Should surgery cost be standardized?

There must be something skewed in the #s you are using. I had my hip replacement done by Mayo Clinic, the insurance paid to Mayo was only about $10,000 for the Doctor and his staff and the prosthetic its self. However there was also a bill paid to the Hospital for about 42,000 for the O.R. the room, all the meds, the nurses, and all the after care I received for 5 days.
There is no way any hospital could do a hip replacement and keep you 5 days for $4.000, If they are doing it for that, I would not want to go there because they are obviously taking shortcuts somewhere.

Just an FYI, I had one of the best doctors in the country, received a top of the line prosthetic with an experimental polymer insert in the cup and it has worn like iron, I have no signs of wear at all on it. With the avg usage expectancy of a hip replacement at 15 years and I am on year 13 and looking like mine may go another 13 without issue all I can say is you get what you pay for!

I have an online friend who lives in Canada. He spent a year in agony, with kidney stones, on the waiting list for surgery. Because it was a "non emergency." A year. When he did get the operation, the surgeon didn't get all the stones, so he got to wait another 6 months for a second operation. Yeah, I'm sure he's very glad to get free health care.

I had a friend in the UK. He had severe panic disorder. But they will not prescribe certain medications in the UK that are very effective in treating this disorder because the are "addictive." Which they are not, really. But try to convince the NHS of that. He used to refer to them as the Notional Health System. He is dead now, having self-medicated his disorder with alcohol, because he could not get effective treatment.

Yes, I very much want single payer socialized medicine in the US, so government pencil pushers can determine what sort and level of care we each get. Because our government has done SUCH a good job with everything else it is doing and has done.

Oh. What... Our government pretty much screws up everything it touches.

Doctors, nurses, surgical techs, etc. all make good money in other countries, yet these countries can still have free healthcare. But when a hospital like Flowers in Dorthan Alabama profits 389 million net? Remember that's even after paying all doctors, nurses, etc.

they don't have free health care. they have government provided, tax paid for health care. and I think we should have the same in the United States.

BUT, if a person has money to pay for services beyond what the government provides, then they get to pay for it. So if the regular surgery costs $5k, but Johns Hopkins or Cedar Sinai does it for $60k, and I want access to their facilities and services, then I get to pay for that. I'm on board with socialized health care as I believe it's better for all in this country. Having health care tied to jobs is DUMB. But I'm not for standardized pricing because if you are fortunate to have lots of money you SHOULD have advantages over other people. That's kind of the whole point of accumulating money

I have an online friend who lives in Canada. He spent a year in agony, with kidney stones, on the waiting list for surgery. Because it was a "non emergency." A year. When he did get the operation, the surgeon didn't get all the stones, so he got to wait another 6 months for a second operation. Yeah, I'm sure he's very glad to get free health care.

I had a friend in the UK. He had severe panic disorder. But they will not prescribe certain medications in the UK that are very effective in treating this disorder because the are "addictive." Which they are not, really. But try to convince the NHS of that. He used to refer to them as the Notional Health System. He is dead now, having self-medicated his disorder with alcohol, because he could not get effective treatment.

Yes, I very much want single payer socialized medicine in the US, so government pencil pushers can determine what sort and level of care we each get. Because our government has done SUCH a good job with everything else it is doing and has done.

Oh. What... Our government pretty much screws up everything it touches.

True. This has happened for some people. But my son desperately needed his tonsils and adnoids removed, instead of waiting 4 to 6 months to even see an ENT, he waited 1 week for the ENT appt, and then just 2 more weeks to have his tonsils, adnoids removed and tubes in both ears. It was not an emergency by any means, but they still did it for him right away.

There is an entire generation who see nothing wrong with taking from the government. What they don't seem to get or perhaps don't care is that they aren't taking from the government they are taking from me.

I agree with you on this. There is an entire generation of people that think getting a free ride is cool. The bankers that gambled with our mortgages and then when they lost, had their hands out for taxpayer money so they could pay themselves million dollar bonuses. The oil companies that double their profit margins during recessions while stashing their money in off shore accounts to avoid paying taxes in the country where they earned the money. Huge companies like GE, that make 100's of millions of dollars in profit, then turn in a 60 pound tax filing document that says that WE OWE THEM MONEY at the end of each year. The millionaires that make money off the safety and security that the USA provides them but want their taxes lowered to the point where my daughters don't have PE, art, libraries or sports programs at their schools anymore.

Somebody wake me up when the first banker that participated and profited from the shenanigans that caused the economic collapse is tried for a crime and put in jail.

I have an online friend who lives in Canada. He spent a year in agony, with kidney stones, on the waiting list for surgery. Because it was a "non emergency." A year. When he did get the operation, the surgeon didn't get all the stones, so he got to wait another 6 months for a second operation. Yeah, I'm sure he's very glad to get free health care.

I had a friend in the UK. He had severe panic disorder. But they will not prescribe certain medications in the UK that are very effective in treating this disorder because the are "addictive." Which they are not, really. But try to convince the NHS of that. He used to refer to them as the Notional Health System. He is dead now, having self-medicated his disorder with alcohol, because he could not get effective treatment.

Yes, I very much want single payer socialized medicine in the US, so government pencil pushers can determine what sort and level of care we each get. Because our government has done SUCH a good job with everything else it is doing and has done.

Oh. What... Our government pretty much screws up everything it touches.

You'll find a "glitch" in any system. Even Jelly Belly has beans that aren't perfect. Thank goodness my parents both served and retired in the military and get very good free health care by the government till they're dead. Cause you know that if a parent can't pay for it, then usually the kids will.

Those are just two examples. If you think those problems are not endemic to the systems then you are deluding yourself. Just spend a little time on google.

The simple fact is, we can only afford so much health care. It has gotten way too expensive. Government seems to be making it more expensive with mandates, regulations, more taxes and on and on. In a NHS type system, mid to low level government employees who see dollars and not people will be making the decisions for you. Yes, our current system sucks, because government and the insurance companies have screwed it up. Because it has become so expensive, because we have too many lawyers that will sue over a pimple, and for a variety of other reasons. It is not a simple subject with simple solutions.

I am on Medicare. Essentially government run health care in the US. Government workers decide what procedures/drugs are covered and what isn't. I have no say in it. Government workers decide what doctors and hospitals will get paid for every procedure. They have no say in it. It is getting to the point now where it can be very difficult to find a doctor that will accept Medicare patients because they know that they will not get paid what it costs to treat the patients. And I get to pay for this wonderful service. Granted no where near what the privately insured are paying, but quite a lot for a guy on a fixed income. The simple truth of it is that I avoid the doctor because of the costs, and if I were to have a serious injury or illness I would be bankrupt, or have to simply decide not to be treated.

Like I said in my previous post, our government screws up everything it touches. Now this is a bit of a sound bite, but realistically, can you think of anything our government does that it does efficiently and well? Seriously? And you want them in total control over our health care?

There is an entire generation who see nothing wrong with taking from the government. What they don't seem to get or perhaps don't care is that they aren't taking from the government they are taking from me.

I agree with you on this. There is an entire generation of people that think getting a free ride is cool. The bankers that gambled with our mortgages and then when they lost, had their hands out for taxpayer money so they could pay themselves million dollar bonuses. The oil companies that double their profit margins during recessions while stashing their money in off shore accounts to avoid paying taxes in the country where they earned the money. Huge companies like GE, that make 100's of millions of dollars in profit, then turn in a 60 pound tax filing document that says that WE OWE THEM MONEY at the end of each year. The millionaires that make money off the safety and security that the USA provides them but want their taxes lowered to the point where my daughters don't have PE, art, libraries or sports programs at their schools anymore.

Somebody wake me up when the first banker that participated and profited from the shenanigans that caused the economic collapse is tried for a crime and put in jail.

And yet you want to put the same government that is not only allowing stuff like this to happen, but promoting it, in charge of our health care?

(Remember Fannie Mae, a government organization, was in collusion with the banks in handing out mortgages to people who could not afford them, even encouraging the practice, then bundling those unsound investments and selling them to people as sound investments).

There is an entire generation who see nothing wrong with taking from the government. What they don't seem to get or perhaps don't care is that they aren't taking from the government they are taking from me.

I agree with you on this. There is an entire generation of people that think getting a free ride is cool. The bankers that gambled with our mortgages and then when they lost, had their hands out for taxpayer money so they could pay themselves million dollar bonuses. The oil companies that double their profit margins during recessions while stashing their money in off shore accounts to avoid paying taxes in the country where they earned the money. Huge companies like GE, that make 100's of millions of dollars in profit, then turn in a 60 pound tax filing document that says that WE OWE THEM MONEY at the end of each year. The millionaires that make money off the safety and security that the USA provides them but want their taxes lowered to the point where my daughters don't have PE, art, libraries or sports programs at their schools anymore.

Somebody wake me up when the first banker that participated and profited from the shenanigans that caused the economic collapse is tried for a crime and put in jail.

And yet you want to put the same government that is not only allowing stuff like this to happen, but promoting it, in charge of our health care?

(Remember Fannie Mae, a government organization, was in collusion with the banks in handing out mortgages to people who could not afford them, even encouraging the practice, then bundling those unsound investments and selling them to people as sound investments).

And yet you think LESS regulation is the answer? LOLz