any of these yelling people against health care reform have any idea how F'd up our health care system that we have in place is right now? what a bunch of idiots. i see the hoops that need to be jumped through on a daily basis and how insurance companies drag their feet not to pay in a timely manner if at all. it is all BS. the premiums paid to the insurance companies and the claims not paid is ridiculous. the money lost for uninsured people who get treatment but choose not to pay is astronomical. we need a fix.
so turn off fox you dolts and get the facts.
6 comments:
Hear, hear.
i was thinking the same thing the othe day. I went to get my asthma medication at walgeens and for once saw how muh it would cost me if I did not hve insurance. One medication is $500, one is $200 and one is $175. All in all, I paid about $50 because I have insurance. I wonder how many people die from asthma or asthma complications because they can't afford almost $900 a month for the medications?
I think the problem is that it is no longer an insurance problem, but a cost of services problem.
You have auto & home insurance and the cost is based on what the underwriters think the number of claims, and the average cost will be. They charge the whole group a premium to cover claims paid and administrative expenses. And as would be expected, they try to hold onto the premium dollars as long as they can by delaying & denying.
But I think total health expenses are too large for a 'share the risk' approach. It's 'share the cost' because the prudent underwriter can easily project that 99% of the covered population will have a claim over the course of a year. We should all have a check up once a year.
Jilly, you cost the system almost $900/month, guaranteed. How many Americans have such fixed costs to the system? Only the ones with coverage. Are you paying the $900 a month? Someone has to!
I think that's what the fundamental argument is about. Medical expenses are very, very high. Obviously not everyone can afford them, and finding some way to cover 100% of American citizens is not going to be easy. Frankly, it can only be done by taking money from people who earn a lot.
After we get medical care squared away, we can go after the problem of people who can't afford electricity or water. We already have made a start on rent (Section 8) and food (welfare & food stamps).
I'm hoping that eventually every American will have a debit card. Buy/pay for whatever you need, food, housing, medical care, guns, internet... if you need it, get it!!
When the bill comes, pay what you can. Whatever you can't pay will be paid by someone with money left over. To Each According to His Needs, From Each According to His Bank Account.
There will be some people who won't be entirely happy with this plan, but they will be outnumbered by the majority. Happiness will reign!
Bert, the same medication that they charge $900 for in the US costs people a lot less in other countries, so the real question is what is the "real" value of the asthma medication. I probably cost them more than $900 a month because I fill about 8 prescriptions a month for myself, I only noticed the cost of the asthma pills because i filled them the other day. I have no idea what the market price of my other four medications is, maybe another $900? who knows.
here's something else I wonder. If generic pills are the same, then why can't they be given to children under two? I pay about $100 a month for my daughter's medication because they're not allowed to give her generic medication and bluecross insists on gernic only. blue cross eventually gives us the money back, but it takes about 6 months,so we're out about $600 at all times.
Bert, every kid in my state gets free medical care if their parents want it, and it's not a bad system. The only real pain in the butt is that you don't always get to pick your doctor. However, if everyone were under this system, then there'd be more doctors to pick from. My friend uses this system for her kids and says that it's a lot like using bluecross, just that weekend and evening appointments are harder to get.
the older i get i realize that there is always going to some cazy people who are never happy no matter what. some people will always go to 50 different doctors fo the same problem and never like that they hear. these people cost the system a ton of money. my mother in law is one of these people. What the system pays for my asthma medications is far cheaper than what they'd pay for a ride in an ambulance to a hospital with a polonged stay to treat a lung infection/deadly asthma attack that could have been prevented by the four medications i take a day. i prefer preventativ medicine over reactionary medicine, it's just cheaper and better for everyone.
jilly
I think one problem is that no one in this country knows how to hold a civil debate. Most of the people I see on the TV in the Town Meetings get the microphone and then act like they've just called Talk Radio, where you rant and rave and then hang up. Those people are not interested at all in trying to achieve some sort of consensus; they just want to ram their ideas down (or up) as far as they will go, and that's it. They figure the process has worked when their view thus becomes the predominant view.
All we have to do is lower the age at which a person becomes eligible for Medicare to 0, and then add a few things that Medicare does not already cover (like shots for school, pregnancy, acne, etc.)The Medicare methodology is already in place - why reinvent the wheel? (On that note, my Word Verification for this post is 'remed'. Quite apropos.)
that sounds like a plan kathryn except the "allowable" amount paid by medicare for many procedures and services are not enough to keep any doctors office in business. most people on medicare have a secondary insurance of some kind to cover what the medicare does not cover. medicaid is even worse.
it is a tangled web. the cost of medical supplies is astronomical. the cost of going to school to become a doctor is astronomical. to become a physical therapist now requires a doctorate. medical equipment is expensive. support staff must be paid. while i agree that medical costs are out of this world, what is charged and what is actually paid by the insurance company is a huge difference. to get from the insurance companies what is needed to cover costs is a game of numbers. providers negotiate prices with insurance companies. repricers come into the picture. health care needs to be put back into the hands of the medical professionals. a doctor going around and making house calls for 25 bucks cash would probably in the end make more of a profit. the price of healthcare has gotten out of hand because there are too many damn fingers in the purse.
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