Coronavirus

[Virtual ghost]

Oh it's not. $1500-$3000. But they won't be getting tested either.

This is my favorite idiot right wing conservative stupid of the moment (you act stupid you get called stupid). They don't care about anyone but themselves and profit. Fuck the town, fuck the students, fuck the teachers.

Liberty University Brings Back Its Students, and Coronavirus, Too - The New York Times

Well, the biggest out of pocket medical expense I ever had was something like 50-70$. I forgot the amount but to me $1500-$3000 is perversely expensive. Therefore I wouldn't pay that out of pure principle, especially not for the disease that has no known cures.

 

[Red Herring]

Wait, you mean you have to pay to be tested???

My SO got tested yesterday. I got tested today. Neither of us had to pay a single Euro. I had to google the cost - turns out my health insurance will have to pay 200 Euros.

The test center was constructed within just three days, it's a small tent city run by doctors and medical students of the local university. It's the go to place for the district but luckily within walking distance from our home. There were no waiting lines and everyone was very calm and friendly. I was also surprised they got my SO's result within 24 hours as we were warned it might take a few days. I just read an interview with one of the med students working there (they are paid interns) saying they are all eager to get cracking and test as many people as possible. He sounded excited like a kid on an adventure trip. Lol.(to be fair, most people at the drive-in test center are mild cases)

 

[cascadeco]

I do not know if this useful additional data or not, but here are Colorado's numbers as of a new news article, and you get the idea of # of people untested:

LATEST: 48 people have died, 326 hospitalized, 2,307 tested positive and more than 14,400 tested for coronavirus.

In terms of state population, estimated at 5.696 million in 2018. The Greater Denver area was estimated at 2.8 million in 2018.

 

[Red Herring]

Well, the biggest out of pocket medical expense I ever had was something like 50-70$. I forgot the amount but to me $1500-$3000 is perversely expensive. Therefore I wouldn't pay that out of pure principle, especially not for the disease that has no known cures.

My largest out of pocket medical bill was 210 Euros they accidentally billed me for a few nights in hospital and some CTGs, ultrasound and doppler examinations of my unborn child due to a (falsely) suspected arhythmia. But that was likely an a clerical error as it should have been for free.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Wait, you mean you have to pay to be tested???

My SO got tested yesterday. I got tested today. Neither of us had to pay a single Euro. I had to google the cost - turns out my health insurance will have to pay 200 Euros.

The test center was constructed within just three days, it's a small tent city run by doctors and medical students of the local university. It's the go to place for the district but luckily within walking distance from our home. There were no waiting lines and everyone was very calm and friendly. I was also surprised they got my SO's result within 24 hours as we were warned it might take a few days. I just read an interview with one of the med students working there (they are paid interns) saying they are all eager to get cracking and test as many people as possible. He sounded excited like a kid on an adventure trip. Lol.(to be fair, most people at the drive-in test center are mild cases)

Hello, we are on American forum. (no free lunch and all that Jazz)


This is exactly why I am predicting a disaster, since this system is fundamentally flawed in handling this kind of "drama". 150-300$ out of pocket is ok-ish in this situation but above that is pure rip off.

 

[Nicodemus]

Wait, you mean you have to pay to be tested???

My SO got tested yesterday. I got tested today. Neither of us had to pay a single Euro. I had to google the cost - turns out my health insurance will have to pay 200 Euros.

The test center was constructed within just three days, it's a small tent city run by doctors and medical students of the local university. It's the go to place for the district but luckily within walking distance from our home. There were no waiting lines and everyone was very calm and friendly. I was also surprised they got my SO's result within 24 hours as we were warned it might take a few days. I just read an interview with one of the med students working there (they are paid interns) saying they are all eager to get cracking and test as many people as possible. He sounded excited like a kid on an adventure trip. Lol.(to be fair, most people at the drive-in test center are mild cases)

However boring Germany may be in many regards, there are reasons to be thankful to have been born here.

 

[Virtual ghost]

My largest out of pocket medical bill was 210 Euros they accidentally billed me for a few nights in hospital and some CTGs, ultrasound and doppler examinations of my unborn child due to a (falsely) suspected arhythmia. But that was likely an a clerical error as it should have been for free.

Therefore when we adjust for the standard of living in both countries the amounts should be about the same.

 

[Coriolis]

Hello, we are on American forum. (no free lunch and all that Jazz)


This is exactly why I am predicting a disaster, since this system is fundamentally flawed in handling this kind of "drama". 150-300$ out of pocket is ok-ish in this situation but above that is pure rip off.

If nothing else, I hope the whole COVID-19 situation illustrates the misguidedness of allowing individual medical decisions to be driven by financial considerations.

 

[ceecee]

I heard the cost of testing was fake news. Due to "emergency testing" in a pandemic, the costs are waved and or drastically reduced.

https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mac-covid-19-test-pricing.pdf

I don't believe a syllable that comes from this administration. That said the law does not explicitly prohibit charging you if you go to an out-of-network provider. It also doesn’t address other “surprise billing” problems. You will be charged for treatment with or without insurance.

 

[Mind Maverick]

Yesterday I spoke with my ex who is in New Jersey. His entire household is coughing and has a runny nose. Apparently they don't test until you actually go to the hospital with respiratory issues. In New York people can't even get into hospitals when they need to in some places because they're too full. I wonder how much higher the numbers really are than what's being shown. I don't know, but it's definitely a lot higher and the situation is worse than we think. I think this is why the US is failing and why we're number one on the list...South Korea was able to be more aggressive about testing and they curved their numbers without closing shit. We, on the other hand, are closing everything while not being able to do sufficient testing and quarantine. I have a feeling that the US is going to be really bad.

 

[Virtual ghost]

If nothing else, I hope the whole COVID-19 situation illustrates the misguidedness of allowing individual medical decisions to be driven by financial considerations.

Yeah, that could perhaps be the only positive element in the whole story. Medical bills are a great risk to any economy and therefore they need to be smooth out.

You don't happen to have some sort of birthright path to citizenship, do you?

At this point the whole EU is quite open towards young and educated people, therefore I think you shouldn't have too many problems in this regard. (in the case you ask for serious)

 

[ceecee]

If nothing else, I hope the whole COVID-19 situation illustrates the misguidedness of allowing individual medical decisions to be driven by financial considerations.

Here is the perfect illustration of this problem...

The U.S. Tried to Build a New Fleet of Ventilators. The Mission Failed. - The New York Times

To get around the paywall...

The U.S. Tried to Build a New Fleet of Ventilators. The Mission Failed.

 

[Coriolis]

Yeah, that could perhaps be the only positive element in the whole story. Medical bills are a great risk to any economy and therefore they need to be smooth out.

It's not just the bills and their economic impact on things like home buying, starting a family, and personal bankruptcy. It's that when people are forced to make choices based on what they personally can afford, those choices are often not the most sound medically, or in terms of public health.

 

[Jonny]

 

[typologyenthusiast]

Breaking News:German state minister kills himself as coronavirus hits economy | Germany News | Al Jazeera
The COVID 19 pandemic and the following economic impact may also affect human psyche so badly.

State governor Volker Bouffier linked Schaefer's death to the virus crisis on Sunday. Bouffier said Schaefer was worried about "whether it would be possible to succeed in fulfilling the population's huge expectations, particularly of financial help."
"I have to assume that these worries overwhelmed him," Bouffier said. "He apparently couldn't find a way out. He was in despair and left us."

source
He was probably one of the famous politician celebrity in Germany who died in despair.
How about ordinary people? They must also be affected, but probably just not enough to catch journalist eye.

 

[Red Herring]

Breaking News:German state minister kills himself as coronavirus hits economy | Germany News | Al Jazeera
The COVID 19 pandemic and the following economic impact seem also affect human psyche so badly. He was probably one of the famous politician celebrity in Germany. How about ordinary people? They must also be affected, but probably just not enough to catch journalist eye.

I am German but had never heard of the man. So far a suicide seems likely but the reasons are unknown.

He was in charge of helping businesses in the state of Hesse out financially but also likely to run for office as new governor in a few years.

He was one of the cofounders of the "Living with Cancer" foundation, so it could have been for very personal reasons.

Right now that is all speculation. But breaking under the pressure of immense public expectations seems more likely than general worry about the economic outlook.

 

[Virtual ghost]

It's not just the bills and their economic impact on things like home buying, starting a family, and personal bankruptcy. It's that when people are forced to make choices based on what they personally can afford, those choices are often not the most sound medically, or in terms of public health.

When I said risk that doesn't include just money since the general risk of not having the normal life by any means is what was on my mind. For me "economy" is much wider term that just simple money dynamics. Although in English "Socio-economic dynamics" is perhaps term here. My healthcare system treated me even when the country I was living collapsed, together with it's currency. Therefore for me economy can exist without strict market focus.



On the second thought there could be another even greater byproduct than proving why American system isn't made to handle something like this. Which is that it could show everybody why it is bad idea to openly privatize your healthcare system. There are strong pressures for doing that but after this the strong counter-force will be even stronger, as the arguments will be much more concrete.



Btw yesterday towards politico Europe had 22 000 new cases, while day before about 28 000. Therefore with any luck this is turning of the trends since various countries lately finally implemented the right measures. Fighting this with loose ends is fighting for the lost cause. Regardless of how your healthcare works.

 

[Swivelinglight]

How to safely end social distancing and ease the Covid-19 pandemic - Vox


Do me a favor and actually read the article. I'm not saying end social distancing asap - I'm just saying it probably isn't a sustainable solution that we can rely on 2+ years from now.

 

[Nicodemus]

He was probably one of the famous politician celebrity in Germany who died in despair.

I have to second [MENTION=10251]Red Herring[/MENTION] here: He was by no means famous. I had never heard of him either.

 

[cascadeco]

Spain's numbers seem very bad, akin to Italy. I've been eyeing them for a few days.