About healthcare in the USA – without rose-colored glasses

And stop talking about the benefits of medicine in America!!!

The Evil Medic CommunityHospitals in America are divided into three types:

• State – funded by the federal and state government. They provide services for veterans, disabled people, civil servants, patients with tuberculosis and mental illnesses.
• Private profitable (commercial) – up to 30% of all hospitals – represent a typical business enterprise that forms its capital on an individual, group and joint-stock basis.
• Private "non–profit" - created on the initiative of religious or ethnic groups or local residents, they account for up to 70% of the total end fund. The main difference from the previous type is that the income received does not go to shareholders in the form of dividends, but is invested in the hospital, which improves the quality of service, technical equipment, etc. The state supports such activities in the form of preferential taxation. Despite the "non-profit" status of the institution, treatment, as in a commercial hospital, remains paid. The popularity of such a status of hospitals can be explained by the desire to avoid paying taxes.

There is no compulsory health insurance in the USA. Medical expenses fall on the shoulders of each individual. By 2008, out of 300 million residents, 47 million had no health insurance and were deprived of access to qualified medical care, another 50 million were insured at a minimum, which did not allow them to rely on expensive medicines and complex operations. Over the period 2000-2008, the cost of insurance grew 3.7 times faster than the average salary.

It should be noted that insurance does not cover everything, but only a clearly limited list of medical services. It does not include, for example, the services of a dentist, ophthalmologist, pediatrician and psychiatrist, etc. Only very rich people can afford all-inclusive insurance. As a result, a serious injury or illness can severely undermine the family budget – medical bills are the cause of half of the bankruptcies of individuals in the United States. According to the US Secretary of Health and Social Development Mike Leavitt, "We believe that the American system is ineffective today or not as effective as it could be."

Most health insurance companies refuse to insure seriously ill people. Also, treatment of diseases acquired before insurance is almost never paid for.

Insurance usually covers the cost of medications, most of which are available only by prescription.

There is a special Medicaid program for low–income citizens, and Medicare for the elderly. There are three insurance markets for the rest of the population – for large companies, for small enterprises (from 2 to 50 people) and individual insurance. At the same time, according to Astrid James, editor of The Lancet medical journal, assistance at different levels of insurance will be provided in different ways, which generates discrimination.

84.7% of Americans have insurance. 59.3% receive insurance from an employer, 8.9% purchase it separately, 27.8% use special government programs.

According to Bloomberg View, the health insurance market in the United States is not competitive enough: in most cases, workers are forced to purchase health insurance offered to them by their employer.

Most large companies provide their employees with insurance, although the employer does not have to do this. Since 2001, the cost of such insurance has increased by 78% with an increase in wages by 19% and inflation by 17%. In addition, there are also payments to employees in case of disability, life insurance, etc.

In many organizations, it is possible to arrange collective insurance for several people. This type of insurance, as a rule, is cheaper than individual. However, in the case of a serious illness of one of the members of the labor collective, the cost of the total insurance price for the next year may increase, which may cause hostility to people of pre-retirement age or the disabled. The average cost of such insurance is $ 600 per month per person.

There are two types of insurance provided by the employer:

• "service fee": payment of money for the services actually provided; usually the insurance company reimburses 80% of the costs, the rest falls on the shoulders of the patient;
• "managed services": payment of a fixed amount for each insured, excluding additional services.

In the case of "payment for services", the employer is interested in reducing medical costs, for which special management organizations are involved, cooperating with several medical service providers, which reduces their cost. Before referral to a specialist, the patient is examined by a general practitioner. If there is a possibility of prescribing expensive treatment, it is necessary to obtain the opinion of another specialist.

In case of job loss, the insurance can be extended for a year and a half – in this case, the employer pays 60% of the cost of medical services.

The minimum cost of insurance per person is at least $ 300 per month.

A visit to the doctor will cost $ 10-20, emergency care – $ 50. For an uninsured person, calling an ambulance or visiting an emergency room can turn into serious financial problems.

Formally, all Americans have equal access to emergency medical care, and doctors should not ask for insurance from arriving patients. However, uninsured patients get to the doctor much later; they have to wait a long time for the necessary help in the corridors of the hospital.

The high cost of medical care pushes many Americans to be treated abroad in more "cheap" countries (the so–called "medical tourism") - most often in Canada, England, Italy, the Caribbean and Cuba.

And our "patients" are also dissatisfied with our system.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru30.04.2014