But to address your points — the problem is that ultrasounds don’t cost $3000. When you talk to ordinary people in countries with socialized medicine, you find out they’re paying 1/10th or less of that for ultrasounds. Across the board, other countries pay 1/2 to 2/3rds less than we do for the same procedures and pharmaceuticals; if the price of an ultrasound were an incontrovertible baseline thing, then this difference would not be possible.

But those countries keep the price low through a combination of price controls or single-payer bargaining, limiting malpractice to discourage “defensive medicine” (the problem of over-treatment that you’ve mentioned — much of this comes not from patients demanding too much, but from physicians trying to cover their asses to prevent lawsuits), reducing the cost of administration and paperwork by simplifying the system. And some other things. None of which our country is likely to do because our legislators are owned by healthcare companies.

And at the moment, those companies are setting the prices at pretty much whatever they can get away with charging, because American citizens have no other choices. That’s the whole problem with a monopoly — or oligopoly, in this case.

Backing up –

This country suffers from a massive problem of over-treatment when it comes to healthcare because the service recipients (i.e. the patients) are not the same ones paying for the treatment.

I don’t understand this statement. The underinsured are service recipients; they’re paying for treatment, just not getting treatment. I’ve basically given my insurance company about $3000 since I started my current policy, and gotten nothing in return. If I hadn’t bothered getting insurance at all, I’d be better off, at least in the short term — now I’ve got to pay another $3000. How is giving people like me what we pay for “a very expensive undertaking”?

Again, not expessly disagreeing. Just want to see what your thoughts are about the drawbacks of inviting even more people into the “all-u-can-eat” buffet that is American healthcare.

Indeed – I spent YEARS in my 20s having doctors basically tell me that all my pain was because I was a whore (yes, I was actually called that, and no, I was just a college student, not a sex worker *nothing against that, but it wasn’t at all a helpful attitude for a doc to take simply because he couldn’t find a problem*). Turned out I had endometriosis, which was a fairly new “thing” to doctors at the time. I have been wary ever since. I am not sure I would ever have been

I know, I probably shouldn’t give her the satisfaction of letting her know I’m angry. But I most definitely am angry, and her attitude is both widespread and exactly why people have trouble getting adequate healthcare (aside from the access issue); unless it’s something that can be quantified and measured, it’s not real, even though pain can’t be measured.

Bullshit. That is flat-out bullshit. If it’s the best in the world, please explain to me why it can take YEARS to get properly diagnosed for anything besides a cold, all while being sneered at and told you’re a hypochondriac because THEY can’t find anything wrong, and if a doctor, who we all know are GODS, can’t find something wrong, then nothing’s really wrong and it’s all in your head.

Best in the world, my ass.

patients themselves drive up costs.

Yeah, by getting sick. Stupid bastards.

If it were my blog, I would have moderated this person already. I admire your restraint.

(Now you’ll say they still did it out of fear, because I’m an angry black woman and we’ve all got lawyers and Al Sharpton on retainer, or something, or more likely because you have this lovely stereotype-filled narrative running in your head. My finger is hovering over the “moderate” button on you, note, but you haven’t shown your ass quite enough just yet.)

To bring this back on point, I think you illustrate the biggest problem with people opposed to healthcare reform — so many of them love to shout at the top of their lungs about stuff they know very little about, or know solely from insurance-company-sponsored shill reports. Either they don’t care that they sound like idiots, or they’re getting paid to make a stink, however incoherently. Which are you?