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Work hard, play hard, medicate hard
lines.
Six years ago, when my wife was pregnant, I was laid-off/fired/quit (something like that). The company owed me a lot of back pay. I had to settle for .30 on the dollar to keep it from being drawn out forever. Then the Cobra kicked in at a horrendous rate but I had little choice with a baby on the way. Blue Cross then mucked up my account so that every claim was denied and required me to call and walk every payment through the system. I had started my own company and this bogged me down using time I could ill afford to waste. I can see why would-be entrepreneurs are reluctant to start a new venture because of our screwed up health care system; choosing instead to remain in jobs were they are protected from the grind that could be placed on them if they left then had a significant health issue.
I purchased insurance for us like my wife was used to seeing; co-pay on office visits, etc; I had never had a serious health issue. Starting out in my own company I used just about all cash, assets and credit to get the venture going. Then one morning around 4 a.m., I woke up with chest pains. After a three day stay in the hospital (never found out what the problem was) and follow up visits I racked up $12-$15,000 in medical bills that were not covered by my insurance. The bills were devastating, coming when they did. When a compe or had a new protective patent come out I did not have the funds to redesign and ended up shutting down the venture. The medical bills that streamed in for a year after that, coupled with the economic harm of the failed venture, nearly put me into bankruptcy (I have never carried consumer debt and had a paid-off house but even with that it was touch and go). I should mention that had I been able to get my venture off the ground (and I am not laying all the blame on the medical bill crunch) it would have been a $20 million company by now employing a good number of people in good paying jobs. It is an industry I have been involved in since 1991 and I am a name in the industry; that is no false claim.
For my wife, 5 year old son and I right now I have to budget $1200 a month for medical expenses and insurance. I still have a few health issues that require some treatment and medication. I believe, based on self-education that these could be indicative of a larger underlying health problem but the tests cost $2000 which I am not going to spend right now (trying to get a different business venture going).
I think Fox News calls that rationed care.
I think the medical system is all ed up and I am no socialist. I am glad our President has the balls to take on the problem.
Work hard, play hard, medicate hard
lines.
Dude he's NOT taking on the problem. He's telling Pelosi/Reid get something anything passed and I'll sign it so I can put a checkmark next to healthcare. Same as he did with the stimulus, that's worked out great right?
It might be different if he put together a solid plan and submitted to congress.
MUCH more govt. mandates on group insurance; including very limited pre-x exclusions; mandatory benefits.
Individual covg can be DENIED - and is underwritten individually; gonna cost a lot less; 'cause the company can assess its risk much more accurately.
What about life insurance; doesn't get worse than dead -- should that be allowed to be for profit?
or home; or auto, or disability........should all insurance be excluded from profit, because, ultimately, it "preys" on people's misfortune?
or how about....
auto body shops, morgues, cemetaries?
That's a good point. We did have to get a physical/blood tests before they would issue the pollicy.
Kudos for bringing a real life story into this.
...I can do this all day:
Then there's food.
Pretty much right up there in terms of importance. Should farmers, grocery stores and restaurants be allowed to make a profit?
The point is: We either believe and trust that the free market is the best way to deliver bountiful goods and services (both necessary and not so much) at reasonable prices, or we do not. If we don't, then we don't for anything; because that is where, ultimately, this will lead us. We are on a slippery slope, and we're about to pour a mixture of grease and butter on it
- capitalism sucks, but it's still better than every other economic system!
If the free market would really exist and operate as designed, you might actually be onto something. But in practical terms, we have to look somewhere else.
Not to mention that the free market doesn't solve the basic altruistic nature of part of the business. What's the incentive for a pharmaceutical to create an actual cure for disease as opposed to a palliative?
A free society complete with a free press.
Why?
Why should we settle for what we KNOW is going to be worse in the long run? Is there not enough evidence that the more central control of an economy means less wealth to go around - exponentially so?
It is hyperbole anymore, but is equality more important than quality? Is EVERYONE poor better than some poor, some rich?
...and lawyers.
Another pharmaceutical that creates the cure which makes the palliative worthless.
But that's not a sound business decision. A better business decision is to create another competing palliative, and join into the cash-cow. If it includes price-fixing between the companies instead of actual compe ion, then much better.
After all, you need to pay off congressman, and selling cures one time ain't going to get it done.
BTW, that's the free market we live in today.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating the government plan.
Don't automatically assume I'm suggesting the proposed plan to be better. I don't like it any more than you do. But the current system is simply just as corrupt.
No. I'm not against those that can pay and get better quality care to do so. But I am for a baseline access to care for those that can't afford it.
It's bull the amount of bankruptcies common people either face or have to go through because of this inflated system. The status quo sucks donkey balls, and something needs to be done about it.
Socialist Feels the Heat at Health Care Town Hall
By Bob Ellis on July 21st, 2009
Robert Broadus
Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) held a town hall meeting yesterday to peddle socialized medicine. But all was not cheers and rose petals at the meeting.
Robert Broadus of Clinton, Maryland wasn’t very enthusiastic about the liberals’ plan to treat him like a serf:
Perhaps the most controversial, came from Robert Broadus of Clinton, Maryland, an audience member who had lost his job and replaced it with one that paid him far less money.This man is indignant that some elitist in Washington is going to tell him how he must spend the money that he himself earned. (”How dare he,” socialist Ben Cardin must be thinking).
“I decided not to get the health insurance. That’s working out for me because I’m able to save that extra money and give it to my family members and use it on myself. Senator Cardin, I want to know are you going to tell me an individual…that I have to buy health care or else you’re going to fine me $2,500 every year I don’t get it? Our founding fathers assured us we have a Bill of Rights and I want to see you uphold that,” Broadus said in an increasingly emotional voice and to scattered applause.
Cardin responded with the patronizing excuse that if the man were injured and unable to pay, the public would end up paying for his health care.
So how is that different than the socialist health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and so on that are already in place? Or socialist plans the liberals want to impose on the American people going forward?
Essentially the only difference is that Broadus might be able to pay his own bills under a free market system, and if we moved to return our system to a fully free market model, costs would go down and make people like Broadus even more capable of paying for their own health care.
I know people who don’t have insurance but still pay off their hospital bills in payments. They are not in a position to afford health care premiums, but limit their use of the health care system and choose to pay their own way instead of sticking someone else with the bill.
I had some rather large medical bills several years ago. The hospital gave me a bunch of forms I could have used to stick it to the taxpayers for my bills, but I threw them in the trash and paid off the hospital in installments. I’m an American, and Americans don’t force other Americans to pay their way. They may need to rely on the good will and charity of other Americans once in a while, but they don’t call out the government thugs to take another American’s property by force.
Socialist model only drive up costs because people abuse the system, and ineffective government oversight drives costs through the roof. There is no incentive anywhere from top to bottom in socialist systems to control costs and fight waste and abuse.
We need more Americans like Robert Broadus of Maryland who recognize what it means to be an American. We need more Americans like Broadus who understand that they are not wards of the state, not ignorant children who must have their lives run for them, not serfs to be pushed around and dictated to by the powerful elites.
We need more Americans who are willing to assert their God-given freedom and tell the socialist usurpers in Washington where they can stick un-American ideas like socialized health care.
Health care is not a right. The sooner everyone realizes that, the sooner we can have a proper discussion.
Again, I say start with Tort Reform. One step at a time to see what works. Tort reform is an obvious first step.
We will nearly completely lose the right to sue if the system is socialized. Why not start in a controlled manner, where we still keep legal rights?
It's unbelievable how many people believe healthcare is a right. And, how many people want other Americans to pay for their own healthcare.
Well, Texas passed tort reform, and that's all it did. On it's own, it didn't do much of anything as far as lowering costs go. What's next?
True, it did get passed. However, it didn't have the affect people expected. More tort reform is needed. Medical Malpractice suits and their defense run into the billions of dollars.
Insurance costs need to be addressed immediately, but the procedures and hospital and providers' cost must be set, so the insurance companies are obligated to pay for these procedures and cannot refuse the claims. So, Congress must address hospital costs and procedures first. That is the problem right now. Congress' failure to do it's homework on the costs of hospital and provider care.
Congress also has to broker a deal with the pharmaceutical companies regarding the cost of drugs. These are the many problems, that the bill does not address. How can we decide to go ahead and flood the system with 47 million more people when the system itself is still broken? System reform must come first. The savings reaped from it's reformation would then allow more people into the system at a gradual but sustainable pace.
Maybe their tort reform isn't good enough?
What else can you do? They capped the awards, that's about all you can do as far as Tort reform is concerned, right?
You must still be supplying really good insurance with decent co-pays. I pay $2400/yr for coverage for one healthy person with a $5000 deductible. I just have it for anything catastrophic. It has never paid out one penny.
I don't know how far they went.
First of all, there is always a risk when undergoing a medical procedure. Most claims should be immediately dismissed, unless fault is clearly seen. Sorry if I'm so hard about that, but if there is a 5% chance someone will die after a procedure, should the families of those who die have the right to sue? Again, unless fault is evident, I say absolutely not.
One reason medicine is so expensive is because of the liability insurance doctors and hospitals pay. Keep those costs in mind when you pay a bill. That is the primary reason government can make it cheaper. You won't have legal recourse against the government. It may be cheaper in the long run, but paid for by taxes instead. Then with all the red tape, the quality will be far less than we have now.
My insurance is $53.95 every two weeks with me and my youngest daughter covered. We have a $25 co pay and I forget what the copay is on medications. I've only had to get a skin cream for a rash, so I just paid the $6.95 out of pocket. My daughter also just pays for her synthroid, but that's cheap anyway. This is a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan through my work. I don't know how much of the cost they pay. Probably about 90%.
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