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And whose fault is that. How about we all have the same health insurance that congress gets.
I have the same insurance Congress gets. Cost me $500 a month for health insurance plus another $300 a month for Medicare premiums. Congress has the same health insurance every other federal employee has.
HC should be free for everyone. Just stopping spending trillions on failed wars and sending money to other countries and our problems are fixed. Take a amount out of everyones check, people that make more should have more taken out.
"Our Healthcare System Has Really Declined for the Middle Class"
My immediate family and I pay our primary physicians in cash and receive excellent care. However, we have to use our varied insurance companies for specialists. The difference I've witnessed in the last few years is appalling. Going to a specialist for tests is like a cattle call. Getting the test results doesn't take horribly long. However, getting them to coordinate with my primary care doctor, about treatment, takes forever.
There's a simple way to deal with that issue now. Every doctor I have now has web access and the test results are sitting there. So instead of waiting for some office worker to get to it on their list of to do's, you open the web page for your specialist & download their results. Then open the the web page for your PCP and upload it into their inbox. They usually figure it out from there.
Our Healthcare system has declined for everyone since Obama stuck his hands into it. Prescriptions are higher. Have had to do more pre-authorizations than all the years combined that I've had insurance before Obama came into office. What did I gain? A free yearly complete physical (saved me $52 as blood work is 100% covered: Woopee!).
As a user of the system and a former Group Health Insurance broker, in my opinion for the average person who needs health insurance (mainly in the Individual Market) and care, the system has been in a sharp decline since Obamacare.
The usual Democrat mantra of helping the middle class is just a farce. There is no desire to help the middle class, just destroy it. Oh yes, we may have health insurance but what good is health insurance when you can't afford or find care?
If you want high quality (and fast access) care these days, you need to self-pay. That's great if you can afford it. Hooray for boutique medicine but it certainly doesn't help me or most people. Or perhaps have a really good Group Health plan but even then, we just don't have enough doctors and SPECIALISTS to meet the demand. Why is that? Perhaps too many regulations and too low of reimbursement rates to justify young doctors-to-be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on schooling. I have also met several physicians who have just retired or quit. They just said no to more regulations and less pay.
...and a problem that has never gone away intentionally is the complicated structure of a health insurance policy. Most people have no clue on the mechanics between copays, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, RX deductibles, explanation of benefits, billing codes, etc. Don't think it's not that way for a reason.
What industry can you utilize service in and have NO IDEA what the final cost will be until AFTER you have service? Ever ask you your doctor how much a battery of tests will cost? Ever call your health insurance company and try to figure out what the cost will be? Is it a diagnostic or preventative test? How is that decision made? Lots of wiggle room which usually works against you. And those mysterious, hefty doctor office bills that 99% of the time are so-called "billing mistakes" after challenging them. Ever get under-billed for a service?
...and speaking of the doctors, what ever happened to having a relationship with one and being able to get in and see your doctor in a reasonable amount of time? Why are they always starring at their laptop and rushing you in and out of the office? ...and the friendly and helpful "take a number" office staff (sarcasm).
...and what if you're on a, dare I say it, an opioid or other controlled substance? We have completely lost our minds on how we deal with patients using these drugs. Now everyone is a criminal (of course after years and years of the medical and drug community making millions of dollars off of prescribing these drugs) and the most responsible user of one of those drugs is treated without compassion or dignity. I have news for the medical community, some of us need those drugs and use them responsibly. Get off your high horse and CYA mentality and HELP US!
...and lastly, mental health care which is now mandated under ACA. That's great but where are all the mental health professionals? How about Medicare mental health professionals? "We can see you in six months" or "we're not accepting new patients". Gee, that helps. Need a psychiatrist? Good luck.
We have seen the great destruction of a once good healthcare delivery system for the middle class. It was never perfect but it was far better before ObamaCare. Now we have virtually useless benefits, a shortage of medical care and a group of medical professionals who don't give a you-know-what about you. But don't worry, your Senator or Congressman is one the case. Their in the same boat as you (hahaha!).
These were all major issues prior to Obamacare.
You can blame Obamacare for not fixing them, sure, but you can't blame Obamacare for causing them in the first place.
As a user of the system and a former Group Health Insurance broker, in my opinion for the average person who needs health insurance (mainly in the Individual Market) and care, the system has been in a sharp decline since Obamacare.
The usual Democrat mantra of helping the middle class is just a farce. There is no desire to help the middle class, just destroy it. Oh yes, we may have health insurance but what good is health insurance when you can't afford or find care?
If you want high quality (and fast access) care these days, you need to self-pay. That's great if you can afford it. Hooray for boutique medicine but it certainly doesn't help me or most people. Or perhaps have a really good Group Health plan but even then, we just don't have enough doctors and SPECIALISTS to meet the demand. Why is that? Perhaps too many regulations and too low of reimbursement rates to justify young doctors-to-be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on schooling. I have also met several physicians who have just retired or quit. They just said no to more regulations and less pay.
...and a problem that has never gone away intentionally is the complicated structure of a health insurance policy. Most people have no clue on the mechanics between copays, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, RX deductibles, explanation of benefits, billing codes, etc. Don't think it's not that way for a reason.
What industry can you utilize service in and have NO IDEA what the final cost will be until AFTER you have service? Ever ask you your doctor how much a battery of tests will cost? Ever call your health insurance company and try to figure out what the cost will be? Is it a diagnostic or preventative test? How is that decision made? Lots of wiggle room which usually works against you. And those mysterious, hefty doctor office bills that 99% of the time are so-called "billing mistakes" after challenging them. Ever get under-billed for a service?
...and speaking of the doctors, what ever happened to having a relationship with one and being able to get in and see your doctor in a reasonable amount of time? Why are they always starring at their laptop and rushing you in and out of the office? ...and the friendly and helpful "take a number" office staff (sarcasm).
...and what if you're on a, dare I say it, an opioid or other controlled substance? We have completely lost our minds on how we deal with patients using these drugs. Now everyone is a criminal (of course after years and years of the medical and drug community making millions of dollars off of prescribing these drugs) and the most responsible user of one of those drugs is treated without compassion or dignity. I have news for the medical community, some of us need those drugs and use them responsibly. Get off your high horse and CYA mentality and HELP US!
...and lastly, mental health care which is now mandated under ACA. That's great but where are all the mental health professionals? How about Medicare mental health professionals? "We can see you in six months" or "we're not accepting new patients". Gee, that helps. Need a psychiatrist? Good luck.
We have seen the great destruction of a once good healthcare delivery system for the middle class. It was never perfect but it was far better before ObamaCare. Now we have virtually useless benefits, a shortage of medical care and a group of medical professionals who don't give a you-know-what about you. But don't worry, your Senator or Congressman is one the case. Their in the same boat as you (hahaha!).
Yes we have, but if you were around in 1990--when the once great healthcare delivery system started failing, you would know that health insurance and health care has been going downhill since then. It was, in fact, a campaign issue used against Bush Sr.
Obama wanted universal healthcare, but the GOP wouldn't allow it, so he compromised. We need universal healthcare. We don't need the middleman of the insurance companies with nothing but a profit motive.
This is an issue that you have taken out of the context of history--faulty logic. Things have continued downhill since the 80s and the GOP has offered nothing other than Romneycare, which is the ACA, and which became anathema to the GOP once Obama proposed it.
Our Healthcare system has declined for everyone since Obama stuck his hands into it. Prescriptions are higher. Have had to do more pre-authorizations than all the years combined that I've had insurance before Obama came into office. What did I gain? A free yearly complete physical (saved me $52 as blood work is 100% covered: Woopee!).
Lol. Healthcare in this country was in the toilet long before Obama or even W. It started to get really bad in the 80s and 90s. You don't remember the horror stories from the 90s of things like people getting slammed with massive health care bills because their ambulance rides 'weren't pre-approved' by their providers even though those people had to be rushed to the emergency rooms after things like a car accident, do you?
Obama wanted universal healthcare, but the GOP wouldn't allow it, so he compromised. We need universal healthcare. We don't need the middleman of the insurance companies with nothing but a profit motive.
Obama and Democrats passed the law they wanted and did not need GOP support or votes. If it was compromised it was to get other Democrats on board. Many Dems sold their souls and it came back to haunt them from 2012 on.
Not 1 single Repub voted for Obamacare.
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