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The focus certainly isn't on the root causes of high health care costs now either. One factor driving health care costs is that many Americans have one or more chronic conditions, like asthma, diabetes, heart disease---in fact about 45 % of the population do. Many of these conditions, not all, are due to obesity and an inactive lifestyle. Our current medical system is great at treating acute illnesses like a heart attack. It does very poorly at preventing and managing chronic illnesses.
I'll grant you that obese people are more susceptible to high blood pressure, and diabetes, but those can be treated rather easily. Besides those I mentioned, very little illness is due to obesity, cancers, mental illness, brain illnesses like Parkinson and forms of dementia, strokes, arthritis, back injuries etc... Injuries by physically active people probably account for more doctor visits then from people sitting around watching TV.
One reason we aren't focusing on the root causes now, is because government has been taking over health care more and more each decade, and lobbyists control politicians.
It has to do with the fact that eventually everyone gets sick or injured. If you're saying insurance companies can discriminate based on pre-existing conditions, that means that an insurance company would be able to deny your claims as soon as you get sick or injured. As soon as you get sick or injured, from that point on you would be in the same boat as those others with pre-existing conditions.
Seriously??? Have you not followed this issue for two seconds to even understand what we are talking about?
Easy to talk, isn't it, when it's not something you have to deal with on a daily basis.
But, I bet you'll just keep on whining about all the people taking up space in the ERs, huh?
Not to mention how your rates will keep going up to cover their costs.
How people pay for their care should be everyone's concern, if for no other reason than because the current system detrimentally impacts everyone's wallet.
Finally, contrary to what people want to believe, coverage for health care is no longer simply a way to cover "unexpected costs." It is now a way to manage costs, period.
Health "insurance" stopped being about catastrophic illness a long time ago. As has been noted, it is now about maintenance and reducing the risk of incurring the costs associated with catastrophic care. To deny the very people who would benefit the most and incur the highest costs if their conditions are not managed is simply not good business sense, not to mention inhumane.
First, you have absolutely no idea what I have to deal with on a daily basis, so take your condescending holier than thou attitude and cram it someplace else. This isn't about one person's personal needs, it's about the SYSTEM.
You're conflating two issues.
Health INSURANCE is not Health CARE.
Health care is provided by doctors & nurses & the like. These people are the only ones who can give care to those who need it, and they are the only ones who can withhold that care. These people usually need to be paid to do the work they do. If the work they do has become too costly for some, then we need to look at the reasons for that and at possible solutions, ways to reduce that cost.
Insurance is a financial instrument that some people choose to purchase. For an agreed upon payment now or at regular intervals from the insured, the insurer agrees to pay for certain expenses in the event they become necessary.
If some people do not, either through choice or inability, have insurance to pay for their health care, why should it become the burden of those who do have it, or of an insurance company which is being asked to take on a guaranteed money drain?
Health Insurance initially was to cover catastrophic health events BUT that was then and THIS is now... Most insurance companies offer "health insurance" not in the traditional sense of what I just mention but to pay for routine and specialized healthcare... if you want health insurance for catastrophic events, you can buy that... if you want health insurance for short-term and long-term medical care... if you want both of those (which MOST people are paying for), then you have what we have already been paying for...
On to the topic of pre-existing medical condition... I don't like casino rules where the odds are stacked against you and the house wins (again and again and again)... that is exactly what the health insurance did with excluding pre-existing conditions.. they are gaming the system... if people buy health insurance, it isn't because they want to exclude pre-existing conditions and the insurance companies KNOW it... so making it illegal for something the insurance wants to gain profit, not deliver better healthcare is fine... because the goal of the CURRENT health insurance is that... for health care, not insurance profits... if you want to make a profit, fine... but not on the selective expense of others...
You're right. The average joe out there should totally have a few hundred thousand saved up just in case he gets hit by a drunk driver.
This is pointless.
I agree. All these posters talking about how they always pay in cash in full for their services is a bunch of bull. NO ONE could afford to pay cash in full for pretty much any visit, blood work, surgery, etc.
Seriously??? Have you not followed this issue for two seconds to even understand what we are talking about?
Well, enlighten us, because people are all over the map on this issue.
1) What exactly is a preexisting condition?
2) When is someone unfairly trying to force others to pay for their health care?
3) What constitutes a fair, ethical and moral justification for an insurance provider to terminate a customer's health care insurance coverage, or deny a potential customer coverage?
I agree. All these posters talking about how they always pay in cash in full for their services is a bunch of bull. NO ONE could afford to pay cash in full for pretty much any visit, blood work, surgery, etc.
oh they cant???
a doctors office vist is what...roughly $60...maybe $100
meanwhile you guys have NO PROBLEM paying 700 for an Iphone
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