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Insurance is the middle man. Every time you add the cost of a middle man (remember, most insurance companies are for profit), the cost to the consumer rises. That's basic economics. So insurance, medical costs, whatever label you want to slap on it - the costs go up to the consumer.
Also, when we don't see the bills, or can't decipher the bills, we often don't know what the medical costs "really" are. For instance, you can't tell me that the cost of a Tylenol is really $6. So why does it say "Tylenol - $6" on a nearly undecipherable medical bill? Insurance doesn't really pay that - and most people don't really pay it, but if you're one of the "lucky" ones who actually does pay one's own medical bills, then guess what - you pay that. Why? I think a lot of charges - to and from insurance companies, and from medical providers, are charged "because we can." To me it sort of feels like, "Send them this bill and see if they will pay it. We've got a 25 percent chance they will, so jack the price up to cover all the folks who won't pay!" The thing is - the pill should never cost $6 to begin with.
It's a big shell game and it really ticks me off.
Well then take out that middle man and go try to have surgery in the hospital.
It's not the insurance tacking on tens of thousands of dollars.
So, you're claiming that insurance companies forced a hospital to charge $55,000 for an appendectomy that really only costs $2,800?
The same hospital negotiated a settlement with the insurance company for $11,000....for a $2,800 appendectomy.
Lower the cost of medical care, and you lower the cost of health insurance.
Insurance companies don't pay that $55k either. They pay a "negotiated price," as you point out, and it's NOT the price on a bill you'll get if you show up with no insurance.
Everyone's money driven in this industry - from the pharmaceutical rep to the medical supply company to the insurance company. Doctors get a bad rap but sometimes I think they're the least of our worries. And the poor nurses and other medical support - the hours they work and the shift loads they have are HORRIBLE in many cases. Cut the benefits, load them up with patients, cut the services, kick people out of the hospital as quickly as possible, cut appointment times down to about 7 minutes, stack 'em in the waiting room, and charge them out the wazoo.
I didn't say that the cost of everything is ONLY the fault of the insurance companies. They are PART of the problem though. After all, they've got to get their cut, and like I said, the vast majority of them are for profit companies - they're not in the business for charitable reasons, they're in it because it's big money.
You missed the most important part of my post - and that is that Switzerland requires that ALL insurance companies be NON PROFIT.
This greatly reduces the cost of insurance.
this is not about insurance..its about actual cost of care
national health care..or singlepayer..or universal health care...cant be done without killing the taxpayer
national health care or mediciad for all.. or whatever you want to call it will cost 3 trillion to 6 trillion YEARLY and ALWAYS going up
there are only 140 million tax FILERS of which 47% dont pay anything...so there are only about 70-75 million tax PAYERS
do you really think the tax PAYERS can afford a 30k-60 tax bill each, yearly
so what are we saying we should FORCE doctors and nurse to work for minimum wage. and have offices in huts
when you pay that doctor $100 ,, its not 100 dollars going into his pocket...there are lots of other COSTS
how are you going to control the cost of medical equipment(mri or x-ray machines, etc)??????most xray machine are made in Denmark
how are you going to control the cost of the rising electric bills the doctors/hospitals are facing????
how are you going to control the rising property tax/rent/mortgage that doctors face?????
how are you going to control the cost of supplies(gauze, plaster, silk, rubber, polystyrene( a oil product)?????especially some supplies that aren't even american
how are you going to control the cost of people salaries???? a maximum wage???
how they are going to control the employment costs for Doctors, nurses, technicians, hospital food operators, hospital linen cleaning service, custodial services, medical transcribers........are you going to 'nationalize' every profession that is even remotely connected to medicine????
how are they going to control malpractice INSURANCE COSTS?????
don't you get it... medicine (like anyother SERVICE) costs money,,(,money that our government doesn't have)
want to know A BIG REASON why its lower in those other countries.??? salaries.....a nurse in France(actually most of europe) makes about 1500-1800 a month(in us dollars)..that's 18-20000 a year.....meanwhile according to payscale.com the average Rn makes 40-78,000 in the usa
is that what you want??? do you want to have medical PROFESSIONALS be forced to work for nearly minimum wage
.............I would be all for single payer...except for two things that the "pro singlepayer" people cant answer..I want a GUARENTEE of QUALITY care (not health dept horror clinics)...and the COST (which the prosinglepayer people never address)
if you are a taxpayer...you cant afford singlepayer
this is not about insurance..its about actual cost of care
national health care..or singlepayer..or universal health care...cant be done without killing the taxpayer
national health care or mediciad for all.. or whatever you want to call it will cost 3 trillion to 6 trillion YEARLY and ALWAYS going up
there are only 140 million tax FILERS of which 47% dont pay anything...so there are only about 70-75 million tax PAYERS
do you really think the tax PAYERS can afford a 30k-60 tax bill each, yearly
so what are we saying we should FORCE doctors and nurse to work for minimum wage. and have offices in huts
when you pay that doctor $100 ,, its not 100 dollars going into his pocket...there are lots of other COSTS
how are you going to control the cost of medical equipment(mri or x-ray machines, etc)??????most xray machine are made in Denmark
how are you going to control the cost of the rising electric bills the doctors/hospitals are facing????
how are you going to control the rising property tax/rent/mortgage that doctors face?????
how are you going to control the cost of supplies(gauze, plaster, silk, rubber, polystyrene( a oil product)?????especially some supplies that aren't even american
how are you going to control the cost of people salaries???? a maximum wage???
how they are going to control the employment costs for Doctors, nurses, technicians, hospital food operators, hospital linen cleaning service, custodial services, medical transcribers........are you going to 'nationalize' every profession that is even remotely connected to medicine????
how are they going to control malpractice INSURANCE COSTS?????
don't you get it... medicine (like anyother SERVICE) costs money,,(,money that our government doesn't have)
want to know A BIG REASON why its lower in those other countries.??? salaries.....a nurse in France(actually most of europe) makes about 1500-1800 a month(in us dollars)..that's 18-20000 a year.....meanwhile according to payscale.com the average Rn makes 40-78,000 in the usa
is that what you want??? do you want to have medical PROFESSIONALS be forced to work for nearly minimum wage
.............I would be all for single payer...except for two things that the "pro singlepayer" people cant answer..I want a GUARENTEE of QUALITY care (not health dept horror clinics)...and the COST (which the prosinglepayer people never address)
if you are a taxpayer...you cant afford singlepayer
Nice rant, but here's my short answer to the parts I bolded.
No.
I don't know where you're getting the idea that I want to go to a single payer system.
Haven't I read this same rant on some other thread?
Nice rant, but here's my short answer to the parts I bolded.
No.
I don't know where you're getting the idea that I want to go to a single payer system.
Haven't I read this same rant on some other thread?
did you or did you not say --- non-profit
no-one other than a government can survive on non-profit
again are you saying doctors should not make a living????...be paid min wage?? not make a profit, in order to make their practice better and have growth???
you rant about non-profit is a rant about singlepayer, or something like it....and it cant work here...and isn't working in many of those other countries.....frances health care is going bankrupt
no-one other than a government can survive on non-profit
again are you saying doctors should not make a living????...be paid min wage?? not make a profit, in order to make their practice better and have growth???
you rant about non-profit is a rant about singlepayer, or something like it....and it cant work here...and isn't working in many of those other countries.....frances health care is going bankrupt
There are all sorts of non profit organizations that are not part of any sort of government or government program.
And I said absolutely NOTHING about medical personnel not being well paid, or working in a non profit position. In fact, I've stated that many medical professionals are underpaid and overworked as it is.
The ONLY entity I was talking about being non profit is the insurance companies.
Pay attention. I'm not talking about any sort of single payer plan. I'm not talking about France's system. I'm talking about Switzerland's system, which is not failing or going bankrupt. You should look into it before going off on an uninformed rampage.
I didn't say that the cost of everything is ONLY the fault of the insurance companies. They are PART of the problem though. After all, they've got to get their cut, and like I said, the vast majority of them are for profit companies - they're not in the business for charitable reasons, they're in it because it's big money.
Not really. Profit margins range from 1% to 7%. In 2013, health insurance companies averaged less than 3% profit.
SO you stay with the policy you had, there is NO requirement to get your Health Insurance through ACA.
Not possible. Obamacare outlawed thousands of those old policies.
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