Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This crap about how good the US health care is does not fly in my personal experience. My DIL just lost our 7mo to term grandson. She had extremely high blood pressure when scheduled to deliver and was not even seen by a Dr for 5-6hrs after being admitted. The obgyn practice has 5 docs and there is not a real personal relationship developed and they each play catch up each shift they are on call. This is not to dis the docs and the nurses were great. The root problem is the bottom line money aspect of heath care in this country. To associate a profit motive to health care is obscene.
I am sorry for you loss. Honestly, most of the time it is not the fault of the doctor when bad things happen to patients. You do make a good point about personal relationships with doctors and patients. Of all of the doctors who should have a good relationship, obgyns ranks at the top of the list. You want to feel that when the most important event in your life is about to happen that they will be there and they care.
The cost of medical care has gone down in Texas and so has the malpractice premiums that physicians are required to pay.
Do you have a link to support that? The cost of premiums may have gone down, but I haven't noticed any drop in the cost of medical care. From personal experience, it's still about $10,000 PER DAY for a hospital stay, and $1,000 PER HOUR for an ER visit.
I hate to see this discussion degenerate into a "doctor v. public" debate. I feel like we have great caregivers and have been impressed by their skill and compassion. But the costs for care, especially anything having to do with the hospital, is ridiculous.
Do you have a link to support that? The cost of premiums may have gone down, but I haven't noticed any drop in the cost of medical care. From personal experience, it's still about $10,000 PER DAY for a hospital stay, and $1,000 PER HOUR for an ER visit.
Seems fair, given that today's large urban hospital costs over $1,000 per square foot to construct, is filled with state-of-the-art equipment, staffed with highly trained doctors, nurses, and technicians who have made the care the envy of the world. Think about it.
The survival rate for a trauma patient today is four times greater than it was in 1960. Heart disease has not gone done, rather the death rate has gone down due to advanced care and technology. Automobile fatalities are down since 1975 even though the population has increased by almost 100 million people. Safer cars are a big part of that decrease, but advanced trauma care plays a role also.
In the 1940's and 1950's, healthcare was paid by cash to a family practitioner, and families may have also had a hospital plan. You can still do that today for a small fraction of the cost of full-service health care coverage. The cost for a catastrophic plan (also called Major Medical) ranges from $29 per month for a single person to $100 per month for a family. The plans typically have a high deductible ($3 to $4K per year), and no lifetime caps. You pay for routine care out of your pocket.
Seems fair, given that today's large urban hospital costs over $1,000 per square foot to construct, is filled with state-of-the-art equipment, staffed with highly trained doctors, nurses, and technicians who have made the care the envy of the world. Think about it.
The survival rate for a trauma patient today is four times greater than it was in 1960. Heart disease has not gone done, rather the death rate has gone down due to advanced care and technology. Automobile fatalities are down since 1975 even though the population has increased by almost 100 million people. Safer cars are a big part of that decrease, but advanced trauma care plays a role also.
In the 1940's and 1950's, healthcare was paid by cash to a family practitioner, and families may have also had a hospital plan. You can still do that today for a small fraction of the cost of full-service health care coverage. The cost for a catastrophic plan (also called Major Medical) ranges from $29 per month for a single person to $100 per month for a family. The plans typically have a high deductible ($3 to $4K per year), and no lifetime caps. You pay for routine care out of your pocket.
Seems fair.
I know that the the facility and the equipment are not cheap and I don't begrudge anyone making a living, especially when they've studied hard for it and work hard for it.
Nevertheless, I still have a hard time understanding the $800/hour monitoring fee my mom paid while she spent 24 hours in the hospital earlier this year. Especially when I was there with her and would go get the nurse when she needed anything. And that did not cover anything else they did during that time--starting IV's, her medications, changing her dressing, etc. Those are separate line items.
This is why we need socialized medicine. Our free market system has proven to be a huge failure. It has resulted in a minority of fat cats profiteering from illness, while millions of Americans find themselves uninsured or underinsured, often through no fault of their own.
Do you have a link to support that? The cost of premiums may have gone down, but I haven't noticed any drop in the cost of medical care. From personal experience, it's still about $10,000 PER DAY for a hospital stay, and $1,000 PER HOUR for an ER visit.
Good luck getting a link. He makes a lot of claims but rarely supplies a link.
I think a lot of times procedures are billed more to recoup the past times the insurance company has failed to pay for a procedure or a test....or when the insurance company has paid less money than what the procedure or test is worth.
The insurance companies actually have software that automatically downcode, bundle, and otherwise reduce doctors' fees. [Downcoding is changing the code (CPT code) of a procedure so that it reimburses at a lower rate]
I think you deal with HMO's a lot....in this example, he's looking at an EOB, you don't get that when you have an HMO....managed care has got problems in that area (and UHC will be even worse). If he's looking at his hospital bill on an EOB then he's in a PPO....the deductions are all pre-negotiated not by the insurance carrier but, by the PPO network. With the exception of BC/BS, the insurance carriers don't have or own the netwprks....they pay the network on a per member per month basis for using their services. HMO's are again a different story....they do have their own network and when they offer a dual option plan to a group so that it has HMO or PPO, it's not really a true PPO, their still using their limited network.
Bundling though as far as with a PPO network is something that's agreed to in the contract that a provider accepts for the fees they'll get paid. It's in the contract but, the doctors not going to code it that way if he can get away with it (if he even realizes it). What you're calling failing to pay for a test or procedure, a person working in the home office of an insurance company in the claims department, calls the same thing overcharging.
Last edited by Danno3314; 08-01-2009 at 07:17 AM..
This is why we need socialized medicine. Our free market system has proven to be a huge failure. It has resulted in a minority of fat cats profiteering from illness, while millions of Americans find themselves uninsured or underinsured, often through no fault of their own.
The good news is that it can't go on forever. Uncontrolled greed leads to uncontrollable rebellion. The longer this problem persists the more drastic the solution is going to be. It would be smart for these greedy bast***ds to compromise. I guess it is just a sickness like Bernie Madoff.
I know that the the facility and the equipment are not cheap and I don't begrudge anyone making a living, especially when they've studied hard for it and work hard for it.
Nevertheless, I still have a hard time understanding the $800/hour monitoring fee my mom paid while she spent 24 hours in the hospital earlier this year. Especially when I was there with her and would go get the nurse when she needed anything. And that did not cover anything else they did during that time--starting IV's, her medications, changing her dressing, etc. Those are separate line items.
Well large doctor salary, hospital profit, and the cost for the facilities.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
