$640.00 to fill the tanks...

In article . com,
"Robert M. Gary" wrote:

Show me who qualifies for medicaid and can afford to fly at the same
time.

If you can afford to fly, you are paying for your health care whether
you live in the U.S. or in Europe. In Europe you give the gov't money
to pay for your healthcare, in the U.S. you give the insurance company
money to pay for your healthcare.
In both cases, if you don't have money, the gov't picks up the tab.
-Robert

I wonder if the final sentence above is true. If you've had any close
encounters with hospital bills lately, you have to be dismayed at what
seem to be the "way up there" costs or charges for every little aspect
of that part of the healthcare system. I have to suspect that somehow,
the charges on those who can pay are driven up by the hospital's legal
requirement to provide walk-in care without reimbursement for those who
can't, or won't -- and it shows up in _our_ payments, whether for direct
care or for insurance.

"AES" wrote

I wonder if the final sentence above is true. If you've had any close
encounters with hospital bills lately, you have to be dismayed at what
seem to be the "way up there" costs or charges for every little aspect
of that part of the healthcare system. I have to suspect that somehow,
the charges on those who can pay are driven up by the hospital's legal
requirement to provide walk-in care without reimbursement for those who
can't, or won't -- and it shows up in _our_ payments, whether for direct
care or for insurance.

Around half your bill is someone else's bill.
--
Jim in NC

In article ,
AES wrote:

I wonder if the final sentence above is true. If you've had any close
encounters with hospital bills lately, you have to be dismayed at what
seem to be the "way up there" costs or charges for every little aspect
of that part of the healthcare system.

I don't know. Is $45,000 too much for ER, surgery (4 hours), and 14 days
in the hospital?

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

In article ,
AES wrote:

In article . com,
"Robert M. Gary" wrote:

Show me who qualifies for medicaid and can afford to fly at the same
time.

If you can afford to fly, you are paying for your health care whether
you live in the U.S. or in Europe. In Europe you give the gov't money
to pay for your healthcare, in the U.S. you give the insurance company
money to pay for your healthcare.
In both cases, if you don't have money, the gov't picks up the tab.
-Robert

I wonder if the final sentence above is true. If you've had any close
encounters with hospital bills lately, you have to be dismayed at what
seem to be the "way up there" costs or charges for every little aspect
of that part of the healthcare system. I have to suspect that somehow,
the charges on those who can pay are driven up by the hospital's legal
requirement to provide walk-in care without reimbursement for those who
can't, or won't -- and it shows up in _our_ payments, whether for direct
care or for insurance.

My wife had to be taken to the ER by the squad two weeks ago. They kept
her overnight and released her the next afternoon. We had to go back for
a test Wednesday morning.
The hospital bill was $8000.
Today we received the statement from the insurance company informing us
what they had paid and what the hospital had accepted and how much we
owe.
Insurance paid $3700, we owe $1200 (20% of the total bill).

john smith wrote:
Insurance paid $3700, we owe $1200 (20% of the total bill).

You could also have elected to buy a more expensive policy that covered
more, you selected a policy that paid 80% based on the cost of the
policy and what you would get for it. Personally, I just carry a
catastrophic policy and pay everything out of pocket with pre-tax
dollars using an HSA. I'm saving a ton of money over my previous PPOs
and HMOs and if I ever do get really sick, the catastrophic policy
kicks in.

-Robert

In article .com,
"Robert M. Gary" wrote:

john smith wrote:
Insurance paid $3700, we owe $1200 (20% of the total bill).

You could also have elected to buy a more expensive policy that covered
more, you selected a policy that paid 80% based on the cost of the
policy and what you would get for it. Personally, I just carry a
catastrophic policy and pay everything out of pocket with pre-tax
dollars using an HSA. I'm saving a ton of money over my previous PPOs
and HMOs and if I ever do get really sick, the catastrophic policy
kicks in.

We picked the policy we have based on what we could afford out of pocket.
Our family is normally healthy, spending less than $2000 annually on out
of pocket medical expenses. Eyeglasses for the family being the biggest
expense each year.
This medical emergency was completely unforeseen so the insurance cost
has already paid for itself.

AES wrote:
In article . com,
"Robert M. Gary" wrote:
If you've had any close
encounters with hospital bills lately, you have to be dismayed at what
seem to be the "way up there" costs or charges for every little aspect
of that part of the healthcare system. I have to suspect that somehow,
the charges on those who can pay are driven up by the hospital's legal
requirement to provide walk-in care without reimbursement for those who
can't, or won't -- and it shows up in _our_ payments, whether for direct
care or for insurance.

My point is that if a homeless person in the U.S. walks into a hospitol
and needs expensive emergency care he will not be turned away. The
hospital will provide the care and the gov't (us)will fit the bill.
This even applies to those in the U.S. illegally.

-Robert

"Robert M. Gary" wrote

My point is that if a homeless person in the U.S. walks into a hospitol
and needs expensive emergency care he will not be turned away. The
hospital will provide the care and the gov't (us)will fit the bill.
This even applies to those in the U.S. illegally.

And there you have another reason why healthcare in the US is so expensive.

You have people who can not afford to pay for a family doctor, come to the
ER only when stuff is hitting the fan. Most times it could be taken care of
in a family doc's office, but they don't have to see you there. That leave
a bunch of expensive people and equipment sitting around for non emergency
types of problems, but still having to be paid for being ready for the
person that really needs it all.

Add to that the fact that there would not have been the urgent situation, if
preventative care had been taken.

Don't even get me started on malpractice insurance costs, or drug makers
advertising on TV and other places.
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:
"Robert M. Gary" wrote
You have people who can not afford to pay for a family doctor, come to the
ER only when stuff is hitting the fan.

The fact remains that no one in the U.S. goes without medical necessary
care because of finances. The concern about millions of uninsured in
the U.S. (about 1/2 of which are in the country illegally) is not about
medical care, its about money. Everyone get medical care regardless of
their ability to pay in the U.S.
Mothers and children that do not have medical insurance get better
medical care than most insurance companies can provide as well.

Don't even get me started on malpractice insurance costs, or drug makers
advertising on TV and other places.

They need to advertise profitable products because they are subsidizing
the RND of drugs for the entire planet. The U.S. spends billions on
drug research. Once a new treatment is developed, the rest of the world
demands to receive it for production cost. If you think durg companies
are making money hand over fist, you are perfectly welcome to buy some
of their stock and share their profits. The fact is that the occasional
winfall from a new development comes after decades of pouring money
into research.


-Robert

by "Robert M. Gary" Aug 17, 2006 at 09:02 AM


Morgans wrote:
"Robert M. Gary" wrote
You have people who can not afford to pay for a family doctor, come to
the
ER only when stuff is hitting the fan.

The fact remains that no one in the U.S. goes without medical necessary
care because of finances. The concern about millions of uninsured in
the U.S. (about 1/2 of which are in the country illegally) is not about
medical care, its about money. Everyone get medical care regardless of
their ability to pay in the U.S.
Mothers and children that do not have medical insurance get better
medical care than most insurance companies can provide as well.."

Stick to piloting. Who pays for immunizations of the "mothers and
children in the US that do not have medical care?"

Some states have free clinics. In other states they do without.

We do subsidize GA in the USA however. Ah, priorities and politics.....