New York Man Owes $1,800 After Hospital Denied ObamaCare Plan
48 replies, posted
Another example of why healthcare should be free because its a fucking human right not a market.
[QUOTE=Reagy;44215115]Another example of why healthcare should be free because its a fucking human right not a market.[/QUOTE]
This is about health insurance, not healthcare. They are not the same thing.
Necessary healthcare is already a right given to everyone in the US. Hospitals cannot refuse service to those who need help, even if they can't pay for it.
[QUOTE=Mega1mpact;44214387]why is everything in the medical industry so expensive for you guys. I broke my fucking arm (below my wrist) in Itally during my winter sport vacation last week. Doc took 6 xrays, did a quick medical check, gave me painkillers and gave me a cast. I only paid 800 eur AND I'm getting most of it back from my insurance.
Seriously how can shit be so expensive for you guys[/QUOTE]
because its not... the insurance companies and hospitals have set up a game where the hospitals cite huge charges and insurance providers being able to argue with lawyers and agreements and able to provide constant streams of patients, negotiate those rates to be 1/10th of what they charge.
basically they screw the uninsured because they force them to pay sticker price while insurance never pays sticker price, and in cases of like hospital visits they even can get most of the suiperfolus charges waved
[QUOTE=deggemannen;44214338]My friend in Florida had to pay $3000 for a ambulance ride to the hospital when he got meat stuck in his throat[/QUOTE]
He should have called a taxi. Would have been cheaper.
I tore a ligament in my knee playing football a couple years ago, bluecross insurance didn't cover the MRI, it was too expensive so I couldn't get it. Luckily my knee healed correctly and everything was fine, but that's bullshit a 16 year old athlete should not get bullshit treatment, and get shafted like that with a bill.
[QUOTE=Mega1mpact;44214387]why is everything in the medical industry so expensive for you guys. I broke my fucking arm (below my wrist) in Itally during my winter sport vacation last week. Doc took 6 xrays, did a quick medical check, gave me painkillers and gave me a cast. I only paid 800 eur AND I'm getting most of it back from my insurance.
Seriously how can shit be so expensive for you guys[/QUOTE]
It's the same way that a ride in a helicopter to a larger hospital from here is ~$15,000.
[QUOTE=sgman91;44214571]
"Employer-sponsored health insurance plans dramatically expanded as a direct result of wage controls imposed by the federal government during [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II"]World War II[/URL].[SUP][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance_in_the_United_States#cite_note-NBER-19"] The labor market was [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_tightness"]tight[/URL] because of the increased demand for goods and decreased supply of workers during the war. Federally imposed wage and price controls prohibited manufacturers and other employers from raising wages enough to attract workers. When the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Labor_Board"]War Labor Board[/URL] declared that [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_benefits"]fringe benefits[/URL], such as sick leave and health insurance, did not count as wages for the purpose of wage controls, employers responded with significantly increased offers of fringe benefits, especially health care coverage, to attract workers." ([url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance_in_the_United_States#The_rise_of_employer-sponsored_coverage[/url])[/QUOTE]
It's absolutely insane that there was a time when we thought we needed rules to keep people from being paid [B]too much[/B]. Now today there are people trying to do away with minimum wage and companies using propaganda to control public opinion and crack down on unsatisfied employees.
ikr, there also was a time when the buisnesses and their lobbiests had fucked the goverment up so much that they were essentially kicked out for 20-30 years while the people reformed the goverment...
then they took over again and caused the great depression which also lead to big buisness being removed from goverment for 20 years
[QUOTE=FordLord;44214247]With how the prices are, wouldnt surprise me.
Took my mom to the ER a while ago, the room alone was $1,200+ for about one hour of being there[/QUOTE]
My grandpa's antibiotics are about 6 thousand per dose. They come in a lockbox lol
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;44216385]It's absolutely insane that there was a time when we thought we needed rules to keep people from being paid [B]too much[/B]. Now today there are people trying to do away with minimum wage and companies using propaganda to control public opinion and crack down on unsatisfied employees.[/QUOTE]
In the same way that controlling high wages led to a screwing over of our health care system, raising minimum wages will screw something else (possibly by leading to higher levels of automations, permanently taking jobs away from future generations at a much faster rate). Government intervention always has unintended side effects.
[QUOTE=sgman91;44215135]
Necessary healthcare is already a right given to everyone in the US. Hospitals cannot refuse service to those who need help, even if they can't pay for it.[/QUOTE]
They only have an obligation to treat "[URL="http://www.aaem.org/em-resources/regulatory-issues/emtala"]emergency medical conditions[/URL]".
If advanced cancer has caused acute symptoms that cause an emergency room visit then they will treat that and hold you for as long as a month, but they have no obligation to provide long term treatment and you will still be charged thousands of dollars.
I had to get an MRI last summer. They billed my insurance 980-some dollars. My insurance dragged their feet for months, and eventually I paid for it myself to prevent it from going to collections. My bill: $1,911.
In January, my insurance finally agreed to cover it (after having my employee put some pressure on them) and I was told I only owed $196. Still waiting on the MRI place to refund me the money, 5 weeks later. In the meantime, I've paid hundreds in interest as I had to put it on a credit card.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/sRpLaaZl.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/vZYegznl.jpg[/IMG]
this is why every american needs to memorize which local hospitals accept your insurance
My biggest new worry about the ACA is that it seems like it's shoveling peoples policies into other companies just so it's accepted. It seems like certain companies have dibs and that's not fair.
[QUOTE=Sableye;44216431]ikr, there also was a time when the buisnesses and their lobbiests had fucked the goverment up so much that they were essentially kicked out for 20-30 years while the people reformed the goverment...
then they took over again and caused the great depression which also lead to big buisness being removed from goverment for 20 years[/QUOTE]
There was also that time [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Business_Plot]a group of business men planned to overthrow the United States government and install a fascist dictatorship in it's place[/url].
Too bad the guy they picked turned out to be denouncing Capitalism, and took the info they gave him to Congress.
[QUOTE=Reagy;44215115]Another example of why healthcare should be free because its a fucking human right not a market.[/QUOTE]
Nothing is free
Will the US ever have universal healthcare?
About 2 years ago I had a major panic attack mixed with depression because of some shit that happened at college. I was on the phone with an on-call service to speak to a therapist since it was late at night and my therapist wasn't available, and my friends weren't in my dorm room so I was alone. I said I was so sad and in such emotional pain that I felt like I was dying. Emphasis on "felt like", not "wanted to, going to" etc.
She calls the local hospital, they send[B] police officers[/B] to forcefully remove me from my dorm room and shove me in an ambulance. I ride to some hospital out of town, get there, wait an hour in a waiting room where I can hear people screaming bloody murder a few rooms away, I finally see a doctor, he tells me [I]I'm fine and should have never been sent there[/I].
My parents got billed $1,800 or so. Turns out the ambulance ride wasn't covered by insurance. The worst thing is that I didn't want to go but the cops forced me to go, I had my dad on the phone with them telling them that I didn't want to go and he didn't want me to go but they claimed I was suicidal and in those cases I no longer have any rights. I said I wasn't suicidal, told them I wasn't going to hurt myself or others, but I guess being scared shitless and crying wasn't helping my case.
My dad recently finished paying it off (as I had no income I couldn't pay it off, and I was technically a dependent of his since I live at home during the summer). He couldn't fight it either since I did ride in an ambulance, regardless of circumstances and willingness. The hospital kept calling to get their money and I believe it hurt my dad's credit score when he at first refused to pay.
Nowadays we never go to the hospital even when shit's bad because we can't afford it. Most of the time the stuff they do doesn't fix shit and they still charge you out the asshole, plus insurance barely covers anything. The ACA didn't do nearly enough to fix any of that. Privatized healthcare fucking sucks.
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