[goethes_kind]

DISCLAIMER: If you have back/spine problems and you delay surgery because you hope the problem would go away on its own, with healthy living, you might end up with damaged/dead nerves which is irreparable damage, which even a delayed surgery cannot fix.

With regards to for-profit medicine, this is why I hate all market based health insurance systems. Even if you are rich and get treated like a king, you still have to question whether your doctor/surgeon is trying to sell you a procedure. The only system that does not suffer from this issue is the NHS (e.g. UK) where the incentive is lacking. The debate about health care systems tends to focus on availability and coverage, but this for-profit perverse incentive is orthogonal to all that.

[ulnarkressty]

This is not really true unless there's something _really_ wrong with your back. For run of the mill disk hernia the patient satisfaction scores at 1 year for surgery and conservative treatment are pretty much the same [0][1].

[0] - https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/12/e012938.short

[1] - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00586-010-1603-7

[wesapien]

I've dealt with lower back issues for a long time. The worst of it was long behind me and I've been diligent enough to not have crippling events. My lower back hasn't felt as good and pain free as of today.I don't know if it was all the walking I've been doing (vacation) and the bag on my back (weird right). The biggest change was the level of stress after vacation. I haven't been on one for over 7 years.

I feel much more relaxed these days but I can also tell that everyday this "stress bucket" is slowly getting filled by daily life and I have to dump it all out by doing something other than the ordinary. I'm not a super healthy eater but I'm conscientious about it. I'm not a gym goer or even home exerciser. Once in a while, I'd use my weights and do somebody weight exercises.I don't eat fruits and vegetables as much as one should. I also know that there is great variability in humans.

I'm also much more aware of my body and what it needs as far as physical therapy exercises. I've a lot of time watching videos on physical therapy and back pain. I spend the most of my time at home walking on a treadmill while watching something on the TV.

[throw73488]

> The only system that does not suffer from this issue is the NHS (e.g. UK

Is that a joke? With NHS you have to wait to get GP appointments, wait several weeks for examination by specialists, more waiting in waiting list for surgery... The backlog for everything is huge!

In NHS you can literally wait years for non life threatening surgeries.

[damidekronik]

Parent comments is still correct, NHS is free from the Financial Incentive problem. I don't think anyone claims the system is good, just this one aspect is correct.

[rickydroll]

In the US, I am waiting 6 months for an eval appointment to redo an eval to see if a brain problem has progressed enough to put in a shunt.

how is this different from NHS?

[yungporko]

you also have to deal with every person at every step of the way trying to gatekeep healthcare from you instead of trying to help you.

[sethammons]

I have that gold plated US insurance that you pay a lot for. Just last week, I was rushed to the hospital due to my heart. We don't yet know what tried (or is actively trying) to kill me. The cardiologist ordered an emergency MRI.

Three weeks. I am told to wait three weeks. The doc wants it last week. We are having to call around and mess with coverage questions. Similar for my dad and a specialist. Waiting a month while having breathing issues.

People wait already for emergency medical situations, but we pay a premium. And I am still not sure what my 20% shared cost is gonna be for the ambulance and hospital stay. And yes, that factored into my decision to even be treated, which, had I stayed home, may have killed me.

Fuck our system. Medical should not be for profit. It should cost money to run because it should be a service.

[tivert]

> Is that a joke? With NHS you have to wait to get GP appointments, wait several weeks for examination by specialists, more waiting in waiting list for surgery... The backlog for everything is huge!

My experience of healthcare in capitalist America is exactly the same in that regard. I have a mole I want examined, and one of the dermatology practices I called (part of a major local health system) was taking appointments for March 2025! I usually have to wait 3 or 4 weeks to see my primary care doctor (though I suppose I could settle for a rando doctor with an opening or a nurse practitioner and be seen sooner, but whenever I've done that there have been other issues).

[jimt1234]

I don't know about NHS, but I do know about Michael Jackson. He was a rich person and got treated like a king; and how did the for-profit health care system treat him? (It killed him.)

[sethammons]

A bed side and what appears to be an unethical doctor overdosed his meal ticket with a heavy duty medication to induce sleep. I don't think there is much to argue either way on for-profit medicine in that case.

[Gud]

Ok, and the NHS let Jimmy Saville molest possibly hundreds of children.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28021488.amp

[Ey7NFZ3P0nzAe]

> The only system that does not suffer from this issue is the NHS (e.g. UK) where the incentive is lacking.

Why not mentionning France? It's pretty awesome in that regard

[trilbyglens]

Classic anglophonic world view. Seems like people forget that literally all of Europe has universal healthcare, with many working far better than the NHS.