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Dec 6th, 2017
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Joined: Sep 2009
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journeyman
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The latest in a continuing series:Great Moments in Socialized Medicine source Nine-year-old Bethany Dibbs of Poole, England, "was struck by a car as she crossed the road on her scooter and ended up in a coma with a fractured skull," reports London's Daily Mail:
An ambulance crew arrived and called for help, only to be told by their operator that under strict meal break regulations the closest additional crew still had a few minutes left on their lunch break.
The paramedics were informed it would take 20 minutes for another crew to arrive.
In the end one of them called their colleagues directly and they abandoned their lunch and raced to help. . . .
A spokesman for the South Western Ambulance Service Trust said it took its health and safety duties seriously.
He added: "In line with national guidelines which must be adhered to by all ambulance trusts, it is important all staff have dedicated 30-minute rest breaks which cannot be interrupted." There is, however, a silver lining for young Bethany: "In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors," observes Enron adviser Paul Krugman. "We've all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false." 
Last edited by Harvey3; 10/16/09 03:45 PM. Reason: Moderator's orders
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Admin Emeritus old hand
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Admin Emeritus old hand
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At first I thought you were referring to El Rushbo.  I see that the article you are referring to is about halfway down Taranto's column.
SkyHawk
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Joined: Nov 2004
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member
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What's that got to do with "socialized medicine"? Sounds like a potential issue for unionized medical care, which strikes me as something else entirely.
Hey, someone answer me a question - if you get hit by a car in the US and have no insurance, who pays for the ambulance and the emergency room? I'm not being facetious.
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
Joined: Jun 2004
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Life is a banquet -- and most poor suckers are starving to death -- Auntie Mame
You are born naked and everything else is drag - RuPaul
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 7,626
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 7,626 |
yeah, but isn't the rest of the story law suit, phil? i mean, wouldn't you sue the driver's insurance company with the help of mike the hammer personal insurance attorney?
sure, you can talk to god, but if you don't listen then what's the use? so, onward through the fog!
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 813
journeyman
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journeyman
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Posts: 813 |
Of course you would! It's the American way. 
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"The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty certain they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues." - Liz Taylor
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Joined: Nov 2004
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member
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The lawsuit thing makes sense in the scenario postulated. But say you fall off a ladder or something and you can't reasonably blame the ladder manufacturer or the guy who seeded your lawn or anyone else, and you have no insurance.
When the ambulance comes, I assume they can't just leave you lying there because you're not covered, so they take you off to the emergency room and fix you up a little. You have no money, no insurance, no prospects and if they send you a bill you're just going to declare bankruptcy. Who ends up holding the bag? Or do they rebreak your arm on live webcast and sell advertising against it?
Sorry to keep asking but the whole idea of people not wanting a public health care system baffles me in part because of scenarios like this.
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Joined: Sep 2007
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member
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What if you just don't pay the bill? Especially if you don't have any assets such as a house. Many, many, many years ago I worked for a large hospital. During that time, a ruling/law/something was passed that said they could not place a lien on your house against a hospital bill. I also, many years before that, worked briefly for a bill collection agency (that's a whole 'nother story). At that time, I understood that there really was nothing a doctor could do to you for not paying other than take you to court. If you have no money, what are they going to do?
"I believe very deeply that compassion is the route not only for the evolution of the full human being, but for the very survival of the human race." —The Dalai Lama
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 5,850
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 5,850 |
Ultimately, the uncollectable debt becomes a write off. If a publicly owned hospital, the public ends up covering the bad debt. If a privately owned hospital, the bad debt in essence is absorbed by the total of charges paid by those who do pay their bills, whether directly or through an insurer.
So, bottom line, we pay.
Not a public option in the sense that the GOP and insurance industry are using the term to defeat reform, but the public pays the bill without owning the plan or the system.
Hmmm. wondering which is worse; paying the bill for something we can't manage or owning it and paying the bill for something we can manage!
Congressman Wilson, what say you? And don't lie to us!
Last edited by loganrbt; 10/16/09 11:42 PM.
"The white men were as thick and numerous and aimless as grasshoppers, moving always in a hurry but never seeming to get to whatever place it was they were going to." Dee Brown
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 12,129 Likes: 257 |
The cost-shifting that results from the unfunded mandate to treat everybody who shows up at the ER only works if you have enough paying customers. In cases where they didn't, it has lead to some ER closures. Some states and local governments have also tried to help cover it where the alternative is closure.
This is one of the broken parts of American Health Care. It badly distorts the market because the paying customers consist of insured (who have negotiated discounts) and the uninsured cash-payers (who get screwed to cover all the indigent costs). It is thus impractical to self-insure, since your prices will be double or triple the costs of the insured for the very same procedures and items. Getting everybody covered by a health insurance policy would fix it.
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