Threat of Public Option on Private Insurance

[Annie]

Did you see preventing it?

OMG, a TM type question! Prevent what?

You have stated that the Bill prevents people from choosing another private insurance company for the rest of their lives, once someone has chosen the public option insurance plan.

Can you PLEASE show proof of this comment of yours?

Why would they be forced to stay with the Public Option once their yearly contract is up?

Why would people not be allowed to choose their insurance from the insurance Exchange which offers ALL private insurance plans ALONG WITH the Public option annie?

Care

As stated, I've seen no way out from reading a significant portion of HR3200. Then again, inferring based on knowledge of government tendencies. Here's something that makes the inference probably well founded:

TAPPED Archive | The American Prospect

 

[GHook93]

If the public option turns into single payer it will be because Americans decided it one at a time.

Only with the stacked deck they are trying to push through.

BS at that point at least we will have quote unquote a test case before we jump full-fledged into it!

 

[GHook93]

Are you really trying to debate Willow? She's like a broken record hiccuping her way through the same shit over and over and over again... haven't you noticed?

Neser, you like in the UK, instead of going on an on about the horrors of American, why not educate people on your healthcare system. For example, try to answer:

(1) How much does the English NHS take out of your paycheck in taxes? Percentagewise?
(2) For emergency service how long do you wait to be treated?
(3) For non-emergency service how long do you wait? Such if one has a tear in their shoulder how long does he/she wait to be treated? What about treatment for cancer patients?
(4) How do you treat the elderly? Do they get the shaft like the pundits on the radio say?
(5) Why do people get private insurance in the UK? Is it to cover experimental procedures or drugs that the NHS won't cover?
(6) Why do Brits come to America to get treated? Is it as I suspect, that is a rich person waiting to see the best in the field? I don't see it any different than many people all over the country coming to Chicago for treatment!
(7) Lastly, what percentage of your population love (and hate) the NHS?

Why not try to educate us Americans, instead of being typical Eurotrash and thinking you are better than us!

 

[GHook93]

The fuck... everyone just keeps talking a lot of shit and so far I've stayed out of it because it's not my damn country... however, I've lived there for 9 years and remember having medical problems and instead of going to the doctor, staying home and self-medicating, which later on landed me in an emergency room... So yeah, I am fucking interested because in the endless stupidity of my teenage years, I might have landed myself a chronic condition - I've been a poor student that couldn't afford private health insurance. It's also damn incomprehensible to me that so many people are so damn outraged by the fact that the government FINALLY decided to do something about it instead of being goddamn ECSTATIC. WTF? THe only people I can see that might not give a shit are the rich fuckers that don't care either way because they have enough money to have two cancers in their family...

Everyone seems to be so worked up yet most people don't seem to even know what the hell they are talking about.

Good question DavidS, btw...

Yep, that's what happens when you can't afford medical coverage. And all those emergency room visits make the hospitals raise their rates because they have to eat them.

Even people who have insurance stay away from the emergency room, since they don't want to come up with the 20% copay!

Last year my son got sick, and since he was young he couldn't articulate what was wrong with him. The doctors stated it was Appendices (sp?) and they ran a lot of tests and kept him in the hospital for 4 days (in which I stayed with him - nice way to use my vacation days). Then they preped him for surgery to remove his appendix. They stated they misdiagnosed him and it was only a virus around his appendix and he would just need antibiotics and could go home. This little event that should have been an in and out think, ended up costing $16,500! Since I have a PPO Plus I had to come up with $1,650! A lot of money for something that should have been a $20 copay. But whenever you go to the emergency room, whether you have insurance or not, you have a hefty bill!

This keeps many people away from getting treatment because even $1,650 is a lot of money!

 

[Ravi]

The fuck... everyone just keeps talking a lot of shit and so far I've stayed out of it because it's not my damn country... however, I've lived there for 9 years and remember having medical problems and instead of going to the doctor, staying home and self-medicating, which later on landed me in an emergency room... So yeah, I am fucking interested because in the endless stupidity of my teenage years, I might have landed myself a chronic condition - I've been a poor student that couldn't afford private health insurance. It's also damn incomprehensible to me that so many people are so damn outraged by the fact that the government FINALLY decided to do something about it instead of being goddamn ECSTATIC. WTF? THe only people I can see that might not give a shit are the rich fuckers that don't care either way because they have enough money to have two cancers in their family...

Everyone seems to be so worked up yet most people don't seem to even know what the hell they are talking about.

Good question DavidS, btw...

Yep, that's what happens when you can't afford medical coverage. And all those emergency room visits make the hospitals raise their rates because they have to eat them.

Even people who have insurance stay away from the emergency room, since they don't want to come up with the 20% copay!

Last year my son got sick, and since he was young he couldn't articulate what was wrong with him. The doctors stated it was Appendices (sp?) and they ran a lot of tests and kept him in the hospital for 4 days (in which I stayed with him - nice way to use my vacation days). Then they preped him for surgery to remove his appendix. They stated they misdiagnosed him and it was only a virus around his appendix and he would just need antibiotics and could go home. This little event that should have been an in and out think, ended up costing $16,500! Since I have a PPO Plus I had to come up with $1,650! A lot of money for something that should have been a $20 copay. But whenever you go to the emergency room, whether you have insurance or not, you have a hefty bill!

This keeps many people away from getting treatment because even $1,650 is a lot of money!

If you didn't have insurance it would have been $16,500...which is quite a bit more money. Most people that can't afford or get insurance wouldn't bother paying the bill...happens all the time and the hospitals just jack up their rates to compensate.

 

[GHook93]

Yep, that's what happens when you can't afford medical coverage. And all those emergency room visits make the hospitals raise their rates because they have to eat them.

Even people who have insurance stay away from the emergency room, since they don't want to come up with the 20% copay!

Last year my son got sick, and since he was young he couldn't articulate what was wrong with him. The doctors stated it was Appendices (sp?) and they ran a lot of tests and kept him in the hospital for 4 days (in which I stayed with him - nice way to use my vacation days). Then they preped him for surgery to remove his appendix. They stated they misdiagnosed him and it was only a virus around his appendix and he would just need antibiotics and could go home. This little event that should have been an in and out think, ended up costing $16,500! Since I have a PPO Plus I had to come up with $1,650! A lot of money for something that should have been a $20 copay. But whenever you go to the emergency room, whether you have insurance or not, you have a hefty bill!

This keeps many people away from getting treatment because even $1,650 is a lot of money!

If you didn't have insurance it would have been $16,500...which is quite a bit more money. Most people that can't afford or get insurance wouldn't bother paying the bill...happens all the time and the hospitals just jack up their rates to compensate.

Exactly, but theat $1,650 threat (the total bill flies up every time we go to the emergency room) keeps me away from the hospital.

However, you are right the $16,500 (which would have been $20K for the uninsured) would have gone unpaid! Before before that. There are administrators fighting to get it paid by someone. Then it goes to charity cases to see if they can write it off that way. Then it goes to the very expensive internal hospital collections agency (main hospitals are starting to report directly to the credit bureau so there is a nice hit to ones credit. Then it goes to the outside collection agency, another hit. If its high enough you could get dragged to court and have a judgement slapped on. Many people are forced to declare BK!