Anyone sign up for Obamacare? (2013, foreclosure, insurance)

[TimeMachine]

Originally Posted by miu

And I am sympathetic about your brother. However his cancer treatments should be made to cost less and with an option to pay for them with a low interest government loan. After all, if so many Americans are willing to get into debt over cars costing between $20K and up to and over $100K, why wouldn't they be able to pay for high medical bills? I see "poor" people driving SUVs like Escalades and Hummers all of the time, let them pay for their healthcare the same way.

This comment saddens me, it really does. And if this person does not qualify for a loan, or has nothing against which to secure it...should they just die?


On to the topic, I have not checked out the exchange yet, I'm covered by my employeer, it's affordable "enough" and I don't want to rock the boat right now as I'm half way through a pregnancy.

[JenX]

Nope, but I'm helping a friend sign up this week. The kind of guy who has several different health issues, one that is probably terminal. He's been resigned to living in pain constantly, and doesn't go to the doctor because he can't afford it. He's grateful to possibly get some relief.

[miu]

Originally Posted by TimeMachine

This comment saddens me, it really does. And if this person does not qualify for a loan, or has nothing against which to secure it...should they just die?


On to the topic, I have not checked out the exchange yet, I'm covered by my employeer, it's affordable "enough" and I don't want to rock the boat right now as I'm half way through a pregnancy.

If you read my post completely, I said that his care would be a government loan... why should he get so much medical care for so cheap?

Again, the only people happy about Obamacare are those who already know that they need expensive healthcare. Of course they're happy to only pay a few hundred dollars a month with the expectation that their insurance plan will cover tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

And what's really tragic about their attitude and yours, is that they have NO GUILT at all about taking so much from the rest of us. My boyfriend (32) and I (54) may be healthy, but we work hard to pay for our mortgage, homeowners insurance and property taxes. Why on earth would I be eager to pay for some complete stranger's medical bills? And if they are poor or just not good with managing their personal finances, why should we be punished for that? Their bad life decisions are just not my concern.

What should upset YOU is why healthcare is so expensive. Why are cancer treatments so pricey? Why are pregnancy costs so high? Some of that is the cost of medical training, but also malpractice insurance premiums. Our country is just so sue-happy.

[TimeMachine]

[quote=miu;31707540] Why on earth would I be eager to pay for some complete stranger's medical bills? And if they are poor or just not good with managing their personal finances, why should we be punished for that? Their bad life decisions are just not my concern.quote]

Because 1. This is NH, and imagine the impact to our tourist industry if the dead lined the streets?
and 2. you are really telling me that a family who has exhausted their assets caring for a child with cancer is now going to have to "apply" for a loan to keep their kid alive? This doesn't turn your stomach and make you vomit?


But yes, I agree that cost overall is the main issue.

[miu]

Originally Posted by TimeMachine

Because 1. This is NH, and imagine the impact to our tourist industry if the dead lined the streets?
and 2. you are really telling me that a family who has exhausted their assets caring for a child with cancer is now going to have to "apply" for a loan to keep their kid alive? This doesn't turn your stomach and make you vomit?


But yes, I agree that cost overall is the main issue.

1. We have plenty of room for cemetery plots.

2. If the healthcare was managed properly, then after insurance was used up, then a social worker would make arrangements for the balance of the care to be covered by a loan. It wouldn't get to the point of "exhausting their assets".

Again, it sickens me much more that people are more willing to get into debt over college tuition for their children or the lease or purchase of a luxury car or SUV, but not be willing to pay for their high medical bills.

[TimeMachine]

Did I just eat troll bait?

[buck naked]

a loan? seriously? When people are dying, they don't want to take out loans that can never be repaid.

$600K at last count for medical expenses. Is that excessive? Probably not. It involved 3 months in the hospital. Surgery to remove internal organs. Chemotherapy and radiation PLUS all the doctors and nurses involved in treatment. That's not counting drugs that cost over $300 per prescription for a month supply.

When people lose their homes over medical expenses, it's because they've already exhausted all income and financial support.


I will agree to let Miu pay for all medicals herself when she is dying. After all, there are "plenty of cemetery plots". (not really, but that's another thread).

[unit731]

Myth Number 1.

But rather than capping jury awards, they hope to cut the number of medical malpractice cases by reducing medical errors, as they explain in an in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In other words, to the Republicans, suits and payouts are the ill.

To the Democrats, the problem is a slew of medical injuries of which the suits are a symptom.

The latest evidence shows the Democrats' diagnosis to be right.

The best attempt to synthesize the academic literature on medicalmalpractice is Tom Baker's The Medical Malpractice Myth, published last November. Baker, a law professor at the University of Connecticut who studies insurance, argues that the hype about medical malpractice suits is "urban legend mixed with the occasional true story, supported by selective references to academic studies." After all, including legal fees, insurance costs, and payouts, the cost of the suits comes to less than one-halfof 1 percent of health-care spending. If anything, there are fewer lawsuits than would be expected, and far more injuries than we usually imagine."



LINK

Facts sometimes get the way of opinions.

[miu]

Originally Posted by buck naked

a loan? seriously? When people are dying, they don't want to take out loans that can never be repaid.

$600K at last count for medical expenses. Is that excessive? Probably not. It involved 3 months in the hospital. Surgery to remove internal organs. Chemotherapy and radiation PLUS all the doctors and nurses involved in treatment. That's not counting drugs that cost over $300 per prescription for a month supply.

When people lose their homes over medical expenses, it's because they've already exhausted all income and financial support.


I will agree to let Miu pay for all medicals herself when she is dying. After all, there are "plenty of cemetery plots". (not really, but that's another thread).

The loans can be repaid by their family. After all, they love and care for him. And his living longer doesn't benefit me in any way.

And $600K is truly outrageous for medical expenses. Why on earth would you consider that a reasonable price, especially if your brother doesn't fully go into remission and live another 20 years.

Why aren't you outraged that his drugs are costing over $300 a prescription? They are blackmailing your family into submission.

But I see that it's fine to embrace conservative values up until your own family needs a handout from the government.

[buck naked]

yes, his little children should be responsible for his medical bills. Or are you expecting ME to foot the bill? Are you for real? I hope you have some family to help with your bills when the time comes.

I explained why I thought $600K was reasonable.

As for the drugs, he couldn't afford them so he suffered through the pain.

You can brag that you are able to work currently, but he also worked his entire life at multiple jobs. Most ill people are not deadbeats. That's a myth.