tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post4946326661512740178..comments2023-11-02T07:30:03.967-07:00Comments on Cassandra Does Tokyo: The Price is...ummm....errrr.... Wrong (Part 2)"Cassandra"http://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-7323663165570859302011-08-15T07:50:32.098-07:002011-08-15T07:50:32.098-07:00Oliver - The evidence on the contribution of tort ...Oliver - The evidence on the contribution of tort costs to care in the US puts it at around 2% of total healthcare spending. That's nowhere near enough to account for the difference between US and other western countries' costs.<br /><br />The US system is extremely unlikely to change for the better barring some major shock (and I can't imagine what that might be). Reasons: (1) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-13912085875256835912011-08-05T04:30:19.058-07:002011-08-05T04:30:19.058-07:00Agree on the good cost/quality ratio of many conti...Agree on the good cost/quality ratio of many continental healthcare systems...<br /><br />Yet, in many respects, the French system you describe is freer than the UK one (an absolute catastrophe in my personal experience). So, there is a degree of centralization/socialization past which the attractiveness of the system severely trends down. This is mirrored elsewhere - the freewheeling Belgian Olivernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-10458095198265853592011-07-31T20:49:41.420-07:002011-07-31T20:49:41.420-07:00.
Australia has a pretty decent setup
basic free p....<br />Australia has a pretty decent setup<br />basic free public and private insurance for comfort , <br />one of the big private insurer is in fact government owned<br /><br />more to the point , if one take travel insurance , the cost for cover in the U.S is nearly double than for the rest of the OCDE countries ,<br /><br />....JeannickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-19068043785087804462011-07-24T03:56:54.478-07:002011-07-24T03:56:54.478-07:00James, Part 1 was actually called Limey Beans, but...James, Part 1 was actually called <a href="http://nihoncassandra.blogspot.com/2011/06/limey-beans.html" rel="nofollow">Limey Beans</a>, but it contemplated another wrong price, chiefly the CHF.<br /><br />Hipparchia: thanks for the background on the "entente cordiale" between providers and insurance. Interestingly, the French are way of ahead of Americans in the idea of 'education "Cassandra"https://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-13352391004053461762011-07-24T01:17:07.248-07:002011-07-24T01:17:07.248-07:00Hi Cassandra,
Came here via 'Naked Capitalism:...Hi Cassandra,<br />Came here via 'Naked Capitalism: Links'. Very interesting article, & comments. As an Australian, I can also vouch for the virtues of 'socialized medicine'. I believe Yves Smith ('Ms. Naked Capitalism') had some experience of it during her stay with us, and some nice comments on its efficacy.<br /><br />Question: I've been looking for 'The Antipodeusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-67703639634356794472011-07-23T18:59:08.381-07:002011-07-23T18:59:08.381-07:00fwiw, you probably know Cass, but japan also is su...fwiw, you probably know Cass, but japan also is super reasonable even for the uninsured and much cheaper for the insured with cost of insurance very cheap. dental is also super cheap.<br /><br />last year i was visiting as a tourist. went to a hospital's outpatient clinic during normal hours in loud pain on every breath. i had cracked/broken 3-5 ribs and had suddenly gotten much worse kabunushihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05902521946844592947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-12072588340209741232011-07-23T16:57:40.146-07:002011-07-23T16:57:40.146-07:00you're absolutely right about the prices, and ...you're absolutely right about the prices, and they're low in part because doctors agreed to them in exchange for the govt [insurer] NOT telling them how to practice medicine:<br /><br /><i>French national health insurance allows for free choice of providers and clinical autonomy of physicians even more so than in the United States. French physicians are never asked to play gatekeeper hipparchiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16601000402820151839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-68365336168681105652011-07-23T10:14:17.856-07:002011-07-23T10:14:17.856-07:00(con't)
I keep looking for something nice to ...(con't)<br /><br />I keep looking for something nice to say about US healthcare. I guess they managed to do a good job shrinking my father's Stage IV lung cancer tumors to a manageable level (at a staggeringly high insurable monetary cost), but probably killed my mother by sloppily removing a mass that should have been biopsied toute-suite and removed by an expert, causing the malignant "Cassandra"https://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-11393491020817964612011-07-23T10:13:11.699-07:002011-07-23T10:13:11.699-07:00Thanks for all the comments. The things is, the an...Thanks for all the comments. The things is, the anecdotes from experience are nearly endless. I was in the US when my middle child got a case of red-eye. Not a bad one, but irritating and not fun. It is simple to treat with antibiotic drops. But try, as a "foreigner" in the US with no address, and no GP, to get a scrip, or coax a sample treatment cycle from the the automaton's in "Cassandra"https://www.blogger.com/profile/17412381249313151515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-37114059117727776702011-07-23T09:29:50.747-07:002011-07-23T09:29:50.747-07:00Another story on the absurdity of the US healthcar...Another story on the absurdity of the US healthcare system (I'm an American living in the US):<br />I get annual blood testing done by mail order. I pay $26 for a lipid panel (cholesterol counts, etc.). There's no lab in my city so I go to a local hospital to have the blood drawn and send the blood sample to the lab by overnight delivery service (the $26 includes the cost of shipping, btwAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-11369663751627723222011-07-23T08:21:35.797-07:002011-07-23T08:21:35.797-07:00Great exposition! I'm Canadian, and a believer...Great exposition! I'm Canadian, and a believer in our style of social(ized/ist) health care, but it was very illuminating to read your description of a high-functioning private system. Thanks.<br /><br />BTW Tim's right about "defence" factoring in here. It continues to be a source of wonder and elevated blood pressure to me that the US government can casually tear through Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-20920822640002410692011-07-23T07:59:12.379-07:002011-07-23T07:59:12.379-07:00Great post! My daughter had an ear infection duri...Great post! My daughter had an ear infection during a vacation in a small Provence town a few years back. It was nighttime, and we called a number for medical attention included in the rental villa's info packet. Forty five minutes later, a quite capable, if a tiny bit tipsy, doctor arrived at our villa. He examined the ear, wrote a prescription, and then spend a half hour chatting with usDavid Pearsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-7921298806262672032011-07-23T07:16:13.098-07:002011-07-23T07:16:13.098-07:00Considering stress is not exactly healthy either, ...Considering stress is not exactly healthy either, maybe some of the better outcomes of the French system are simply due to the absence of medical-finance related worries in patients?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-62743317172211394492011-07-23T07:14:54.132-07:002011-07-23T07:14:54.132-07:00I'd just add the *much* lower administrative c...I'd just add the *much* lower administrative costs and overheads of the French system. <br /><br />As to the lower income of medical professionals compared to the US - it is not very hard to live well in France on the incomes they do receive (maybe not exorbitant, but fine by local standards). So most will be reasonably satisfied.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-74174601111282851192011-07-23T06:04:55.402-07:002011-07-23T06:04:55.402-07:00We had a similar experience where my wife was stun...We had a similar experience where my wife was stung by a bee and we went to the emergency room in France. No wait. Pleasant. Wound dressed, doctor met and prescription provided. Exemplary service let alone care.<br /><br />And then the bill. One price. $54.<br /><br />For the love of pete they have the better way. We are so broken and stupid not to demand similarly.<br /><br />Vive la Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-63669757338770493392011-07-23T04:52:50.958-07:002011-07-23T04:52:50.958-07:00Hello,
I'm an American currently living in Ta...Hello,<br /><br />I'm an American currently living in Taiwan. Of course the Taiwanese health care system is much more efficient and effective than the American healthcare system. The Taiwanese system is that there is a single health insurance company which happens to be owned by the government (and whenever the insurance company tries to raise premiums and/or co-payments, Taiwanese votes Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-4157891745790408792011-07-23T03:40:06.966-07:002011-07-23T03:40:06.966-07:00Cassandra,
Your article is spot on in about every...Cassandra,<br /><br />Your article is spot on in about every respect that I know about, after living here in France for much of the last 30 years.<br /><br />Now I have survivor's guilt.An expatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18079728.post-85274492132693565982011-07-21T01:50:13.297-07:002011-07-21T01:50:13.297-07:00Hi Cassandra,
It has long been my contention that...Hi Cassandra,<br /><br />It has long been my contention that until the US gets serious about healthcare (& defence) we should take and efforts at reform with a pinch of salt. I think people are starting to wake up, I have included charts on this for years in macro presentations to fixed income investors which were always received with polite silence - recently people show interest; perhaps Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com