Ted Kennedy's Dream

[Spidey]

Actually, truth be told…I have never had a problem finding out the price of health care, it’s the sticker shock that gets me.

I have looked into several providers for my cataract operation, the prices all make a person kind of queasy…but I could go overseas and get it for like dirt cheap.

[vision]

Actually, truth be told…I have never had a problem finding out the price of health care, it’s the sticker shock that gets me.

Agreed. I need a little dental work out of pocket and I'm shopping around comparing prices as we speak. Pretty easy to find out. Same thing when I needed surgery a couple years ago. I was able to find the prices but, wow, so high.

[Tunnelcat]

Actually, truth be told…I have never had a problem finding out the price of health care, it’s the sticker shock that gets me.

I have looked into several providers for my cataract operation, the prices all make a person kind of queasy…but I could go overseas and get it for like dirt cheap.

OK, fine for simple work that's advertised and for common things like dental or optical, you can generally get a stated price. Yes, the price WILL give you a coronary. But end up in a hospital, even for something minor, and I can tell you that the bill is open ended until you leave. Might as well hand them a credit card and pray. And those bills keep dribbling in months or years later. I've had similar difficulties in smaller clinics too. The first thing they ask for is your insurance information, even before getting to reason you're there for. You're usually too sick to argue or think about it either. If you do have to pay cash, that's where the price miraculously appears, and it's usually way higher than what insurance companies pay. By then of course, you're too sick to look elsewhere for cheaper treatment, if you can find it. Where's the compassion? Where's the efficiencies of scale in the modern age? Where's that modern medicine that can cure all ills? Why do formerly cheap generic drugs now cost almost as much as the patented drugs, which are too overpriced to even consider? Try asking all those doctors who poke and prod you what that next procedure or test or drug is going to cost. I'll bet you most don't know the exact figure, which is part of the problem. They want to cure you, even if it puts you in the poorhouse, but they're a little disconnected on how to pay for it. Oh, just use that magic insurance, if you have it that is.

[Krom]

I need a little dental work out of pocket and I'm shopping around comparing prices as we speak. Pretty easy to find out. Same thing when I needed surgery a couple years ago. I was able to find the prices but, wow, so high.

My parents got some dental work done in Costa Rica last year. Price in CR was $5000 including travel/lodging expenses, price in the US would have been $35,000 minimum.

[Tunnelcat]

Interesting opinion. He may be right about how the ACA is supposed to work with insurance rates and spreading risk, but there's still that pesky problem of the high costs of just getting that health care. I still don't think socializing just the insurance costs and risks will solve that long term issue.

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