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Has anyone read yet the article in Time magazine by Steven Brill? It is concerning the health care debacle here in the United States. It covers the greed and ridiculous billing by hospitals, the price of drugs, and medical devices and where these entities bought off congress to continue their raping of the general public even after the passing of the "so called" Affordable Care Act.
It is a must read for all and reminds me of the 27K bill we received from the hospital this year for an 8 hour outpatient stay by my wife in order to have her gall bladder removed.
Because they are pumping so much lobbying money into Congress, I'm not sure there is really a solution for this problem as it would take cooperation from our corrupt representatives.
Has anyone read yet the article in Time magazine by Steven Brill? It is concerning the health care debacle here in the United States. It covers the greed and ridiculous billing by hospitals, the price of drugs, and medical devices and where these entities bought off congress to continue their raping of the general public even after the passing of the "so called" Affordable Care Act.
It is a must read for all and reminds me of the 27K bill we received from the hospital this year for an 8 hour outpatient stay by my wife in order to have her gall bladder removed.
Because they are pumping so much lobbying money into Congress, I'm not sure there is really a solution for this problem as it would take cooperation from our corrupt representatives.
Again, just my opinion but these articles do not always tell the true story. As for your wife's bill, generally those final bills you see are not really what the hospitals recieve from us, the insruance companies, medicare or whatever. I know, they are outrageous though..Believe me, the Obamacare bill isn't going to change anything, at least probably not for the better. But that is just my opinion...
Yep, I did read it--and I thought the author did a brilliant and thorough job at researching and writing the article.
What caught my attention most was:
--so called non-profit hospitals are making huge profits but paying no tax on the $ made--and some of their CEO's make as much as $3 mil/year. This loophole needs to be closed.
--the hospital Chargemaster data bases bill simple things like one aspirin at hugely inflated prices. All services, supplies and tests are greatly inflated--as much as 400%. The patient is getting shafted and gouged. For example, they are billing out nurses at as much as $1000/hour. (Nice mark-up. A shame the nurse isn't getting that $).
--the enormous gap between what Medicare allows and pays and what hospitals/some doctors bill their uninsured or privately-insured patients.
--the fact that 60% of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are caused by medical bills.
--that we in this country pay so much more for our medical care than in any other first tier nation
--the hopelessness that people feel when presented with the huge bills
--that ombudsman consultants are springing up (some former medical billers who understand the system) to help patients get their medical bills reduced...but at a cost of $75-$100 hour for their services.
--that we have a broken healthcare system in this country--with no clear solution to fix it. Obamacare will help some, but it's been gutted by the GOP to prevent any large change that will help the uninsured or the poorly insured.
Anyhow, the piece is very interesting and revealing and I hope more will read it! Thanks for posting the link.
--that ombudsman consultants are springing up (some former medical billers who understand the system) to help patients get their medical bills reduced...but at a cost of $75-$100 hour for their services.
--that we have a broken healthcare system in this country--with no clear solution to fix it. Obamacare will help some, but it's been gutted by the GOP to prevent any large change that will help the uninsured or the poorly insured.
How very American? People are profiting on the dysfunctional profiteers.
How very American? People are profiting on the dysfunctional profiteers.
Is there a problem? I can solve it for a profit.
It just makes me see all the people involved in this price gouging of Americans as bad people. And that's a lot of people. How someone could hold another's life hostage before their check cleared or they were able to pre-pay by credit card is reprehensible. It shouldn't be allowed.
According to one of a series of exhaustive studies done by the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm, we spend more on health care than the next 10 biggest spenders combined: Japan, Germany, France, China, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia.
Personally, I see nothing wrong in the medical billing consultants charging for their services...from the article, they're often getting bills reduced by thousands and thousands of dollars...should they do it for free? How would they earn a living by doing that?
I have substantial more difficulty in "non-profit" medical facilities paying their CEO's 3 million $ in salary...
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
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Three million is nothing for a CEO, it's peanuts. They'd be too ashamed to show up at the golf course if they didn't make more than that.
By the way, it's a good strategy in life to start a nonprofit, then simply vote yourself a hefty salary instead of relying on profits. Great tax advantages.
Again, just my opinion but these articles do not always tell the true story. As for your wife's bill, generally those final bills you see are not really what the hospitals recieve from us, the insruance companies, medicare or whatever. I know, they are outrageous though...
You’re missing the point, those bills are what they issue for their services, and the poor saps that don't have insurance or have insurance with very little leverage end up owing those extremely puffed amounts. My question is, when a hospital issues a highly inflated bill to one that cannot pay, is it this amount they are allowed to write off on their taxes or is it the actual realistic cost of service?
According to the Time article the amount that the hospitals claim as charity care is based upon the fluffed numbers where actually their charity contribution is miniscule.
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