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Did you read these stories???? It's not just their medical bills that set them back and, especially in the first story, why wasn't he covered under his wife's insurance plan????
And removing the medical bills would therefore have no worthwhile effect at all in reducing their dilemna?
Most plans have dropped the 4th quarter roll-over. We used to have it as well, it was sure nice but it's rare to find a plan with this now.
What about the concept of medical care being a life necessity and therefore morally and ethically not being left subject to the "for profit" idiocy are you failing to grasp?
Ok, does that include cosmetic and plastic surgery for every person who wants a liposuction, face lift, or breast augmentation procedure? Will breast augmentation always be paid for, or only after a woman has had a mastectomy?
Does it include every person with acne scars on their face who would like something done to make these less visible?
Will it pay to revise the tiny scar I have on my lip from an accident with a gun when I was twelve years old?
Should I have been covered when I wanted a totally harmless lump that could be measured in millimeters removed from my abdomen?
Does it include prescription drugs and if so, does it include every drug approved by the FDA or only select drugs that appear on the formulary of a particular health insurance company?
Does it include advanced cancer treatment that is extraordinarily expensive, but will only lengthen the average person's life by 3 to 6 months?
Does it include treatment for non-life threatening allergies?
Does it include the provision of eyeglasses, contact lenses, and hearing aids? Better still, what if I want to correct my nearsightedness through laser surgery? Will that be paid for?
Does it include things like speech therapy for kids whose parents believe they have a speech impediment?
Will it pay for expensive surgery that may accomplish marginal good such as heart bypass surgery for the elderly or disc surgery for those suffering a disc herniation?
Will it pay all the costs for an organ transplant and the follow up care that the recipient of such a procedure needs?
Will there be any penalties in place for those who continue to smoke, those who make no effort to lose weight, those who fail to comply with the instructions a physician gives them, and those who continue to drink excessively?
Will drug and alcohol treatment be included? Will it be paid for on multiple occasions when an addict goes back to using this stuff?
Will any deductible be allowed to discourage over-utilization of some care?
Personally, I have answers for all these questions and more. I do support single payer health insurance. However, the problem with too many people who say they support "single payer" is that they truly have no idea what kind of an undertaking is going to be involved. Its going to involve making some very tough decisions and different groups will be unhappy with the consensus that is reached.
At the very least, you should realize just how woefully inadequate your answer "all your medical requirements" is.
Last edited by markg91359; 12-26-2015 at 10:11 AM..
Ok, does that include cosmetic and plastic surgery for every person who wants a liposuction, face lift, or breast augmentation procedure?
Does it include every person with acne scars on their face who would like something done to make these less visible?
Will it pay to revise the tiny scar I have on my lip from an accident with a gun when I was twelve years old?
Should I have been covered when I wanted a totally harmless lump that could be measured in millimeters removed from my abdomen?
Does it include prescription drugs and if so, does it include every drug approved by the FDA or only select drugs that appear on the formulary of a particular health insurance company?
Does it include advanced cancer treatment that is extraordinarily expensive, but will only lengthen the average person's life by 3 to 6 months?
Does it include treatment for non-life threatening allergies?
Does it include the provision of eyeglasses, contact lenses, and hearing aids? Better still, what if I want to correct my nearsightedness through laser surgery? Will that be paid for?
Does it include things like speech therapy for kids whose parents believe they have a speech impediment?
Will it pay for expensive surgery that may accomplish marginal good such as heart bypass surgery for the elderly or disc surgery for those suffering a disc herniation?
Will it pay all the costs for an organ transplant and the follow up care that the recipient of such a procedure needs?
Will there be any penalties in place for those who continue to smoke, those who make no effort to lose weight, those who fail to comply with the instructions a physician gives them, and those who continue to drink excessively?
Will drug and alcohol treatment be included? Will it be paid for on multiple occasions when an addict goes back to using this stuff?
Will any deductible be allowed to discourage over-utilization of some care?
Personally, I have answers for all these questions and more. I do support single payer health insurance. However, the problem with too many people who say they support "single payer" is that they truly have no idea what kind of an undertaking is going to be involved. Its going to involve making some very tough decisions and different groups will be unhappy with the consensus that is reached.
At the very least, you should realize just how woefully inadequate your answer "all your medical requirements" is.
Yes, FOOMP would pay the bill for all of the above!
A major portion of the idea is to fully exercise the KISS factor:
Keep It Simple, Stupid!
What about the concept of medical care being a life necessity and therefore morally and ethically not being left subject to the "for profit" idiocy are you failing to grasp?
Medical facilities are not-for-profit in my state....yet they still make money. They all also have very large foundations to help those that are really in dire straights with medical bills.
How exactly do you propose to pay for all of this free medical care??? How about people start taking responsibility for their own lives and save money so they don't have to file bankruptcy for unexpected large expenses? The family in the first link just bought a new house, they have full-time jobs, why were they in that financial situation to begin with???? Sorry, but there also has to be some personal responsibility taken into consideration....and for those that really are down on their luck, there are organizations like the one you posted about to help.
Sorry, but I want my doctors to command large salaries so they can attract the best and the brightest to the field so when I need medical care, I am getting someone that knows their stuff, and not someone who went to medical school because that was all they could do with their biology degree---once we stop paying our medical professionals what they are worth according to your thinking. Then, you know what, 50 years ago when something was wrong and all they had was an x-ray to try to diagnose you, sure, it cost $100, now, I'm certainly glad they have an MRI or PET scan or whatever and yep, it costs $2000 or more, but guess what, at least it can see more than an x-ray and fewer people die....or is that unethical too?
We have a cost problem with regard to health care in the USA. Not a quality problem, a cost problem.
Our health care on a per capita basis costs about twice as much as any other developed country.
Our system is hopelessly fragmented with multiple health care administrations and a myriad of different plans.
As a result, administration eats up around 25% of our health care dollars.
In addition, there is absolutely no transparency around actual costs. We can see from our statements that what the provider charges and the insurance pays is two different things.
There is no meaningful regulation in the public interest. Government is bought and sold by health care lobbyists.
We don't need to change our system. Other countries have private insurance based systems and they work. But we do need to take the complexity out of the administration, simplify how we pay for health care and get some real transparency into the system.
Ok, does that include cosmetic and plastic surgery for every person who wants a liposuction, face lift, or breast augmentation procedure? Will breast augmentation always be paid for, or only after a woman has had a mastectomy?
Does it include every person with acne scars on their face who would like something done to make these less visible?
Will it pay to revise the tiny scar I have on my lip from an accident with a gun when I was twelve years old?
Should I have been covered when I wanted a totally harmless lump that could be measured in millimeters removed from my abdomen?
Does it include prescription drugs and if so, does it include every drug approved by the FDA or only select drugs that appear on the formulary of a particular health insurance company?
Does it include advanced cancer treatment that is extraordinarily expensive, but will only lengthen the average person's life by 3 to 6 months?
Does it include treatment for non-life threatening allergies?
Does it include the provision of eyeglasses, contact lenses, and hearing aids? Better still, what if I want to correct my nearsightedness through laser surgery? Will that be paid for?
Does it include things like speech therapy for kids whose parents believe they have a speech impediment?
Will it pay for expensive surgery that may accomplish marginal good such as heart bypass surgery for the elderly or disc surgery for those suffering a disc herniation?
Will it pay all the costs for an organ transplant and the follow up care that the recipient of such a procedure needs?
Will there be any penalties in place for those who continue to smoke, those who make no effort to lose weight, those who fail to comply with the instructions a physician gives them, and those who continue to drink excessively?
Will drug and alcohol treatment be included? Will it be paid for on multiple occasions when an addict goes back to using this stuff?
Will any deductible be allowed to discourage over-utilization of some care?
Personally, I have answers for all these questions and more. I do support single payer health insurance. However, the problem with too many people who say they support "single payer" is that they truly have no idea what kind of an undertaking is going to be involved. Its going to involve making some very tough decisions and different groups will be unhappy with the consensus that is reached.
At the very least, you should realize just how woefully inadequate your answer "all your medical requirements" is.
You list a lot of stuff Mark.
Some would be covered some wouldnt, those items that wouldnt come under a medical condition needing treatment would be paid for with supplemental private insurance eg;= cosmetic/dental/glasses, while no system is perfect this system insures every one has their major healthcare needs met, irregardless of their financial position or job status, no deductibles,no co pays ,no caps, no pre-existing conditions bs.
I'm basing my healthcare system on the Canadian model, a model i might add that also has provisions for those who want to can have private insurance if they so desire.= Canadian Health Care
We have a cost problem with regard to health care in the USA. Not a quality problem, a cost problem.
Our health care on a per capita basis costs about twice as much as any other developed country.
Our system is hopelessly fragmented with multiple health care administrations and a myriad of different plans.
As a result, administration eats up around 25% of our health care dollars.
In addition, there is absolutely no transparency around actual costs. We can see from our statements that what the provider charges and the insurance pays is two different things.
There is no meaningful regulation in the public interest. Government is bought and sold by health care lobbyists.
We don't need to change our system. Other countries have private insurance based systems and they work. But we do need to take the complexity out of the administration, simplify how we pay for health care and get some real transparency into the system.
Do that and I bet we will see costs come down.
25% is not unreasonable.....especially when you consider how complex medical care is from the top down to the person scrubbing the floor.
What needs to stop is people running to the ER for sinus infections...sure they are miserable, but you can wait a day or go to an urgent care/minute clinic place instead. I saw 4 Facebook posts to this effect the past couple days, before Christmas so clinics and such were open. Companies that have most of their employees on HSA qualified health plans are seeing a big drop in the cost of their plans and in areas where HSA qualified plans are popular, costs for services are also coming down. I know exactly how much my possible costs for health care will be in any given year, it's my out of pocket max on my insurance policy. You can get a quote from your doctor as to what an uncomplicated procedure will cost, obviously if there are complications it will cost more--but how can anyone know that going into your medical work?? I can go online right now and see how much a tonsillectomy would cost, uncomplicated or how much an MRI of my knee would be, etc, etc, etc. The information is there if you choose to use it.
25% is not unreasonable.....especially when you consider how complex medical care is from the top down to the person scrubbing the floor.
What needs to stop is people running to the ER for sinus infections...sure they are miserable, but you can wait a day or go to an urgent care/minute clinic place instead. I saw 4 Facebook posts to this effect the past couple days, before Christmas so clinics and such were open. Companies that have most of their employees on HSA qualified health plans are seeing a big drop in the cost of their plans and in areas where HSA qualified plans are popular, costs for services are also coming down. I know exactly how much my possible costs for health care will be in any given year, it's my out of pocket max on my insurance policy. You can get a quote from your doctor as to what an uncomplicated procedure will cost, obviously if there are complications it will cost more--but how can anyone know that going into your medical work?? I can go online right now and see how much a tonsillectomy would cost, uncomplicated or how much an MRI of my knee would be, etc, etc, etc. The information is there if you choose to use it.
It isn't the complexity of medical care that crates high administration costs, it is the complexity of how we pay for it.
Medical facilities are not-for-profit in my state....yet they still make money. They all also have very large foundations to help those that are really in dire straights with medical bills.
How exactly do you propose to pay for all of this free medical care??? How about people start taking responsibility for their own lives and save money so they don't have to file bankruptcy for unexpected large expenses? The family in the first link just bought a new house, they have full-time jobs, why were they in that financial situation to begin with???? Sorry, but there also has to be some personal responsibility taken into consideration....and for those that really are down on their luck, there are organizations like the one you posted about to help.
Sorry, but I want my doctors to command large salaries so they can attract the best and the brightest to the field so when I need medical care, I am getting someone that knows their stuff, and not someone who went to medical school because that was all they could do with their biology degree---once we stop paying our medical professionals what they are worth according to your thinking. Then, you know what, 50 years ago when something was wrong and all they had was an x-ray to try to diagnose you, sure, it cost $100, now, I'm certainly glad they have an MRI or PET scan or whatever and yep, it costs $2000 or more, but guess what, at least it can see more than an x-ray and fewer people die....or is that unethical too?
Sorry; but your "large salary doctors" aren't performing any better, and some would say worse, than those doctors practicing in countries with universal/single payer systems of delivery. That dog won't hunt when one considers the third cause of untimely death in the U.S. is medical errors made by those wealthy doc's.
No one, anywhere, ever has claimed their system of health care delivery is "free".
Having just bought a house does not negate the unforeseen happenstance of a medical "surprise". Would it be your contention personal responsibility extends to the "unforeseen" in all things and if so, to what extent would you leave them hanging?
No one should be required to rely upon the charity of organizations for intervention regarding medical costs; ever!
"Healthcare found that in-network prices for certain MRIs can run from $511 to $2,815.) That’s because hospitals and medical centers can charge whatever they want, and in most cases they don’t have to justify prices or even disclose them ahead of time."
That's some confidence inspiring system where profits assume priority over your treatment outcomes.
How about this scenario=
All citizens healthcare is covered from cradle to grave period. and is administered by the government and paid for through taxes.
And how much would our taxes go up per year? Is it based on age or health or how much you earn?
If you don't work or pay taxes, do you still get your healthcare covered?
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