Medical costs

[rainman]

WTF is it with medical costs these days? Had occasion to visit a specialist today for an "initial consult" - so, not actually doing anything that resembles actual treatment. Had to pay my GP $18 to refer me (took all of about 3 secs for her to type a few words into their system for that), and I went for the appointment today. Had to wait 10 minutes, not a biggie, but clearly she has lots of patients queued up.

I was back out again in 15 minutes including the time to pay at reception, wondering what the fuck was worth $225!!! The worst bit was all I got for that was a printout from the web and instruction for me to go do some research and decide if I want to follow the course of treatment - she's never used it on anyone before! (And one of the web journals referencing this particular treatment wants to charge me US$86 for 24 hours access to read the frickin paper too).

At $225/10 minutes that's $10,800 a day if she's fully occupied, or about $2.5m per year. Ferkin hell. I should have studied medicine. I'm still stunned.

Last visit to the GP cost me $118 too. Don't these people know there's a recession on?

[steve_t]

Ferkin hell. I should have studied medicine.

+1
10 characters

[Bass]

I wonder about Doctors sometimes.

I have a cousin who is Professor of Surgery at Swansea.

Apparently, he is very, very good at what he does - to the extent that almost everything that he is into these days, is on the cutting edge (pardon the pun) of research.

But hey........ I've been on the piss with him.

I wouldn't let him get within 5 meters of me with a set of nail clippers.!

[Swoop]

I should have studied medicine.

Just think about that when you see the street riots in Dunedin. These are some of our medical students conducting their education...

[davereid]

WTF is it with medical costs these days? Had occasion to visit a specialist today for an "initial consult" - so, not actually doing anything that resembles actual treatment. Had to pay my GP $18 to refer me (took all of about 3 secs for her to type a few words into their system for that), and I went for the appointment today. Had to wait 10 minutes, not a biggie, but clearly she has lots of patients queued up.

Hope you are not too crook mate, its an expensive bummer being sick these days !

We can't solve the problem by pouring more money into health, as it will simply push the wages of those you describe at the top of the queue up and up, without reducing the queue !

IMHO the answer is simple.

Stop artificially limiting intakes to medical school.

Train everyone that wants to go, as long as they are bright enough.

Make 'em pay their own way, so if the F. Off to the US they dont take my tax dollars, and give 'em a tax break if they stay.

[yungatart]

Our young fella paid $38 for a 3 minute consult with a GP in normal working hours. He has a Community services card too!!
I paid $120 for a 7 minute sit down in the dentists chair last week....not complaining really, as he rebuilt my broken tooth in that time....
I wish my hourly rate resembled that though

[rainman]

Hope you are not too crook mate, its an expensive bummer being sick these days !

Hey thanks for that - and nah, it's nothing serious. Which is what pisses me off more - I'd pay a brain or heart surgeon that sort of money if I had to. My very talented back surgeon was cheaper, when I had surgery in 2006. This is a lot simpler stuff.

We can't solve the problem by pouring more money into health, as it will simply push the wages of those you describe at the top of the queue up and up, without reducing the queue !

IMHO the answer is simple.

Stop artificially limiting intakes to medical school.

Train everyone that wants to go, as long as they are bright enough.

Make 'em pay their own way, so if the F. Off to the US they dont take my tax dollars, and give 'em a tax break if they stay.

Sounds sensible - I didn't realise that medical intakes were majorly limited. Assumed they'd take whoever had the capability and the cash, being universities.

I'm not anti interest free student loans (that's the same as your tax break, I guess), but am anti repayments being waived/suspended if the grad goes overseas to work. Take the loan, work and pay it off, wherever you are working. Shit, at her chargeout rate she could probably do that in a few weeks!

I paid $120 for a 7 minute sit down in the dentists chair last week

Don't get me started on dentists... Why are there so few decent health funding options for dentistry in NZ? Insurance is a joke unless you just need an occasional filling, and there's nothing public for over-18s?

There's good research linking bad teeth and other more serious diseases.

[paddy]

. . . (And one of the web journals referencing this particular treatment wants to charge me US$86 for 24 hours access to read the frickin paper too). . .

Feel free to PM me the citation and I will get you the PDF of the article.

[ynot slow]

What pisses most off,me included is if you go to a doctor,they say take this,that whatever for your illness.No worries do so,but still not coming right,go back to see again,and get charged AGAIN.WTF how many guys bemoan bike shops who say the bike is fixed,then a week later still misses etc,the bike repairer usually repairs the fault at no charge,doctors charge,yet haven't fixed the original symptom.

[vifferman]

Your consultation was cheap!
I've had several with specialists that were dearer than that. Last was around $400, IIRC...

[Ixion]

"My" doctor - Mrs Ixion's really, but I use him on the rare occasions I "need" to visit a doctor (just to shut her nagging me about it!), charges $10 per visit.

He's a very good doctor. Very good indeed, even by my very exacting standards. But the premises are not flash, you'll wait at least half an hour (because he sees people partly by appointment time, partly by how sick they are , especially children), in a crowded waiting room , with lots of sick children. And he's not in a flash suburb .

And if your problem is partly (or wholly ) self caused, you'll hear that in forthright terms.

Like everything, you get what you pay for. But sometimes what you pay for is the flashy paintwork.

[James Deuce]

Last visit to the GP cost me $118 too. Don't these people know there's a recession on?

Yeah they do. It's why their prices have gone up. Gps are fundamentally dishonest businessman. When was the last time a GP cured a common cold?

[James Deuce]

Don't get me started on dentists... Why are there so few decent health funding options for dentistry in NZ? Insurance is a joke unless you just need an occasional filling, and there's nothing public for over-18s?

There's good research linking bad teeth and other more serious diseases.

Thank Dog for Southern Cross.

I'm off to Bowen Hospital next week for $7k worth of surgery to extract 3 wisdom teeth and 3 others that are all too far gone to be saved thanks to expensive repair jobs that have failed.

Before the big fight I was thinking of getting Shane Cameron to sort them for me, but after that display I don't reckon he'd get anywhere near my mouth.

[laserracer]

Jesus $7000 .......FOR that he bloody well better fix my teeth and have a nice tidy second hand bike ready for me in the waiting room to ride home on ... Thats a shit load of money for rooting around in someones mouth and pulling a few teeth..Dentures here i come

[rainman]

Feel free to PM me the citation and I will get you the PDF of the article.

Ta. I have found a parallel study that seems to cover the same treatment, and is available for free, so I'll digest that first and see what I think...

Thank Dog for Southern Cross.

Really? Last time I was a member of SX their top dental cover was about $400/yr, in exchange for a premium uplift of about the same. And at that rate I would be 80 before I worked through the latest quote for the list of things I need done.

I don't belong to SX as they won't cover me for the things that do regularly cost me money, and the cover they provide (specialist above excluded) I only use very seldom - I do try to stay healthy, and the public system is generally good for things that matter. Of course, one could point out that my self-insurance approach is still cheaper than paying SX every month...