This is (Literally) Why We Can't Afford Nice Things

[justinacolmena]

While my provider is pretty good with my insurance (such as Max. Out Of Pocket capped at $2500) what happens if I'm traveling and need care in a dreaded "out of network" hospital?

Late night debt collection. Dude with a baseball bat shows up in a back alley and beats you to a bloody pulp if you don't pay your f***ing medical bills.

 

[Donald H]

As the government got more and more into the business of funding health care, the costs necessarily rose. . .

. . . and THAT, is why no one can now afford it, w/o government getting involved.

SO? If folks want government to cover all costs, then you have to take private insurers and private providers completely out of the picture, like they do in Britain, or it will bankrupt all of society.

It is simple economics.


. . . and of course, this will mean, quality of care, the amount of care, and research will all suffer.

You must mean simpleton economics!
Where do you get your wild ideas.
America's quality of care and amount of care already provides the worst medical outcomes of all the modern industrialized countries.

 

[justinacolmena]

Prices shot up like an 18 year old pecker at a strip club

Is that the "single payer system" the doctors are always yearning for? I mean, those aren't married people we're talking about, are they?

 

[dblack]

Our main focus, when it comes to "reforming" health care, should be on figuring out how to get someone else to pay for it.

 

[JustAGuy1]

You're lucky. BC/BS largely turned to the dark side ~2008.

Once more, Medicare (and Medicaid) limit the amounts that can be charged for medical equipment, drugs, and procedures. That means doctors, hospitals, and yes, insurance corporations - can't just charge you whatever the hell they want like they do now otherwise. Government healthcare - horrors! The Republican Plan - still - die quickly. Democrats - gee, I wonder how we can maximize our corporate campaign donations? It's on us to protect Medicare and insist upon Medicare-For-All. Idiots. (btw, proper Medicare-For-All largely eliminates the corporate insurance cabal from the equation).

You no idea as to what you're talking about. Procedure pricing is agreed upon by th ed Lawyers from both sides. NOBODY can just charge you whatever they want to.

 

[Grumblenuts]

You no idea as to what you're talking about. Procedure pricing is agreed upon by th ed Lawyers from both sides. NOBODY can just charge you whatever they want to.

No kidding, I obviously didn't literally mean anything(*). But thanks for introducing yet another ridiculous cost. Adding lawyers to the pile between "providers" and those needing healthcare (i.e. everyone). As if sticking employers and private insurance behemoths in the way weren't bad enough already.

*Try rereading the OP for a reality refresher. I happen to live near Allentown.

 

[Turtlesoup]

Noted. You're not ready yet. Not surprised, tbh.

I have had government/corporate health insurance for years (Humana Tricare Prime for the military).....its fucked up and has limited my choice of doctors in the network--that quit frankly suck for a variety of reasons from mundane incompetence to just greed and wanting to make a profit by playing the system. They don't believe in fixing patients, the specialists IF YOU CAN FIND ONE believe in finding creative ways to make money...which costs the patient far more money and lots of more time racking up lives to boot.

But yes, I get your gist...all the libs/communists gotta do is make health care so bad that people will eventually allow the government to do whatever just hoping something changes.

 

[Grumblenuts]

But yes, I get your gist...all the libs/communists gotta do

Wrong. Medicare For All is for everyone, i.e. nonpartisan, independent. Read the bill, then quote what you find objectionable (or "communist"). Is Canada communist? Britain? France? Germany?

 

[Orangecat]

Insurance is designed to do all they can to deny you coverage.

Indeed, that's why the individual mandate sucked.

 

[Donald H]

Our main focus, when it comes to "reforming" health care, should be on figuring out how to get someone else to pay for it.

It's already paid for about twice over, compared to the world's government run HC systems. One of the main focuses should be stopping the big insurance companies from stealing the people's money.

In reality though, US government is most likely just too corrupt to stop the blackmail of politicians by big insurance. There's likely no path forward for years to come because of corrupt politicians.

Maybe Trump has a plan? LOL

 

[dblack]

It's already paid for about twice over, compared to the world's government run HC systems. One of the main focuses should be stopping the big insurance companies from stealing the people's money.

That's easy. Stop giving them your money.

In reality though, US government is most likely just too corrupt to stop the blackmail of politicians by big insurance. There's likely no path forward for years to come because of corrupt politicians.

Maybe Trump has a plan? LOL

Not sure what Trump has to do with this.

 

[Donald H]

That's easy. Stop giving them your money.

Not sure what Trump has to do with this.

Trump pretended that he had a plan for months, but never did announce it. The reason is because he never did have a plan.

The political right in America can never come up with a plan that could make a positive difference for the people because it would mean cutting 'profits' for insurance companies and all others who are getting rich off the backs of the people.

And on top of that, the Demo politicians are paid off by big insurance enough to trump any loyalty they could have had for their constituents.

I don't think we're really disagreeing on anything.
Other than the only way that America's fkd up HC can be fixed by only government.

And that is impossible without government reform.

 

[dblack]

Trump pretended that he had a plan for months, but never did announce it. The reason is because he never did have a plan.

The political right in America can never come up with a plan that could make a positive difference for the people because it would mean cutting 'profits' for insurance companies and all others who are getting rich off the backs of the people.

Ok. Whatever.

I think we're really disagreeing on anything.
Other than the only way that America's fkd up HC can be fixed by only government.

Yep. Government is pretty much always going to make that claim (that they're the only way to fix things). Even when they're responsible for fucking it up in the first place.

 

[JustAGuy1]

No kidding, I obviously didn't literally mean anything(*). But thanks for introducing yet another ridiculous cost. Adding lawyers to the pile between "providers" and those needing healthcare (i.e. everyone). As if sticking employers and private insurance behemoths in the way weren't bad enough already.

*Try rereading the OP for a reality refresher. I happen to live near Allentown.

I added nothing, it's always been that way.

 

[YoursTruly]

This is a good explanation of the healthcare insurance nightmare that looms one accident away for every American. While my provider is pretty good with my insurance (such as Max. Out Of Pocket capped at $2500) what happens if I'm traveling and need care in a dreaded "out of network" hospital?

This is what Republicans continue to DEFEND, this is what they are fighting FOR. It's mind boggling these rubes have been convinced this is what works best, when countries all around the world have something far BETTER.


The patient: Phil Gaimon, 35, a former professional cyclist, a YouTuber and blogger who earns most of his income through sponsorships. He paid about $500 a month for his insurance policy with Health Net through Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange. He also had a secondary health insurance policy with USA Cycling.

Total bills: $151,804 from Lehigh Valley Health Network and $49,526 from the Hospital for Special Surgery. He had additional bills from various physicians. Health Net has paid approximately $27,000 to Lehigh Valley, according to Gaimon. His secondary insurance, with USA Cycling, paid $25,000 to the Hospital for Special Surgery and his surgeon there.

Service providers: Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa., part of the nonprofit Lehigh Valley Health Network; and the Hospital for Special Surgery, an academic medical center, in Manhattan, New York.

Medical procedure: surgery for a fractured collarbone at Lehigh Valley Hospital and surgery for a broken scapula at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

What gives: Gaimon collided with three health system dangers in this physically and financially painful crash: an out-of-state emergency, out-of-network care and gold-plated prices from both hospitals that treated him. Gaimon said he could sell his house and pay these bills, "but I shouldn't have to. I have insurance."

His situation is a scenario that many patients have encountered when they need emergency care outside their provider's network. It's known in medical jargon as "balance billing." Hospitals and insurance companies without mutual contracts often don't agree on the price of services, and the patient is left to pay the difference.

Cyclist's Olympic Dream Becomes $200,000 Medical Bill Nightmare

Cyclist Phil Gaimon was competing in a race that could have won him a spot in the Tokyo Olympics. Instead, a crash landed him in two hospitals where his out-of-network surgeries garnered huge bills.

www.npr.org

When are you lefties (and righties) going to learn. YOUR OWN DAYUM POLITICIANS are OWNED by insurance lobbyist. The democrats have the House, Senate and the white house now. And you're complaining about a subject that the left hasn't even touched or spoke about since Biden was sworn in.
You're still blaming each other.

Solution: Stop voting for republicans OR democrats for 4 years. Do not vote for an incumbent, even if they switch to a 3rd party.

Just frigging stop voting for the clowns. If you do, then stop bitching about what they do or don't do.
They're friggin owned.
This is like jumping into the water, then complaining that you got wet.

 

[Rigby5]

Indias healthcare sucks. Do you know why? Population.
What do successful(i use that word lightly) govt controlled healthcare systems all have in common? Low population.
You good at basic math? 2+2= ?

I disagree.
High population should mean more doctors and nurses.
Population has nothing to do with it.
Poverty is the main problem in India, but Cuba has shown you can have good health care even in a very poor nation, if you prioritize it.
No, it is my opinion that greed is the main problem harming health care on the whole planet.

 

[Rigby5]

No, that was by them getting involved in it. Prices shot up like an 18 year old pecker at a strip club.
Ever hear of supply and demand?
If the govt never got involved in our healthcare, wonder if birthing a child would still cost 10K? The answer is probably "fuck no"
But go ahead and give corrupt, ignorant politicians, that dont give 2 shits about your health, control over it.
Federal Supremacists are the stupidest mother fuckers on the planet.

Government never had control of health care in the US, and that is the problem.
What government did do however, was to allow employers a tax exemption for heath insurance benefits, so it is government's fault insurance companies took over health care.

 

[Rigby5]

I'm retired military and I pay $95 for full medical, and dental for me and my spouse. If I wanted vision it would have been another...$25? I can't remember, but not too much.

$500! WTF!?

For most families, the average is more like $1200/month.

 

[Rigby5]

As the government got more and more into the business of funding health care, the costs necessarily rose. . .

. . . and THAT, is why no one can now afford it, w/o government getting involved.

SO? If folks want government to cover all costs, then you have to take private insurers and private providers completely out of the picture, like they do in Britain, or it will bankrupt all of society.

It is simple economics.


. . . and of course, this will mean, quality of care, the amount of care, and research will all suffer.

No, taking private insurers and private providers out of the picture always results in better quality of care, more care, and more research,
Private insurance is prepaid, so they you lose any ability to control quality or cost in any way.
And all the medical research is done by land grant colleges anyway.

 

[Smokin' OP]

You cultists like to agree with yourselves for some reason.
Just another reason why I hope you all donate your body to science. So we can figure out what causes this illness. So we can eradicate it with gene therapy or something.

Right, we have to figure out why the Trump cult are so stupid.

December 12,2019
By a 230-192 vote, H.R.3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, passed on a largely party line vote. Every Democrat supported the legislation, joined by only 2 Republicans, with the lone House independent, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, voting no. The bill was named after the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), who passed away earlier this year.

According to NPR, the legislation would allow the federal government to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare, limit out-of-pocket costs for Medicare participants, and prevent drug price hikes. The Trump administration vowed to veto the legislation if it ever comes to his desk.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell determines which legislation is allowed to come up for a vote. The House has passed roughly 400 bills in 2019, many of which have been blocked by McConnell and his Republican allies.