StrangeSox

It wasn't clear at all.

People were arrested, prosecuted, sentenced and jailed for stealing bottled water faster than this.

ah man, that's much better

The Economist has a piece on the LIBOR scandal: http://www.economist.com/node/21558260 I still gotta ask, why isn't anyone in jail?

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 03:45 PM) meh, i don't agree that. what you are stating can be said for a lot of professions, like engineering for example. Engineers are also licensed by the state. Any large-scale project requires drawings to be sealed.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 03:37 PM) You can but it's extremely difficult. (1) you don't know what you're doing, (2) even if you think you can figure it out (or if you're ballsy enough to try) findings clients is difficult unless you're well connected and/or get lucky, and (3) if you get into civil litigation it's cost prohibitive because you have to front tens of thousands of dollars. Law and medicine are two areas where market forces just don't really compute. You don't want to risk your life or a big case by handing it off to just anyone. Part of what you're talking about is known as "information assymetry." It's one reason why 'free-market' solutions for health care are not workable; you can't have a functional market without informed consumers, and medical care requires decades of study to be informed. And, like you said, it applies equally well to law.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 05:30 PM) I got Batman Begins on DVD for $8 at target. So how much was your 1000" screen and 15000W sound system?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 12:37 PM) Yeah it cant be explained. They turned Mary Jane into plain Jane Dunst. Its the same with X-Men casting Rogue, who was supposed to be super hot (arguably hotter than Phoenix), yet she is played by Anna Pacquin, who is not nearly as attractive as Femke Janssen. The casting for Snow White was the worst. Kristen Stewart better than Charlize Theron? GTFO.

That is one consistent difference between US and other doctors--US doctors are compensated at much higher rates. I don't know if doctors in other countries have much lower medical school costs, though. I'd imagine some of them have terrible socialized school for their socialist doctors.

thanks for explaining the joke guys.

I don't know that the government can mandate a private organization to do something like that. It's a guild cap, not a government cap.

The AMA's cap on residencies hasn't moved in about 15 years.

Our laboratories of democracy are trying to address it right now!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 12:02 PM) Thanks for all of the liberal spin, but in the rush to politicize it, you are missing the fact that this all adds to the cost of the system, which is the whole point. As earlier when you all were comparing total costs, to total costs, this all factors in. None of that is as a result of health insurance. Health insurance is a result of all of the costs. Until costs are dealt with, health insurance isn't going to get any cheaper. I spent some time looking for the information you requested and provided it. The data is available in those links.

4th of July being on a Wednesday sucked.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 11:44 AM) The McDonalds case is also another fun one where you can really hammer someone who doesnt know the case. There are actually some really ridiculous lawsuits, the best one (imo) involves a Dr suing BMW for his car being repainted. If you actually work in law you know Dr's love to sue people (oh the hypocrisy.) The Supreme Court Case is: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/94-896.ZO.html BMW v. Gore The Doctor asked for $500,000 in his original complaint as damages. It's not limited just to doctors! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_v._Chung

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 11:20 AM) How does it compare to the rest of the world? How does malpractice compare to the rest of the world? This is the best fit thus far: http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/24/4/903.full The US has slightly higher per-capita payouts, but it still amounts to less than 0.5% of HC spending.

I'd call it the McDonalds Myth

I'm in agreement with you??

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 11:26 AM) One of the greatest myth's ever perpetrated on the American public. Medical Malpractice is a very difficult case. You cant just file a lawsuit against a Dr., you need to have an expert (another Dr), sign an affidavit beforehand (at least in Illinois). That is why most medical mal cases settle, because most of the time its abundantly clear that the Dr messed up. Why shouldnt you have the right to sue your Dr if he cuts off the wrong leg? Why should your damages be capped? Doctors have a very very powerful lobby, its nothing more than corporate interests beating out the little guy. When you look at the actual numbers and see its not even quite 10k claims a year, it should really make you question the notion that torts are a major cost-driver and that we should cap damages and make it harder to sue.

Here's the best comparison I can find so far: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=892981 It seems that there were a comparable number of claims in the UK (~7.7k a year vs 10k for the US). Payments were 503 (pounds) in 2004/05, so roughly half of the US payouts in 2011. Given the difference in population here, it seems like the brits are even more litigious. On the other hand, this is a fully nationalized health care system, and I'd imagine that you don't have the same scenario of private doctors getting private malpractice insurance to protect themselves from civil suits.

Still trying to find that. Americans are known for being particularly litigious. This article references the total costs for med-mal as of 2007. It amounts to $30b or so. http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/200...lth-care-costs/

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 10:55 AM) But how do those costs compare to the rest of the world? That is the conversation here. Still googling, but the US numbers for 2011 were $3.1b in payouts. http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind...5#notes-ind-437 In 2010, the US spent $2.6t on healthcare. http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issue-Modules/US-...ound-Brief.aspx While the payouts don't capture potentially increased med-mal insurance rates, it does show that it isn't anywhere near being a driving factor in the cost.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 10:41 AM) The whole system in the US is more expensive. A good chunk of money is taken up in differences as simple as in what doctors make. Another good chunk of that is our subsidizing drug research and medication for the rest of the world by paying much higher prices. I'd bet things like malpractice rates through the roof and crazy lawsuits are a pretty American phenomenon as well. All of that stuff gets rolled back into health insurance costs, which we have attacked completely backwards as usual. Instead of attacking costs, we find ways to make things more expensive. FWIW, tort reform has been tried in multiple states and has been found to have essentially no effect on health care costs.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 10:13 AM) I don't believe anyone here ever called it that. It's been the conservative pundit rhetoric for the last week.