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Are you a hospital administrator and know what it costs to run a hospital? Are you aware that a significant portion of every bill is for malpractice insurance? Are aware many people who visit the emergency room never pay their bills and those costs must be offset by those who do? I don't think we have enough information to proclaim the bill was excessive.
To the bold -- WHY? Why must the bills be offset by high costs to those with insurance or who can private pay?
In my opinion, the government should pay for those who can't and spread the cost to EVERYONE in the form of taxes. Of course, that means that we will ALL pay for those who can't, but that is what we do anyway. But no one has suggested that those who can pay for their own groceries should pay $50.00 for a loaf of bread to make up for those who can't afford to pay for their own food.
Simply put, U.S. medical and health insurance costs are outrageous, and the mainreason for this is greed-- and, in my opinion, making rich people richer at the expense of the middle class is NOT a good reason.
Last edited by katharsis; 02-03-2018 at 04:46 PM..
To the bold -- WHY? Why must the bills be offset by high costs to those with insurance or who can private pay?
In my opinion, the government should pay for those who can't and spread the cost to EVERYONE in the form of taxes.
You're welcome to you opinion, of course, but health care isn't a right and it is most certainly NOT the government's job to provide or force businesses to provide. That's my opinion, which is no more or less valid than yours. The difference is that my opinion doesn't take money from folks by force (taxes) and give it to other people. When the day comes where the majority of people who actually pay taxes are willing to fund universal, free health care, I will happily go along. However, I'm not the slightest bit interested in the opinions of the half of the population who don't contribute. Simply put: the takers don't get to tell the givers how much to give.
long wait times for treatment in all of these socialized medical countries, most have one tenth the population of the US, you'd be waiting years here for a hip replacement ...totally unacceptable....
I got electricity going through my heart, from my left arm and out the right arm, 3 years back.
Called my doctor, 10 min later I took an EKG at his office, 30 min later I was at the ER for a full check up and spent the night in the heart ward.
Was checked in the morning, everything was OK. Walked down the stairs and said bye to the personal at the entrance and walked out.
Never seen a bill.
Thats healthcare in Norway.
Feb 28th 2000. I took 360 volts in one hand and out the other across my chest, My partner knocked me off the catwalk onto a concrete floor where I broke the fall with my neck. 3 days in the hospital, 3rd degree burns on my fingers, 2nd and 3rd vertabral discs in my neck damaged. I can't remember all of what they did to me but it was not much aside from a couple of MRIs/xrays and basic burn care and medication. No operations.
They billed L&I something like 83000 dollars.
I largely healed on my own. I was sent to therapy because of pain in my upper back. I went 3 months and got nowhere. The thrapist reminded me of a car salesman. I got a job in the evenings unloading trucks at UPS. The pain went away and it's been fine since.
You're welcome to you opinion, of course, but health care isn't a right and it is most certainly NOT the government's job to provide or force businesses to provide. That's my opinion, which is no more or less valid than yours. The difference is that my opinion doesn't take money from folks by force (taxes) and give it to other people. When the day comes where the majority of people who actually pay taxes are willing to fund universal, free health care, I will happily go along. However, I'm not the slightest bit interested in the opinions of the half of the population who don't contribute. Simply put: the takers don't get to tell the givers how much to give.
Did you read ALL of my post? Because in some ways I do agree with you; however, my point was simply that it is not fair to gouge some people so that other people can get away with paying very little or nothing.
As far as free healthcare being a right, I also agree that anything other than BASIC and life-saving care should not be a "right".
My husband and I currently pay abut $900 a month toward our healthcare insurance through my husband's work, and we pay out of pocket for what the insurance does not pay for, so I hope that when you said that you were not interested in the opinions of people who don't pay taxes, you were not referring to me -- and I also agree that I don't value anyone's opinion on taxes who doesn't pay them.
Last edited by katharsis; 02-03-2018 at 04:44 PM..
Did you read ALL of my post? Because in some ways I do agree with you; however, my point was simply that it is not fair to gouge some people so that other people can get away with paying very little or nothing.
As far as free healthcare being a right, I also agree that anything other than BASIC and life-saving care should not be a "right".
My husband and I currently pay abut $900 a month toward our healthcare insurance through my husband's work, and we pay out of pocket for what the insurance does not pay for, so I hope that when you said that you were not interested in the opinions of people who don't pay taxes, you were not referring to me -- and I also agree with you on that, btw.
I wasn't referring to you, I was speaking in general. I could be on board with universal basic and life-saving care, but there'd have to be very clear restrictions.
Regarding gouging some people so other people can get away with paying nothing - what's the solution? In most cases, hospitals have to accept anyone in the ER - even though those who can't or won't pay. The hospital has bills to pay too, and they can't simply absorb all of the costs of non-payers. My brother is an ER doc and when someone doesn't pay, he doesn't get paid. At one hospital, he didn't get paid for over 50% of his time. Look at it this way: suppose you work as a construction supervisor. Midway through a large project, the buyer pulls out. Should you and you coworkers absorb the cost? Of course not. The lost revenue is recovered through higher prices on future projects. That's all the hospital is doing: recovering lost revenue by spreading it around to people who actually pay.
I got electricity going through my heart, from my left arm and out the right arm, 3 years back.
Called my doctor, 10 min later I took an EKG at his office, 30 min later I was at the ER for a full check up and spent the night in the heart ward.
Was checked in the morning, everything was OK. Walked down the stairs and said bye to the personal at the entrance and walked out.
Never seen a bill.
Thats healthcare in Norway.
Should be "free" given their tax rate.
"The Personal Income Tax Rate in Norway stands at 38.52 percent. Personal Income Tax Rate in Norway averaged 41.94 percent from 1995 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 47.50 percent in 2000 and a record low of 38.52 percent in 2017."
Are you a hospital administrator and know what it costs to run a hospital? Are you aware that a significant portion of every bill is for malpractice insurance? Are aware many people who visit the emergency room never pay their bills and those costs must be offset by those who do? I don't think we have enough information to proclaim the bill was excessive.
"The Personal Income Tax Rate in Norway stands at 38.52 percent. Personal Income Tax Rate in Norway averaged 41.94 percent from 1995 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 47.50 percent in 2000 and a record low of 38.52 percent in 2017."
And unlike here in the US, Norwegians actually get a decent return on the taxes they pay. Their entire system is geared towards taking care of EVERYBODY, not just the so-called "1%."
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