Half of Bankruptcy Due to Medical Bills -- U.S. Study

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=8&u=/nm/20050202/ts_nm/health_bankruptcy_dc

So thats quite a high number. The question is what to do about it. I personally am for universal health care. Its one of those things that if the country you are living in can provide they should provide it. It is necessary for life. There hasnt been one person throughout history who didnt need medical treatment at one point or another. All of this could be paid for at far less than the cost of paying normal insurence.

And dont give me that 'they wait months in canada crap" because thats just what it is. I know people that live/d in canada. Last time I had to wait 6 hours in the emergency room and 2 months for a doctors visit (check up).

Nor will nationalized health care destroy our doctors quality. They can be paid based on patient reviews and what procedures they do. Nor does it stop doctors from trying to brach out on their on and chrage privatly for their services. If rich people have enough money they can still get the best doctor around.

Selfishness is a value in this country and it makes me sick. When I talk about nationalized medicine all I hear are excuses from the priviledged "I dont wanna pay for ______'s ______ surgery." The best part is its usually lower middle folks who say this. The very ones most likely to be plunged into debt by an illness. They are to narrow minded to ever think that it may be them in the situation or that maybe they could think about someone else for once in their life.

Ok Im done have fun...

I completely agree with you on this issue. Many judgments for unpaid medical bills will destroy your chances of refinance, or purchasing a home. It just isn't fair. What also isn't fair is that insurance companies pay an "agreed" upon price for a visit or treatment, etc. that is most usually a LOT lower than what you pay if you don't have insurance. You're getting penalized for NOT having insurance - like it's your fault or something. I don't get it.

Originally posted by saycricket
What also isn't fair is that insurance companies pay an "agreed" upon price for a visit or treatment, etc. that is most usually a LOT lower than what you pay if you don't have insurance.

People no longer shop price or value when it comes to medical care, because they don't have to. People with coverage don't care what it costs. If you were a doctor what would you do to your prices in that scenario?

Thirty years ago, doctors lived on your block, with a shingle hanging in front of their house and a small office in the back. Do they live in middle class neighborhoods any longer? What do you think changed?

Can you imagine what government guaranteed health care would do to prices? I'm not saying don't do it, but you can't even estimate what the costs will be.

Yeah the healthcare thing is bullshit right now.

Something needs to be done.

I've heard good things about Canada from Canadians, I've heard bad things about Canada from Americans, who should I but my money on?

Insurance and medical cost are getting way out of control in the US. You are also correct about the waiting I have had to wait for 6+ months before for a med visit.

People no longer shop price or value when it comes to medical care, because they don't have to. People with coverage don't care what it costs. If you were a doctor what would you do to your prices in that scenario?

If you are proposing that doctors are getting rich because insurance covers costs, I believe you are mistaken. Insurance regulates how much it pays for each procedure and what procedures they can use, etc. There was a write up in US News and World Reports a couple of weeks ago about how frustrated doctors are right now, and how they don't recommend to their children to go into the medical fields. It also talked about how nurses and other non-doctors are taking more and more jobs, since they cost less and can do a lot of the jobs that doctors used to do.

I think the biggest problem is that people are exploiting hospitals by not having insurance and still getting treated. The cost of insuring for the people that do have insurance goes up to cover the cost of the people who do not have insurance. The big question is what to do about people with no insurance. Should they be refused hospital visits and medicine? Or should the government simply pick up the tab for everyone, making medicine and doctors an "American right." The cost of doing that, as you guys have pointed out, will be immense. The alternative is to turn away people that do not have insurance.

America is going to have to learn that you cannot give everyone everything they want. Until we do learn that, we will have budget deficits and rising taxes.

Originally posted by Karankawa
If you are proposing that doctors are getting rich because insurance covers costs, I believe you are mistaken.


I do agree insurance is a scam and has been for some time. But I also don't see doctors standing in line at the poor house either.

It also talked about how nurses and other non-doctors are taking more and more jobs, since they cost less and can do a lot of the jobs that doctors used to do.

Nurses do not get paid enough for the sh** they have to deal with, compared to a doctor that gets $150+ for 15 min. of talking.

I think the biggest problem is that people are exploiting hospitals by not having insurance and still getting treated.

Or even better yet insurance is exploiting people.

The cost of insuring for the people that do have insurance goes up to cover the cost of the people who do not have insurance.

Insurance companys love to see it when people believe this line of bull. Insurance companys are nothing more then a sales company and the better they can tell their story the more sales they'll make.

The big question is what to do about people with no insurance. Should they be refused hospital visits and medicine? Or should the government simply pick up the tab for everyone, making medicine and doctors an "American right." The cost of doing that, as you guys have pointed out, will be immense. The alternative is to turn away people that do not have insurance.

I don't have the answers but maybe instead of sending 15 billion to another country{africa} we should help our own 1st. Maybe instead of having million dollar government parties the money could go to something a little more important. Maybe instead of buying 3 unneeded houses for congressman so and so the money could be more helpfull.

America is going to have to learn that you cannot give everyone everything they want. Until we do learn that, we will have budget deficits and rising taxes.

Maybe instead of government wasting our money on stupid sh** and other countrys we could help those that pay the taxes in the 1st place?

There was a study done several years ago where it was discovered that hospitals were charging for procedures, and then breaking the procedure down into its components and charging for those. They charged twice for the same procedure right on the same page and nobody noticed because they don't care. The paperwork is so massive that the insurance companies don't even notice.

When someone's in the hospital and the doctor stops in to say hello and calls it a visit (for 180 dollars) we could care less because all it costs us is a signature. If you had to pay for that, it wouldn't be tolerated.

A woman I know worked for a dentist that sent in paperwork for work he never performed.

These are just small examples of what EASILY slips through the cracks in a big unruly system.

Why were doctors less affluent when we paid out of pocket?

Originally posted by Brooks
Why were doctors less affluent when we paid out of pocket?

Actually, I don't think that doctors are any more or less affluent than they were before. Or at least we can say that they've always done pretty well for themselves.

But I completely agree with your point - the more people became disconnected from the price of their health care, costs went up. Veterinarians have benefitted from most of the same medical advances and yet the cost of taking care of animals is still pretty reasonable.

Insurance regulates how much it pays for each procedure and what procedures they can use At the expence of the victim...er, uh, patient that is. Also at the expence of uninsured patients. A study was dont that found that uninsured people pay sometimes 5 times as much for the same procedures. This is caused because insurence uses collective bargining (ie : we bring you x patients, you give us y discount).

The cost of doing that, as you guys have pointed out, will be immense.

No it would because if insurence comapnies get such a large discount for bring in x patients imagine how much the entire country would save as a whole. It would cost everyone less than they are already paying for insurence.

I think the biggest problem is that people are exploiting hospitals by not having insurance and still getting treated. Yeah I mean poor people who get sick should either go to jail or die... I know thats not what you meant but some people do and I just couldnt resist.

Originally posted by Karankawa
I think the biggest problem is that people are exploiting hospitals by not having insurance and still getting treated.

I received a bill from a pediatrician a few months ago, for costs related to my having birthed a baby girl.

This was news to me, as I've never been pregnant and, to my knowledge, didn't travel to California to have a baby last year.

So I called the pediatrician's office and related this information to them (and that I wasn't about to pay the bill they'd sent). The kicker is, I'll be paying toward those charges anyway, since the woman who used my personal information cannot be located and the taxes I pay will cover the hospital's failure to make sure the woman was legit before giving her treatment.

%$#@!

Originally posted by LionelHutz
Actually, I don't think that doctors are any more or less affluent than they were before. Or at least we can say that they've always done pretty well for themselves.

But I completely agree with your point - the more people became disconnected from the price of their health care, costs went up. Veterinarians have benefitted from most of the same medical advances and yet the cost of taking care of animals is still pretty reasonable.
Very true...