Posted on 03/18/2017 7:21:28 AM PDT by NYer
Just a guess on my part bassed on some past billing. Does your $150 include the occasional tests needed to evaluate your health?
That’s exactly right. Physician salaries are way down in comparison to a few decades ago.
The same should be done with medical devices and medical supplies.
I truly hate to sing the praises of Walmart, but they actually did something good that saved untold lives. A 50 count pack of diabetic testing strips cost well over $100. A windfall for the US companies with so many people being diagnosed with diabetes. But well beyond the means of most Americans.
Well along comes Walmart with their topnotch lawyers, market vision and huge poor (and diabetic) customer base. They release their own test meters for $15 and 50 count test strips for $8. Less when they are on sale. So cheap that your average walmart customer can easily spring for a month’s supply. It saved lives.
The same can be done with medical devices. There is no reason Stryker should hold a near monopoly on knee and other implants. I fail to believe that many other topnotch companies couldn’t make similar or better products for pennies on the dollar.
My grandfather had a severe leg injury in a steel mill in the 60s. They tried a few treatments, but within a year, they amputated it - rather poorly actually. I don’t know the cost of the treatments, but a half-assed amputation in 1965 was not very expensive.
Today, he would almost certainly have had 15 hours of microsurgery the day off the accident, 2 months of a home health nurse, 6 months of PT, and been duck hunting within the year. At a cost of several hundred thousand dollars of course.
We can do unbelievable things now. Those things cost lots and lots of money.
No one thinks they should lose a leg or die of cancer because they can’t afford the treatment.
I agree. Our health care system has a lot of serious issues nowadays. As for me, I prefer to visit private clinics where I can consult with specialists without any waiting period 24/7. Last time I had a high temperature and fever I went to 24 hour medical care near me here https://frontlineer.com/ in Dallas, TX. I recevered in a week and I was completely satisfied with the consultation and the right treatment.
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