Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If that person never uses any health care their costs are increased.
If that person uses less than $150 a month in health care their costs are increased.
If that person uses more than $150 a month in health care their costs are decreased.
Ah, in other words: well, I'm at a loss for words. I have no clue what you are attempting to state.
True. A person who owns their home in fee simple with no mortgage could, of course, forego fire insurance. However, most reasonable people desire to pay a small amount each year to insure their home. They, along with the insurance company, hope a fire never occurs.
So, true, if no fire occurs, the insured homeowner had increased costs of owning the home. If the fire occurs, and the insurance company pays for the costs of replacement or repair, then the homeowner 'costs' are, I guess in your thinking, decreased, in proportion to the payout.
Now, my fire insurance would be very, very expensive if I were the only member of the 'insured group'. Yet, since my home insurance company has several hundred thousand of other members, we all pay a very much reduced cost. The insurance company will determine the probability of how many homes in the insured group will catch on fire, and the probable cost of payoffs, and then determine an insurance rate.
Anyway, yours is, I'm afraid, an argument devoid of any logic.
Anyway, insurance is all about achieving peace of mind by reducing your risks by spreading the cost of a potential castastrophe among a wide group of similarly situated people.
I'm quite familiar with EMTALA, and it's part of the problem. People can afford a 20 dollar copy to see a doctor in the ER.
I pay $45 per doctor's visit. The ER is $500. One week I had both my children to the pediatrician (one injured, the other with an ear infection) and my husband to his for illness. $135 plus $140 in RX costs in one week -- that's two weeks' worth of groceries.
Each year I raise our copay in order to keep our monthly premium down (I currently pay $1400/month for a family). I am fortunate that I am able to do so, but in the current economy, who is to say who can afford $20?
FWIW I am opposed to Obamacare and feel that the for profit insurance companies, and test-crazed, lawsuit worried physicians bear a fair amount of blame for skyrocketing costs. Patients who run to the doctor for every sniffle are not helping, either.
Ok genius, how is it a government takeover if all the services (e.g. insurance, medical, etc.) are provided by private companies?
What you are completely misunderstanding (and likely deliberately misunderstanding) is that the ACA is not government health care or government provided insurance. The ACA is essentially regulations telling insurance companies what they can and cannot do and mandating that everyone buy insurance from an insurance company. Psst, that's not a government takeover. To say that mandating insurance is a "government takeover" is like saying that my State has taken over auto insurance by mandating that all cars be insured. [Sarcasm] OMG! Mayor Bloomberg has completely taken over all restaurants in NYC because NYC law requires restaurants to have insurance! Socialism!!![/Sarcasm]
The notion is preposterous on its face.
True, but the government is mandating people buy insurance or they will be fined. BUT they have made exceptions for certain groups. If the government is telling the companies what they can and can't do, telling the people who must and who doesn't have to buy a product, it might not be a government takeover, but it is governmental interference.
I pay $45 per doctor's visit. The ER is $500. One week I had both my children to the pediatrician (one injured, the other with an ear infection) and my husband to his for illness. $135 plus $140 in RX costs in one week -- that's two weeks' worth of groceries.
Each year I raise our copay in order to keep our monthly premium down (I currently pay $1400/month for a family). I am fortunate that I am able to do so, but in the current economy, who is to say who can afford $20?
FWIW I am opposed to Obamacare and feel that the for profit insurance companies, and test-crazed, lawsuit worried physicians bear a fair amount of blame for skyrocketing costs. Patients who run to the doctor for every sniffle are not helping, either.
And why do patients that run to the doctor for every sniffle get care? Because they are required to get that care by law, regardless of their ability to pay.
So when you go to the hospital, they see "insurance" and they give you extra tests you don't need, charge you more, and then pass that cost onto your insurance provider. They, in order to keep profits up, have to raise your premium every year, or require you to pay more out of pocket at the doctors visit.
People say they don't like government healthcare all the time. But we've had government mandated healthcare, with no way to pay for it, since 1986. Its the reason why healthcare costs are so high.
And when your premiums get to a place where you can't afford them, then you'll get free care at no cost, which will cause my rates to go up.
Sooner or later no one can pay for it.
We should either have a single payer, or mandate that everyone carry some form of insurance to mitigate costs. I'd prefer the single payer system for life threatening ailments, but Republicans don't want that.
They want to keep the cycle going, and are unwilling to say they want to throw those who can't pay out in the street, so they are not only stupid, but hypocrites.
Ah, in other words: well, I'm at a loss for words. I have no clue what you are attempting to state.
True. A person who owns their home in fee simple with no mortgage could, of course, forego fire insurance. However, most reasonable people desire to pay a small amount each year to insure their home. They, along with the insurance company, hope a fire never occurs.
So, true, if no fire occurs, the insured homeowner had increased costs of owning the home. If the fire occurs, and the insurance company pays for the costs of replacement or repair, then the homeowner 'costs' are, I guess in your thinking, decreased, in proportion to the payout.
Yes. That is my thinking. That is also exactly what happens. In case of a fire to one individual's home the other members of the group pay for it.
Which is exactly what I said in the beginning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by filihok
The whole idea of insurance is paying for other people's health care
So, for the majority of people their costs are increased while the costs for one are decreased. Correct?
I didn't grow up with my mother, but my sisters did. There were weeks she got by on less then 20 dollars.
Not everyone can afford a 20 dollar copay, and thats only a drop in the bucket of the cost of an ER visit. Hell my ER copay with insurance is 100 dollars.
You have never worked or volunteered in an ER have you?
I pay $45 per doctor's visit. The ER is $500. One week I had both my children to the pediatrician (one injured, the other with an ear infection) and my husband to his for illness. $135 plus $140 in RX costs in one week -- that's two weeks' worth of groceries.
Each year I raise our copay in order to keep our monthly premium down (I currently pay $1400/month for a family). I am fortunate that I am able to do so, but in the current economy, who is to say who can afford $20?
FWIW I am opposed to Obamacare and feel that the for profit insurance companies, and test-crazed, lawsuit worried physicians bear a fair amount of blame for skyrocketing costs. Patients who run to the doctor for every sniffle are not helping, either.
I'm not talking about people with insurance paying an extra 20 dollars. I'm talking about people on medicaid and charity care getting "free" healthcare via the ER paying something.
So, are you advocating ending the insurance industry?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
