It’s a topic we all hear about in the news, from our friends, in our families and in our own discussions frequently. I mean that’s the problem with healthcare isn’t it? It’s just too expensive?
I actually don’t have a problem with the price of healthcare. I think the real question though is “What is the price of healthcare?”
You see, most of the time when we go to buy anything else in our lives, we do a few things: shop around, research, ask friends, compare features, etc. Perhaps to some degree we do one or two of these actions. But I don’t think nearly as much as we do in all the other areas.
Why not?
Because there’s no real effective way to do it!
How would my experience have been different in paying for my own gall bladder surgery if I could have looked at some kind of itemized statement of the services that would be provided and then compare them to the same services offered at another hospital by another surgeon and team of nurses?
How much does the average gall bladder surgery cost? $5000? $20,000? I can tell you from my own experience mine was about $14,000 when it was all said and done. Did I get ripped off? What if I could have gone to a website and looked at the costs of other gall bladder surgeries submitted by recent patients. What kind of discounts might be available if I paid cash and didn’t use insurance?
You see, I don’t think healthcare costs too much. I think the healthcare I’m getting to take advantage of is more than likely worth what I’m paying for it. I’ll frequently hear people make comments about why something costs so much and “it used to not cost that much”. Yeah, you’re right and I’d prefer to take advantage of healthcare knowledge of 2011, and not what we knew in the 1950’s.
A friend of mine recently got the opportunity to swallow a camera pill. I can’t remember all the details, but this thing basically traveled through her gastro-intestinal system taking a couple of pictures a second. The photos are transmitted to a hard drive that was located in a little belt pack they wore and downloaded for processing and review later. This allowed the doctors and physicians to see what’s going on inside without surgery. THAT’S COOL! … and you didn’t get that kind of healthcare at 1950’s prices.
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