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To go deeper into my thoughts. I found it very interesting that Singapore is also so advanced in the medical field. We often think that if in the United States a surgery costs around $140,000 then if it is anything lower than that it is poorer quality. Sometimes that can be true but often that can be false. One other thing that Dr. Sean talked about the benefits about insurance and the negative aspects of it too. Some governments will pay for surgery because it is so cheap. In Singapore a heart surgery is $18,000 and in the United States it is triple that. For the government to pay $135,000 per person rather than $18,000. That is almost 8 surgeries Singapore could pay for. The main point of his talk was the United States healthcare is a messy situation.
Instead of helping people it is hurting people. One way it hurts people is the third-party system. If you don’t have insurance, you are automatically doomed. But even if you do have insurance, you will be hurt by it because the first thing, they ask you about when you are hurt is “what insurance do you have” or “can I have your insurance?” They do this first because that is how they are going to get paid. Everyone has a deductible that they have to pay. For example, if you reach $500 on your healthcare plan the insurance will cover the rest. It depends on what insurance you have, and it is different for everyone. In Singapore they pay all cash for surgery. If they have any benefits since it is so cheap sometimes the government will pay for it. In the United States they have medicate for older people and those with disabilities. I keep referencing Singapore because that was the best example he used. One thing I found very interesting is that since Singapore has so cheap surgeries and healthcare, they have so much competition in the healthcare industry. One thing he said was the person in need for the surgery gets to “shop around.” They did create such a big competition in the healthcare industry.
Overall, with the United States healthcare it is very messy, and he explains why. I used many examples above and I think that we can see from the comparison that it is messy. Do I think it will ever change? No. I think it will keep getting worse.
