A man who makes $30 million a year goes to the hospital...

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Poll question: A man who makes $30 million a year goes to the hospital...

A man who makes $30 million a year experiences a pain in his chest. He goes to the hospital where he is kept for two days while getting every medical test known to man.

At the end of the process he is told that there is nothing wrong with him. (temporary pains were probably due to recreational prescription drug abuse or indigestion.)

Cost of the visit is much more than 90% of people reading this have ever made in a year. (Or two...)




The man then says that his experience proves that there is nothing wrong with the American healthcare system.

Agree or disagree?

[midnight]

1. Best medical system. The problem is and will continue to be who is allowed

to access it.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. I take your point. Changed "medical" to "healthcare" accordingly.

[busymom]

3. Question

If he was poor and had no health insurance he could have come to the hospital where my husband works and his bill would have been completely forgiven. It is a large, catholic, non-profit facility.
If he was kept for 2 days and then told his chest pain was not physical, and the hospital ate the cost of the stay (which it would) would we have the best or worst health care system? My husband just finished treating someone who was in the hospital for 2.5 weeks (part of it in the ICU) and he completely comped his bill as did the hospital.

FYI, I support a public option...I just want to turn this around and see if your answer is consistent.

[ieoeja]

4. Your husband's ER would have run standard tests then showed him the door.

Nothing against your hubby. But hospitals, even non-profits, would only admit an uninsured patient in a life-threatening situation. At most, they would have kept the person til the chest pain went away. They certainly wouldn't have kept him there two days while running every test under the sun.

[busymom]

7. But anyone would have gotten

adequate care to treat a medical emergency. The fact that Limbaugh has the private funds and a cadillac plan (that will be probably be taxed) is his choice. Was it a waste of resources? maybe. I'm sure the hospital was extra careful because they unfortunately didn't want bad press or litigation. He did not get this care on your dime or mine...he surely pays in for his insurance...and in truth, them overcharging him is what makes money available to pay for MRIs and cath lab for someone who can not pay. Sad, but true. Health care does cost money. The equipment, facilities and staff are not free.

You will find this in ANY system, though. In the UK, many patients pay for services outside of the NHS to get special care and privileges. It is the same in Germany....if you want to see the expert and get the highest quality of care, you pay in for private insurance. If you want to see the resident or junior doc, you get govt. care.

Like all things in life, sometimes you do get what you pay for. That may not seem fair, but think about it. If your insurance pays $5 for an antibiotic that costs the hospital $10/dose, plus the cost of the infusion room, staff and equipment, how can they maintain their staff and facilities if someone doesn't pay for it? So...you pay $5 and someone with a cadillac plan pays $50. That person also pays higher premiums and will likely be subject to taxation on their benefits. On the other hand, you may only get a 20 min stay in the infusion center and this person may be granted an hour.

The bottom line is that no one at my husband's hospital would be denied life-saving care. They also have wonderful social workers who try and getpatients onto state assistance programs, find them adquate housing, etc.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

5. Valid point

The Limbaugh thing has so many angles I admit it's confusing to pin down what the bigger outrage is.

First is money and quality of care. Though there are some marvelous charity opportunities, in general someone like Limbaugh is usually going to get better care.

Second is the raw cost of medical care in general. I doubt this system could possibly provide quite that level of care to everyone with chest pains in any system. Two days in hospital with a thousand tests is an incredible amount of money.

Some people get no care, then when people do get care they often get care that is far from cost-efficient. The system is shaky on both ends.

I must admit that my point is somewhat comic... I don't want to minimize treatment/examination for chest pains but the guy who said his experience validated the system happened to have nothing wrong with him.

So he was really saying that the system works pretty well when you are rich AND there is nothing wrong with you. Strikes me as funny.

[harun]

6. I think what Limbaugh is saying and why his supporters like it so

much is that if the system is working for YOU as in "I got mine", then nothing is wrong with it. It is the "I" mentality vs. the "We" mentality. Limbaugh's supporters love to hear how their world view of embracing inequality and gross excess is Ok. They want to hear how there is nothing wrong that they live in a 5000 sq. foot house and some people are losing their houses. They want to hear that it is Ok that they don't concern themselves with anyone but themselves and they should watch out only for themselves. That people who are in dire straights are there because they didn't work hard enough, are lazy or are stupid.

The problem isn't with the health care system, the problem is with the culture of "I". Opposed to a culture of "We".

[bertman]

8. My answer would still be "No" because it is criminal that Americans have to rely upon

religious institutions to provide quality healthcare for those who have no insurance.

But, I'm glad that someone is providing this to those who are needy.

[Fla Dem]

9. No care is comp'ed. While the person receiving the care did not pay, the cost will be passed on to

those that can pay either out of pocket or with insurance.

[kenny blankenship]

10. Aren't you glad he gets to keep his healthcare?

(since he likes it)