Will Obamacare succeed where term limits failed?

[Crazed Rabbit]

I guess in the American system it would be something like 2000$ for the letter the doctor handed you, 100$ for the hour he spent examining and talking to you, 3000$ for sending stuff to the lab, 50000$ for six days in the hospital and you can buy the dialysis machine yourself for 10000$ if you want to live a little longer.

In an ideal system however, the free market would decide whether you get a kidney failure or a heart disease in the first place.

This is ridiculous. No way the dialysis machine would be that cheap to buy. That's probably the cost just to have it used on you for that week. Also, the cost is way to low for the doctor examination (I've gotten $175 bill, pre-insurance, for 15 minutes).

I'm not really joking.

However, you should read the article "Bitter Pill" by Steven Brill (PDF alert!). It discusses, in great depth, the astronomical cost of care in the USA and looks at reasons why (like hospitals charging 100x the cost for over the counter medicine).

As I understand it I suffer from a condition that causes the kidney to eat itself.

Wow, that's unnerving. Best of luck with your treatment.

CR