Posted on 03/07/2017 7:18:50 PM PST by Wisconsinlady
My insurance company didn’t pay sh!t last year. I’m not saying, didn’t pay the full amounts, I’m saying their contribution (out of the funds I paid them every two weeks, per my employer’s policy which I subsidize) was ZERO.
This year the employer changed providers and now I’m paying even more per check. Haven’t been to the doctor. Can’t afford to. Thanks NObama.
I’m hoping that during this period when the Repeal and Replace of Obamacare is being discussed, argued over, debated, yelled about and eventually voted on there will at least a little time spent on the following point:
SOME PEOPLE DONT NEED AND DONT WANT TO INSURE THEIR HEALTH.
I think there are a lot of them. We should not punish them. We should not subsidize them at emergency hospitals. We should assume they will go to doctors when they need to and pay those doctors when presented with a bill. That system works at the grocery store, your favorite department store, with your landlord and the bank that financed your brand new Toyota.
It will, for many people, work just the same with doctors.
Doctors - be honest, tell the real price up front and people won't complain as much and will pay their bills.
There is no way to reform or tweak america’s screwed up third party payer system. The only way to help the middle class is for Congress to sanction, and encourage a parallel free-market cash system to grow, and slowly displace our bloated third -party payer system
In some respects, health care in the U.S. hasn’t been a legitimate industry since Doctor Baker was making house calls on “Little House on the Prairie” and getting paid in eggs and fresh bread.
It doesn’t make sense to me. Ok - the monthly makes sense. However, if I stay within network, my regular doctor visits are covered with a small co-pay, but nothing else.
I’ve had blood tests for just a small percentage due. I have a medical test coming up this month. I’ll have to see what I end up paying, but I don’t have to meet my deductible prior to having many things covered.
Too bad that there aren't more non-profit or truly religious hospitals any more. I don't begrudge medical professionals their wages, but the administrative / executive salaries are out of whack.
“...When there are more women in the medical school classes than men then the profession has already flipped...”
In Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s semi-autobiographical novel CANCER WARD all of the doctors at the cancer wing were women. But when a female doctor got cancer, likely due from over exposure to radiation used in cancer treatments, she went to see an old male doctor who maintained a quasi-private practice in downtown Tashkent. He recommended that she go to Moscow for treatment and she said, “so you think it is that bad” and he said, “I just want you to have a bit more of an edge.”
But one reason there were so many female MDs is because of the male shortage in the aftermath of WWII in the USSR.
For further read/thought ping. Busy at the moment.
Wife had to get a blood test at the local hospital today. While checking in, she saw a sign that said “Ask us about MD $ave”. She did, and was told it was a plan for those with no insurance. They accepted cash, at one fourth the usual rate.
agree with you...just had an MRI do to accident using Aetna for my insurance. Had not met my deductible...I was billed $2700 (THAT WAS NEGOTIATED)
Basically, the town was going to wage a court battle to force the hospital to pay property taxes even though it had traditionally been an "exempt" property as a non-profit/charity operation. I thought the town had no legal leg to stand on, but -- remarkably -- the hospital didn't even let it get to a lawsuit and instead caved in to the town's demands. Their only stipulation was that the hospital's payments had to be categorized as "payments in lieu of taxes" instead of actual taxes -- so as to avoid setting a precedent that might hurt them down the road, I guess.
Program computers to replace 99% of what doctors do...
Easy Answer ... flipping Govt Hacks are not involved, the Doc gets His/Her $, I get my Healthcare and it is much more Affordable.
Liberty and Freedom
If the hospital is in the patient’s network, the only money the hospital can legally collect is the difference between the approved network rate and the amount the insurance company paid.
Several problem issues raise their ugly head and the patient doesn’t inquire about them. Although the hospital chosen may be in the patient’s network, none of the professionals providing service may be in their network and they end up receiving a slug of very expensive bills once they are out of the hospital. Or the insurance doesn’t cover any ancillary services, only a basic per day/bed charge.
More and more doctors and health professionals are dropping all network participation because insurance carriers keep cutting the reimbursement rate.
More and more individuals do not understand how insurance pays/processes a claim, what their policy really covers or how they can advocate for themselves with carriers. Individuals who work for insurance carriers rarely know anything about a policy other than the very general information they read on their screen and have never actually worked in a doctor’s office or hospital. HR people make recommendations on coverage without sufficient knowledge as to what their employees need. And then you throw in politicians who set standards in an area they know little to nothing about.
It’s just a mess from top to bottom.
Same here. Our fearless leaders have their gold-plated plans though.
Make it ‘cash & carry’ like it used to be and medical costs will plummet.
Instead of requiring Insurance “or else” like Obamacare does, simply state that if you do not have Coverage and you use the Emergency Room for Medical Treatment, you are responsible for the costs and you are not protected by Bankruptcy Laws.
Informed choice for those who think others are responsible for their Healthcare. No free rides.
Stunned silence.
I had a cosmetic surgery done at one of our local hospitals. Included everything except my doc fees. 5 hr surgery. $3200.
Around the same time hubby had a surgery at a local surgery center. We were there a total of 3 hrs. They billed his insurance for $30 something thousand.
When I was going through chemo the infusion center was billing my insurance for $8k a pop. The insurance was paying them $1800.
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