Posted on 12/30/2009 2:42:25 PM PST by Biggirl
How Obamacare has done great damage to one seventh of our nation's economy. I’m struggling with the headline since I know health care has not been destroyed by low co-pays, but those gold-plated plans with $15 co-pays to go see a doctor and $25 for an emergency room visit has destroyed our perception of value when it comes to health care. My perception of value theory evolved in high school when I signed up for classes and had to buy the books at the school store. I can’t remember how much those books cost, but I paid part of the tab, and the books – some used – were mine. If I lost or destroyed the book, I was expected to buy a replacement. If you compared the condition of my books to the books public school kids had, the difference was clear. Public school students were provided books free of charge and many of those books were a mess. If a student lost a book, he or she would just grab another off the classroom bookshelf. There was no perception of value. You can use this comparison with public education, government subsidized housing, the treatment of rental cars, government subsidized retraining programs, and yes, the health care system.
(Excerpt) Read more at radioviceonline.com ...
The author doesn’t go back far enough. Medical care was affordable until Medicare was created in the late 60’s. It took a HUGE chunk of people out of the insurance pool. Because prices rose, government then decided there should be HMO’s. All of our problems started with governments “help”.
Something about this article really bothered me and I realized what it was when I went and read the entire post. I have $15 copays and I think that’s way too high.
Want to know why? Because I pay $900 a month for an HMO plan for myself and my husband (just the two of us, no kids). And we go to the doctor, at most, twice a year each. So when this author talks about what it really costs to go to the doctor, I can say that it costs me about $2,700 per visit. Paying that much already, I admit I have a hard time stomaching an additional $15 out of my pocket to boot!
However, I should add that I otherwise wholeheartedly agree with the article. I realize most people aren’t like me and don’t think about how much they’re actually paying for health care. Maybe it helps that my paystub shows me how much my employer is paying each month (and I’m smart enough to realize that it’s really my money they’re spending).
I’m sickened by the whole thing. I’d much rather just have catastrophic coverage for the big things that can go wrong and pay as I go for the routine stuff (I’m sure I’d come out ahead in the end), but unfortunately no employer I know of offers such an option.
AMEN!! It WAS affordable until
Medicare!
I've been paying $15 copays for at least 15 years, probably more. You can't blame Obama for that.
Thanks for posting, Biggirl.
A lot of people don’t remember when paying for an office visit out of pocket was no big deal. People got the care they needed because they could afford it. Even prescriptions weren’t expensive. We couldn’t afford much when I was a kid but doctor visits were no problem.
I think a lot of people must not understand how co-pays work. They act as if that is all that is paid. The loser is perhaps the doctor who may not get reimbursed for the full balance. But co-pay plans are expensive and one generally shells out far more in premiums than the cost of the visits. Medications should be reasonably priced, doctor visits should be affordable to pay the doctor directly, and insurance should be reserved for major medical or long term care IMHO.
People pay for those HMO’s. It’s taken out of their paychecks. It isn’t free and they know it.
That’s the way it used to be.
Many people don’t understand how much more money would be withheld from the paychecks for health premiums if there were no premiums.
Read my post 2. Before Medicare, there were no problems.
I used to run rates when I worked for a health insurance company.
It USED to be $8.00 for the WHOLE visit!!!!
And there wasn’t a mile of paperwork so there weren’t always a nurse and receptionist either. Doc Cosgrove walked his patients out and then would ask “Who’s next?”
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