Forums → WEPR → Healthcare
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Just a thought. Should governments cover the costs of healthcare, and to what extent? Before we start, a story:
A couple of months back, yours truly was sitting on a horse. With his mother. We were a few hours' ride away from the nearby town of Tsaganuur. Tsaganuur had a population of a few thousand. Then, an accident. The saddle slipped, the horse bolted. I clung on.
It was a no-escape situation. Then I fell off. Almost. One foot was still in there. Luckily, my foot slipped out shortly before the neurotic creature reached the forest. Were it not for my helmet, well, I'd've died. Very rocky terrain. I got away with a broken arm.
About four or five hours later, the doctor arrived. I was plunged full of morphine. We went back. Mum got us a chopper to Ulanbataar on the insurance. Mum threatened to sue the insurers until they flew us to Hong Kong. I got a plate put in. Here's what it cost:
Rural clinic treatment: around £40
Chopper ride: around $32,000
UB clinic, for 5 nights: around £6,000
Air ambulance: over $100,000
Surgery: $10,000
And yet more cash for accommodation and flights back to Britain.
Here's what would happen if someone else hadn't paid for it:
1 day in a rural clinic
12-hour jeep ride to Morön to get it X-rayed (splint was too tight, so I'd have got nerve damage)
Another horrible long jeep ride to UB
Probably a day in UB
Commercial flight, sitting upright, to Beijing
Expensive surgery
A rubbish life
Now we're not a rich family. No sir. It would have been devastating. So here's my question: to what extent should governments provide health benefits?
- 8 Replies
chopper rides and air ambulances for a broken arm..? even going to hong kong for it..? it is far to much. you can be helped fine in the uk for about anything. a broken arm is nothing for what their capable of.
where to draw the line? hard to say, i would be oke with the above examples for some life threatening situations that can only be "fixed" in a few hospitals. and even then i think it has be a person of importance or just wealthy enough that they can pay a good part of the costs by themself. and will do so!.
I can understand if one can avoid a long jeep ride on rough terrain with a severely broken arm. The insurances are there to cover expenses for treatment in case of injury, and a certain standart certainly. So from a medical view this made sense I guess.
The flight back to Britain however, I don't understand how you could make them pay for it.
What we're planning to do here in the USA is preventative health care, where we have free routine checkups (about monthly, so 6 times as they say to visit your dentist). That's to catch symptoms at once so they can nip the problem in the bud before it develops and gets worse (and costs extra).
That's the easy part. I don't know how they're gonna work out sudden injuries like you had.
chopper rides and air ambulances for a broken arm..?
It's cheaper for the insurance agency to pay for it than pay lawyers to defend a lawsuit, as frivolous as it may seem.
The arm was broken in MONGOLIA. If we'd been in the EU it would have been free. The flights to the UK were because they had to pay for accommodation in HK, while in Britain they could just dump us. But Mongolia has a total population of a few million.
But yeah, so the EU's healthcare plan covers all that if you buy the EHIC. The NHS does it for free. I think there's a problem in the system here, because Americans fly in for the free meds. If you fly in and THEN get a disease, I think you have the right.
But if you fly in FOR the treatment... the healthcare system of America hurts everyone but the US government. I am REALLY anti-privatisation of government assets. But at the same time... my belief is that taxes should be used charitably, bringing services to those who can't afford them.
Not to smartbombs or aristocrats. Those who can't afford it.
It's cheaper for the insurance agency to pay for it than pay lawyers to defend a lawsuit, as frivolous as it may seem.
and why would they be scared of a lawsuit? people are just milking the insurance companys. no **** we all pay so much if your gonna thread to sue them. and get free flights then... there is no use for it.
a long jeep ride on rough terrain is not harmful for a broken arm. maybe uncomfortable but if you keep your arm still, there is no problem.
now you didn't say it was in mongolia. that changes it all. mongolia is so empty that i understand that you wanted faster travel. however, instead of HK you could have gone to the UK to fix it.
but tbh, nerdsoft... you jump from 1 to a other really fast. it's hard to understand what your point is.
the healthcare system of America
they dont have it. if you can't pay to get your arm fixed. then your arm will not be fixed..
the EU's healthcare plan
every european nation has it's own healthcare system. there is no EU's healthcare plan.
my belief is that taxes should be used charitably, bringing services to those who can't afford them.
if we offer everyone free flights and accommodations. then expect your tax bill to increase for them to be able to pay for it.. so in the end your making people pay to much. and it are not only the rich people that pay taxes.
I am REALLY anti-privatisation of government assets.
we got that here. and it's really not that bad. about 40euro per month. and if you dont pay it then all costs would be for yourself. so everyone can make the choice to take part in the system or not.
We had travel insurance. They're the ones who paid. And by "the EU's healthcare system" I meant the EHIC. Besides, at the moment our government is cutting everything except border "rotection" and GCHQ budgets.
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