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18 Horrifying Statistics About Medical Bills, Medical Debt And The Healthcare Industry That Will Make You So Mad You Will Want To Tear Your Hair Out
Citizen Watch Report ^ | Michael

Posted on 02/25/2025 3:49:09 AM PST by davikkm

Do not read this article if you do not want to get angry. The “healthcare industry” in the United States has become one gigantic money making scam, and tens of millions of American families now live in great fear of illness and disease. Why are they so afraid? It is because a single trip to the hospital can ruin you financially. Even if you are covered by health insurance, medical debt can still wreck your finances. In fact, most of the people that go bankrupt due to medical bills actually have health insurance. Meanwhile, on the other side there are lots of people that are becoming fabulously wealthy from this system. Our “healthcare industry” has turned large numbers of doctors, lawyers, health insurance company executives and pharmaceutical company executives into multi-millionaires. Of course the largest shareholders in our gigantic healthcare corporations are raking in the most cash of all. The healthcare industry in the United States has become a cesspool of corruption and greed, and this has been the case for so long that we don’t even remember what a legitimate system even looks like anymore.

Many Americans truly believed that health insurance would protect them if something went terribly wrong with their health.

(Excerpt) Read more at citizenwatchreport.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
KEYWORDS: blogpimp; debt; healthcare; stats
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To: metmom

It’s time to make the family doc great again.

Make it so independent practices outside health systems can thrive.

Sad fact is that if your doc works for a health system, you may be the patient, but that doc doesn’t work for you.

Deep State has done its damndedst to kill the independent practice, EMRs, refusal to enact tort reform et al...

Wonder if RFK Jr has this issue on his radar.

MAHA needs having our independent doctors back.


61 posted on 02/25/2025 9:27:28 AM PST by mewzilla (Swing away, Mr. President, swing away!)
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To: metmom
Oh, geez, don't get me started on vaccines. I did take the shingles shot, seeing my mom get shingles. But other than that, I avoid them. I've been very lucky in terms of health. My eyesight is weak and my teeth are Irish, but other than that, I'm a tank.

So far, anyway.

62 posted on 02/25/2025 9:39:40 AM PST by A_perfect_lady (The greatest wealth is to live content with little. -Plato)
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To: A_perfect_lady

The only one I’d seriously consider taking at this point is Tetanus, and only if needed.

My last shot is still allegedly good for a while.


63 posted on 02/25/2025 9:45:20 AM PST by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus)
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To: A_perfect_lady

I’ve read up on the shingles vaccine and there are horror stories about people who have reacted very poorly to them, and not just a few.

My kids had chicken pox when I was 40 and I made sure they all shared, like good kids. I had it as a kid and have wondered if that exposure to them acted as a kind of booster.

Also, if you catch shingles early, within the first 24-48 IIRC, there are meds you can taken to greatly reduce the course of the illness. You just have to act IMMEDIATELY if you think you might be starting with it.


64 posted on 02/25/2025 9:48:46 AM PST by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus)
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To: A_perfect_lady

Yeah from what i understand, there is no limit to what you can earn and still receive ss I guess. Lots fo folks have a job and collect I guess.


65 posted on 02/25/2025 9:50:43 AM PST by Bob434 (...Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana)
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To: davikkm

My unemployed deadbeat ex had three surgeries over two years and paid for nothing. Though literally pounds of correspondence, demands, and bills were sent out threatening him, he was not sued once. That is the dirty little secret: They threaten but do not sue.


66 posted on 02/25/2025 9:58:57 AM PST by esquirette ("Our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee." ~ Augustine)
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To: metmom

I recently got a tetanus shot at urgent care. Insurance cost was going to be over $100 so I asked for the cash cost, which was $60. Still a lot, but quite revealing, too.


67 posted on 02/25/2025 10:02:50 AM PST by esquirette ("Our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee." ~ Augustine)
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To: metmom

Well, it was a year ago that I had the shingles shot, so I guess I dodged that bullet. But yeah, the tetanus is a good one.


68 posted on 02/25/2025 10:24:57 AM PST by A_perfect_lady (The greatest wealth is to live content with little. -Plato)
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To: johnnygeneric
Go to any small rural town. The biggest, newest, shiniest buildings are the hospitals. What a cash cow.

Same with cities full of welfare thugs and otherwise ricky-tick suburbs, too. I read an essay once years ago that said that with Christendom's passing out of favor, we have left the age of grand cathedrals and instead have the age of grand hospitals.

69 posted on 02/25/2025 10:53:20 AM PST by Albion Wilde (“Did you ever meet a woke person that’s happy? There’s no such thing.” —Donald J. Trump)
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To: Article10
The fix is to remove all the artificial boundaries of state lines, make health insurance companies compete nationwide...

Trump suggested this during his first campaign. When he got into office, he was met with one roadblock after another, not just from the Dems and media, but shamefully from his own party, who wasted his first two years when they had the majority—and hater Ryan. The GOP in Congress had prepared nothing to counter Obamacare, and just bashed around. McCain threw his wrench in, as well. Trump is taking no prisoners this time. MAHA!

70 posted on 02/25/2025 10:59:45 AM PST by Albion Wilde (“Did you ever meet a woke person that’s happy? There’s no such thing.” —Donald J. Trump)
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To: exinnj
The article is written by somebody named Michael, no last name. As such, its credibility and numbers cited are, most likely, incorrect (as in false).

Agree, it sounds sensationalistic; but many of us have horror stories to tell about the “care” they have had imposed upon them. If any of the claims interest you, there are hotlinks in the article at the source that you could check further.

71 posted on 02/25/2025 11:03:33 AM PST by Albion Wilde (“Did you ever meet a woke person that’s happy? There’s no such thing.” —Donald J. Trump)
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To: Albion Wilde

It’s the uniparty and Fedzilla, all built on the 17th Amendment. Party bosses, k street whores run DC. Hence why health insurance industry is a nightmare for the consumer/payers.


72 posted on 02/25/2025 11:09:31 AM PST by Article10 (Roger That)
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To: pierrem15

Not everything is for the better here

I am definitely seeing alot more services being provided by Nurse Practitioners rather than doctors.

I find the bedside manner and time with provider is better with a NP as opposed to doctors however.

Make no mistake I oppose the centralization of medical services in mega-corporations but not everything is worse.

I was born in to a system of private practice doctors who knew me from birth to my graduation from high school.

Everyone in town knew the doctors in town and their reputations.

I would much prefer the decentralized medical system of the 1960s to the centralized bureaucracy controlled medical oligarchy of today.


73 posted on 02/25/2025 11:11:22 AM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: Maskot
In our area, [Cleveland Clinic] bought up the local hospitals and turned them into cash machines with diminished patient care.

A general practice doctor of my acquaintaince opened a solo practice in a strip mall, with weekend coverage from a couple of other local docs, and developed a list of patients for the next 20 years. Then the huge regional university hospital 18 miles away offered him a deal to put its name on his practice, and they would send him patients and take certain referrals for the next several years. He signed on, business boomed, and at the end of those several years, the big hospital invoked fine print “option” in the contract—and replaced him with a third-world doctor who would work for much less. He had to leave the premises and start over in his fifties.

Like what Starbucks and Walmart did to all the mom'n'pop coffee shops and small vendors when they took over the retail marketplace.

74 posted on 02/25/2025 11:21:20 AM PST by Albion Wilde (“Did you ever meet a woke person that’s happy? There’s no such thing.” —Donald J. Trump)
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To: Arlis

That is a lovely story. God blessed you, and may He continue to do so.


75 posted on 02/25/2025 11:22:49 AM PST by Albion Wilde (“Did you ever meet a woke person that’s happy? There’s no such thing.” —Donald J. Trump)
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To: davikkm

Yes... We know. We’ve known... Tomorrow? We’ll still be waiting on the powers that be to fix it...


76 posted on 02/25/2025 11:56:28 AM PST by Dead Corpse (A Psalm in napalm...)
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To: davikkm

The very first question a prospective health care user should ask the doctor or hospital, “do you accept Medicare/Medicaid assignment? Also don’t forget to ask the anesthesiologist because many times they’re not and want cash. If you have private insurance you ask about that.

The next option is to doctor/hospital shop asking those questions. If all this is a no go, ask to speak to the financing and billing side of the operation. Deals can be made for up front cash, etc.

If you do get a doctor/hospital that takes assignment from MEDICARE/AID and your private health plan you’d be surprised just how much is discounted.


77 posted on 02/25/2025 12:08:59 PM PST by Gaffer
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To: A_perfect_lady
Do you have to pay a premium? I'm 59 and I don't know anything about it.

Be sure to learn about Medicare. If you do not sign up promptly when they say you must (I don't know if it's still 65 or if they have moved it to 66), you will have to pay a higher premium fee for Medicare for the rest of your life.

Medicare has a web site, and some community organizations have seminars to help people learn about it. If your county or state has a Department of Aging, start there to look for information.

Confusingly, Medicare is administered by "CMS", Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, with a big CMS logo on much of their printed material. Before I retired, I received some mail from CMS and threw it away because I didn't recognize it— it didn't say "Medicare" in large type. Typical bureaucratic nonsense. Hope RFKjr will pay some attention to better communications with citizens who have paid into Social Security all their lives.

78 posted on 02/25/2025 12:09:50 PM PST by Albion Wilde (“Did you ever meet a woke person that’s happy? There’s no such thing.” —Donald J. Trump)
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To: A_perfect_lady
... my teeth are Irish...

Hahahahaha! I hear you! Soft enamel that stains and decays easily. Too late for me, but I had my offspring's tooth crevices treated with dental sealant as soon as the permanent teeth came in, and they avoided much of the horror my siblings and I experienced from tooth decay in our childhoods.


79 posted on 02/25/2025 12:23:52 PM PST by Albion Wilde (“Did you ever meet a woke person that’s happy? There’s no such thing.” —Donald J. Trump)
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To: metmom

Tetanus shot is recommended every ten years. If you work with tools or do gardening, it’s worthwhile as long as you didn’t have a bad reaction to it before, so you don’t have to rush to the ER if you are pierced by a nail or blade, or the like.


80 posted on 02/25/2025 12:26:14 PM PST by Albion Wilde (“Did you ever meet a woke person that’s happy? There’s no such thing.” —Donald J. Trump)
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