GRIPES

[octave]

Then Why are so many Australians going overseas for their surgery ?.

Are they? Where are they going? I know some people choose to have elective surgery overseas at there own cost but again what countries system would you rather have? The US?

 

How much will you pay for a hip replacement surgery, even if you have insurance?

 

The average cost for a hip replacement in the United States is around $32,000.

 

Using guidance on typical coverage levels from healthcare.gov, let’s assume your annual deductible is $1,300, your co-insurance is 20% and your maximum annual out-of-pocket cost is $4,400 a year.

 

If this is the first medical procedure you’re having in a calendar year, at these levels of insurance, your total cost for the operation would be $4,400, your maximum out-of-pocket cost.

 

While $4,400 is a whole lot less than $32,000, coming up with the money to pay that bill could be difficult for a lot of people. And, remember, that’s just an example. It’s not uncommon for annual maximum out-of-pocket costs to be even higher.

 

Meanwhile in Australia

 

Do I need health insurance for a hip or knee replacement?

 

Will I have out-of-pockets?

 

Public patients will have no out-of-pocket expenses for surgery in a public hospital. In contrast, if you are going through the private system, you will likely be met with out-of-pocket costs depending on your excess, which hospital you are admitted to and how much your doctor charges. You may also pay some out-of-pocket costs for the anaesthetist.

 

If you’re going through the private system, be sure to check with your doctor, hospital and health insurer to confirm these costs ahead of time.

 

Best performing health systems:

 

Which countries have the best healthcare systems? | APRIL International

 

Mirror, Mirror 2017: International Comparison Reflects Flaws and Opportunities for Better U.S. Health Care

 

List of countries by quality of healthcare - Wikipedia

 

Study ranks Australian healthcare system among world's best

 

Personally, I am grateful for what I have received from our medical system (which is a lot) my experience has usually been positive and by nature, I am a glass-half-full kind of person

 

It is possible to find fault with any system but by and large, we are fortunate at least that is how I feel about it

 

 

[octave]

There was a story about a clinic run by australians planned for opening in PNG. It could offer half-price operations in theory, because it would be free from the australian legal system.Does anybody know more about this?

So if I have an operation in Australia as a public patient it cost me nothing, why would I fly to PNG other than perhaps a shorter waiting time for elective surgery?

 

 

[pmccarthy]

You wouldn’t have to deal with all the hospital visits from well-meaning friends and relatives.

 

 

[Bruce]

This mate of mine got an awful brain disease ( CJD) and , through the normal channels ( through his GP ) he would have had a year's wait to see a neurologist.

 

His life-span was then estimated at 6 months.

 

He got told he had to turn up to the hospital in an ambulance, and this worked.

 

Well he got seen by a neurologist, but they have no treatment for what he had.

 

Without government interference, there would be many more GP's and specialists. They would be like vets I reckon.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

You wouldn’t have to deal with all the hospital visits from well-meaning friends and relatives.

What sort of grumpy old bugger are you, PM?

 

I recall being in hospital far from home, I'd only just moved to Sydney and thought nobody knew me or had heard of my accident.

 

Perhaps the loneliest period of my life abruptly ended when a couple of blokes from my boarding house smuggled in a few tinnies to make me feel better.

 

Near strangers showed me true Aussie kindness.

 

 

[spacesailor]

"On the other hand, the cost of hip replacement surgery in India is just around $6,000. The total cost may depend on several other factors such as the duration of stay, choice of hospital ".

 

One TENTH the Australian price !.

 

I could almost afford this,

 

BUT

 

Any added on extra's would leave me. AS destitute as the Australian pollies would like us NOW.

 

AND you still have to get there.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[spacesailor]

What sort of grumpy old bugger are you, PM?

I'm getting that way too.

 

Losing my smile & not seeing the bright side of things. This constant pain, sitting or standing & even in bed it wakes me up.

 

Question do I leave all that the quote has posted or get rid of the preceding banter that end with :member:53".]

 

spacesailor

 

PS it changed when reply posted.

 

 

[old man emu]

I just got back from seeing a plastic surgeon about removing a head that's grown under a skin cancer on my neck. Very nice pleasant bloke. Vietnamese, of course, but obviously born here.

 

Anyway, he handed me an admission form for the local public hospital and said he'd do the surgery there when a space became available. About 6 weeks, he said. Theatre fees, Anesthetist, surgery nurse, him, pathology - all on Medicare at no cost to me. You've got love the Whitlam Government for coming up with the idea and the Hawke Government for reinstating it after the Fraser Government rippied out its heart and soul.

 

 

[octave]

One TENTH the Australian price !.I could almost afford this,

So you could go to India and pay for it plus airfares or you could have it done here as a public patient in a public hospital for free, other than waiting time what is your gripe?

 

 

[spacesailor]

This waiting time,

 

"365 days"

 

will be the death of people!.

 

My health is deteriorating (almost), to the extent of being unable to have the operation !.,

 

Just hit the 100 kilos, Having to have Heart monitoring and respiratory problems,

 

That were NOT present before, I Lost my mobility.

 

CAN'T see WHY we (on that wait list) we shouldent know how much longer we have to wait. ( it didn't seem important at the start.)

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Bruce]

It is possible to go backwards on a hospital wait list. They put you back if a more urgent case arrives, so you can go from a 3 hour expectation to a 6 hour at the outpatients. This happened to a guy I was with. We reckoned at this rate he would never be seen and we left.

 

 

[octave]

It is possible to go backwards on a hospital wait list. They put you back if a more urgent case arrives, so you can go from a 3 hour expectation to a 6 hour at the outpatients. This happened to a guy I was with. We reckoned at this rate he would never be seen and we left.

I had an op about 3 years ago and after getting changed and waiting for several hours. Eventually, the young surgical registrar came and told me that my operation was being postponed. He was most surprised when I was not angry, of course, it was a little inconvenient but as I said to the surgeon I would rather suffer the inconvenience of postponement than being the poor person on the table whose life-threatening emergency caused the postponement.

 

We can't a near-perfect system without paying for it. I have had many many personal experiences with it over the past 5 years and at this moment my 91-year-old father is in hospital again. The system is not perfect but generally, it is pretty good in terms of what we pay compared to what we get.

 

 

[octave]

CAN'T see WHY we (on that wait list) we shouldent know how much longer we have to wait. ( it didn't seem important at the start.)

I am guessing the reason you can not be given a precise time is that whilst everyone's case is the most important to them sometimes perhaps due to accidents etc someone in greater need jump ahead in the list.

 

I have been to casualty for myself and my father and I have always recognized that cases are dealt with by severity. I would hate to be treated before a young person with a life-threatening condition. Space I do have sympathy for your predicament and if it were up to me I would happily pay a few more dollars in tax to shorten waiting lists but as the last election showed most people are more interested in a small tax cut than improving the health system.

 

In 2013 too had to wait for a cardiac procedure that meant I could not do physical stuff and being a little chubby had to lose weight, because I could not exercise much so I had to rely on the other method of weight loss - diet.

 

 

[red750]

I was once one who 'jumped the queue' so to speak. I had blacked out and collapsed to the floor with a thud in the front hallway. When I came to, my daughter drove me up to the local doctors surgery where I was put on an ECG machine. My heart rate was 30 bpm. The doctor called the ambulance. The lights went dim as I was placed on the ambulance gurney. I was taken, lights and siren, to the closest hospital (a private hospital). Again, a brown-out as I was moved from the ambulance gurney to a hospital one. A lot of activity as I was connected up to whatever, with nurses saying "Are you OK? Are you OK?" I was moved into a ward where I heard the cardiologist say to the patient in the next bed, "Sorry Mr X, we will have to postpone your pacemaker implant, we have a more urgent patient who needs it.

 

I have always felt sorry for the poor person. Guess I'm lucky to still be here.

 

 

[facthunter]

If you aren't in very good shape the aneasthetist gets a bit worried especially if you smoke or are jolly big fellow. If you cark it you ruin the days of two people.. At least though you won't know much. Nev

 

 

[pmccarthy]

I left the cardiologist at 11am this morning having been booked for a stress test in two weeks time. Got home at 12 noon and there was a phone call to say they had a cancellation and could I be there at 1pm. I said yes and drove an hour back the other way. Can’t get better than that!

 

 

[spacesailor]

It's a mandatory 12 month wait list.

 

Nothing to do with the Surgeon or my Dr & physiotherapist. They too are in the waiting game.

 

"much so I had to rely on the other method of weight loss - diet."

 

I'm staving. LoL Otherwise I would be 200kilos Not 100kilos.

 

spacesailor

 

"

 

 

[Bruce]

I had a sliver of bamboo skewer in my throat in Alice Springs once. We tried every private place in town, to no avail, and ended in the hospital emergency waiting area at 1pm. The only person who was busy was the chucker-outer bloke, who came by once every half-hour to chuck you out unless you had a good story. Apparently his job was introduced after they found that some patients were in this waiting room for weeks.

 

At about 5pm, I was told that they would take an x-ray. I said it wouldn't show on an x-ray and they would then say there was nothing there so go home. I was told their medical professionals were far better than that.

 

I was about to go into the x-ray place when an aboriginal guy who had come in from Yuendumu by way of the flying doctor took precedence. He had failed to wake up properly that morning from a drunken stupor, but he looked ok at 5pm. I wondered why it took all day to get him in. And how he got like that with Yuendumu being a dry place.

 

At 6pm I got the x-ray taken and I was told there was nothing there so I could go home.

 

Sticking to my guns, I refused to go and at 8pm an Indian-looking Ear-Nose-Throat specialist ( a friendly and competent guy ) fished out the bamboo sliver, so all finished up ok.

 

 

[Litespeed]

Given a recent report on health at Tumut hospital , aboriginal health is a secondary problem.

 

Getting care is hard if they make assumptions of bias against you been a drunk/drug user/ etc.

 

That's a big reason they have the poorest health outcomes in the developed world. With all the best intent on looking after their health, any major problem can be fatal if you fail to get proper and timely care.

 

 

[Bruce]

Also if you fail to look after yourself with basic hygiene. Just how arid-zone aborigines were expected to learn about washing when their circumstances traditionally made this impossible is a mystery to me.

 

I honestly think the so-called bleeding hearts are secretly nasty racists for failing to recommend financial pressure to get aborigines ( and some whites ) to wash themselves more.

 

 

[octave]

Also if you fail to look after yourself with basic hygiene. Just how arid-zone aborigines were expected to learn about washing when their circumstances traditionally made this impossible is a mystery to me.I honestly think the so-called bleeding hearts are secretly nasty racists for failing to recommend financial pressure to get aborigines ( and some whites ) to wash themselves more.

 

Many of the negative health outcomes are at least partially modifiable. More than 4 in 10 cancer deaths are linked to modifiable factors. We do know the factors that are likely to contribute to ending up in a hospital. To be clear I am far from perfect when it comes to lifestyle. There are also links between chronic illness and socioeconomic factors.

 

I guess the question is, to what extent should the government intervene to force people to adopt healthy habits and to lose weight or exercise more and to what extent do we look after people who smoke or have a bad diet, overweight doesn't exercise, drink too much etc.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Also if you fail to look after yourself with basic hygiene. Just how arid-zone aborigines were expected to learn about washing when their circumstances traditionally made this impossible is a mystery to me.I honestly think the so-called bleeding hearts are secretly nasty racists for failing to recommend financial pressure to get aborigines ( and some whites ) to wash themselves more.

Bruce there is some truth in what you say, but go back to your first sentence: water shortage, no tradition of washing.

 

Once again we are judging other cultures by our own recent standards. Who says washing is the only way to stay healthy?

 

European folklore is full of references to the use of perfumes to mask BO.

 

Many of our european forebears, living as they did in a well-watered environment, bathed annually.

 

 

[Bruce]

There is a terrible eye disease called trachoma. Bacteria from unwashed skin attacks the eye and causes blindness. Prevention is as simple as washing your face.

 

You are right about our ancestors old K, but I don't think they lived very long lives.

 

Personally, I don't want to help pay for people with self-inflicted diseases, even though I'm by no means perfect myself.

 

Actually, it would help me lose some weight if the deal was that it would cost heaps unless you got below say 85 kg.

 

 

[Bruce]

I bet if aborigines were required to turn up with a clean family to collect their siddown money, they would take this on board very easily. And if 80% of their money was paid with a credit card not suitable for buying drugs, a lot of problems would go away. I repeat, not only aborigines for these measures, and exemptions for all those ( including aborigines ) who don't need the paternalism.

 

 

[octave]

And if 80% of their money was paid with a credit card not suitable for buying drugs, a lot of problems would go away.

Being trialled at the moment Cashless Welfare Card - Wikipedia