You wanna be the guy that tells the person with their severed fingers in an ice bucket they're out of luck? It's not so easy.

Guy with severed fingers gets to be very high on the list. Narc seeker or guy abusing ER as their PCP should be very low on the list. The problem is that we're such an easily offended culture that nobody would be willing to tell ER abusers to leave.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Nope. Who makes the call ? You wanna be the guy that tells the person with their severed fingers in an ice bucket they're out of luck? It's not so easy.

Breathing
Bleeding
Brakes
Burns

I'm sure there'll be hospital policies dictating order of care with medical professionals having to make a judgement call. If someone goes into the medical profession, they'd rarely do it for things being easy.

 

[BawanaRik]

Compare ranking standards of medical care between the US and most other developed nations, half as much care? Pull the other one.




While I'm sure this varies country to country, no need for ID here other than when you register with your local/family doctor (GP), and I'm fairly sure you'd need some form of ID to register with a doctor in the US too. As for emergencies, no ID is required, all they might ask is what happened and what allergies you have.

Actually if you pay cash I doubt if a US doctor will even ask for ID.

If not they want an insurance ID card.

And expensive stuff like hips etc good luck if you older.

Gary Moore had to sell his Les Paul to pay for his health care.

I don't mind making do with the minimal coverage that the EU provides.

I just don't I should support anyone else getting better coverage then I am.

 

[Nev375]

Cash up front for non emergencies sounds very fair.

Good idea!

So of you're broke and without insurance and you get the flu... just suffer through until you either get better or get life threatening pneumonia?

Well thats one solution I guess. I guess the upside is we can offset some unemployment numbers through reduced life expectancy statistics

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Actually if you pay cash I doubt if a US doctor will even ask for ID.

If not they want an insurance ID card.

That might work with a private Dr over here.

And expensive stuff like hips etc good luck if you older.

Gary Moore had to sell his Les Paul to pay for his health care.

They'll only turn you away from something like a hip op if you don't need it or it is too high risk.

The only thing I can find on Moore is an interview where he says he injured his hand and his insurance didn't cover it, it sounds like it was mid tour (he said he had to cancel the remaining shows, which added to the financial burden). I couldn't find anything saying where he was, but it sounds like he was travelling with lacklustre insurance. Granted, that's speculation, but it's all I can find on it.

I don't mind making do with the minimal coverage that the EU provides.

You can't really blanket the EU, each country is going to be different in the level of care it provides. Many still outrank the US. As for minimal cover? Generally pretty far from it. Within the UK private healthcare, either supplemental to the NHS or independent from the NHS is possible.

I just don't I should support anyone else getting better coverage then I am.

The thing with universal cover is that it's universal. Yes, there are some differences, typically associated with geographical location, but cover is for the most part equal. Do some people abuse the system? Sure, though that is true of every system. But most of it goes towards the lifelong illnesses, the elderly, young children and genuine accidents.

 

[BawanaRik]

So of you're broke and without insurance and you get the flu... just suffer through until you either get better or get life threatening pneumonia?

Well thats one solution I guess. I guess the upside is we can offset some unemployment numbers through reduced life expectancy statistics

Or you can go to the ShopRite and buy the generic Flu remedy for 5 bucks like everyone else.

It's smarter and cheaper than a thousand dollar ER visit that will never get paid.

People suffer through the flu by the millions.

 

[DwaynieAD]

Btw, I used to work in a hospital and our emergency room had a great way to deal with the time wasters who want their ears cleaned, or the Friday night drug seekers coming in to score oxy's by complaining of indeterminate "stomach pain". Many were frequent flyers. The triage would consult a doctor/ ER nurse who would write "3-4 hours florescent light therapy prn" on the slip. It meant "make em sit in the waiting room for 3 or 4 hours and if they're still here then maybe we'll talk, in the meantime I'm attending to the gunshot and car wreck".

until you have someone like my wife who suffers from chronic debilitating migraines and get's treated like a drug addict.