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I worked in IT in NYC from 85 to 2000. I had the usual Blue Cross/GHI health insurance that 10's of thousands of public sector employees get. Never touched it. Was never sick once. Had four wisdom teeth out and had to pay for it myself, because there wasn't any dental provision in those days. Anyway for the last 15 years I have lived without any health coverage whatsoever. I'm not 30 anymore. I've had serious chronic ailments arise for which treatment was impossible. Until recently. My wife got a job in our new state with health insurance.
Long story short they have been working on saving what is left of my eyesight and fixing some other problems. What the various health providers have charged our insurance company to do all this in the last six months has more than cost what my wife (not poorly paid) will make in the next six years. I'm not kidding. One eye operation (I will need two) was more than a year of her salary, for two hours spent under General Anesthesia. The hospital charged as much as the surgeon and anesthesiologist combined, just for providing a clean (hopefully) room for them to work in.
A tiny little bottle of eye drops (30 day supply) costs $500, thank you. My co-pay is $30. How is this sustainable? There aren't enough Millenials working to pay health premiums for nothing in return, so that other (older) people can allow hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to charge extortionate amounts of money for their services. IMO the only flaw in ACA was that it did not address the costs of healthcare. How in the world can Trump and other Republicans guarantee tax cuts for ALL Americans when everything Americans need to keep a First World level of civilization going is costing more and more every year?
So... lets discuss whether or not medical costs in this country are too high, just about right or rather low, compared to other places, for what you get. Since ACA is bound to get hammered in the debate, lets have opinions on what would be a better idea. If you don't have a better idea, then I don't think its fair to criticize ACA.
For bonus points can anyone tell me why dental care in America is completely outside of the standard health care system? Anything more than one cleaning and one extraction a year. And you have to pay out of pocket? As I understand it, almost half of Americans did not see a dentist last year. Fully one third 33% of Americans have never seen a dentist. Middle Class Americans are doing their own tooth extractions with string, Jack Daniels, and the front door... ... even while the television ads for tooth implants is playing in the background.
Weren't you a staunch supporter of the ACA? I think so.....
It has already been said today that this was already the paradigm before ACA. My point is that ACA didn't fix it. Obama has had his run. We need to get over him. Literally. You think this will all change for the better when Trump gets in office? I don't. But it will be less upsetting then, right? Like how 10.2% unemployment was acceptable under Reagan, but 7% after Obama brought us back from the brink was unacceptable. Now its 5% and Conservatives are still complaining.
However the Dow now is 17,368.50 under Obamarama. Unbelievable!!!
I have to call bs on this. My last mammogram in 2014 was billed at $440.40 and the insurance agreed price was $211.
Just saying. There is an alternative to mammograms called "Breast Thermography". Sometimes its called Thermal Imaging, but it should be called a better way to screen for breast cancer. Mammograms cause cancer in a small but growing number of women, and don't quote me, but I believe that in some finite period of time (~10yr) a significant... like 10% of breast cancer in women will have been caused by the very mammograms they are using to screen themselves with. Young women under 40 who have a family history of breast cancer and start having mammograms early are at such a high risk of getting cancer from the radiation of mammography that it is estimated that MORE women will GET cancer from yearly mammograms than it actually finds. Like as skewed as 50 cases of cancer caused by mammograms for every 15 that they detect.
This isn't where this thread was supposed to go but I've known about this for a long time. I've had ex's from as far back as 2004 use thermal imaging instead of mammograms. It was really a radical idea back then and mainstream health insurance providers were not paying for it. Most probably won't even now. It's worth paying out of pocket for TI. I'm serious. Even ultrasound is a safer technology and, ironically, if you have a dodgy mammogram what are they going to do... schedule you for an ultrasound... ... End of rant. Don't take my word... lets see if I can find some links...
It has already been said today that this was already the paradigm before ACA. My point is that ACA didn't fix it. Obama has had his run. We need to get over him. Literally. You think this will all change for the better when Trump gets in office? I don't. But it will be less upsetting then, right? Like how 10.2% unemployment was acceptable under Reagan, but 7% after Obama brought us back from the brink was unacceptable. Now its 5% and Conservatives are still complaining.
No, it didn't. It couldn't. The ACA required buy-in from all the major players. Cost containment would have been a deal-breaker for providers.
Once single-payer was off the table, cost containment was also.
But I think we will see some measures enacted in the foreseeable future. It's the next obvious piece, and now that such a large block of the population is in the same insurance system, it will become politically easier.
Weren't you a staunch supporter of the ACA? I think so.....
Nope, you've confused me with some other Liberal. No one could call me a staunch supporter of the ACA. That does not mean I was against it. I was, and am, an Obama supporter. My opinion then, and now, is that if Republican opponents had not fought the program so hard, it might actually have resembled something people could use. Republicans destroyed ACA even though its model was the Massachusetts system signed into law by Mitt Romney, who then had the enviable job of publicly fighting tooth and nail the efficacy of his own Romneycare. A trick only a Conservative could pull off.
Originally Posted by shadowne
I have to call bs on this. My last mammogram in 2014 was billed at $440.40 and the insurance agreed price was $211.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Leisesturm
Even ultrasound is a safer technology and, ironically, if you have a dodgy mammogram what are they going to do... schedule you for an ultrasound... ... End of rant. Don't take my word... lets see if I can find some links...
Nope, you've confused me with some other Liberal. No one could call me a staunch supporter of the ACA. That does not mean I was against it. I was, and am, an Obama supporter. My opinion then, and now, is that if Republican opponents had not fought the program so hard, it might actually have resembled something people could use. Republicans destroyed ACA even though its model was the Massachusetts system signed into law by Mitt Romney, who then had the enviable job of publicly fighting tooth and nail the efficacy of his own Romneycare. A trick only a Conservative could pull off.
So you are, and why is it the repubs fault? Not a single repub voted for it.
The romney excuse is just a bunch of crap, you can blah blah blah all you want, not close, maybe you missed that part where romney said the aca is good for a small area, but not the entire US....
Of course you won't admit that:
"Mitt Romney, shown signing the Massachusetts health care bill in 2006, said during his presidential run that the state’s reform wouldn’t work for the whole country"
My wife had an annual checkup/mammogram last month. The insurance co was billed $4000 but got a $3000 in network discount and only paid $1000. IMHO still too high for what was provided
In the first post you claimed insurance paid $1,000 for a checkup and mammogram but your image shows $344.78 for checkup, mammogram and ultrasound which sounds about right.
In the first post you claimed insurance paid $1,000 for a checkup and mammogram but your image shows $344.78 for checkup, mammogram and ultrasound which sounds about right.
The first was from memory and the second, digging out and copying the bill, was just for you. Still stunning that the unadjusted bill was $4000+.
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... End of rant. Don't take my word... lets see if I can find some links...
Still stunning that the unadjusted bill was $4000+.
