government bureaucrats or insurance agents?

[mattskramer]

Right-wing commentators often give a false comparison when it comes to health care. They ask if you would rather have government bureaucrats determine your care or if you would rather have the doctor make decisions concerning your care. What about the private health insurance company. Insurance companies determine your care. They decide what they consider to be experimental or inappropriate. They deny pre-authorizations. They probably make as many decision about the level and type of care that you receive as doctors do. So, do you want government bureaucrats deciding your health care or do you want insurance companies deciding your health care?

 

[Mad Scientist]

I, or my next of kin, have a fighting chance winning a lawsuit against a private industry.

We have no chance against a government agency with unlimited funding.

It's that simple.

 

[Revere]

You don't have to buy health care through an insurance company.

 

[Greenbeard]

I, or my next of kin, have a fighting chance winning a lawsuit against a private industry.

We have no chance against a government agency with unlimited funding.

Experience has shown that this is false.

 

[Revere]

Contract law is enforceable. Government is under no contract to give you anything.

 

[Meister]

I, or my next of kin, have a fighting chance winning a lawsuit against a private industry.

We have no chance against a government agency with unlimited funding.

Experience has shown that this is false.

????? What experience is that, your opinion?

 

[Greenbeard]

????? What experience is that, your opinion?

The numerous instances in which state Medicaid programs and occasionally even Medicare itself have lost class action suits and were compelled to better meet their responsibilities. The most obvious examples that spring to mind are the numerous suits that have helped to define the required EPSDT Medicaid benefit for children; see any of the cases mentioned in this backgrounder. You can even win suits against the feds in cases where Medicare opens itself to challenge.

You can indeed win suits against the public payers if you can show that they're not meeting their obligations.

 

[Revere]

Class action suits are not remedies for one individual who is denied a particular form of care at a particular time. They are after the fact.

People can, and do, win lawsuits against carriers. Often the state insurance regulators intervene even before that happens.

Contract law works.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Right-wing commentators often give a false comparison when it comes to health care. They ask if you would rather have government bureaucrats determine your care or if you would rather have the doctor make decisions concerning your care. What about the private health insurance company. Insurance companies determine your care. They decide what they consider to be experimental or inappropriate. They deny pre-authorizations. They probably make as many decision about the level and type of care that you receive as doctors do. So, do you want government bureaucrats deciding your health care or do you want insurance companies deciding your health care?

I disagree with you. YOU and your doctor determine what level of care you will receive. Just because an insurance company refuses to pay for a particular procedure or treatment does not mean you cannot obtain that care from your doctor. The difference is you pay for it rather than the insurance company.