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I have met many seniors on Medicare who have declared bankruptcy, maxed out their CC's, or homeless because of medical bills. They all have/had Medicare and were subject only to the copays. How is this possible? Simple, medical facilities are playing games with peoples lives in order to maximize the amount they can charge Medicare. Unfortunately, Medicare insured people are still responsible for copays and they can quickly add up.
There is also advantage plan insurers but they too play the money game. One of the methods is in-network or out-of-network. This can be the difference of a copay or footing the entire bill by oneself.
One person I know had prostate cancer and was treated via radiology. He told me he got a bill from the radiologist for $16,000. I told him I thought Medicare paid most of the cost. He told me that was after Medicare paid.
Another person was admitted to a hospital repeatedly over a two month period with a $300 daily copay for up to five days. The hospital admitted him many times and always discharged him within five days. In that two month period his copays amounted to over $5000. After each discharge he was invited to treated by the hospital's continuing care department that carried a hefty copay for each treatment.
If you are lucky enough to reach old age. It is almost a sure thing that the money you accumulated throughout your life will be spent on medical care and you will die penny-less and probably in debt. Some of the debt may be passed onto remaining family members.
The only system that will prevent this manipulation by medical providers and insurance companies is a single payer system. i.e., Medicare for all.
Let’s see Medicare for all will stop hospitals from ripping off Medicare patients like they are doing now. LOL
It doesn't bother me that poor people are getting health care for free,
Part of the problem is many require free health care because they are getting free health care. It feeds on itself, the more people you have receiving free health drives up costs producing even more people that require free health care.
Dozerbear: find some graphs and that tell the story better.
Healthoutcomes are better in the UK.. Even if the politicians are underfunding it..
Moreover, other European countries have also improved their health outcomes in recent decades, often at a faster rate than the UK. Consequently, the UK now lags behind many other European countries in key health outcomes in areas such as child health and cancer survival.
I have met many seniors on Medicare who have declared bankruptcy, maxed out their CC's, or homeless because of medical bills. They all have/had Medicare and were subject only to the copays. How is this possible? Simple, medical facilities are playing games with peoples lives in order to maximize the amount they can charge Medicare. Unfortunately, Medicare insured people are still responsible for copays and they can quickly add up.
There is also advantage plan insurers but they too play the money game. One of the methods is in-network or out-of-network. This can be the difference of a copay or footing the entire bill by oneself.
One person I know had prostate cancer and was treated via radiology. He told me he got a bill from the radiologist for $16,000. I told him I thought Medicare paid most of the cost. He told me that was after Medicare paid.
Another person was admitted to a hospital repeatedly over a two month period with a $300 daily copay for up to five days. The hospital admitted him many times and always discharged him within five days. In that two month period his copays amounted to over $5000. After each discharge he was invited to treated by the hospital's continuing care department that carried a hefty copay for each treatment.
If you are lucky enough to reach old age. It is almost a sure thing that the money you accumulated throughout your life will be spent on medical care and you will die penny-less and probably in debt. Some of the debt may be passed onto remaining family members.
The only system that will prevent this manipulation by medical providers and insurance companies is a single payer system. i.e., Medicare for all.
What will happen is that the poor people will say that they can't afford premiums and co-pays, so they will get it all free, while the middle class and up will see their expenses (or Medicare taxes) skyrocket to make up the difference.
Besides, how is this fair to seniors who have paid in over 40 years to fund an insurance policy in their old age to then have to fork over even more to cover low-income young people whi have never contributed?
It DOES bother me when lower-middle class people cannot afford the health care that the poor are getting for free, courtesy of the former's taxes.
I suppose we could let all the poor people who are sick die. That's pretty much what happens in 3rd world countries. Is that making America great again, to make it more like a 3rd world country?
You start by not mandating insurance policies cover everything under the sun. Insurance you can afford that is going to cover major things is better than not having insurance. We also need more competition across the board whether it's insurance, health care providers etc. Tort reform is also something that needs to be looked at. Last but not least we need to reduce administrative costs.
There is no magic bullet, there is lots of issues that need to be addressed.
Mandate was removed over a year ago, and it only ended costing the taxpayers more money, since the penalty was designed to fund part of the cost of the system.
Outrageous profit taking has to be eliminated. For example, there is no reason why PBMs should be making billions of dollars out of thin air. No reason a hospital should charge $5000 for someone sleeping in the hallway waiting for a procedure. My wife waited 2 days for an MRI and the cost of using the bed was $10000.
I suppose we could let all the poor people who are sick die. That's pretty much what happens in 3rd world countries. Is that making America great again, to make it more like a 3rd world country?
No, but there needs to be better control over what poor people get for free. If I "make do" with PT 2x a week because it's all I can afford, then poor people who get it free should be limited to 2x a week also.
Here's another idea: if the ER determines that a patient without insurance is not a true emergency, they get sent to an urgent care facility. It irks me no end that I have to go to an inconvenient UC facility (and pay for it) while illegal immigrants and poor people get top-notch care for minor issues free-of-charge.
It is not the way it works, so you are irked by an imaginary situation. Hospitals do not check your wealth level to determine whether or not you are poor, and nor do they check your immigration status to determine whether you are a citizen, legal alien, or illegal alien.
If you look at the insurance policies prior to 2010 the highest prices were in states that mandated policies that covered a lot, lower priced policies were available in other states. While states that had substantial mandates prior to 2010 may not have seen rates rise much those in other states have seen substantial increases.
The bottom line is this, the more that the insurance policy is required to cover the more it will cost.
Hey. You are really on to something. If insurance covers NOTHING it should, by your logic, be FREE. Can't beat that price. 'Cept OP asked how to keep down healthCARE costs, not insurance.
Anyway, my answer is capitation.
Quote:
Under this approach, providers receive a fixed per person (or “capitated”) payment that covers all health care services over a defined time period, adjusted for each patient’s expected needs, and are also held accountable for high-quality outcomes.
It DOES bother me when lower-middle class people cannot afford the health care that the poor are getting for free, courtesy of the former's taxes.
Courtesy of Ronald Reagan, actually.
But the truth is that the hospital would not know if you are rich, middle class or poor, or citizen or an immigrant, so what are you complaining about? Just go to the ER. Everyone is treated the same way there.
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