Wealthy people can afford better healthcare

[Care4all]

Wealthy people can afford better healthcare. That is a truism.

No matter where you are in the world that is so.

My question is for people who support universal/government health care ... is there a limit for you in what you would make available to everybody. There are always going to be expensive procedures which wealthy people can afford but which poorer people don't have access to, right?

If wealthy people can afford it, do you think the populace should be taxed until we've all somehow given enough so that everyone can have it?



I guess I'm in favor of "death panels" so-to-speak. (That was very unfortunate language which my side chose to use about something which I think would have to exist.) There has to be an upper limit on the level of care which is considered universal. There are all sorts of exotic and expensive treatments which could be available but we just can't afford to do it for everyone.



I know this is an old conversation for most of you. I haven't really given much thought to universal healthcare. I've basically been against it on general small-government and "we can't afford everything" principles since the 1980's.

My mother died of complications to a liver transplant and it was all so very expensive that for myself I thought I would choose no transplant if it ever came to that for me. But as I get older ... and as my husband gets older ... I view some things differently.


So ... if you are generally inclined toward some sort of universal / government health care, I'd like to know what it means to you. How great of care you think should be universal and what your sense of the limitations are.




So please humor me. If this subject is boring to you, pass by it. If you have something worthwhile to add, I'd appreciate it.

It is done now, by insurance companies and by the Doctors themselves.

Bureaucrats do not make the decisions, panels of doctors and insurance guys determine whether certain treatments should be paid for or not....

and if the insurance will not pay for it, then you personally have the option to come up with the money or charity to pay for it.

I had pneumonia this year, I pay 5 k a year for my insurance but i have a 1200 dollar deductible...not by choice, it was the only plan my husband's employer offered.....it cost about $1150 for the treatment and doctor's visits, (of which not once did i actually get to see a Doctor, only physicians's assistants and one nurse practitioner, even when I made an appointment with a Specialst)

come January, I start all over again, Pay the $5 grand, and then have to pay another $1200 before the insurance will pay out a dime and then only at 80%, so the other 20% has to be paid by me as well..... They also refused to pay for a prescription I was prescribed...and I had to fork up that out of pocket as well...

the whole experience stunk to high Heaven....

I know that doesn't relate, but I just had to bitch about it, it really urks me!

There will always be a panel, that decides what surgeries or treatments will be paid for under certain circumstances...it is done now by hospitals, by doctors, by insurance companies and by Medicare and Medicaid....it is not done on a personal level, one by one...it is a blanket plan.

and yes, if you have money, then you can pay for what the insurance companies or Medicare will not pay for....

no one wants to bring the wealthiest's level of heath care down to what Insurance companies will pay for...they have every right and the ability to go over and above that....God bless them for being able to do such.

 

[midcan5]

Let them eat cake, or go to the corner quack. One needs to ask a very simple question, why does healthcare cost so much? Sure expensive equipment and research require money but do enormous profits and great wealth for healthcare providers constitute a social good? Or do they just feed the normal human's greed requirement.

Why Is Health Care So Expensive? Let Us Count the Conspirators | Moneyland | TIME.com

"A Medical Mystery: Why Health Care Is So Expensive" A Medical Mystery: Why Health Care Is So Expensive : NPR

 

[chanel]

Wealthy people can afford better healthcare. That is a truism.

No matter where you are in the world that is so.

My question is for people who support universal/government health care ... is there a limit for you in what you would make available to everybody. There are always going to be expensive procedures which wealthy people can afford but which poorer people don't have access to, right?

If wealthy people can afford it, do you think the populace should be taxed until we've all somehow given enough so that everyone can have it?



I guess I'm in favor of "death panels" so-to-speak. (That was very unfortunate language which my side chose to use about something which I think would have to exist.) There has to be an upper limit on the level of care which is considered universal. There are all sorts of exotic and expensive treatments which could be available but we just can't afford to do it for everyone.



I know this is an old conversation for most of you. I haven't really given much thought to universal healthcare. I've basically been against it on general small-government and "we can't afford everything" principles since the 1980's.

My mother died of complications to a liver transplant and it was all so very expensive that for myself I thought I would choose no transplant if it ever came to that for me. But as I get older ... and as my husband gets older ... I view some things differently.


So ... if you are generally inclined toward some sort of universal / government health care, I'd like to know what it means to you. How great of care you think should be universal and what your sense of the limitations are.




So please humor me. If this subject is boring to you, pass by it. If you have something worthwhile to add, I'd appreciate it.

It is done now, by insurance companies and by the Doctors themselves.

Bureaucrats do not make the decisions, panels of doctors and insurance guys determine whether certain treatments should be paid for or not....

and if the insurance will not pay for it, then you personally have the option to come up with the money or charity to pay for it.

I had pneumonia this year, I pay 5 k a year for my insurance but i have a 1200 dollar deductible...not by choice, it was the only plan my husband's employer offered.....it cost about $1150 for the treatment and doctor's visits, (of which not once did i actually get to see a Doctor, only physicians's assistants and one nurse practitioner, even when I made an appointment with a Specialst)

come January, I start all over again, Pay the $5 grand, and then have to pay another $1200 before the insurance will pay out a dime and then only at 80%, so the other 20% has to be paid by me as well..... They also refused to pay for a prescription I was prescribed...and I had to fork up that out of pocket as well...

the whole experience stunk to high Heaven....

I know that doesn't relate, but I just had to bitch about it, it really urks me!

There will always be a panel, that decides what surgeries or treatments will be paid for under certain circumstances...it is done now by hospitals, by doctors, by insurance companies and by Medicare and Medicaid....it is not done on a personal level, one by one...it is a blanket plan.

and yes, if you have money, then you can pay for what the insurance companies or Medicare will not pay for....

no one wants to bring the wealthiest's level of heath care down to what Insurance companies will pay for...they have every right and the ability to go over and above that....God bless them for being able to do such.

True care, but it's not just about "what you can pay for". I have, what may be called "Cadillac insurance". My insurance premium is close to $18K, and I can't tell you how many times we have been denied certain tests, procedures, prescriptions, etc... I have challenged nearly every denial and have won almost every time. Sometimes all it takes is a carefully worded email or a phone call.

People need to be their own advocates. It may be unfair, but that's life.

 

[bill5]

My insurance premium is close to $18K

Annually? Surely you mean for a large family-? Mine is about 1.5K though just for me.

 

[Care4all]

My insurance premium is close to $18K

Annually? Surely you mean for a large family-? Mine is about 1.5K though just for me.

your employer is paying the majority of your premium...my husband's corporation does not pay in full or even close, for a spouse or family portion...they do contribute towards his portion....but i have to pay in full or nearly in full, for myself.

 

[bill5]

Nope. I'm currently unemployed; it's all on me. That is full cost.

 

[Care4all]

My insurance premium is close to $18K

Annually? Surely you mean for a large family-? Mine is about 1.5K though just for me.

for an individual health care policy, here in maine, 2 years ago from blue cross blue shield Anthem, was quoted at $12500.....just for me.

the group plan policy at my husband's work for me is $5k...

I have no idea what kind of health insurance you can get or have for only $1500 a YEAR! that would be awsome, if i could get a policy so cheap up here!!!!!!!!!

 

[SmarterThanHick]

Let them eat cake, or go to the corner quack. One needs to ask a very simple question, why does healthcare cost so much? Sure expensive equipment and research require money but do enormous profits and great wealth for healthcare providers constitute a social good? Or do they just feed the normal human's greed requirement.

So you're saying we should take money away from health care providers? Does that really seem like a smart idea? Look at what's happening with primary care since that started happening. Doctors have to push more and more patients on their schedule, seeing them for less and less time, just to make their salary.

Here let's try this: how much do you think a PCP should make per year?