Americans need not visit India for cheap health care: Obama

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Press Trust Of India

Americans need not visit India for cheap health care: Obama
Press Trust Of India
Washington, April 20, 2011

With spiraling health care cost a cause of concern in America, US President Barack Obama on Tuesday pushed for an affordable health care plans arguing that he would not like his countrymen to travel to countries like India and Mexico for cheaper treatment. "My preference would be that you don't have to travel to Mexico or India to get cheap health care. I'd like you to be able to get it right here in the United States of America that's high quality," Obama said amidst applause at a community college in Virginia.

Obama was responding to a question from the audience on increasing health care cost in the US.

"Before we went on the path of you can go somewhere else to get your health care, let's work to see if we can reduce the costs of health care here in the United States of America. That's going to make a big difference," he said.

"And Medicare is a good place to start because Medicare is such a big purchaser that if we can start changing how the health care system works inside of Medicare, then the entire system changes. All the doctors, all the hospitals, they will all adapt to these best practices," Obama said.



Read more: http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/americas/Americans-need-not-visit-India-for-cheap-health-care-Obama/Article1-687425.aspx

[kickysnana]

1. He hasn't a clue has he? (sigh) n/t

[Paper Roses]

27. Sure, we can all wait until hell freezes over or our appendix burst

for some kind of affordable health care here. I'd go overseas in a minute if I had time to plan any surgery I needed. Unless you know exactly when and what will ail you, how is it possible to go anywhere except for elective procedures?

[Safetykitten]

37. No. Completely oblivious.

[notesdev]

2. Let's review

In response to the problem of rising health care costs, Obama pushes through a law that:

- involuntarily conscripts those who can't afford health insurance, piling on obligations that will become debts that will in many if not most of these cases turn into bad, uncollectable debts.
- caused immediate price hikes for those who are insured to the tune of 20-50% or more.
- siphons large amounts of funds from other health programs
- having allowed health insurance lobbyists to write the bill, allowed all of the extra money thus collected with the items above to be redirected into private hands, all without anybody getting any additional health care at all.

It's time to go to a cash & charity system. That would bring prices down dramatically and eliminate the (2/3rds? 3/4ths? more?) money spent on people who don't actually help anyone but rather just sit in the middle of the revenue stream siphoning off wealth for their own personal purposes.

[midnight]

13. These are very serious concerns about what measures were being

claimed to be a win in the battle over health care revision. This bill was written by insurance lobbyist... One who even left her name on parts of the bill... That evidence sparked a big follow up thank you from Democratic Baucus to his former aid now turned insurance lobbyist....


My insurance deductible doubled this year...

[AndyTiedye]

33. "Cash and Charity" Would Mean No Health Care At All For Most

Prices wouldn't come down that much. Charities would be overwhelmed.
If you got cancer or anything like that, you would just be left to die
unless you had the megabucks to pay for treatment.

Loan sharks would have a field day.

[notesdev]

34. No it wouldn't

We had the best health care in the world when we operated that way.

Prices would plummet immediately, just as they got hiked immediately upon passage of this latest law. Doctors who have abandoned the practice due to the ever-escalating levels of BS they have to put up with would come back and practice again. Hospital stays would no longer be in the thousands of dollars per day simply to rest in a bed. Crap like a doctor sticking his head into every room in a hospital wing, saying "hello" without even bothering to wait for a response, and sending a bill to each and every one for the "visit", would end immediately.

What we have now is a system that is mostly waste. Cancer patients, as would any other type of patient, would have a far higher chance of getting treatment - and the correct treatment, not just the treatment that an insurer favors. And with the savings of eliminating the epidemic of embezzlement, theft, and other false dealings, there'd be more than enough in the system to cover any reasonable amount of charity and then some. Doctors could actually take some patients on pro bono, were they not squeezed at every turn by the system.

The health care system in this country is broken beyond repair. It is no longer possible to fix it, the whole problem of how to provide access to health care needs to be re-thought from the ground up.

There are two basic choices - we can ration by price, as has traditionally been done in this country; or we can ration by time, as Canada does. I prefer the former as it gives more people more choices; also, in the past in this country it has resulted in better overall care for all than either the latter method or our current corrupt process; and most of all, rationing by price results in a downward price pressure that optimizes the total amount of care available to all.

[AndyTiedye]

36. Even if Prices Dropped by Half, You Probably Still Can't Afford It

You think people will be able to pay for their cancer treatments out of their own pockets? :rofl:

Sell everything you've got, and you might be able to pay for a month or two.
Even if the cost of the treatment dropped by half, it's still going to cost more than most people make in 5 years.

Do you think charity will pick up the tab for those cancer treatments? :rofl::rofl:

They will be swamped, and will refuse to pay for anything that expensive.

You seem to expect that prices will suddenly drop to 3rd-world levels.
That cannot happen, even if you reduce doctors and nurses pay to 3rd-world levels.

[notesdev]

38. So how is that actually different?

Under the insurance schemes we have, even routine care is now unaffordable for many. Another poster here mentioned that his family insurance plan is $23,000+ per year. Do you realize that just a few years of those payments could cover the entire course of treatment for a cancer patient - and that they are already paying those numbers, already being beggared by the costs, before anybody even gets sick!

What we have now gives us the worst of both worlds - we get the world's highest costs (by a LARGE margin) and nowhere near the world's best health care, as we once had.

It's time to put a stop to the endless procession of failed fixes proposed and implemented by distant, academically-driven elites. The scions of Harvard and Yale have failed us utterly, as they have every time they have arrogated to themselves the power to make decisions that it was never their right, nor right for them, to make.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Is he kidding? Insurance companies SUBSIDIZE medical tourism to improve

their bottom line.

Health Insurance Companies Promoting Medical Tourism

In an attempt to rein in exploding medical costs, a growing number of health insurance companies are offering their customers, both individuals and employers, an opportunity to get their health care overseas. Some medical and dental procedures overseas can cost up to 80 percent less, excluding travel costs, than in the states.

Medical tourism, according to the international nonprofit organization Medical Tourism Association, is a practice whereby “people who live in one country travel to another country to receive medical, dental and surgical care,” which they do “because of affordability, better access to care or a higher level of quality of care.” One of the principles of the Association is to provide unbiased information and education for health insurance companies, patients, and employers about available hospitals and medical and dental services.

In the past, most medical tourists were wealthy or uninsured. Today, however, more and more of them have health insurance. According to a 2008 survey conducted by Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, nearly 40 percent of Americans said they would travel overseas to receive medical treatment if the cost was cut in half and the quality of care was comparable.

As more and more Americans make the trip overseas—80,000 traveled to Bangkok’s Bumrungrad International Hospital in 2006 alone, according to Managed Care magazine—health insurance providers are slowing joining in. Among them are Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, and Georgia-based BasicPlus Insurance Services, and an increasing number of others are making inquiries.

-more-

http://www.emaxhealth.com/1275/121/33050/health-insurance-companies-promoting-medical-tourism.html

[JJW]

16. Outsource Politicians

How about we outsource our politicians so we can get a world class affordable system for all, like all every other modern industrialized nation. The current criminals in public office sure can't do what is needed to fix anything.

[msongs]

4. kinda like when Bush Sr went to the grocery store thinking he didn't need any money lol nt

[truth2power]

5. "...Americans need not visit India..." he should have thought of that

before he failed to aggressively push for single payer, or at least a public option, that actually WOULD have reduced the costs of health care.

So NOW he talks about reducing costs, and what does he single out? Why, Medicare, of course. I don't see how anybody can still make the case that Obama is a progressive or that he represents anyone other than the top 1%.


What IS the matter with him??? (That's a rhetorical question, I guess.)

:banghead:

[NCarolinawoman]

29. He seems to have ridden on a time machine back to the 2008 campaign,

as if the governing process that followed the election had never happened.

More likely, he probably just speaks out of two sides of his mouth, and hopes the audience is stupid.

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. I doubt Obama approves of the fact

that I haven't seen a doctor in nearly fifteen years. He probably thinks that's my fault.

I fully expect to live a life that is diminished and possibly unnecessarily shortened by my lack of meaningful access to affordable healthcare. He probably thinks that's my fault too. I should have had the resources to have (and use) that healthclub membership, eat a high quality diet of consisting primarily of fresh organic foods, and have routine and preventative healthcare. But I doubt it really matters much to him. I am, after all, expendable. I am a throwaway.

For the cost of a single US medical procedure I can travel to Mexico and seek treatment from a physician who may well have received his/her training in the US. The standard of care may easily meet or exceed that available here in the US.

I've got news for you Mr President - if I happen to win the lottery I'm going to try to buy my way into another nation. There are other nations that treat their residents better - and provide better opportunities.

Meaningful healthcare reform was my line in the sand, Mr. President. You did not fight for that - you didn't try to lead and show the way. You had an opportunity and you squandered it - preferring to help the insurance copanies more than flesh and blood people with very real and very basic needs.

Clueless. Heartless.

[truth2power]

42. Right on, Coyote. Much of what Obama says is meaningless blather. eom

[Ian David]

7. I've always wanted to visit India, but I don't like the idea of getting an operation...

... in a country where people still crap in the street.

[closeupready]

8. Ridiculous.

nt

[Zorra]

9. Shouldn't someone have fought tooth and nail to do this when it was actually possible?

When we had almost 60 Dem Senators and a huge Dem majority in the House?

Maybe Boehner and Cantor have plans to introduce surprise legislation to enact "Medicare For All"?

I don't get it.

[AndyTiedye]

19. It Wasn't Possible Then Either

The "almost Democrat" that could have theoretically given us the 60th vote was Lieberman
and there is NO WAY he would EVER vote against the insurance industry. They own him.
They own his whole state.

[Zorra]

44. Yes, this is the "conventional wisdom explanation".

I really don't want to get involved in another long discussion about how Democrats could and should have eliminated the filibuster by changing Senate rules again.

After a great deal of research and debate, I have yet to see an indisputable valid legal reason why they could not do this, but have seen many invalid excuses for why they did not.

I realize that Senate rules should not be changed frivolously, and the ramifications of rendering the filibuster moot. But the circumstances were dire, and Senate Dem leadership did not rise to meet the necessity.

Democrats were literally filibustered out of power because they failed to end the filibuster so that they could pass vital legislation.

They did not pass critical legislation because they submitted to continuous republican filibuster, and we got slaughtered in the election because they failed to pass critical legislation.

A total lose-lose scenario, that resulted in not taking advantage of an enormous open window of opportunity.

Now, that awesome opportunity is lost, gone maybe forever, and we are right now in very very deep trouble because Senate Dems did not take advantage of this opportunity while we still had a chance.

[Myrina]

10. ... of course not, it's really cheap in Mexico, too.

:shrug:

[Bacchus39]

11. had dental work done in Colombia, its a good deal

and if insurance companies are going to start paying, even better.

[zogofzorkon]

12. Maybe he has a plan to bring India doctors and staff here.

[bemildred]

14. Is health care the next bubble to pop? nt

[freshwest]

17. Universal healthcare will occur to save the for-profits when they ask for a bailout.

Wait for it...

[and-justice-for-all]

31. They should not be bailed out, they should fall...

and then proper facilities and administrations could take their place. No more bailing out of private for-profits.

[freshwest]

32. Universal health care will take the responsibility off their hands. The CEO's have their money...

Offshore already. As long as the legislatures give in for their extortion of the taxpayers and consumers, they'll run their business. Then it'll be dumped entirely upon the taxpayer.

Think EPA superfund cleanup sites. The businesses fight it until the move their money elsewhere and the public is stuck with the bill cleaning up their mess.

I call all of those things bailouts of bad businesses. Just like the MIC. Their products are crap as far as helping Americans, but we still subsidize them for the crumbs they throw at us and the faux sense of security they have marketed to us that they supply. Fossil energy companies, the same. They and their product stink, so they play every game possible to snag those bucks.

In the end, the only way to win with these freaks is nationalizing their activities but they'll take every last drop of blood they can before they'll go away. They're making the case for nationalization now and it will come. But we won't win much.

Do the health care crooks deserve to be bailed out? Did any of the businesses who were bailed out deserve it?

The ones who made the systems (banking, automotive, energy, health, etc.) will not suffer one way or the other. It is the people that will be hurt that is the basis of the blackmail being applied in every case, not just health care. We have to take care of them.

IMHO.

:hi:

[and-justice-for-all]

43. I know it would save them billions...

but yet they rail against it; it is the big businesses using the 'I got your back if you got mine' tactic.

[AndyTiedye]

20. How Could it Ever "Pop"?

[lovuian]

25. that noone will pay for these hospital bills

Hospitals will go bankrupt all over America

its in the process

Have your baby in another country...they have better mortality rates than in America

Granted an emergency you will have to go here but elective surgery ...leave

Our hospitals have a problem with MRSA
other hospitals in other countries don't have

I would tell Congressman...you will get what you pay for NOT
your medical insurance will get less and less
and just like Glenn Beck found out in the ER ....you will wait your turn like everybody else..in that ER

[clixtox]

15. Great private hospitals here in Vietnam...

and incredibly inexpensive compared to the USA. I spent 3 days and nights in the Franco/Vietnamese Hospital here in Saigon and the total bill for everything was less than $1100. Yes, that's eleven hundred US dollars. This hospital is accredited to European standards and provides fabulous services and meals. Many of the doctors are from France.

Thailand also has exemplary health care facilities.

I wouldn't want to spend much time in any hospital in India though, and very few in Mexico...

[Lorien]

40. Thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind if and when I need a procedure done

Could you give us a name or two of hospitals that you recommend?

[clixtox]

41. Fortunately I am familiar with only one Vietnamese Hospital...

the Franco/Vietnam Hospital at: <http://www.fvhospital.com>. I was very satisfied with the whole experience. I had a private room. My girlfriend was able to stay in the room with me on a cot they rolled in each evening.

[xchrom]

18. Oy. Nt

[Jansen]

21. Cheap != Inexpensive

My grandfather taught me years ago that cheap denotes low quality.

What is it with headlines lately? Seems like the bar has been lowered these days so that a journalist might use a spellcheck but proof-reading for grammar is too 20th century.

[Demit]

26. What's wrong with the grammar in the headline?

[lutefisk]

22. "...we should change some of those systems to make it cheaper for everybody here"

Yes, "we" should do that...

:rofl:

Once his second term starts, no doubt he'll kick some corporate ass!

Change those systems and make it cheaper for everybody!

I can't wait!!!

[Javaman]

23. Oh Mr. Obama, what will the medical tourist industry do if we suddenly had

affordable health care?

His observation would be taken a little bit more seriously if he talked less like a boring college professor and more like an inspiring high school teacher.

[lovuian]

24. here is reality

until these insurance companies get reigned in and health costs can not keep going up 20 % every year
its a dying system

your trip to India will be paid for and surgery for same thing ...with the same outcomes maybe better

saving 100,000 thousand dollars

its reality

and the insurance company rakes the money in

People are waking up that affordable healthcare is not here in America but in other countries

the only way to stop it is a one payer system like other countries have

[NCarolinawoman]

28. Haven't we been down this path before?

:boring:

Who secretly bargained with the drug companies to NOT allow Medicare to bargain for lower drug prices?

Who wouldn't let cheaper drugs be imported from Canada? I remember there was even some Republican support for that.

Who secretly worked behind the scenes to take away the Public Option?

Obama, look into the mirror!!!:mad:

[and-justice-for-all]

30. Then give us all Medicare damn it!!!

if the pukes get what they want, which is to destroy medicare because they know that is the road to full socialized health care, we will never have proper healthcare in the states.

[mysterysoup]

35. He's campaigning for Prez again. Watch him move to the left. Temporarily.

Then, if he's re-elected, he will go back to his usual center-right self.

[Lorien]

39. Blah, blah, blah blah blah

Yeah, we've heard this shit before. ACTION not WORDS Mr. President.