We all have a problem, not just you...
MEXICO: Two systems, private and public hospitals
Private is pretty simple, you either pay at the door, or buy insurance. The insurance is pretty easy to get, no peeing in a bottle or questions about pre-existing conditions, just "do you smoke cigarettes, or more than 2 cigars a month?" and you can't get treated for anything major until you've had the policy for 6 months. There's even a "alta riesgo" option that I opted for that covers motorcycle crashes. The three of us cost me anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 a year depending on the Peso conversion. It's actually gone down in terms of USD lately because of the conversion. Deductibles are about 15% and it kicks in after you spend a night in the hospital which the doctors are happy to do for you. The parking lot is attached to the hospitals, a man in a suit opens the door for you and you are admitted almost instantly. The rooms are private and very nice. The whole affair is like checking into a 3 or 4 start hotel. Sounds pretty freaking awesome eh? Well, it us, right up to when you get old. My mother-in-law is 84 and it's costing about $900USD a month for her and meds and checkups are extra. It goes up every year. They basically wean you off the insurance with increases as you age so that you don't end up costing them for a long term ICU bed at the end of your life.
Public AKA IMMS is pretty nasty. There is a source deduction on everyone's paystub to cover it whether or not you have private insurance. As long as you live in a home that has someone contributing you are covered, but if you live on the street, or like El Chapo you're not. If you get hurt you get a note that gets you off work and nets you about 60% of your regular pay. As you can imagine it's full of cheats. The doctors are the same ones that work in the private hospitals, many of which as US educated, but the equipment is very old and they are often lacking equipment and supplies. Kind of like mechanics with only a Crescent wrench,
and screwdriver trying to rebuild an engine. I know a lot of people that have had goo experiences in the public system, but more so with a scheduled operation than an emergency. I learned something really scary here last year when my wife's 94 year old aunt was dying of congestive heart failure. They wouldn't give her any opioids because the government investigates any doctors that write prescriptions for them. She was in some kind of pain for almost a month. I seriously debated a
One flew over The cuckoo birds nest ending for her. It was awful to watch.
There is s joke down here
"What's the difference between Frankenstein and the Six Million Dollar Man? The Six Million Dollar Man was treated in Houston, Frankenstein went to IMMS"
CANADA: Public hospitals
The term "free" is grossly misused. Anyone with a job is paying stupid money to support this sinking ship. The lines up are long, my mother almost died in a waiting room back in the 70's and my Dad waited over a year for a hip replacement and is now at almost 2 years to get his knee fixed. That said Dad always paid every nickel of his taxes, Mom worked as a nurse all her life and both my brother and sister are doctors, but they all wait in line with able bodied people that haven't worked a day in their lives and live solely off the taxes of others. I truly believe it will collapse one day, just as the Mexican IMMS will.
So why are all these systems such a mess? I think it's a combination of lawyers and inept government employees. If you could remove the insurance costs doctors and hospitals pay and run the hospitals competitively like hotels I think you could lower the costs exponentially, but there's a third problem and that's the value we put on human life.
We get old, we die, we get really sick, we die, it's the law of the jungle. Why should Canadian tax payers be covering the cost of a 70 year old newly immigrated AIDS victim's gender reassignment? (true example). My cousin died at 42 from cancer, they spent almost $500,000 treating him even though they know he was terminal. Even his mother who was a hospital administrator all her life was uncomfortable about him receiving this costly experimental treatment.
There comes a time when we need to just call it a life and check out. There could easily be a "level of care" option in a private package that you could tick off boxes of what you want covered as you age that would make basic care for the healthy, but aged and financially challenged affordable, but the minute someone was faced with a terminal condition caused by something they didn't tick the box on there would be a lawsuit for wrongful death.
If you want to discuss this further come to MTY, I'll talk your ear off and then we'll take you to the hospital and get it sewn back on for about $400 bucks.
Originally Posted by glamy
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