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87 Comments
- martalli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+27Speaking as a physician, I see patients every day who have no insurance. Usually, they weigh even the smallest expense. Thus, they make health care choices not about the value of the care, but the cost. Convincing patients to undergo expensive screening procedures, like a colonoscopy every five years after age 50, is complicated by the upfront cost. The long run cost is difficult for patients to figure in.
Typically, acute care is limited by unwillingness to proceed with a complete workup, so the severity and complexity of their problem can be missed initially. That's just the patients who come to see me. Many more uninsured simply do not pursue health care until they have to go to an ER - a much more expensive and inefficient approach for all parties.
To add to the article - about 46 million Americans have no health care. Health care costs typically cannot be mitigated through bankruptcy. A hospitalization for pneumonia or appendicitis easily would cost well over $10,000. Whatever you think the solution is, the current system is dysfunctional. - MatttK, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18As a Canadian, I find many of the responses here so puzzling. People talk about insurance or others' inability to look after themselves or the free market... I just don't get what it has to do with healthcare. I mean, we're talking about people's HEALTH for god's sake. Sure, Joe Homeless maybe doesn't deserve a car. Fine. I can see where you're coming from there and may even agree. But HEALTHCARE?
Healthcare should be a universal right of every human being on this PLANET. Everyone should have the right to be treated, everywhere. Yeah, that's an unrealistic goal but you can start in your own country. Canada's healthcare system may not be the best and, yeah, there are wait times, but I'll wait in line if it means a few less fortunate people don't have to ruin their lives just to get basic treatment. You shouldn't have to declare bankruptcy TO LIVE. - bloqmon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Anti-American? This is the truth. How can admitting our problems be anti-American? No country is perfect, most certainly not ours and if we want to make it better it is NECESSARY for us to admit our problems and fix them. If you think this is anti-American then you have no idea what America is supposed to be about.
- KyleGoetz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11@kidhero
>The crux of healthcare has always been the question of who's paying for it. When you get "free" healthcare who do you think is paying for it? All your CT scans, MRIs, hospital bills, and checkup fees, who's paying for that?
Keep in mind that I said I'm a law student, which means that I will be making an assload of money in three years but will still push for nationalized health care, so don't pull that "only poor people like nationalized health care" *****. You know who pays for health care in America? You and me. You know what happens if the government gets involved? Yeah, that's right: prescription drug costs go down. Chew on this: Japanese people have cheaper health care, lower per capita income, but yet have more disposable income than Americans. You know why that is? It is because the government keeps drugs cheap. In the US, health care is expensive because people have to pay through the roof if they aren't insured. Fact: uninsured Americans pay more for health care than insured Americans do (including what the insurance companies pay). You know why? Because health insurance providers negotiate lower prices, and hospitals know that uninsured Americans don't have the power to negotiate in the same way. Hospitals rip off uninsured Americans, and a nationalized health care system would remove this problem. I used to be all for the free market with respect to health care, but the truth is that health care is an inalienable right, and the government has an obligation to pay for it. The free market doesn't work when humans wanting to maximize profits is AT ODDS with the health of other citizens.
>I hope you die.
Thankfully, I am apparently a much better person than you. May someone show you kindness that you do not show others, and may you learn the error of your ways. - jsg7, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10No, it's anti-American to see problems but ignore them simply because to admit they exist is embarrassing.
I can easily pay for my health insurance, so I consider myself lucky, But my premiums are going up 40% next year (it's not a jump because of my age). Something definately needs to change with the healthcare system. - KyleGoetz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11As a law school student, health insurance is more than I make in a year. However, thank God I had health insurance this semester, because I was hospitalized with a blood pressure of 200/130 after some severe headaches (and I'm in great shape, so it's not that I'm a fatty). I now have regular checkups with a doctor (bi-weekly), and I shudder to think how much my CT scan, MRI, hospital bills, and checkup fees would be costing me without health insurance.
We need nationalized health care in the US like they have in Japan. I lived there for a year, and it was excellent, cheap service which doesn't create a burden on the economy or on taxpayers from what I understand. - Technophiliac, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10It's downright embarrassing for the U.S. to be so well-off and powerful yet have such a pathetic health care system offered to it's citizens. If Canada and Scandinavian countries can do it, then so can we. Yet, too many people here have the "every man for himself" outlook when it comes to such issues.
Yet another example of the middle class getting totally screwed-over, here in the states. - lolwtfhaha, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Having just had a baby last week (my wife rather), I have to wonder if the hospitals share some of the responsibility. We spent about 3 days there and probably generated a metric ton of garbage. Throw-away scissors to cups to disposable diapers.. it's just amazing. Every meal delivered had an itemized invoice (no prices though); 1 packet sugar, 1 packet salt, etc. I can't wait to get the bill, and I am so glad we have insurance.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Think about the huge cost of health insurance the next time you are about to say that smoking and obesity doesn't affect other people. Health insurance premiums have more than doubled based on diseases due to smoking and obesity all by themselves. We all pay for the fatties who suck down smoke all day long.
- dracostimpy, on 10/12/2007, -11/+17The solution is right before our eyes:
http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2005/mar/tourism072505.html
The free market wins again (and always). People are going where they can get the best care at the best price, and that ain't in America. Why pay $100k when you can pay $10k and get a free vacation package thrown in, and considering that the doctor who performs your surgery was trained at an Ivy League school and has access to all the same equipment at the medical resort in Bangkok that he'd have here in the states?
Our central planners have completely destroyed our manufacturing sector by refusing to remain competitive in the global marketplace, and now it seems they're doing their best to similarly ruin our service sector. Before long, the only jobs we'll have left is as central planners. That is, of course, unless we act now to remove the real source of all these problems... the central planners themselves.
The solution for this and every other economic conundrum is just to let the market run itself and stop trying to intervene, because the harder you try to fix it, the more you break it. No man is smarter than the market. - speedmaster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6A couple lengthy but dead-on pieces on this topic.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/socialized-medicine.html
http://www.hooverdigest.org/013/friedman.html - Quadraginta, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Right. And *of* those 45 million poor souls without health-care insurance, Census Data shows (cf. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/295987_erbe15.html) only about 15 million live in households earning less than $25,000. 15 million live in households earning OVER $50,000 a year.
Fact is, that famous 45 million fact doesn't tell the whole story, not by a long shot. Not hardly that many people can't afford health care. But quite a number of people are, at any given moment, "between" health care plans , e.g. between school and first job, or between jobs. And quite a number are simply choosing to go without health-care insurance, clearly. Why not? If you're young and healthy, it's a good bet. Health insurance is priced so that it (1) pays for all health-care costs, (2) also pays for the cost to administer a health-care plan -- i.e. pays for all the salaries of the people in the insurance company, (3) returns a fat profit to the insurance company stockholders, and (4) is the same price for everyone, young or old, healthy or sick (mostly).
That means the average 25-year-old is paying way more per year in premiums than he will ever use in health care, to help subsidize the health care of sick 70-year-olds. An intelligent 25-year-old might well decide to just skip it for a while, counting on borrowing or family to help out in the unlikely chance he suddenly needs expensive care. And at that, he knows he'll get it, whether or not he can afford it. You come into the ER as the victim of a horrible car crash, they are not going to check your wallet before ordering up the $50,000 of health care you're about to use. You may end up bankrupt, but you'll be treated. So all you're really risking by going without health insurance when you're young and healthy is a remote possibility of having your credit ruined. Not a risk I'd take, but I'm sure many young folks would, and do. - TubaTechno, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"Healthcare should be a universal right of every human being on this PLANET."
Very very touching. And probably from the heart. Lets try it with the brain this time. Lets use some logic that applies to other aspects of life. Eating food should be a universal right of every human being on this PLANET. How dare those food providers charge for just a basic right. There are companies who give out free food to help those individuals who cannot afford themselves, just like there are companies out there who will fork out the bones to pay for those who cannot pay for themselves.
Everyone in American has access to healthcare. If you're poor, the government already pays for it. If you're rich, then you are paying for it. If you have insurance, then the insurance pays for 80% of it (minus periodic rates). Either way, there is a way to pay for healthcare that won't bankrupt you. Health insurance is a basic necessity for just about anyone. So instead of having the government step in and pay the high costs, allow the market and deregulation make it more affordable for everyone.
Thinking with the heart is very passionate and inspiring, however, it doesn't get the job done logically. - Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -8/+12Excuse me, the "free market" devolved into the current situation on its own. What libertarians don't understand is that the "free market" will evolve its own command structure. That's why you need the government to keep the market free.
The solution is to ban insurance. Look at what happened to the automotive repair business. Since everyone ended up with insurance 1) the repair guy wants to maximize the repair cost, obviously, 2) the insurance company doesn't care about the cost because they can just jack up the premiums (and thanks to "regulation" they can use the government itself to fix the market rates), and 3) the consumer doesn't care because their rates are decoupled from the cost (it seems "free"). The result: outrageous insurance expenses, junkyards charging 70% of factory new prices, and an honest working man can't afford to fix his damn car unless he does it himself. - orbit1979, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5This is not new news. Health care costs in the U.S. has been out of sight for years now and it only promises to get worse. The U.S. has a capitalist health care system heavily regulated in the favor of the medical establishment. The medical lobby is the single largest and influential lobby in D.C., and we are all or will pay heavily for it in the course of our lives. To save your life will cost you your life if you know what I mean. ;)
- VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You have a lot of gall to complain about a $20 discrepancy. I have no health or dental. I wish I could so much as afford a CHECKUP just to quell any fears that there's anything wrong with me that I don't know about. My teeth are all rotted from runaway cavities and there's nothing I can even do about it; it's embarrassing. Some of us haven't seen a doctor in years because we can't afford it, and you're complaining about a clerical error that made you pay $40 instead of $20??
- turbochop, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Canada & Scandinavian countries don't have 20 million illegal aliens that they nee to subsidize.
- martalli, on 10/12/2007, -1/+579% of Americans without health insurance are citizens
http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7451.pdf
(page 5) - turbochop, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6@ schlurp and mulling
"We don't have a government that steps in and bargains on behalf of all citizens (our government is busy bargaining on behalf of the health care industry). "
That is EXACTLY why i don't want the government involved in MY healthcare - too many god damn lobbyists. If you think for a second that a socialized sysyem in this country is going to be somehow less costly and more efficient, then you are clueless. Nothing, NOTHING, the government does is cheap and/or efficient. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Ignoring kidhero,
>We need nationalized health care in the US like they have in Japan. I lived there for a year, and it was excellent, cheap service which doesn't create a burden on the economy or on taxpayers from what I understand.
I disagree. The system in Japan and Europe is slowly crushing the government and there's little quality control especially when it comes to emergencies and mistakes. Japan's healthcare is advance but they barely have an Emergency Medical system outside of the big cities. Same issues exist in European counries as well. At present theres a lot of abuse of the Universal healthcare systems in the US(Medicare and Medicaid). Many abusers of the system such as diabetics, heart attack patients etc. who refuse to take their meds and get admitetd costantly. In ERs, about 20% of urban patients falsiffy their names and so no money can be collected or they bill to medicaid.
Our system may not be perfect but allows for a certain amount of innovation. It can be wasteful and downright dangerous at times but I don't think universal healthcare is the way to go. - martalli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@monergism
What made you upset - the 46 million people without health insurance, or the people pointing it out? - DaveF, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4QUOTE from Urusai: "Excuse me, the "free market" devolved into the current situation on its own. "
How so? Our current system is very far from free market. (Medicare/Medicaid ring a bell?)
Anyway, while I'd prefer a totally free market system, I could live with the compromise plan Milton Friedman suggests in this article:
http://www.hoover.org/publications/digest/3459466.html
here's the plan, the whole article is worth reading though ...
"A more radical reform would, first, end both Medicare and Medicaid, at least for new entrants, and replace them by providing every family in the United States with catastrophic insurance (i.e., a major medical policy with a high deductible). Second, it would end tax exemption of employer-provided medical care. And, third, it would remove the restrictive regulations that are now imposed on medical insurance—hard to justify with universal catastrophic insurance." - Kniggit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6First, let me say that I have lived in both the United States and in Canada for extensive periods of time (as in being an actual resident, paid taxes, used both health care systems, etc.). For this reason, I feel I have a unique perspective most people don't.
In the US, the obvious problem is the cost of health care. This manifests itself in high premiums, high out-of-pocket costs, claim denials, people becoming bankrupt, and ridiculous litigation and medical malpractice insurance costs. If you do have the money, you almost certainly get first-rate health care by any standard. Ultimately, it is about the profit motive for health insurers to match the rest of the market in terms of profit growth.
In Canada, the obvious problem is timely access of health care. This manifests itself in ridiculous wait times (3+ years for hip replacements, 1 year or more for medical imaging and even BYPASS surgery, 1 million people in Ontario without family doctors), significantly increased work disability and welfare payments as a result of the wait times, lack of coverage for eye and dental exams, and no choices. This has spread the whole health care system too thin for everyone. Ultimately, it ends up being not equal access to health care but equally BAD access to health care or high taxes to compensate.
(Indeed, I asked one woman last month why I was asked to donate to a hospital that is supposedly funded by our taxes?)
So what to do? Well, we analyze the root causes of problems of both systems - profit motive versus poor access. At first glance, they seem irreconcilable, but this all comes down to government versus big business running the show. And, as we know, neither are particularly adept at addressing a fundamental need. The solution here is NOT FOR PROFIT HEALTH CARE.
In such a system, the government acts only as a regulator to ensure that certain standards are met. The health care organizations are, by extension, neither monolithic government organizations nor large for-profit companies, but not-for-profit organizations that "compete" based on their ability to provide good health care. The overall size of such organizations is purposely limited in size to ensure that competition exists within the market place to provide such services.
There is a second component to this as well, which is to specifically address deficiencies that would still exist. First and foremost would be the emphasis on PREVENTION of disease. This means that people are essentially graded on their contribution towards their own health by mandatory yearly checkups irrespective of any other condition. Such checkups address the risk factors for major disease contributors such as smoking, alcohol, cholesterol, physical activity, and so on. Those who choose to abuse their bodies (and, therefore, increase the costs to the overall pool) will be required to pay higher premiums. Co-pays are nominal but required to deter abuses by individuals who overuse the system for small issues. Medical malpractice lawsuits are capped to actual damages plus AT MOST one million dollars in punitive damages to bring those costs under control. Doctor and hospital records are completely transparent from the perspective of historical problems. And, ultimately, patients retain the ability to choose health care providers at any level, including specialists (with the added control of referrals from family doctors or acute care clinics). Emergency rooms are two-tiered, with urgent care and actual emergency in the same location to avoid confusion for people. Most importantly, organizations that fail to provide a required standard of health care are penalized. That includes claim denials and long wait times.
By implementing such a system, I believe that ALL countries can have superior health care that includes tangible choices without a multi-tier system OR lack of access. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3ALWAYS ask for an itemized bill.
You'll be stunned at what you see. Doctors and hospitals are all part of the problem.
I've seen this : "Mucus collection system $20" ... to the likes of you and I it's a 75c box of kleenex. - martalli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Those "high priced maids" are also the ones who check your medicines and are the eyes and ears of the medical system. Your doctor won't be there 24x7 in the hospital. The nurse is the one who provides the continuous care and assessment. They have 3-4 years of training, and most of them have bachelor's degrees these days.
- PieHeaven, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I have a health savings account with a $4000 deductible insurance plan. My company funds the HSA with 4K each year, and insurance covers the rest. When we made the switch, the company saved 20K per year, and each individual saved on premiums, and countless co-pays. I think that, in the near future, HSA type plans will be the norm.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10A: Why is this filed as 'Political News'? (Dug down for wrong topic)
B: You can thank trial lawyers the average person's inability to take care of themselves for the rise of health care costs. I'm in the medical field myself, and to be completely honest I would make about half as much money as I do now if people would just eat better, exercise 3 times a week, and drank and smoked less.
People just don't care about themselves like they used to, and don't realize what they are doing to their bodies until things get bad enough and they come see me. It's just common sense: people who regularily maintain their vehicles spend a lot less at the mechanic. - Nitro2985, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Wow, more people with troubles with healthcare in the US over a ten year span.
We also have more people in the US than we did in 1993.
What we want to know is there a change in the ratio. - markgl, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5its not my job to pay into a pool for insurance and then have people take use of that money that dont put any money into that pool.
I don't want the government to take care of me. It's not their job to give us everything in the world.
Besides most of you on digg hate the government and call them idiots for not being able to function right. So why in on earth would you want them to be in control of your health??? - mulling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The RNs don't typically clean rooms, they do paperwork or supervise the lower-ranked nurses. Cleaning rooms is what CNAs and LPNs are for, and they generally make around $15 per hour.
- martalli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"you can spend 10% of your income a year on healthcare, or you can give the government an extra 10% of your salary"
Actually, the US spends 15% of GDP on healthcare.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1215/p21s01-coop.html - nhorman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4you seriously want to pay more for health care through higher taxes because you had a minor paperwork screwup over $20?
- martalli, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yes, 16% of Americans do not have health insurance. In 2001 the percentage was 14.2%
http://www.cbpp.org/9-30-02health.htm - martalli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The cost of health insurance is not the same for all people. The price of health insurance varies by your age, chance of getting pregnant, and other health problems. If you are getting health insurance on your own, you might not even be able to get health insurance if you have diabetes or some other medical problem.
If you get health insurance through your employer, the cost the employer is paying varies directly with the age, pregnancy risk, and health problems of the employees. As a young person, skipping health insurance is not too wise - a few days in the hospital with easily exceed $10,000. Even just a few x-rays and labs for pneumonia and outpatient treatment might run up to $1000, as will just about any ER visit. Better work that into your budget if you are going to skip health insurance.
In my experience, most people without health insurance are actually working. They may work at a small company who doesn't have health insurance. They might own a small business with too few employees ( - Kniggit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Excuse me, but Canada's healthcare system is absolutely and most certainly NOT free. It is paid for through taxes and health care premiums. Although the premiums are generally smaller than in the US, they are quite substantial. Tax rates in Ontario, for example, are 11% per year for Provincial plus 14% sales tax (or 16% sales tax on served alcohol), plus no ability to deduct mortgage interest or property/school taxes from federal income taxes. Believe me - it sure adds up fast.
- demonsofgoetia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Non-smokers die every day. Sleep tight!" - http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_Hicks
- mulling, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5schlurp is right.
Most of the industrialized world pays less for healthcare and gets better quality care. The US has a quirky system: everyone bargains with the health care industry on an individual basis, or at best as part of a company's HMO. We don't have a government that steps in and bargains on behalf of all citizens (our government is busy bargaining on behalf of the health care industry). As a result, the healthcare industry decides what everyone will pay, and we can either pay it or die.
The system simply won't last. It's going to end up as a single payer system eventually (and the drug companies haaaaate this idea, to the tune of millions and millions of lobbyist dollars). It's just a matter of numbers; eventually the vast armies of aging baby boomers are going to figure this out in sufficient numbers, and when they start to vote consistently it will change government. This will take time, though. So in the meantime we're stuck with being one illness away from financial ruin. - edverb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2// Thoughts? //
My first thought is that it shouldn't be the case that an honest, working person cannot afford to insure their family.
The thing is, you are already being charged for universal healthcare. In your case...it is a charge you cannot afford. (I happen to pay it, but that hasn't always been the case.) But as a country...we already pay for universal healthcare -- just in the most inefficient way imaginable. We don't get what we pay for.
As a nation, we spend 15% of GDP on healthcare...the figure is around $3 TRILLION a year. We spend far more per capita than any other nation on Earth, and yet they insure all their citizens and we don't.** Why is this?
Well, for starters, roughly 20% of the money spend on healthcare is administrative. An example is how nearly every medical office pays for at least one dedicated person to deal with billing. That is money that does not go towards care, and the costs are passed on to the healthcare consumer.
We cannot deny medical care to any human being. Anyone who shows up at an emergency room will get treatment, regardless of their ability to pay. That results in several very inefficient realities. For one thing...you pay for the uninsured healthcare consumers same as you pay for uninsured drivers in auto insurance, or all shoppers pay for shoplifters. The costs incurred by hospitals in caring for the uninsured are passed on.
This also means there is a resulting focus on emergency rather than preventive care. (Example: Uninsured mom hopes her kid's sore throat will pass, so she doesn't have to pay the doctor for an office visit...three days later he's running 105 and in the emergency room.)
Bottom line -- there is a smarter way to share the risk (which is all insurance is...a risk pool) by going to a more efficient single payer system. It's completely unfair that anyone is should be at risk of going bankrupt due to the inefficiencies of the current system.
** The complaints about delays in other systems are valid, but it's not an accurate comparison. We spend over $7K per head per year in the US, where other nations don't spend anywhere near that. If they funded their universal healthcare systems with $7K per head, there would be no delays. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Uh...the so called 'medical lobby' is miniscule compared to the insurance and pharma lobby. In fact theres barely any lobbying from medical professionals(docs, RNs etc.) and even the hospital associations are barely better off. The primary cost of medical care is not 'medical professional' salaries but the sustaining of non-paying patients, Critcal Care patients(all critical patients lose more money then make for a hospital), medication cost, overuse of tests and general waste due to the inneficiency of the system. Many many hospitals are closing so its not the most profitable field out there now.
- koorb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What you get in the US is a four star healthcare service. This is great, you have loads of clean hospitals with all the latest and best equipment. But only for the people who can afford it.
Today I went to my local NHS GP and asked her what was going on with my eyes, they are red and I don't know why. She put some drops in my eyes and concluded that they where just dry and I was probably spending too much time staring at a computer screen (this is true). She gave me a prescription and I went to my local Pharmacist. I had to pay for the prescription (£6) because it isn't life threatening and I am not over 65, on welfare etc.. but everything else was free. EVERYBODY in the UK has medical cover. It might not be the four star service you get in the US, but if I could afford it, I could choose to go private or have private health insurance and I would. As of right now I can't so am very happy the UK Government is slightly socialist like that. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Don't blame the doctors(or even the hospitals) but the system. The itemized bill is not a fair comparison, it is a beginning of a bargaining battle between a hospital and the insurance company. If you get charged $20 for mucus collection, an insurance company will counter offer for $5 payment. So the hospital can either accept lower payments or wait months and fight over the bill.
The system is broken. Many insurance companies have 'discounts'. If a normal person(who really needs the discount) is charged $20, an insurance company may be charged $8 since thats the agreed upon price. If I perform CPR and use up 2 hours of my time to save a life, I've used up $2000 resources but can only bill for $500 while a in a private office visit, you can charge $2000 to get a nosejob. - o2o2o2o2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3My personal solution was to find a job with a large corporation or public/federal job that can afford health care. Small business just cant afford health insurance these days. As a result, they cant afford to hire good people. Kinda sad, but I see it as the end of small business as we know it based on the high cost of health care
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree with both you.
Most hospitals in the US are non-profit. Problem with for-profit hospitals is that they suck up all profitable cases from non-profits who are trying to make money to sustain non money making cases.
A non-profit insurance plan thats run like a business would help solve a lot of problems. Even a well run HMO(evil evil HMOs) like Kaiser-Permanente can keep cost down and provide good care. - williamc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm living the uninsured life. I have a wife and two kids without insurance. To cover them through my job's group insurance would cost me 750 dollars a month, about a quarter of my entire paycheck. Getting private insurance ran me 200 dollars a month. My wife had to have her gall bladder removed, at which point the insurance denied her claim citing it was pre-existing. Apparently, she went in for gall stones two years ago but passed them. I ended up with a 15,000 dollar bill which I have no way of paying.
My wife's sister is a single mom. She gets free medicare insurance. All her hospital and physican checkups are free. She wants to get married but would lose coverage. His job doesnt provide insurance, nor could he afford it. It would seem your penalized for being married and not having a better job in our current system.
I've thought long and hard, and perhaps someone could weight in on my idea:
1) Claim to be an illegal. If my family member need emergency care, why not claim to be an illegal alien? They can't force you to provide documentation, and must provide you services. Give a false name, address, speak in broken english. Thoughts? - rexb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1atleast you can get your Rx's at a discount http://www.yourrxcard.com if you don't have insurance
- dtimoney, on 09/30/2008, -0/+1If you privatize healthcare a bit more and create competition the prices will go down...
- Conwaysb0718, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1C'mon now people. We can't ALL be white collar.
- markgl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ahhhh. No.
might as well throw in a car for everyone. how can anyone get to work if they don't have a car??? - SimonGray, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It pays to have poor illegal immigrants available for exploitation and people that die as soon as they retire. For everyone else that is...
Sorry for the grim outlook on things. - Kniggit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@erictatro:
I didn't necessarily mean hospitals when I say non-profit. I'm primarily talking about the insurers who are the biggest issue. A hospital is a hospital.
All I'm really getting at is that you need to remove the profit motive for taking care of people's lives while at the same time not letting big government get involved and turning it into a massive bureaucracy. -
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