a mate of mine who requres dialysis recently changed from a private hospital to a public one, when I asked him why?

He said, "they look after me better in the public hospitals!"

He told me that in the private sector each time he presents for dialysis he has to be seen by a doctor, this cost his health fund about $79 three times a week or $237 a week. He said he sees the Nephrologist for about 5 seconds.

The nephrologist gets about $3,000 a week for roughly less than two hours work as he has to see each patient regardless as too whether they need to or not.

No wonder some Doctors LOVE the private sector.

Johnj,

I understand that the outcome for renal dialysis patients in America is very poor when compared to outcome for renal dialysis patients in Australia.

JamesH, you raise an interesting point re dialysis. According to this article http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9075223&dopt=Abstract "End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is unique in that, in the United States, it is the only disease-specific condition covered by Medicare independently of the age of patients." In other words, dialysis is the ONLY treatment universally funded by Medicare, making it one of the few diseases where a direct comparison world-wide has much validity.

And guess what? According to this study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7922254&dopt=Abstract "the United States has the highest mortality rate for end-stage renal disease patients receiving dialysis among the industrialized nations." The reason? The "current reimbursement rate... is less than half that of Germany and one quarter that of Japan."

The American health system is a dismal debacle with an enormously bloated administrative system (dedicated largely to recovering debts). The US spends TWICE as much on health per capita as Australia http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/chcm010307oth.cfm , for demonstrably inferior results. Beware snake-oil salesmen who would foist this disaster on us.

"To be fair, Europeans and Canadians are slowly waking up. "Socialism, after all, is a faith system with a bad track record."
You start off saying "to be fair," but there is much conscious deceit in your bombast and tirade. Surely it is obvious, that all of Europe and Canada, support the profit system. And here the profit ledger dictates profits before people and a lessening of health care. A big waiting list is deliberately created, and you pay up big time or go without, irrespective of life or limb. To maximise profits, the cost cutting of specialised staff, procedures, and materials is introduced and that undermines healthcare. In reality, a few people - one or two - literally hold the immense majority to ransom - this is what privatization means - private wealth - the individual, the profiteer.
Healthcare including medicine is actually the outcome of struggle and sacrifice from millions of people as a historical and social product. Healthcare belongs to no one person but is socially derived and won through big struggle of workers; nothing was given.

Socialists explain and fight for, that people have a basic human right for access to hospitals and the highest developments in health care. This is a foundation plank of genuine social equality and social justice. Instead of 'each for all' this capitalist system promotes 'each against all' or 'get out of my road.' Imagine the real human potential that could be unleashed through harnessing hundreds of millions of people to develop mankind in a myriad ways. But that does not happen because of a few profiteers. Because economic relations or profits dominate over human relations and considerations, then all relations get distorted, twisted and inverted. In consequence, the system itself makes millions of people ill.
I am not sure what you mean by "faith system" but we are not religious, nor idealists, nor Stalinists, nor do we have any faith in your reactionary selfish perspective, nor your right wing counterparts in parliament. No we say, behind every fortune lies a great crime - that is the workings of capitalism.

This story published in the SMH
"Sorry, now you've had cancer you have to pay to be screened"

Shows how "FREE" health care is a myth especially if you have cancer. People with cancer have significant out of pocket medical expenses.

There has often been talk about introducing a co-payment into the system.