Health insurance and drug companies are fleecing us with our government's blessing. Obamacare was a giveaway to the health insurance industry and made a lot of them rich.
My doctor wants to put me on a drug that's $1400 a month if insurance doesn't pay for it. He filed a prior authorization request with my insurance and they disapproved it, they want me to try other drugs that he says won't work. Anywhere else in the world that medicine is $75-100 a month. I'm overseas all the time, I'll just take my prescription with me and have it filled in Europe. Most people don't have that option.
Scum sucking lawyers are a big part of it too. The country needs tort reform where the loser of a civil suit pays all the court and expenses of the winning party. That would put a quick halt to all the frivolous BS lawsuits these dirtbag attorneys pursue unless there was a very high likelihood of winning.
The root cause of high medical costs is insurance. It is a two-fold cause.
1. People opt for all kinds of unneeded or optional procedures/tests because "Insurance will pay for it."
2. Providers charge ridiculous amounts because "Insurance will pay for it."
Example: My wife recently had necessary surgery on two toes. The bill came to $70,000. And we haven't gotten the anesthesiologist bill yet. I forget the exact numbers, but Medicare and Tricare paid something like $8,000 - and that's what the doctor accepted. We owe nothing else.
Wow! Imagine for something like major heart surgery that requires a heart lung machine or a major transplant!
Was it a general surgeon who did the operation or a specialist?
I had a heart attack this past summer followed by 2 weeks in coronary icu and a double bypass. Care to guess the hospital/surgeon/anesthesiologist bill??
$271,000 and change! Medicare paid a little over $90k. I had to kick in another $1100.
On another note.... Back in the late 50's or early 60's my mom needed to get a full set of dentures. The dentist quoted a total cost of $200 for everything. After the procedures were started my dad got a new job that had dental coverage so Mom asked the dentist if he'd accept that insurance. He said sure thing. So mom took the paper work to him to have him fill it out. The dentist charged the insurance company over $600! When Mom asked him how he could charge the higher price after having already quoted $200 he replied "why do you care, you're not paying for it". And boys and girls is why medical costs are so high
capitalism works when you have winners and losers in the market in competition with each other
The healthcare system is not incentivized to compete, the majority of people don't know what something is going to cost ahead of time and they are not encouraged to shop around. When you are facing a life or death decision, you aren't going to ask questions about how much is this going to cost - and the current system is designed to profit from that.
Governments solution is not to control health costs, but to subsidize those costs for those that can't afford them. It only leads to one option- a nationalized single payer healthcare system. Costs will get so high that people will demand relief and the government will step in to do what they've been wanting to do since Clinton, take over healthcare in this country. where alot of people will get wealthy running a lobbyist controlled system.
Its ridiculous that we have a health care system in place now with premiums and deductibles so high its preventing Americans from making significant gains in their lives. Obama's grand idea was to tax people that actually had good health insurances so they'd all be forced into a system the insurance companies tailor made for congress to sign off on.
I hate that man to this day for that.; He did more harm to health insurance in 2 years than everyone else in the last 50.
At this point I'd like to see more laws in place to protect consumers from bankruptcy due to medical costs. I know more gov involvement is the last thing people want (well many people anyways) but the reality is government is heavily involved and its determining your quality of life at this point. If government is going to be involved in healthcare, make it where it benefits the consumer, not the insurance companies and big pharma.
Last edited by KFWA; 12/14/22.
have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues, can you bend them guitar strings
There is massive collusion between medical services and insurance companies. That's why a simple MRI self-pay is $200 and the same image through the insurance company is $1,350. With your copay, you wind up paying more out of pocket than you would have as a self-pay. The insurance company wins and the imaging service wins.
There is massive collusion between medical services and insurance companies. That's why a simple MRI self-pay is $200 and the same image through the insurance company is $1,350. With your copay, you wind up paying more out of pocket than you would have as a self-pay. The insurance company wins and the imaging service wins.
You would have to show me that $200 self-pay.
Due to .gov regulations, insurance companies were forced into becoming the bookkeepers for Medicare/Medicaid. They built the software, helped set the coding standards and guidelines and found ways to provide the same services to worker groups through group coverages. The .gov wanted to own it all. Step one was completed YEARS ago.
Over-utilization, non-payment and inflation are major drivers of medical cost trend.
capitalism works when you have winners and losers in the market in competition with each other
The healthcare system is not incentivized to compete, the majority of people don't know what something is going to cost ahead of time and they are not encouraged to shop around. When you are facing a life or death decision, you aren't going to ask questions about how much is this going to cost - and the current system is designed to profit from that.
Governments solution is not to control health costs, but to subsidize those costs for those that can't afford them. It only leads to one option- a nationalized single payer healthcare system. Costs will get so high that people will demand relief and the government will step in to do what they've been wanting to do since Clinton, take over healthcare in this country. where alot of people will get wealthy running a lobbyist controlled system.
Its ridiculous that we have a health care system in place now with premiums and deductibles so high its preventing Americans from making significant gains in their lives. Obama's grand idea was to tax people that actually had good health insurances so they'd all be forced into a system the insurance companies tailor made for congress to sign off on.
I hate that man to this day for that.; He did more harm to health insurance in 2 years than everyone else in the last 50.
Very good summation of the situation KFWA. Obamacare was designed to foster a government takeover of the healthcare system while making insurance and pharmaceutical companies rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams. There's a reason health insurers and pharmaceutical companies are the biggest campaign contributors to political campaigns.
There is massive collusion between medical services and insurance companies. That's why a simple MRI self-pay is $200 and the same image through the insurance company is $1,350. With your copay, you wind up paying more out of pocket than you would have as a self-pay. The insurance company wins and the imaging service wins.
You would have to show me that $200 self-pay.
Due to .gov regulations, insurance companies were forced into becoming the bookkeepers for Medicare/Medicaid. They built the software, helped set the coding standards and guidelines and found ways to provide the same services to worker groups through group coverages. The .gov wanted to own it all. Step one was completed YEARS ago.
Over-utilization, non-payment and inflation are major drivers of medical cost trend.
Originally Posted by STRSWilson
When you go in for anything, ask what is the self-pay rate. Most of the time its well below the insurance rate. Especially on imagining.
In other OECD countries people pays less in taxes for equal healthcare.. and receive Zero copays, no out of pocket expenses, etc etc etc... If you are sick, you go to a doctor and not a emergency room.
Germany: 12 Switzerland: 12.9 Norway: 10.9 Netherlands: 14.3 Austria: 14.4 Denmark: 21.2 (might be a error, and might be 12.2??) Sweden: 13.6 France: 9.9 Canada: 7.5
The US is still the only developed country that accepts squandering $Trillions each year for inadequate healthcare, as long as it ends up in the pockets of for profit insurance companies, healthcare providers and drug companies. Republicans* loooooooove donations from these companies, and will fight tooth and nail to keep that income flowing..
And Obamacare didn't create this mess...
(*As well as some corporate Democrats... )
The US in the last 40 years:
Socialism for big corporations and military industrial complex
In other OECD countries people pays less in taxes for equal healthcare.. and receive Zero copays, no out of pocket expenses, etc etc etc... If you are sick, you go to a doctor and not a emergency room. [b][/b]
Germany: 12 Switzerland: 12.9 Norway: 10.9 Netherlands: 14.3 Austria: 14.4 Denmark: 21.2 (might be a error, and might be 12.2??) Sweden: 13.6 France: 9.9 Canada: 7.5
The US is still the only developed country that accepts squandering $Trillions each year for inadequate healthcare, as long as it ends up in the pockets of for profit insurance companies, healthcare providers and drug companies. Republicans* loooooooove donations from these companies, and will fight tooth and nail to keep that income flowing..
And Obamacare didn't create this mess...
(*As well as some corporate Democrats... )
Instead of "some" it's more like a WHOLE LOT of Democrats:
Denmark (55.9 percent), France (55.4 percent), and Austria (55 percent) had the highest top statutory personal income tax rates among European OECD countries in 2021. Hungary (15 percent), Estonia (20 percent), and the Czech Republic (23 percent) had the lowest personal income top rates.
Top Personal Income Tax Rates in Europe European OECD Country Top Statutory Personal Income Tax Rate
As Northman says, Obamacare didn't create this problem, but it was meant to be the pathway and conduit to get us to a national healthcare system. Whether it was perfect or not, it was essentially scuttled and left in a state where it won't succeed. It was like half baking a cake. We either needed to go big or go home.
We already, as a country, pay approximately 40% more for healthcare than every other developed nation. And in 4 out of 5 metrics of the quality of healthcare, we perform significantly below the average.
It's time to design and implement a national healthcare system that works.
Had a heart attack Jan 2014, never paid a dime, two stents put in, not a dime spent. Had a foot infection from an injury and being diabetic they jumped on it fast, first IV treatment, then a more aggressive pic line Picc Line www.macmillan.org.uk A peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC), also called a PICC line, is a long, thin tube that's inserted through a vein in your arm and passed through to the larger veins near your heart. the pic line allowed them to fight it more effectively, no cost to me. Now when I say not a dime spent by me, I mean out of pocket expenses.
The coverage I was inline for upon retiring pays for it all, so compared to what some have to pay, I was lucky to have a job for 45 years that had great benefits that continues today along with 3 pensions that enable me to carry on a very comfortable lifestyle.
"The 375HH is the greatest level of power you can get for the investment in recoil." (JJHack) 79s and losttrail, biggest waste of air.
Our health care system is fubar but the best quality care in the world has always been here in the USA. You have to be able to afford it, but it’s here. There’s a reason why if you drive by the airport in Rochester MN you’ll see a bunch of jets with Arabic writing on them. Those middle eastern sheiks didn’t go to Denmark, they flew twice as far to get here and they passed over a bunch of countries with socialized medicine to do it. If they do stop in Europe it’s at the American Hospital of Paris which is the only US accredited hospital in Europe and completely private, outside the French system. It’s also big $$$.
![[Linked Image from files.taxfoundation.org]](https://files.taxfoundation.org/20220207144718/2022-top-personal-income-tax-rates-in-europe-top-income-tax-rates-in-europe-personal-income-rates-europe-2022.png)
