What is Digg?82 Comments
- commenter01, on 11/20/2008, -1/+45its what you get for having a ridiculous healthcare system
- chrisduser, on 11/20/2008, -0/+42Mexicans travel to America for employment.
Americans travel to Mexico for medical services.
Seems odd to me. - brandita, on 11/20/2008, -0/+24Damn, shouldn't have put up that fence. Now it's going to be harder for me to sneak over there to get medical care.
- IRAcarbombs, on 11/20/2008, -0/+23and we call India for IT support
- Rikkochet, on 11/20/2008, -0/+23FTA:
"Dorthea, 72, a retired bank teller, lives in Harlingen, Texas, a city of about 67,000 in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley. [...] she was quoted the prohibitive price of $30,000 for a gastric-band procedure, a treatment for obesity [..] Dorthea, who asked that her last name be withheld for privacy reasons[...]"
I mean, it could be any 72 year-old obese, retired bank teller from Harlingen, TX named Dorthea. - commenter01, on 11/20/2008, -0/+15just cause its ***** up doesnt meant its not systematic. look at the nazi death camps. ***** up and insanely systematic.
my point is, doctors have to wade through too much red tape, ALL the time, for EVERYTHING. Nothing reflects its true cost, doctors get paid arbitrarily... its ***** up, in a systematic way. - tgc1, on 11/20/2008, -0/+15And China makes all of your stuff.
- MCA2142, on 11/20/2008, -0/+14We have a system?
- jessehadden, on 11/20/2008, -0/+14Yikes. Wasn't this a conservative talking point? Don't Rush Limbaugh and his ilk always say that if things are so bad here, then why aren't people crossing the border into Mexico to get treatment?
America may be regarded as a rich nation, but that doesn't make it a 1st-world nation. - jessehadden, on 11/20/2008, -0/+11Do you happen to have any statistics on this? I hear so much in America about how awful the Canadian system is. When I speak with a Canadian about it, they chuckle, console me for being American, and tell me not to watch so much TV. What's the real scoop?
To me, the "problem" of rich people wanting to buy their way into a hospital of a place & time of their own choosing is not really a problem... especially next to the problem of working class people having to go to Mexico to be able to afford health care. - k3rfuffl3, on 11/20/2008, -2/+12Now medical procedures are being outsourced. I guess that's the free market, eh?
- k3rfuffl3, on 11/20/2008, -0/+9Pretty sure taking the risk to save your life abroad is much less foolish than assuring your death in the US. I hope you're faced with that choice so humanity can evolve to be less stupid.
- Jareth86, on 11/20/2008, -5/+14People are going to MEXICO for medical treatment? Lets hope Obama keeps good on his promise for universal health care. Its time to join the ***** 21st century.
- scalded, on 11/20/2008, -0/+8Malpractice insurance is obscenely expensive in the US, for one thing.
- borez, on 11/20/2008, -1/+9Just come to the UK and use the NHS for free, you might as well... half of Eastern Europe is already doing it.
- Rikkochet, on 11/20/2008, -0/+7The crunch time is coming. The boomers are getting older and older and even THEY are doctors who are retiring and needing their own healthcare.
This is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better, folks, and I have a feeling that by the end of it Americans are going to see that willing Mexican worker in a whole new, positive light. - Rioracer916, on 11/20/2008, -0/+6Yeah I'll have to second the malpractice insurance and labor costs. Also you don't have to deal with health insurance companies as middle men pushing papers around and maximizing profit for themselves.
I'm not against profit, but when your profit comes at a cost of a lead weight on the necks of the other parties in the equation, there's a problem. - Rioracer916, on 11/20/2008, -0/+6Its shocking that people are so desperate to get health care in the US that they are resorting turning for care in a country where you can become ill just by drinking their tap water.
- TheMachine1, on 11/20/2008, -0/+6My guess is there is zero medical liability and labor cost are less.
- kinerry, on 11/20/2008, -1/+7wrong, canada also has a private health care system for those than can afford it
waiting in line is better than not being able to get in line and dying, you ***** *****
I lost my eye in a random accident and thus now have a "pre-existing condition" and cannot get health care
seriously, go ***** yourself you smug idiot - afruff23, on 11/20/2008, -1/+6Healthcare is not even close to a free market. For one thing, you have to have at least 22 years of education to become a certified doctor (12 years K12, 4 years undergrad, 4 years med school, and 2 years residency). Try to perform any sort of medical procedure without a license with the patient's consent and you get sent straight to jail.
And don't even get me started on prescription drugs. Intellectual property for drugs is maintained by the threat of violence from the government. - jessehadden, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4It's absolutely ridiculous to me that, in a supposedly first-world rich elite nation like the United States, so many people of all walks of life know what it's like to be injured, and to think, "Can I afford to get help?"
Quote economic theory and philosophy all day long. But until you're forced to weigh your pain against the contents of your bank account, don't quote it to me.
How would you feel if you lived right next to the fire department, and they just sipped coffee and watched as your house burned down because they decided to privatize fire departments, and you couldn't afford fire insurance? How would you feel if the cops just laughed while you were beaten to death in broad daylight, because they decided to privatize police departments, and you couldn't afford protection insurance?
Any way you want to slice it, the mere fact that it's acceptable to oppose public health care is a pretty sad blotch on America. - SawButter, on 11/20/2008, -2/+6Stop eating in fast food restaurants, you'll save your money instead of spending it doing liposuction in a border Hospital.
- DirtyVicar, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4If you consider just the insurance and billing portions, why, it's one of the biggest systems in the world.
- Tenlow, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4Those $80 a month plans have "deductibles" which require a lot of out of pocket expenses. My plan that cost "$80 a month" was actually around $400 a month after the deductibles were met.
- RipleyIsDead, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4My health insurance costs upwards of $500 a month. It's paid by my employer. What insurance are you on?
- DirtyVicar, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4Hell, many of us in the U.S. dealing with ***** hospitals operated like car dealerships would be glad to fly to Eastern Europe for healthcare.
- dfan917, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4I didn't see anywhere in the article that mentioned WHY it's cheaper to run a hospital in Mexico.
Why is it cheaper for Americans to build hospitals for other Americans in Mexico than to do the same thing in the US?
Is it because the Mexican government is giving free money to hospitals or is it because the US government is putting up a lot of regulatory expenses? - borez, on 11/20/2008, -3/+6Healthcare shouldn't be a business, it should be a tribal provision available to all.
- FolkTheory, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3they'll build the fence along the southern border when the traffic starts going the other way...sure your laws might prevent hospitals from firing doctors...but as you see hospitals can just move south. it's only a matter of time before doctors start moving south too to work for better prices down south...what are you gonna do next, forbid docs from quitting? suddenly the hyper-capitalists that were crying about the Police State start looking a li'l wiser.
Have a nice day too. - haydesigner, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3But at least we got quality American cars, right?
Right? Bueller? Bueller? - commenter01, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3americans are smuggling fat across the border
- 2ndEdition, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3and new mexico is new mexico
- Rioracer916, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3kinerry, I'm sorry to hear about your accident.
I have a pretty ridiculous issue with the health care "system" myself.
I was working long, long hours in my public accounting job last winter. I finally managed to get a weekend off when I started to have heart palpitations off and on all weekend.
I go in for an appointment the following Monday and get checked out. I'm a healthy guy in my 20's so the doctor didn't seem too concerned. He ran some tests and they came back fine. He said it was probably stress. Better safe than sorry I thought.
Fast forward to last summer. I'm out of a job looking for work and affordable health care. I apply and get denied because I have "a pre-existing heart condition".
Excuse me? So yeah I'm just as big of a "risk" as some guy with a triple-bypass... and I don't have any health issues, especially heart problems.
No wonder government and now even businesses want health care tamed by the government. This ***** is out of control. If it's not outrageous costs, it's the pre-existing condition game they like to play ( I can't afford to pay COBRA $400 a month for care I'm 99% sure I won't need, but is good to have). - cquinnd, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3Our Veterans go thru hoops because the management of the VA pales in comparison with the idea of provided health care that those same veterans got while they were active military.
The health care currently provided to active military is closer to the idea of what universal healthcare would look like in America. The problem is most soldiers and veterans already have a pretty good idea of their state of health, so can be factored in for the amount of health care impact they are expected to have.
We need to have a better idea of the average state of health in America, which can help people avoid unnecessary medical treatment just by having a better understanding of what their own risk factors are and what in their own life to improve/avoid. - moulin1, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2Why health care is cheaper in Mexico than the US.
1. Mexico, like most countries, negotiates drug costs with drug companies. In the US there is no negotiation for medicaid/medicare and for private plans drug companies negotiate with their own subsidiaries. This is the oxymoronic free-market.
2. US hospitals must provide free emergency services to people with no insurance (not let them bleed to death in the waiting room with a stack of forms in their hands). The government doesn't pay for it and neither will the insurance companies. So they load this cost onto the bills of cash customers. In Mexico the government pays for emergency services.
3. US insurance companies make their income both from premiums and investing their huge cash reserves. When they make stupid investments and lose money on the stock market they raise premiums on health insurance and malpractice insurance to make up for it. Expect a massive rise in both this year. The malpractice portion is passed on to hospitals who again pass it on to cash customers. - buddyw, on 11/20/2008, -2/+4"I realize I am a Tijuana doctor, but even we have scruples. I could loose my license to practice... Mexican medicine."
--Dr. Guevara - Jareth86, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2You people keep saying this, but quite literally EVERY other developed nation in the world has universal health care, and they're doing just fine. The streets of Canada are not littered with bodies. British clinics do not have lines going out the door. People in France are not dieing off at age 60.
Everything O'Reily has told you is a lie. - tfaulk26, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2Of course, Mexican hospitals can provide care that is as good as their counterparts north of the border. Why not? It is obvious that Mexico has lower cost of living and lower wages, and fortunately, does not have insurance companies which act as a middle man by doing nothing but drivving the cost of health care in our country through the roof
- mRIpX, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2not safe to drink the tap water here in parts of California as well buddy.
- sanman, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2India offers low-cost medical services too:
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1207807
medical tourism is a growing phenomenon the world over - roho76, on 11/20/2008, -1/+3You're an idiot. Get rid of the HMO's and health care would cost $50-$100 a month for your whole family not $1000. If UHC gets passed most doctors will quit. They have enough money saved up they would just retire. 80% of doctors disagree with UHC and would not support it. Their practices are already being ruined by the Government more involvement from them would send them over the edge. So if you want to destroy the health care system just pass UHC.
After Obama passes this then maybe he'll move on to Universal Food Program. Where we pay the government more money and they bring my food to me. Where does it end?
STOP IT WITH THE ***** WELFARE ALREADY!!!!!!! - Barackalypse, on 11/20/2008, -1/+3Let me ask you something, with the advances in genetics do you really think in 50 years if you get sick you'll need a doctor to see what is wrong with you, or do you think they'll simply take a blood sample, run it through a computer, and then proscribe whatever drug treats that virus or kills the bacteria that you have? I fully expect to see the day when the only thing a doctor can do for me involves the repair of physical damage (blocked arteries, trauma related injuries, organ replacement, etc).
- Olfster, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2Only you would know.
- cle2105, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2import
- shig, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1Don't worry. It's has 4 foot gaps in it to protect migratory animal species like humans.
- NicoNicoNico, on 11/21/2008, -1/+2That's really stupid. I'm sorry, but it is. Some people may be undeserving of welfare, but some are. Did you even read the article? It said that, "Incomes in the area are low, too, so even when employers do offer insurance, the cost of medical premiums still may prohibitive for employees, according to a 2007 report prepared by Texas state authorities." In other words, the people there can't afford healthcare.
I've been in the Texas healthcare system. I had decent health insurance that I paid myself, but was hounded over and over again whether I had insurance. They wanted to check whether my insurance card was counterfeit. That's how sad healthcare in that state happens to be. They didn't believe that someone my age *could* have insurance. - RealDealRick, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1One less Big Pharma puppet to worry about.
- Coinspinner, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1They should make a hospital in Mexico that uses Cannabis to cure cancer. American medical college research (that is to say peer-reviewed and reproducible) proves that it would be very effective.
- moulin1, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1I had to think for awhile to figure out what you meant by the ponzi scheme reference. I guess it's fair to say that medicare (and social security) are ponzi schemes. Not medicare.
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