Posted on 07/27/2007 12:34:22 AM PDT by NinoFan
Perhaps you should ask your doctor's office or insurance provider if they'd like to buy some "fire insurance," just incase their building should burn to the ground.
I’m not sure how I feel about this.
I had a long conversation with my doc about insurance on my last visit. I asked about the “contractural rate” that shows up on my description of benefits and why it’s so low. He explained to me that docs and hospitals “contract” with the insurance companies in a way that says “okay, we expect to see X # of patients with your insurance, so give us a price that you will pay for the office visit” so the insurance company says okay if you meet this quota, we’ll pay X for that level of service.
Turns out “X” is a much lower rate than cash pay, but it’s “guaranteed payment” and that’s why the docs and hospitals do it. My doc said in the first year of his practice, he saw people on a cash basis and had $650,000 in write offs at the end of the year for no pays so he’d rather “contract” and know he’ll get paid.
So, that explains my $18000 hospital bill that was “contracted” down to $6000 from the insurance company and another $2000 from me - along with the $6500 we pay every year for the premium. THEN, I had a severe asthma attack again and my doc ordered me a nebulizer through the closest medical supply co. 10 miles away (I live in a very rural area). I go pick it up and the insurance denied coverage because I didn’t use their mail order service or go to a medical supply they are contracted with - so I paid the $91 and called them to get instructions on submitting a claim. They told me it would go toward my “non-network” deductible.... unbelievable!
Yes, something is VERY WRONG with our healthcare system, especially when we pay these ever increasing premiums and then find out at the end of the year the gross profits the insurance company made for the year.
My job is now offering an HSA... problem is, the premium is still $300/mo, plus full price for all medications, doctors visits, etc. up to $2500 before the insurance kicks in.... who the hell can afford that?
We’re all being taxed to death all to pay for the illegals and special interests of the insane liberals and the deadbeats who refuse to even try to work or take care of themselves. Welfare (medicaid/medicare) for the elderly or disabled is fine, but for all these others who can’t keep their legs closed or get off their fat lazy butts to go to work needs to stop NOW. I’m just sick of it. I don’t want universal coverage by any means, but something has got to give in the healthcare industry. Whether it’s the docs or the insurance co, I don’t know, I only know it isn’t working.
Okay, I’m done ranting now..... :-)
TANSTAAFLAmen.
at the risk of sounding cheesy, I think we got the best end of the deal for your service to the country.
yes that’s right. we wouldn’t have a health care problem if most people exercised more and weren’t overweight
I saw the big putz on Leno last night call for universal [aka Socialized] health care. The audience applause sounded overwhelming. We should worry.
The problem in healthcare financing is not that we don't have enough government intrusion or control and regulations, it's because we have too much of it so it distorts the efficiency and economy of private sector and free market, and constricts the competition for services, not encourages it. Government services and charities should be the last resort in times of necessity, not the first and final solution to any and all citizens' problems.
Want to see horror stories in socialized "universal" healthcare? Check out Canadian and British press or many articles posted on FR, like this latest one :
A Canadian Doctor Describes How Socialized Medicine Doesn't Work
Or watch British House of Commons sessions to see that 60%-80% of their daily discussions are devotes to how to fix NHS (National Health System) and prevent it from growing broke. Is that what you want your government to do?
Besides, why don't we see how the states who implement their own "universal" care are doing before rushing to impose CubaCare on everyone. If a state is successful in providing "free" good quality care to all their residents more people will flock there or want the same in their states and then other states will follow just to stay competitive. We already had a look at HillaryCare. We can look at the results of RomneyCare in Massachusetts, TennCare in Tennessee.
In Oregon cooler heads prevailed when it was put on the ballot, with overwhelming defeat a couple of years ago, but California just might get itself deeper into debt with Schwarzenegger's plan. With falling housing prices and lower revenue to the state as a result, this could be a repeat of their budget crunch after the Internet bubble which saw their previous Governor recalled.
Illinois will finance healthcare by increasing taxes on cigarettes (we can always tax cigarettes and "the rich" to finance anything that sounds good) - Illinois Senate panels OK cigarette tax, health care plan.
And Wisconsin is trying to go bankrupt with their own totally original homemade plan - Cheese Headcases - Wisconsin reveals the cost of "universal" health care.
Take your pick, there is no shortage of states that want to take over the rest of what's left of your control over your healthcare choice and its financing.
After all, as the states are laboratories of experiments, let's see firsthand (if we don't trust or can't see the reality of the experience of Canada, UK etc.) what happens and be able to change it when it doesn't work to something else that will not work. Health reform looks to the states - Bipartisan support increases for 'test labs' around the nation
And, once the government politicians and civil servants take over the control of your healthcare what do you think will happen to your privacy, and would "politically correct" diseases such as AIDS get priority and more money and attention and resources than ones you are more concerned with. And would embryonic stem-cell and other "politically correct" research projects be financed by newly created state healthcare bureaucracy?
BTW, had Michael Moore ever explained the real cost of "free" healthcare in Cuba and shown real clinics for regular Cuban citizens, I am sure that his "Sicko" movie would make a lot more money than it did, and it would kill any thought that anyone would ever have of "free" "universal" CubaCare as a model of what they want for themselves.
Not at all. Consider the audience of Leno and Letterman in general (their "man on the street" interviews and polls are one indication), and the fact that many acolytes of Moore were probably specifically in the audience for his appearance. "Sicko" was a huge flop, especially given the amazing amount of money and effort spent on advertisement and promotion everywhere. It's a good sign... "Don't worry, be happy."
Michael Moore is now a "known known" (to quote Rumsfeld) as a socialist and a lying loon, and his "star" has descended very fast. Not that he would stop making money for himself (think Rosie O'Donnell, Jesse Jackson, RFK Jr and other "activists") but his "documentary" "journalist" cover is blown and he is now considered nothing more than Leni Riefenstahl for socialist welfare state.
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