[E. Pluribus Unum]

Yes, I know this was posted a week ago (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2990388/posts), but it was published while FR was down and it didn't get the attention it would have otherwise.

[SpaceBar]

Medical care is expensive because the industry is joined at the hip to government and to the legal and insurance industries, with all aspects of free market economics completely removed, leading to all the waste, fraud, and corruption that implies. Yes, it’s really that simple.

[Tau Food]

It's worth reposting this article because our health care system is collapsing, thanks to government involvement. Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare are all unconstitutional.

Too much of our health care money is wasted. Old people need to really understand that death is normal and natural. Throwing money at the problem does not change the inevitable outcome - death. I believe this is in part due to the failure by too many people to really accept the promise of Christianity - our life here is temporary and just a prelude to a better eternal life.

In fifty years, it will make little difference if old Martha dies in 2013 or 2018. Either way, Martha will be gone and probably forgotten. However, if in fifty years, taxpayers are still paying for Martha's extra five years, that will make a difference. Right now, our country is becoming flooded with old Marthas.

Of course, if old people want to spend a lot of money to unnecessarily extend their miserable lives, it should be their own money. The taxpayer is tapped out.

Expensive, wasteful spending to unnecessarily extend lives should be left up to the individual on a "pay as you go" basis. Pay as you go - and, when you stop paying, it's time for you to go.

[AmericanExceptionalist]

This is why a good managed-care plan comes in handy. With a managed-care plan (either a PPO or an HMO), there is usually an enormous difference between the Submitted Charges and the Plan Allowance (i.e. the amount that the healthcare provider is contractually obligated to accept as payment in full).

For instance, suppose that the Submitted Charges come to $5,000; but the Plan Allowance is just $1,800. That means that there is an insurance adjustment in the amount of $3,200--neither the insurance carrier nor the patient is obligated to pay this--and if the insurance carrier pays 85 percent of the $1,800 balance, that leaves just $270 as coinsurance for the patient.

That's right. Just $270 out of $5,000 in Submitted Charges, in this example...

[GeronL]

because leftists have been working for decades to make it as expensive as possible and are succeeding.

Wait until its “free”, then it’ll be much worse.

[RightWingConspirator]

The woman who is CEO of Sarasota Memorial Hospital (a county tax-supported hospital) receives around $600,000 in salary. Ridiculous!