We don't need to pay more for healthcare (lawyers, health care system, radical)
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We don't need to pay more for healthcare. We need to pay less. People say, "I'm willing to pay more every month for universal healthcare."
I've just discovered that we don't have to pay more. This is starting to sound like an ad, but hear me out. https://www.patientrightsadvocate.org/media has information on how price-transparency in healthcare can reduce what patients pay by 30-50%! AND it wouldn't cripple our economy. AND doctors wouldn't automatically be paid less. Plus, the current administration is also working on cutting out some of the middlemen that drive up the cost. You can find out more in this video.
Right now lawyers and lobbyists are blocking the executive orders that would benefit all of us Americans. The more people who know about this, the more likely it is that legislatures will join the fight. This doesn't need to be a left and right issue. It's the American people against a corrupt system.
As Katy Talento pointed out in the video above, we don't need a radical answer. We haven't tried a common sense one yet.
Thoughts?
We already pay twice as much for healthcare as any other industrialized country. For worse overall health outcomes. In a system *designed* to bankrupt any non-millionaire who gets sick.
But we're told that Soshalizm is evil. By a bunch of fox-news-addled geezers who would be dead or bankrupt without Medicare.
Our medical-industrial complex is a truimph of lobbying and red-scare tactics. Works great for the wealthy. Everybody else gets the FOAD plan.
I think there should be a universal healthcare system and therefore Americans should be paying less for healthcare with such a system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by turkey-head
We already pay twice as much for healthcare as any other industrialized country. For worse overall health outcomes. In a system *designed* to bankrupt any non-millionaire who gets sick.
But we're told that Soshalizm is evil. By a bunch of fox-news-addled geezers who would be dead or bankrupt without Medicare.
Our medical-industrial complex is a truimph of lobbying and red-scare tactics. Works great for the wealthy. Everybody else gets the FOAD plan.
Neither of you actually read what I posted, did you? WE DON'T NEED UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE TO PAY LESS! Healthcare costs are wildly inflated in the U.S. - Universal Healthcare would spread the enormous burden, costing way more than the U.S. is able to afford. Wealth taxes, like Senator Warren has proposed, have been proven inaffective everywhere they have been tried. And even if they did work, the revenue wouldn't come close (in conjunction with other taxes) to paying for Universal Healthcare. Transparent-pricing, however, makes healthcare affordable and won't cripple the economy in the process. Plus it weeds out the corruption of overpricing and insurance/providers backroom deals, etc.
I think there should be a universal healthcare system and therefore Americans should be paying less for healthcare with such a system.
We actually spend almost enough on Medicare/Medicaid (8% of GDP) to cover the whole population already. A lot of countries spend 8% of GDP on health care and cover their whole population. Yet Medicare/Medicaid only covers 1/2 the population.
You want universal coverage. Make the existing bloated system more efficient.
Only 2 liberals I've heard have said anything sensible regarding healthcare.
1. Marianne Williamson. She basically said we don't have a health care system. We have a "sick care" system. We do nothing to improve things like food quality or push healthy lifestyles. Then we make people fat and sick with chronic illness. And then we take fistfulls of pills and/or other treatments and fight with each other about how much the bill is and who should pay for it. It's insanity.
2. Bill Maher (who I generally detest) has been talking about this for more than a decade. These quotes from the video sums it up: "Poor diet is the leading cause of mortality in the United States".
"In August, 53 Americans died from mass shootings. Terrible, right? You know how many died from obesity? 40,000!"
Neither of you actually read what I posted, did you? WE DON'T NEED UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE TO PAY LESS! Healthcare costs are wildly inflated in the U.S. - Universal Healthcare would spread the enormous burden, costing way more than the U.S. is able to afford. Wealth taxes, like Senator Warren has proposed, have been proven inaffective everywhere they have been tried. And even if they did work, the revenue wouldn't come close (in conjunction with other taxes) to paying for Universal Healthcare. Transparent-pricing, however, makes healthcare affordable and won't cripple the economy in the process. Plus it weeds out the corruption of overpricing and insurance/providers backroom deals, etc.
Let’s separate this into routine vs true emergency healthcare.
No reason why one cannot shop for a very BASIC physical. Actual costs of a COMPLETE physical may however, be higher dependent on variables, age, gender, weight, lifestyle, medical history and symptoms, if any.
Best analogy is a routine dental cleaning and xrays. Price is known up front. What is unknown is what dental work may be necessary based on findings. No way to know the cost until your mouth is examined.
The general public cannot schedule surgery. Surgeon offices schedule Non- urgent outpatient surgeries with hospitals based on the surgeon’s schedule and availability of an OR. Once scheduled, the hospital needs to know the patient’s insurance carrier and plan # to estimate the price including patient’s out of pocket. It matters if the patient is in or out of the hospital network. Some hospitals allow certain procedures to be performed by out of network practitioners. Anesthesia is one of them. Ask.
It is increasingly common for hospitals to require the patient to cover the out of pocket before surgery is performed.
If one intends to shop, it will be necessary to first be seen by a surgeon who has operating privileges at another hospital and then schedule the surgery.
True emergencies are another matter. If you have a bullet in your chest or are having a heart attack or stroke, patients tend not to be focused on cost. Again, costs are dependent on variables, patient’s age, gender, weight, lifestyle, medical history and presented symptoms.
Neither of you actually read what I posted, did you? WE DON'T NEED UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE TO PAY LESS! Healthcare costs are wildly inflated in the U.S. - Universal Healthcare would spread the enormous burden, costing way more than the U.S. is able to afford. Wealth taxes, like Senator Warren has proposed, have been proven inaffective everywhere they have been tried. And even if they did work, the revenue wouldn't come close (in conjunction with other taxes) to paying for Universal Healthcare. Transparent-pricing, however, makes healthcare affordable and won't cripple the economy in the process. Plus it weeds out the corruption of overpricing and insurance/providers backroom deals, etc.
What does “ insurance companies back room deals” mean?
Are you referring to in vs out of network contracts?
We actually spend almost enough on Medicare/Medicaid (8% of GDP) to cover the whole population already. A lot of countries spend 8% of GDP on health care and cover their whole population. Yet Medicare/Medicaid only covers 1/2 the population.
You want universal coverage. Make the existing bloated system more efficient.
Only 2 liberals I've heard have said anything sensible regarding healthcare.
1. Marianne Williamson. She basically said we don't have a health care system. We have a "sick care" system. We do nothing to improve things like food quality or push healthy lifestyles. Then we make people fat and sick with chronic illness. And then we take fistfulls of pills and/or other treatments and fight with each other about how much the bill is and who should pay for it. It's insanity.
2. Bill Maher (who I generally detest) has been talking about this for more than a decade. These quotes from the video sums it up: "Poor diet is the leading cause of mortality in the United States".
"In August, 53 Americans died from mass shootings. Terrible, right? You know how many died from obesity? 40,000!"
We already pay twice as much for healthcare as any other industrialized country. For worse overall health outcomes. In a system *designed* to bankrupt any non-millionaire who gets sick.
But we're told that Soshalizm is evil. By a bunch of fox-news-addled geezers who would be dead or bankrupt without Medicare.
Our medical-industrial complex is a truimph of lobbying and red-scare tactics. Works great for the wealthy. Everybody else gets the FOAD plan.
Why haven't you moved to Canada by now? BTW I have AWESOME healthcare all courtesy of the place I work.
Maybe you could get a job there? Fair warning. That means you have to work.
What does “ insurance companies back room deals” mean?
Are you referring to in vs out of network contracts?
You think you have more leverage than say, BCBS?
I have BCBS.
It is far cheaper for me to pay out of pocket ($150) for an urgent care visit without insurance than to pay the "discounted rate" my insurer has "negotiated" for me (urgent care charges BCBS $450, BCBS "negotiated rate" for ME to pay? $269).
Explain how BCBS has "helped" me.
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