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you guys need to stop using the roads as a backup to UHC. EVERYONE uses the roads so EVERYONE pays for it. I'm not paying for your healthcare because you're not educated enough to get a real job, or is it too lazy? You have to work hard for what you get in life, it just doesn't get handed to you. Now, in order to afford health coverage, we don't need a public option, that is complete bullcrap. All we need to do is tort and other types of reform to reign in the chaos that is going on.
perhaps you missed that i have health insurance through my job.
and there are lots of reasons that people are poor and/or don't have health insurance besides being "not educated enough" or "too lazy". people who used to be hard-working and educated enough to have health insurance are losing it these days as companies cut costs. i guess they got stupid and lazy really fast?
and everyone doesn't use health care? could've fooled me.
And that my friend is something that the dems/libs overlook. There is this thing called "charity care" for people that cannot afford the bill. I have used it several times when I was younger. It worked then and still works now.
there is a huge gap between people who qualify for charity care and people who can afford health insurance. i mentioned in another thread a friend of mine who paid $300 for the privilege of being told she didn't qualify for free or reduced cost care.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dd714
They get medical care, don't pay it, and the hospital writes it off (appears on patients credit reports, blah blah blah).
getting health care and skipping out on the bill is not exactly an action without serious consequences. declaring bankruptcy costs a significant amount of money. and a bad credit score is a bigger and bigger hindrance in life. it can affect your ability to buy a house, rent an apartment, get a vehicle, get a job, get phone electrical or gas service, raise the cost of your insurance, etc.
people should not have to ruin their lives (even if it's "only for 5 years") in order to get medical care that they need to survive. we're not talking about buying something frivolous here, it is something that is absolutely essential and very expensive. and to say that people who can't afford to pay exhorbitant medical bills are actually spending money on "big screen tvs" is just a ridiculous assumption.
people should not have to ruin their lives (even if it's "only for 5 years") in order to get medical care that they need to survive. we're not talking about buying something frivolous here, it is something that is absolutely essential and very expensive. and to say that people who can't afford to pay exhorbitant medical bills are actually spending money on "big screen tvs" is just a ridiculous assumption.
Then we need to address the rising cost of medical care, something that I don't see the current plan addressing. I'm all for a plan, a real plan, to address the cost of healthcare. The current plan doesn't do it.
This plan is simply spreading out the cost to the rest of society. Again, no one is refused life saving health care. But doesn't it make more sense that the benifits to this life saving health care are paid, to the best of their ability (with the safety net being bankruptcy laws), by those receiving it?
Then we need to address the rising cost of medical care, something that I don't see the current plan addressing. I'm all for a plan, a real plan, to address the cost of healthcare. The current plan doesn't do it.?
You never will.
To see real reform you need tort reform and with lawyers in positions of power that will never happen.
To see real reform you need tort reform and with lawyers in positions of power that will never happen.
It's more than tort reform - its FDA regulations, it's nurse shortages, its the AMA, its the cost of technology, and dozens of other things. But I am afraid you are right.
To see real reform you need tort reform and with lawyers in positions of power that will never happen.
Tort reform is another way insurance companies will increase their profits. I would wager if tort reform took place insurance rates doctors pay will decrease minimally or not at all and will take another act of Congress to straighten them out.
Tort reform is another way insurance companies will increase their profits. I would wager if tort reform took place insurance rates doctors pay will decrease minimally or not at all and will take another act of Congress to straighten them out.
You are right.
The real savings will come with less diagnostic tests and procedures doctors use to cover their butts.
A close friend had a medical claim denied by his insurance company. He was then billed for the expenses from the hospital. He is still trying to appeal the claim and/or charges.
Meanwhile, he gets a letter from the medical center stating that until he pays the bill, they will no longer provide medical services to him except lifesaving emergency care.
Really though even if you take out the people that choose not to have health insurance and can afford it and the illegal immigrants, there is still a huge number of people that either don't qualify, are under insured, or simply can't afford it. I love how they put out the number for people that make 50K or more being able to afford it. Realistically a family of four making 50K cannot afford another $1-2K in insurance premiums a month. Insurance where they still would have to pay several hundred a month on average in copayments and other noncovered items. I pay $407/month which has $1000 deductible, covers 80/20, has a $65 copay for specialists which includes my gyn and a $35 for reg docter copay. Doesn't cover prescriptions, covers one dental cleaning a year, doesn't cover any preventative treatment like my son's vaccinations or my annual physical unless there is a problem.
It is really almost ridiculious to bring up cell phones, because most people that can't really afford it end up dropping their landlines and keeping the cell which is cheaper. Realistically they have to have some way to keep in contact with the rest of the world esp if they are lookign for a job. Unless you live in a major metro area public transportation is virtually nonexistant so you eithe rpay more to live in the city or you have to have a car. Really comes out equal in the end. like someone else said it is jujst plain useless to judge someone on the 2 minutes you seem them in the real world.
And really since it all comes down to money, even those people that choose to not have health insurance that can afford it, well all of us taxpayers STILL have to pay for it, just at a huge markup because it is a profit driven system and the huge expense that goes towards administrative costs. I read recently that the NHS in Britian pays about 3% towards administrative costs. Insurance companies pay closer to 30% and that doesn't even include the admin costs for the doctors offices and hospitals.
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