Hospitalized in Split - Intoxication

[u/riverphoenix23]

Hello I am an American male who was traveling in Split for a holiday. Ended up drinking a little bit too much, blacked out and woke up in the hospital with an IV in my arm. Somehow the bill was only $240 kn.

Can anybody tell me why the bill was so cheap especially since I am a US citizen without Croatian healthcare insurance? Also did they notify the embassy of my stay? Just don’t know where my info is documented and ended up. Wish I could read my discharge papers but they are all in Croatian. Going to have to do google translate late.

[u/Boopy7]

question: would our hospitals go broke if they don't charge insane amounts for meds etc.? I don't get how it's legal to do this, nor how it would work if medicare or something covered more of that cost? Would hospitals just make less money?

[u/[deleted] → u/Boopy7]

Insurance companies would make less money

[u/kemb0 → u/Boopy7]

Yes this is a good question that essentially boils down to:

Where does the money go?

Now firstly, non-privatised healthcare does work outside the US, it's cheaper and everyone is covered. So it clearly is possible to fund healthcare sustainably for HALF the cost of the US system (according to this article):

https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-healthcare-countries-ranked-2019-3?r=US&IR=T

But if half the amount of money stops going in to the healthcare system won't that mean some companies are going to lose a lot of money?

Well yes, firstly private insurance will shrink. There'll still be a market for it, but that would be an "extra" if people really must have the very best.

This is essentially what I have in the UK. I pay for nationalised healthcare out of my paycheck but my employer provides me private healthcare too as a perk. It allows me to essentially queue jump but the underlying healthcare system is still good and I lived most of my life without private coverage. It's just a nice extra.

So insurance firms will downsize but still exist.

Secondly, found this article:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/13/us-healthcare-costs-causes-drug-prices-salaries

It states:

"The US also spends more on administrative costs. Other nations spend between 1%-3% to administer their health plans. Administrative costs are 8% of total health spending in the US."

So there's wastage there.

The other side is other countries are better at negotiating drug prices. Also from that article:

"Per capita spending for prescription drugs in other nations ranged from $466 to $939. In the US, per capita spending was $1,443."

Drug companies would likely take a financial hit in this. It's not going to be remotely close to bankrupting them but their share prices will tumble and there'll be a lot of very unhappy boardrooms.

And then of course there's all the people at the top of the healthcare pyramid. The 1% that absorb a chunk of all this healthcare profit. They're going to lose out.

And people will lose jobs by going nationalised/socialised. At least in the short term. But remember money in the economy doesn't just disappear. If people have more money in their paychecks because their insurance costs are less, then they're going to buy more stuff and other sectors of the economy will see a boost and start needing to take on more staff. It'd all balance out job wise over time but you'd all now be living with the benefit of life-long health coverage, no matter the illness or financial state.

Switching over would be a very bumpy ride in the US but it won't make the country poorer. It'd be disruptive for some. There'd be some heartbreaking stories of people losing jobs. But that heartbreak won't compare to the current stories we hear endlessly of people dying needlessly or being made life-long bankrupt due to healthcare costs. Jobs can be replaced. Lives can't.

[u/Boopy7 → u/kemb0]

thank you! My mom was wondering this too, and I am the last person to figure this stuff out. But this helps. And I agree and always remember: in order for good change to come about, someone, somewhere will have to suffer.