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Since this seems to be such a hot topic on these pages, I thought I'd throw out here this recent MSN video report on how non-poor (but certainly non-rich) uninsured Americans get gouged by hospital charges.
So if a person is stuck with an $11,000, or even $6,000 (negotiated) bill - both prices well above what an insurance company would pay ($2900 in this situation), is it okay for him or her to default on this medical debt, even if they can technically pay according to a reasonably structured payment plan?
My argument would be yes, in some cases, it would be okay - those cases being payments forcing a lower standard of living than the person would have otherwise had on existing income, dependents to support, among others.
Ridiculous. The INSURED patient pays for the coverage year and year out. Their insurer negotiates with the healthcare providers and the providers agree to make things "inside the circle" a lot more predictable / affordable.
Someone that CHOOSES not to carry coverage then wants the same rates?
bottom line medical care is not free, if you delude yourself into thinking it is or should be you set yourself up for debt slavery.
as to debt default, many people go into debt with no intention of ever paying the debt, its called stealing hence the name deadbeat.
life is guna get rougher for them not easier.
Ridiculous. The INSURED patient pays for the coverage year and year out. Their insurer negotiates with the healthcare providers and the providers agree to make things "inside the circle" a lot more predictable / affordable.
Someone that CHOOSES not to carry coverage then wants the same rates?
How is that defensible?
I think the argument was negotiated insured rate +10% is reasonably: + 2-4x more is not.
bottom line medical care is not free, if you delude yourself into thinking it is or should be you set yourself up for debt slavery.
as to debt default, many people go into debt with no intention of ever paying the debt, its called stealing hence the name deadbeat.
life is guna get rougher for them not easier.
If you had watched the video, the woman in question is not looking for free medical care and has every intention of paying what is reasonable. I agree that there are some people who are stealing medical care - no doubt about that. This woman is not one of them.
If you had watched the video, the woman in question is not looking for free medical care and has every intention of paying what is reasonable. I agree that there are some people who are stealing medical care - no doubt about that. This woman is not one of them.
i did watch the video. i respectfully disagree.
her expectation is low cost medical care---- insured or not.
.' i didnt know it was guna cost that much ' does not cut it. i always ask b4 i have the procedure done is this covered whats it guna cost this is part of being an adult, esp if you walk in w/o any insurance.
she assumed much.------------ yes this is america but everything is not free.
It should not matter if it 3% more of 3000% more, the fact is that the providers and the insurers work together to take of the people that are COVERED. Does it suck that costs are higher for those not covered, sure, but the NICE LEVEL REVENUE STREAM that is provided by the COVERED folks is WHY the reimbursements are set where they are. The "uncovered" stuff has to make all the differences. Sucks, but thems the rules.
Right now the congresscitters and senatorialscribblers are busy at work trying to insert themselves more directly in this process. Odds of things getting better? Hmm, let me think about this. Has there mahvelous cash for clunkers be a miracle, able to save automakers from doom? How about TARP? Or the other ingenuous bail outs? See a trend here?
If the past is any indication of how this will go the prospect of more and more people 'welching' on their agreed to financial obligations is going to be the end of us...
It should not matter if it 3% more of 3000% more, the fact is that the providers and the insurers work together to take of the people that are COVERED.
That's nonsense. While some doctors may go into medicine out of benevolent or charitable interests, the majority view it as a job just like any other. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, but at the end of the day, they do it for the paycheck. The institutions that employ them certainly act the way they do to make sure they are as economical as possible.
Insurance companies operate the same way. Many of them are able to operate the way they do given their monopoly or near monopoly status in many states due to a whole host of state regulations. Rather than "working with providers" as you say, they pretty much dictate the price that they will pay - a far cry from working together to "take care of the people who are covered." Of course, hospitals and providers have to gouge the uninsured to make up for the shortfall caused by the dictatorial payment policies of insurers.
If we had a truly free insurance market (i.e., I could by health insurance not only across state lines but also internationally) combined with a public option to cover the "uninsurable," then costs would go down for everyone and more people would be covered.
The person is responsible for paying his or her medical care but it should not exceed what Medicare would reimburse.
Agreed. I would argue that default on any amount exceeding this level (or the average insurance price + 10%) is acceptable.
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