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$15k billable for a $350 dollar med device was happening long before a 2.3% tax.
YUP.
I am on a medical device that costs ~$650 out of pocket. You know how much my insurance is billed monthly? $300/mo for 12 months. But if I wanted to save the company money by purchasing the device through another distributor and submitting the claim, they will not cover it since it is out of network.
Late summer 2012 I received a letter from my then insurance company (Empire BCBC) stating the reasons for the increase in my renewal premium. The first reason was costs, the second reason was the ACA, the third reason was an increase in mental health benefits brought about by a law named after a person.
You have to remember that elements of the ACA have been gradually incorporated over the last couple of years.
You must have private insurance cause they gave you "explanations." Did they say how ACA was a factor? My employer based plans (and I was part of the decision making on who to use) went up almost 15% PER YEAR, year over year from 2005 to 2010, before ACA was a blip on the radar. They will always find some "explanation" for the premium increases. Supposedly that is why the exchanges may be a benefit especially for small to midsize businesses. We just had to dilute plans year after year and the costs STILL went up. More pay for less coverage...for YEARS!
And how does that parlay into "25%" cuts in staffing?! Most plans had low or no copays for preventative exams already. Consult, yes, exam no. That hasn't changed despite the "devastation" talk.
Another load of propaganda. $15k billable for a $350 dollar med device was happening long before a 2.3% tax. Blatant right wing talking point. Device makers (and their lobby) has been a major part of gouging EVERYONE in the system for years. While the eyes were on Pharma, device makers were and still are looting the store. A tax on them is part of the solution ....AS LONG AS OTHER COSTS ARE CONTAINED...and that's the tough part with all the divisiveness. Too many lobbyists, lawyers and insurance companies in the pie to affect real change.
Still, the misinfo is amazing.
What is the $350 device which is being billed at $15K? Is it something which requires a procedure? Malpractice insurance has gone through the roof -- is it possible that $14,650 might be substantially comprised of malpractice insurance once the doctor's actual services are taken into account?
Personally, I find the costs of many of these tests to be ridiculously exorbitant along with the cost of many medications.
You must have private insurance cause they gave you "explanations." Did they say how ACA was a factor? My employer based plans (and I was part of the decision making on who to use) went up almost 15% PER YEAR, year over year from 2005 to 2010, before ACA was a blip on the radar. They will always find some "explanation" for the premium increases. Supposedly that is why the exchanges may be a benefit especially for small to midsize businesses. We just had to dilute plans year after year and the costs STILL went up. More pay for less coverage...for YEARS!
Same here, the rate increase I got was at about the current rate of inflation - basically nothing.
People will be blaming cracks in the sidewalk on the ACA next.
Just for the record, I think ACA was a lame solution overall and I don't mean to be a knee jerk defender of it. However I think something needed to be done and in our contentious 1 party system (dems and repubs of course) nothing of value was likely to happen. That said I want to see it implemented and let it rise or fall as it may on it's own successes or failures. I'm sick of the BS, partisan hyperbole ("protect us from the devastation", yadda yadda) and misinformation. It passed all the channels and was upheld. Let's see how it goes. Nothing is going to be worse than what we currently have which is serving corporate interests and not doctors, patients or the country's health. Corporate interests over the people's interests? Where have we heard that tune before? Taxes?
which is serving corporate interests and not doctors, patients or the country's health.
Corporate interests in healthcare = don't pay for expensive procedures. Get as many people as you can and deny or limit coverage.
Kind of sad if you think about it, considering we claim to have the best health care in the world. Health care in generally does not fall in-line with corporate interests.
You must have private insurance cause they gave you "explanations." Did they say how ACA was a factor? My employer based plans (and I was part of the decision making on who to use) went up almost 15% PER YEAR, year over year from 2005 to 2010, before ACA was a blip on the radar. They will always find some "explanation" for the premium increases. Supposedly that is why the exchanges may be a benefit especially for small to midsize businesses. We just had to dilute plans year after year and the costs STILL went up. More pay for less coverage...for YEARS!
You're asking a slightly bedraggled, almost 50 year-old brain to remember the intricacies of a letter from 14-15 months ago. What I do recall is that it was vague, however the points I mentioned were points they bulleted on the letter.
Going back in time (a few decades) people had health insurance which required us to lay out the $ for the doctor, submit receipts and forms, and then wait for reimbursement. It wasn't cheap then. I paid about $8K for a family, we had a deductible (basically got back 80% until you reached a $2K deductible.
I had worked for a doctor's office and the majority of people had this type of insurance. HMOs started showing up more and more in the late 80's. People had ridiculously low copays, and those who previously almost never went to the doctor, made a hobby of going to the doctor because of their cheap $5 copay. The doctors started doing more tests -- the patients didn't have to shell out anything extra, making them just as complicit.
ACA, IMHO, failed to address the major sources of cost -- the insurance companies, malpractice, drug costs, and over-doctoring.
Just for the record, I think ACA was a lame solution overall and I don't mean to be a knee jerk defender of it. However I think something needed to be done and in our contentious 1 party system (dems and repubs of course) nothing of value was likely to happen. That said I want to see it implemented and let it rise or fall as it may on it's own successes or failures. I'm sick of the BS, partisan hyperbole ("protect us from the devastation", yadda yadda) and misinformation. It passed all the channels and was upheld. Let's see how it goes. Nothing is going to be worse than what we currently have which is serving corporate interests and not doctors, patients or the country's health. Corporate interests over the people's interests? Where have we heard that tune before? Taxes?
That’s the point, we are seeing how it’s going and we do not like what we see... Hospital care is much worse than it was just a short time ago... Even though exchanges have just gone live but this ball has been rolling for some time now causing disturbing results… You’re luckily a healthy person no doubt and dont see what going on in these Hospitals..…
One example is that a CPAP breathing machine can cost 10x the actual cost due to overcharging by insurance companies/DMEs.
That's really effed up. I quick Googled CPAP and this is what I found in one article:
Quote:
Testing can be a lucrative business, and labs have popped up in free-standing clinics and hospitals across the country. Over the past decade, the number of accredited sleep labs that test for the disorder has quadrupled, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). At the same time, insurer spending on the procedure has skyrocketed. Medicare payments for sleep testing, for example, increased from $62 million in 2001 to $235 million in 2009, according to the Office of the Inspector General.
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