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So many things wrong w/the healthcare system.....I don't think we should raise taxes on the well off right now, but you can't have it both ways. The non-profit ACTS like a for profit but pays zero income or property taxes.....just wrong.
Refreshing that the CO did a piece of investigative journalism...
I agree, Coupon. Saw that article and wanted to scream. Now that my health insurance has been downgraded to be less than that if I was on Medicare (and I work for a major bank), my out-of-pocket costs have been increased greatly. Unless I am pretty seriously ill, I cannot go to the doctor. That is nuts. All I am doing is creating worse problems for the future. This kind of thing should be stopped....or, at the very least...they pay taxes like everyone else!
I was shocked when I moved back here in '02. I had been working w/ healthcare data for many years and so knew what "customary" charges were elsewhere in the nation. I couldn't believe what physicians were getting away with, and then when a family member needed hospitalization, I was incensed.
Docs here also have developed methodologies wh/ milk the max with office visits. In other states, docs will mail, fax, or email reports. Here, you have to make another appt. to get results, thus incurring yet another office charge.
I could go on and on but won't. I will tell you that my husband and I have written numerous letters, made many phone calls, asking for justification on costs, from charges for ambulance to MRIs, to chest xRays, to pharma. We have questioned coding. Since we know the answer (cost shifting), the BS non-answers we get are all the more maddening.
Most of us have various geographic restrictions w/ our insurance coverage. We figured out we can receive at least part of our healthcare (imaging, for ex.) outside of Charlotte. Yes, this is inconvenient and makes me angry -- and certainly we can't do this in emergency situations, but let me tell ya. . . when I can drive 3 hours and get an MRI for less than 1/3 what I am charged in Charlotte, I am gonna get in my car and drive.
There is a LOT more I could write on this subject, including a treatise on what is going to happen to cost shifting and private insurance once Obamacare goes into effect, but I won't. Already did that in other sections of the forum and the response I got was upsetting. I was not politicizing the issue, but it seems that is what most folks are interested in doing. I am only interested in quality healthcare, access to healthcare, and fair charges for everyone, insured or un-insured.
I will say, hubby has a chronic health condition, and his team of physicians here in Charlotte could not be more outstanding. But wow, it has come at a huge price, wh/ has had a really big impact on our finances. And the minute he no longer has private health insurance, Medicare is not gonna cover some of the programs he is in now . . . so the financial landscape becomes even more stressful.
If you think it's bad now, tell me what you think in 2015.
Lump them in with insurance, and gas companies. They got us by the nads and there's nothing you can do. Untill this country gets off it's passive a$$ and demands some accountability and change, it will continue. What amazes me is the fact, regular Shmoes like you and me can work for these companies and aid in raping and bankrupting family, friends and neighbors and go home and sleep at night.
The fact is that there are only 400 billionaires in the U.S. and "just" 10million millionaires. This represents barely 3% of the total population. They represent how much in taxes collected? Almost all of it. How about everybody pay their fair share and we cut out all the ridiculous deductions and then put a cap on the amount you can collect from malpractice lawsuits so we can lower insurance blah,blah blah. Sorry, I'm climbing off the soap box, this topic can get back on point.
The fact is that there are only 400 billionaires in the U.S. and "just" 10million millionaires. This represents barely 3% of the total population. They represent how much in taxes collected? Almost all of it. How about everybody pay their fair share and we cut out all the ridiculous deductions and then put a cap on the amount you can collect from malpractice lawsuits so we can lower insurance blah,blah blah. Sorry, I'm climbing off the soap box, this topic can get back on point.
Look, I said in my post I'm not for soaking the rich or the issue of individuals paying taxes, so don't turn this into that. Keep it on topic.
I'm talking about the healthcare system and how wrong it is that there's zero accountability. When something is flat out wrong its wrong. Kudos to the CO for opening my eyes on how there is so much wrong with this.
I was shocked by the salaries!!!!!! They were actually in the paper. These hospitals making billions and NOT PAYING ANY TAXES!!!!!! This is deplorable!
A big part of their profits come from low salaries for nurses and other non-MD staff. It's deplorable that they don't make more given the profits of these hospitals. My daughter spends a good amount of time inpatient, and even on the progressive care floor (not ICU, but supposed to have a higher staff/patient ratio for needier patients) they were frequently understaffed to concerning levels. If they paid more maybe they could find enough nurses to fill the slots. And the work that the nurses do!
(I know this is not scientific evidence, just an observation from a layperson)
The state let CMC & Presbytarian buy up all the other health care providers in the area and restricts competition on insurance companies so prices are a lot higher than they should be. Mercy Hospital, Eye Ear & Throat Hospital, and a host of others are all gone now. No competition means high prices.
If you have to buy private insurance in this state, good luck. You will need it.
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