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MakionGarvinus t1_itn1c1c wrote

Reply to comment by Supertrinko in The US Navy wants swarms of thousands of small drones by Sorin61

In Canada, most hospitals around where my wife is from charge a $20-50 co-pay. That prevents people from coming in with a cold, and clogging the system just to be told to take a couple days rest. I think they do have a version of supplementary insurance that you can pay for, and get extra / 'better' care.

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Supertrinko t1_itn21hn wrote

Couldn't that be better targeted by saying "If we determine that you come to the emergency room for a non-emergency, you'll be charged the co-pay fee."

In NZ, we pay $40 for a GP consult ($80 if it's a GP you aren't registered to), but it's free if you go to the hospital and hang around in triage until they finally get to you.

I would very much like it if hospitals just said "This could have been a GP visit, so pay us $80." It would stop people just using emergency rooms as a free doctor's visit.

But free doctor's visits could also help that.

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MakionGarvinus t1_itn2d9q wrote

From what I've heard, it becomes a problem around areas with a lot of natives. $20 to 'hang out' stops that.

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Supertrinko t1_itnfme4 wrote

In NZ, it's an issue with low socioeconic groups, which so happens to be "natives".

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