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I always thought there needs to be time limits, such as if you've just found out in the last 1-3 that you have the disease, the pre-existing waiting period will apply. But if you've had the disease for more than three years, you obviously aren't trying to "scam" the insurance company, so the waiting period does not apply to you. My son has diabetes and is not offered health insurance through his work. He is 22 years old and luckily has secured a much better job that offers insurance. He is thankfully still on our insurance. I shudder to think of the cost of his diabetes if he didn't have coverage for it. He makes too much money to get any kind of gov. help but the cost of the disease would eat up 3/4 of his income if he wasn't covered. It's sickening that there are people out there that think that it's fair to not cover pre-existing conditions. How about those people pay for the cost of one persons diabetes out of their pocket?
wrong wrong you can have MRI scan the same day in India at fraction of cost of USA.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OICU812
The United states is not Europe or Japan, we are a very large country with a 300 million population. The tax structure, lifestyles and policies are different between the US and other countries too
In European countries most people live in tightly packed urban areas, where a few hospitals can serve many customers. In the US we live scattered all over, and we have many hospitals. I know we have more of the expensive medical equipment, like MRI scanners per capita then they have in Canada and Europe.
I think the US outlook on medical care has been to provide the best care, no matter the cost, while in Europe they provide adequate care for minimal cost. We don't scrimp on medical equipment, if you need an MRI in the US, you prob wait a couple days, and in cases when your doctor determines you need an MRI, you get it the same week. In Europe and Canada, you can wait months, because they're more concerned with cost saving, and not life saving.
As always I suggest following the money. Too much of our expenditures for medical care wind up in the hands of private sector insurance companies to pay huge bureaucratic over head and executive salaries and bonuses. Much of the rest is reinvested in speculative gambling sand other wasteful investments. This is completely unnecessary. All payments and record keeping can be done at a government data center for far less cost. Making and tracking payments and is something our government does very efficiently. We should let them administer the payment of health care costs without having to pay excessive private sector overhead.
The money for these payments should be obtained by an income tax on all income from all sources similar to Social Security but with a minimum taxable income and no upper limit. Thus the people that could already afford to pay for their own medical care will pay just about that amount while the people that cannot afford any will still have care available.
In addition the government could take over both big medical centers and big pharmaceutical firms instituting the same cost savings methodology as used to cut insurance processing costs. Just replacing the top executives of these firms with people from the government management program would save hundreds of millions in administrative costs and probably billions in profits. These lowered costs would be passed on in lower cost drugs.
The biggest cost savings would be early detection and care of high cost diseases such as cancer, progressive heart and liver failure for instance. Under the current system many people put off health assessments because they cannot afford the cost. The result is unnecessary early death after expensive treatment. This may help the profits of the medical industry but also results in more patient pain and early demise than necessary.
As always I suggest following the money. Too much of our expenditures for medical care wind up in the hands of private sector insurance companies to pay huge bureaucratic over head and executive salaries and bonuses. Much of the rest is reinvested in speculative gambling sand other wasteful investments. This is completely unnecessary. All payments and record keeping can be done at a government data center for far less cost. Making and tracking payments and is something our government does very efficiently. We should let them administer the payment of health care costs without having to pay excessive private sector overhead.
The money for these payments should be obtained by an income tax on all income from all sources similar to Social Security but with a minimum taxable income and no upper limit. Thus the people that could already afford to pay for their own medical care will pay just about that amount while the people that cannot afford any will still have care available.
In addition the government could take over both big medical centers and big pharmaceutical firms instituting the same cost savings methodology as used to cut insurance processing costs. Just replacing the top executives of these firms with people from the government management program would save hundreds of millions in administrative costs and probably billions in profits. These lowered costs would be passed on in lower cost drugs.
The biggest cost savings would be early detection and care of high cost diseases such as cancer, progressive heart and liver failure for instance. Under the current system many people put off health assessments because they cannot afford the cost. The result is unnecessary early death after expensive treatment. This may help the profits of the medical industry but also results in more patient pain and early demise than necessary.
Again, "advise " on what others should do from someone who tried to run a business and failed.
Starting a business and failing because of economic and political changes just puts me in the majority as more than 80% of all start up businesses fail. At least I did not stiff any of my creditors although a few of my clients did that to me.
I did learn that someone should not start a business without an outside source of income (employed wife or rich family come to mind) sufficient to keep you private expenses covered until the business becomes profitable enough to pay you a sufficient salary. I do not consider my closing my business to be a complete failure as the only thing I lost was some of my own money and I consider that to be tuition on the school of hard knocks. As I learned from this experience I do not believe it should or does reduce my credibility in any similar discussion.
Look up the going price for an appendectomy. Since most jobs, that our "job creators" are supplying, pay minimum wage, who could afford it?
Yeah really. We need to do something to address the costs of healthcare. I doubt that Obamacare will do this.
I am willing to buy healthcare, but no one will let me. I have asthma and have been rejected from an insurance plan due to my pre-existing condition. I don't smoke, don't do drugs, and don't drink. I work out and am not overweight. I have tried to keep insurance my whole life, then I lost my job.
Still nobody has pointed out why it should be insurance companies who will pay for the sicknesses or injuries people already have. Tat is no more the insurance companies' affair, than it is anyone else's (except maybe the people who are sick and injured).
Why not ask the local car dealer to pay for them? Or the local Boy Scout troop? Or knock on doors of every resident of the neighborhood around 14th St. and Pine Ave, and ask each of them to pay for the treatment of the people who are already sick or injured?
I always thought there needs to be time limits, such as if you've just found out in the last 1-3 that you have the disease, the pre-existing waiting period will apply. But if you've had the disease for more than three years, you obviously aren't trying to "scam" the insurance company, so the waiting period does not apply to you. My son has diabetes and is not offered health insurance through his work. He is 22 years old and luckily has secured a much better job that offers insurance. He is thankfully still on our insurance. I shudder to think of the cost of his diabetes if he didn't have coverage for it. He makes too much money to get any kind of gov. help but the cost of the disease would eat up 3/4 of his income if he wasn't covered. It's sickening that there are people out there that think that it's fair to not cover pre-existing conditions. How about those people pay for the cost of one persons diabetes out of their pocket?
How about you understand what "insurance" means? Just because your family is in a tight spot doesn't make it "sickening" that insurance companies don't cover pre-existing conditions.
That is exactly equivalent to saying I don't have a place to live so it is sickening that Ford Motor Company doesn't build houses.
You should be directing your wrath where it belongs - at the high costs of healthcare. Insurance companies have nothing to do with your son's diabetes and it makes no sense for them to cover it. That's not what insurance is. Do you get fire insurance after your house has burned down?
Personally, I am in favor of creating a new government bureaucracy that will be called FOOMP: The Federal Office Of Medical Payments. The employees of FOOMP will be allowed to do one thing, and one thing ONLY!
They will be tasked with paying medical bills submitted by medical facilities IN THE UNITED STATES, for care provided to UNITED STATES CITIZENS. The bills will go directly to the local FOOMP office. The patient will never see the bill, and co-pays will be illegal. Yes, this will include prescription drugs. the employees of FOOMP will receive the bill, write the check, and send the check. That's all. 8 hours per day, five days per week.
ALL existing Government health care plans, state or Federal, will disappear the minute FOOMP is created. No more VA health care, no more Medicare, no Medicaid, no Children's Health care plans, no Tricare (for life, standard, or prime), ALL of them will just go away.
Where will the money come from for FOOMP? Why, from the same source that all the other deficit spending funding comes from, naturally. Maybe the same source as the billions for the big bailouts of companies "too big to fail".
Still nobody has pointed out why it should be insurance companies who will pay for the sicknesses or injuries people already have. Tat is no more the insurance companies' affair, than it is anyone else's (except maybe the people who are sick and injured).
Why not ask the local car dealer to pay for them? Or the local Boy Scout troop? Or knock on doors of every resident of the neighborhood around 14th St. and Pine Ave, and ask each of them to pay for the treatment of the people who are already sick or injured?
Don't know why this old thread had to be resurrected.....Anyway, your question proves why there should be a national healthcare system in this country.
The question I am asking is why ailing old people and poor families should be funding high profits of medical insurance companies and their millionaire executives...
Anyone?
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I don't smoke, don't do drugs, and don't drink. I work out and am not overweight. I have tried to keep insurance my whole life, then I lost my job.
