Posted on 05/19/2005 7:14:23 AM PDT by Jim Noble
The reason the hospitals are willing to pay this much to prevent CEOs from departing for greener pastures, is that there is a very limited pool of people with both the ability and willingness to serve in these positions -- and they all have lots of other options.
actuallym, as I'm sure you know, the "golden handcuffs" are used by all corporations to retain their top execs, because the corps have invested so much in the top execs. And quite frankly, it's hard to turn down the golden salary once an exec gets drawn into it and used to living it.
Looks like the bankruptcy allowed payments for the breast cancer operation, not the brain tumor operation that was performed after the bankruptcy. This would be a new debt, so they can go for a judgement.
It's getting to the point where it's just not worth it to own property. Just rent, and keep your cars in a relatives name.
Maybe you should go to medical school (4 years at about $30,000 a year tuition, plus living expenses), and then work 100 hours a week as a resident for 4 years, getting paid about what a McDonald's manager makes for a 40 hour week (while your $150,000+ in student loans are accruing interest), and then fork over $50-100,000 a year in malpractice insurance, and pay rent for your office space and salaries to your administrative and nursing staff, and spend lots of unpaid hours reading journals in your field to keep up with advances so you can give your patients the best treatment available, and so you don't get sued -- and then charge patients $20 a pop to tap into all the skills and knowledge you've acquired.
If doctors got paid what you seem to think "they are worth", nobody with a 3 digit IQ would become a doctor.
Corporations also regularly use bigger "golden handcuffs" to induce senior executives to c'mon over from a competing firm. It's the free market at work.
they would have been better off claiming they were illegals.....
we're in our fifties and I fear a lot of my age group will be the "have-nots" as far as medical insurance goes....too young for Medicare, and no retirement pension/health benefits.....
it'll cost someone, that's for sure....
that's already happening....
you don't think that the massive amount that most non-govt. employees pay isn't in reality an extra TAX on us for all those not paying for insurance or recieving free /reduced/ highly subsidized care?
in all reality....those of us who are taxed on income AND who pay additionaly for our health benefits are SUBSIDIZING ALL THE FREE CARE GIVEN OUT PLUS THE CHEAP RATES THAT GOVT EMPOLYEES RECEIVE.....
how else can govt employees get the benefits they recieve without huge govt subsidies, which average Joe the tax payer gets nailed for...
so while I personally pay over $600 /month for two people in my household, I also pay income and Ss and property taxes etc.....so I am getting hit from every direction for other people's health care....
I fear universal health care but for people like us, its making more and more sense to level the playing field......
Why is that unfair? I pay enormous premiums for medical insurance. Some years I never use ANY of the benefits. All my premiums pay for the services used by other people. The hospitals accept insurance coverage with the expectation of being paid for the actual cost of the service. Hospitals often inflate service and materials costs to cover all the people who won't pay their bills. If the hospitals pulled that BS on the insurance companies, they would be pulled as "in network" participants. That would trash the only certain source of repayment for services rendered.
I might add that for all the money I pay for medical insurance, the quality of care in Pocatello sucks. The service is poor and the hospitals and doctors often charge more than the insurance will pay. That means additional bills. My wife has insurance as well. Even with double coverage we still pay substantial additional bills.
I agree. I have been waiting for some Dr. to go into business where his business also is a small hospital with basic equipment such as the old type X-ray. He/she is also qualified surgeon. He limits his practice to a particular number of patients, requires them to sign waiver they will not sue and he offers his care to them. It should not take his patient's long to see if they like his style and if they believe he is the Dr. they want to keep. If you are insured you collect from your insurance company yourself. If a catastrophy takes place you have the choice of staying with what he can offer or you go someplace else. I think half the problem with health care is the affiliation with the hospital who had to go hi-tech, even if they were a small hospital.
I have car insurance, but I don't expect the insurance company to pay any part of an oil change or tire rotation. I have it for when some uninsured idiot plows into me or a tree crushes the roof.
We are required to carry insurance in our state or you pay a fee to an uninsured motorist's fund. It was suppose to be a great thing and so was no-fault insurance. Neither are worth the legislation. I have been in only one mishap which the person behind me had NO brakes and NO driver license. My insurance paid and I paid the deductible because I did not have something called collision. I soon got it. But I agree, no one expects anything from car insurance or house insurance for that matter, in fact the adjustors do everything they can to get out of it as cheaply as they can. Hmmmm, not that I put it that way, I guess that is what has happened to health care since insurance clerks determine the care an insured person receives. LOL
>>What say you? Hospitals are under increasing pressure from the Feds to aggressively collect these accounts. Medicare takes the view that, if you aren't aggressively collecting, any billing you do of the government (knowing you will be paid), is fraudulent.
However, these stories create enormous anger and resentment aginst hospitals among the public they serve.
What say you?<<
I'm 51 and went without health care insurance for over ten years. Saved a bundle. And if I got something really bad, I accepted that I would have died. The apostle Paul said "for us to die is gain."
A hospital bill is like a water bill or credit card bill. They perform a service and you agree to pay for the service. It is that simple. I have no sympathy whatsoever for this couple regarding the bill. I come down on the side of the Hospital in this particular case.
A real life lesson that federalized health insurance is only made to cover the elitists and those in government, they will never cover you when it is YOUR life that is on the line.
Damn, I thought this was about the UK.
Greedy baby-boomers wanting everything for free.
There are plenty of great Doctors. My Sunday School teacher was perhaps the best surgeon in our city and his income was small. He was also president of the local medical society. On the other hand I recall several Doctors who were making over a million a year.
They are preying on the public.
No parent is going to deny care to their child no matter what. That is the kind of thing Doctors prey on. Not just Doctors but the entire industry.
There was a time when doctors were poorly paid and literally made house calls.
Now most are in the business to get rich.
I don't know what the answer is. Maybe the market will take care of it eventually by increasing the number of doctors but some medical societies make a concerted effort to limit the number of Doctors.
I also agree that excessive mal-practice awards are part of the problem. They should be limited as to amount.
Are you in a position to bargain on a car payment, a water bill, a house payment? I agree about the child thing. But I made it clear in my post that I was talking about this particular case.
Gee, if they were illegals, this wouldn't happen to them...
"nobody with a 3 digit IQ would become a doctor."
So that's why all the low IQ doctors. (hehe, just kidding. too easy.)
The same thing has already happened in the engineering world. Same after hours study to be the best and loads of education and experience required. The problem is that a lousy engineer is all that 99.9999% of businesses know to expect, so they develop horribly engineered products. This goes for software, electronic, mechanical, chemical, etc. Engineering student entry into universities has dropped considerably over the past few years.
The answer to all the above except the water bill is "Yes".
Can you bargain on those any more than on a doctor bill?
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