Kevin Drum has a complaint about the coverage of the VA 'scandal':
You should always try to compare the performance of the VA to private sector care. Saying that the average wait time for non-urgent appointments is 23 days tells us nothing. Is that longer or shorter than it is elsewhere?
0.39s of Google's time later:
Directly comparable data for the private sector are unavailable. But a 2014 survey of physician wait times found the average private-sector wait time to be 18.5 days – two and a half days less than at the VA. In Boston, which has a high concentration of top-quality private-sector hospitals, the average wait time was 45.4 days.
Also, from the MSNBC story:
It’s worth remembering that 13% of Americans still have no health insurance of any kind, making it extremely difficult for them even to contemplate scheduling a doctor’s appointment.
The wealthiest nation on the planet and millions of citizens have no health insurance. It still boggles my mind. Yeah, the NHS isn’t perfect but I could never envisage the country being without it. I could wait a week to see a doctor I suppose.
I also have additional private cover paid for by my company but it’s very cheap and the tax hit is small. I cover my wife and kids for around £50 a month with a £100 excess every 12 months. Best of both worlds I guess. But why is insurance so expensive in the USA? We had a couple of guys over from Portland, OR recently and one of then pays hundreds of dollars a month for his insurance (I’m sure he said $600 but that can’t be right.)
It still boggles my mind.
mine, too.
I could wait a week to see a doctor I suppose.
i can usually get in within a day or two, for just a general doctor visit. if it’s a specialist, having to wait a month is pretty standard.
I’m sure he said $600 but that can’t be right
if it’s employer-provided insurance, $600 sounds pretty high. but if that’s insurance purchased on the individual market $600/mo sounds completely believable, even now.
i’m paying around $200/mo right now for employer-provided insurance.
Lots of intelligently reasoned, well thought out comments in that post!
another day in the Kevin Drum comment section…
for such a temperate and level-headed guy, he sure attracts some crazy trolls.