One of the reasons we have a problem in this Country.

Posted by edweaver 10 years, 4 months ago to Government
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Below is a note that was sent via a business list serve that I belong to. With people like this voting, is it any wonder how we ended up with the government we got?

[ I went to a new doctor (my other past four doctors have all retired) the other day for a bi-annual physical. There is nothing wrong with me other than getting older. It was pretty cursory, the nurse weighed me, measured my height, took my pulse and blood pressure readings and a little later the doc came in and sat down and we chatted a bit. He recommended a couple web pages to check out.
The bill was $236 and insurance paid $83 and sent me a bill for $153.
Isn’t that great. Why do we pay about $10,000 a year for insurance if it doesn’t even pay for a physical every two years?
I have a follow up appointment in six weeks. To follow up what I’m not sure other than billing me another $200.
The American healthcare system is mainly a money making machine for hospitals, doctors, labs, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, etc. etc. The actual patient healthcare is almost incidental and it gets worse and worse as you get older and older.
I, a lifelong republican, voted for Obama because I thought a national healthcare system might actually help. It hasn’t, so far. I’m not sure what would.
I do some printing for the hospital as well. I would hope so since the hospital is now far and away the largest business in the entire county. ]


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  • Posted by Zenphamy 10 years, 4 months ago
    It is impossible for a national healthcare system to help anyone except politicians and bureaucrats. If you had gone to the doctor as a cash paying customer, chances are you would have been billed less than your $153, been out faster and probably not called back for a second visit.

    Standard Dr. visits have no business being under health insurance. Insurance makes more sense as catastrophic coverage and would be a lot cheaper.
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    • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 4 months ago
      Yes. People don't like paying for medicine, so we keep coming up with ways to re-arrange the coins on the table, but not matter how you slice it medicine is costly. On the balance I think PPACA is a good thing, BUT one of the worst parts of it is it's part of people trying to fool themselves that some legislation can make value out of nothing. The biggest example is how the legislation ended underwriting, i.e. put everyone in the same risk pool, yet some people were indignant that this meant higher costs. This should have been obvious.

      No matter what laws they pass or don't pass, there's no substitute for taking charge of your purchasing decisions.
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  • Posted by khalling 10 years, 4 months ago
    ah, you tried to short cut your morals. I agree with your frustration. Before Obamacare there was cronycare. that is called every state making it's own laws on insurance. The insurance Industry. President Obama ripped them a new one verbally but got you to jump over to their charlatan ship. Real capitalism, would have FTFY
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  • Posted by Snoogoo 10 years, 4 months ago
    I dropped my insurance a few years ago for the same reason. I put the money aside for the occasional sinus infection or check up and ended up saving thousands a year. Now I can't do that because I'm breaking the law. Wonderful.
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  • Posted by 10 years, 4 months ago
    For clarity, I should have stated that I received this message via a business list serve instead of sent via. Don't want anyone to get the idea I voted for the idiot in office. :)
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 4 months ago
    I would ask the hard questions of "why do I need this followup" just as you would if it were another service like car repair or getting a new furnace installed. Unlike other transactions, the bureaucracy almost always muddles medical purchases.

    A few years back our pediatrician stopped taking our insurance. We've always had high-deductible but never hit the deductible. It's just there to protect our wealth from some major surgery. So we didn't care whether they took our insurance. The billing dept was perplexed at the concept of our bringing a check, cash, or other forms of money to pay for their services. We actually told the doc we like the service, and we're happy to pay cash or check. She went and told the admin people to accept our money and give us the decent price we were asking for. What a pain. Now they're working with our insurance again, but we still have to stay on their case b/c the insurance company makes frequent errors. They're not trying to rip us off. They're just clueless. The docs are great, but their admin people are used to dealing with middle-class customers looking for a handout.
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