What is Digg?40 Comments
- BenTheTank, on 01/08/2009, -0/+15It's nice to see something in health care that isn't an expensive headache for everyone involved; especially the uninsured.
- PabloMac, on 01/08/2009, -1/+14My high school buddy and I were going to open a drive-through breast exam business, but that idea got nipped in the bud.
- borez, on 01/08/2009, -0/+8Brian's Drive Thru colonic irrigation had left the car in a real mess that morning.
- lovemorgul, on 01/08/2009, -2/+10I hope that the good news of business success....
- serif69, on 01/08/2009, -0/+7Pablo's Breast Exams
"Drive Up and Honk" - plecostomus, on 01/08/2009, -0/+5John McCain actually mentioned something like this during his campaign, describing "walk-in clinics at Walmart."
Not that he was worth voting for, and his health plan ideas were terrible, but it seems odd that he was reasonably progressive on this and then uhhh "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." - carbonbasedunit, on 01/08/2009, -0/+5I thought that was called Taco Bell...
Sorry. - polarbeargarden, on 01/08/2009, -0/+5This is an excellent idea. Whenever I've been to the emergency room, the waiting area is filled mostly with low-income families sick with colds, but because they are uninsured the emergency room is the only place they can get medicine. This means 4-hour waits for most people, ridiculous overcrowding (the rooms are usually filled, and beds line the hallways), and a longer time for people in actual states of emergency to get attention. I hope drive-thru health services open up in my area to help relieve our broken medical system.
- jeffiek, on 01/08/2009, -0/+5PRIVATE medical facilities reduce cost AND make it more accessible???? Startup costs covered by venture capital???? (http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/20 ...
Impossible. Nothing worthwhile can be done for the people without the government.
Can you tell I'm a libertarian? (actually anarcho-capitalist - but I'm willing to compromise). My big question here is what took so long? I tried googling around, but I couldn't find any info on what government regulations STOP such progress and how he managed to get this pushed through. I've been around long enough, and seen enough other regulations that stop progress, that I know they're there somewhere.
Bush, McCain, Obama. Doesn't matter. Progress comes from the individual with a good idea and willing to put his money where his mouth is. You don't have to worry if their plan will fail. You won't have to pay for it. Quite unlike the bailouts and the coming TRILLION dollar deficits. - h0bart, on 01/08/2009, -0/+5As I commented on the article, this is exactly the kind of private entrepreneurship we need. Unfortunately, the govt isn't raking enough of the profits off the top (since their insurance pals aren't seeing a piece) and I'm sure that soon enough we'll be seeing some legislation making this type of establishment illegal.
- thespiff, on 01/08/2009, -0/+5Whatever, just because McCain says that we should have more private clinics doesn't mean anything happens. Since he is in the government, saying that private business should handle it equates to "It's a better idea for me to do nothing about healthcare problems." Yeah, maybe these clinics are a good idea, but unless people actually start the businesses it doesn't matter. We're looking for a government solution to the problem of Healthcare not because we want socialism, but because private business hasn't solved the problem, and somebody has to do it...
- SwiftKick34, on 01/08/2009, -6/+10This is capitalism at its best, keep government out of health care.
- solid12345, on 01/08/2009, -1/+5This is the kind of thing John McCain was pushing and the liberal blogs laughed at home, neverminding the TRUE fact that people using up emergency room resources for sprained ankles and fevers is crippling the system.
- creoderiot, on 01/08/2009, -0/+3"If you really want cheap healthcare, make hospitals require either proof of insurance or a hefty ($10,000+) deposit before they provide any treatment"
- REALLY?!? That is a ridiculous proposal. A large percentage of citizens do not have insurance. We need socialized health care. end of story. Not requirements of 10 freaking thousand dollar deposits before we will treat your gunshot wound. I think you left off the /sarcasm tag. - Yez70, on 01/08/2009, -0/+3I hope this gets farther than just the New York metropolitan area. There are a lot more people in need outside of the major cities. It's still not addressing the problem - our system is broken.
For example, I don't have insurance. I've been quoted between $400 and $1000 a month to get it - not something I can afford right now as I'm not employed. Unemployment in my area is over 20% now and expected to reach 30% due to the huge auto part manufacturing base in my area that is laying off more and more people daily. There are no jobs. The 'Help Wanted' section in the newspaper has 3 available - Truck Driver, RN and Teacher on a remote island in the middle of Lake Michigan. The newspaper covers 3 counties (about 50,000 people).
I smoke. I hate it. I can't quit on my own. I can't afford it I know, but I roll my own cigs at a cost of about $30 a month. I would like to get a prescription for 'Chantix' as I have seen family members and friends quit successfully with the pill. A doctor visit here costs about $180 for cash customers, plus the cost of the prescription ($120/month). I'm sorry, but I don't have $300 to get a prescription. I guess I'll keep smoking until I get lung cancer and the taxpayers can pay the $500,000-$1,000,000 cost to care for me while I whither away and die later....
My sister needs a kidney biopsy. She works for a church and gets about $8/hr. She has two kids so she qualified for Medicaid here. 99% of doctors do not accept Medicaid, so she had to be put on a waiting list to get the biopsy. Her appointment is in 9 MONTHS! If it turns out to be cancer - she'll die a horrible death soon after they confirm it. It will probably cost the taxpayers another half million to care for her while she dies...
My neighbor is disabled and has Medicaid as well. He gets about $800 a month to live on from SSI. He needed a tooth pulled. The closest oral surgeon that accepts Medicaid was 140 miles away and his appointment was booked a year in advance. Can you imagine waiting a year to pull a tooth that had you in nearly unbearable pain? He had to sell his car to have the money to pay a dentist $290 cash to pull it the next day. He was lucky that Medicaid covered the prescriptions he needed that cost another $200.
Universal Health Insurance would cover us all. I'd be covered for free until I get a job when the economy here recovers - and it will. My sister and her kids would be covered at a subsidized cost most likely.
I could quit smoking. I could actually get a physical every year or two to prevent mahjor issues in the future and probably prolong my life so I could be more productive for society.
My sister could get a biopsy next week, hopefully in time to prevent any major damage. She could also live long enough to raise her own children, rather than place the burden on society - as she will be able to stay healthy not just for herself, but for them.
Costs will go down for everyone, including the insurance companies as the medical community would no longer have to add 20-30% to every bill to cover the uninsured emergency care.
Medicaid would begin to be accepted by more doctors or be replaced by a universal health insurance system that all doctors would accept.
The costs for long term chronic care would go down significantly over time as we are able to detect and prevent diseases before they get out of control. People would live longer and be more productive, further strengthening our economy and lives.
Many will say 'not on my dime,' heartlessly refusing to support a universal system. Those same people are the ones who have to pay the high insurance premiums we have today, because of the broken system.
If everyone that is paying for insurance now, instead paid it into a universal system - it would cost us 'all' LESS than we pay now, over the long term.
A $400 premium would become $200 or less per person per month. Long term health care needsand costs would be less than they are now - further saving the taxpayers money. It can instead be used to fund insurance for the poor, unemployed and children.
Drive Thru health care is a start, but it's not a solution. - Graphite, on 01/08/2009, -0/+3I'll take some condoms, toilet paper and let's throw in an STD test...
not saying it's a bad idea just weird.. but hey I still like going to a grocery store or market for my food not Wal-Mart - robinthehood, on 01/08/2009, -1/+4I'm going to my doctor on Monday and getting my yearly physical... For free!
Feels good to be a Canadian. - stonebear, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Actually; emergency rooms accumulate urgent care patients because emergency patients are taken ahead of them, extending their wait. If emergency patients have to wait, it's because of the other emergency patients ahead of them, or perhaps triage breaking down under the volume of patients.
- Abatrour, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2All those things are free here in Canada.
- solid12345, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Really, personally I love being able to get my food and buy a DVD at the same time for the same night in one place.
- Antimatt, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2I hope ERs stop accepting people with goddam colds. There are aisles of over-the-counter medicines at any supermarket. Society as a whole needs to realize that a cold is not being sick. It's a ***** cold. You are functional with a ***** stuffy nose.
- dvddesign, on 01/08/2009, -1/+3If they could apply this same fair pricing model to something like getting surgery, I'd be all for it. As it is, the capitalistic structure of US american medicine and insurance is corrupt and there only to serve stockholders and not the sick or people looking to prevent sickness.
- GovernmentsGun, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2In order to serve stock holders, they also have to serve sick people.
- Yez70, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Screaming very loudly, due to the pain, will get you pushed to the front of the line.
- flaknugget, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2It has simply never occurred to me that McDonald's could provide a desirable service model for a clinic.
The next step will be flu shot vending machines. - fatfishy, on 01/09/2009, -0/+2link didn't work, found it with search:
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/health/tips_info/Drive-t ... - GovernmentsGun, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2I hear you SwiftKick, but we can't have it both ways. The idea may fit a capitalistic model, but the implementation can't.
We, as capitalists, say that only a business that happens without government is real capitalism. We can't flop around when something comes along that shines a good light on a business service, but doesn't meet our real criteria.
Yeah, this is an awesome business idea. I would fully expect to see better, and more, under real capitalism though. This is just a hint of what could happen really. - robinthehood, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Actually it's my normal family doctor that my OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Premium) pays for (and quite well I might add, you should see the houses that doctors get in Toronto).
- gordigor, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Definitly an option, but I prefer to see my family doctor as he knows more about my health than a five minute doctor's drive thru appointment.
- GovernmentsGun, on 01/08/2009, -0/+2Right, so they're not working for free. You may not physically hand over money from your pocket, but it's certainly not free. You pay the taxes, or money is diverted from other sources, and then the government funnels it to the doctor.
Not that I'm really busting on the health program. I'm sure it's just fine. And I'm sure that it feels good to walk in, and walk out, with no money out of pocket.
I just dislike to see the word free used improperly. The computer service I give to my elderly neighbor is free of charge because I'm generous with my time. But the doctor service you go to can't be said to be truly free. - Emilyondg, on 02/03/2009, -0/+1Poeple on" HerpesLoving , dot com" Said the test is not very effetive.
- jfoust2, on 01/10/2009, -0/+1I've got quickcareclinic.com and quickcareclinicS.com for sale, if you want them.
- firesphotons, on 01/08/2009, -0/+1No revelation here, I saw the arrival of Mc Medicine and Doc in the Box coming a long time ago.
- nicolexue, on 06/18/2009, -0/+1pray for peopel with STD at HerpesFinder.com
- PizzaEagle, on 01/08/2009, -0/+1I plan to open up a drive-thru breast exam service.
- GovernmentsGun, on 01/08/2009, -2/+2Really? Is the doctor, nurse, and lab tech a slave, and live strictly on air to survive? Do they fold themselves up into some other dimension at night so they take up no housing?
Or are they paid through some other, indirect, mechanism that just obscures the money coming from your pocket to the Doctor? - niseeta, on 05/06/2009, -0/+0Quite a week, indeed. - <a href="http://www.proskintreatment.info/">skin treatment</a>
- Zomgondo, on 01/08/2009, -4/+3You're both wrong. Hospitals are required to treat emergencies first and bill people later... which means they get stuck with the bill every time some crackhead ODs, some gangsta gets shot, etc. Treating emergencies is expensive and they get stuck with the bill quite often, and the money has to come from somwhere.
If you really want cheap healthcare, make hospitals require either proof of insurance or a hefty ($10,000+) deposit before they provide any treatment. Sure, you might not survive a heart attack unless you're conscious enough to produce your insurance card or give them a major credit card, but a routine checkup would only run $29.99! - Kiloboba, on 01/08/2009, -11/+5Don't get a FLU SHOT. It's only cheap because they are hazardous with mercury.
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