2014 Health Costs Grew At Fastest Rate Since Obamacare Introduced

[freethinker44]

Front page story in this mornings paper said that last year spending last year (2014) grew at the fastest pace since Obama took office. After five years of historically low growth, national health expenditures increased by 5.3%, reaching a high of $3 trillion, or $9523 for every man, woman, and child. This report came from HHS. Seems that another "promise" fostered on the American public has been broken. Is it time to tear Obamacare apart and get a system that people want? And no I'm not in favor of a single payer system.

Also from the HHS, Obamacare is working!

http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts-and-features/fact-sheets/aca-is-working/index.html

 

[esmith]

Also from the HHS, Obamacare is working!

http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts-and-features/fact-sheets/aca-is-working/index.html

depends on who it is working for or not working.
counterpoint
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevemoore/2015/06/12/the-fantasy-that-obamacare-is-working/

 

[freethinker44]

And no I'm not in favor of a single payer system.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you on medicare?

 

[esmith]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you on medicare?

Yeah, so what's your point?
Oh, I see I'm on a single payer system; but I do believe I have contributed to this and continue to pay monthly premiums of $104.90 just for me. Which pays for only 80% of my medical cost and does not cover annual physicals only an annual "wellness" visit which does absolutely nothing except:

• A review of your medical and family history
• Developing or updating a list of current providers and prescriptions
• Height, weight, blood pressure, and other routine measurements
• Detection of any cognitive impairment ( trouble remembering, learning new things, concentrating, or making decisions that affect their everyday life.)
  
• Personalized health advice
• A list of risk factors and treatment options for you
• A screening schedule (like a checklist) for appropriate preventive services

Oh I do get a flu shot.

So, you want your health plan to look like Medicare? Guess you are going to have to have a supplemental insurance plan if you have a serious medical issue that requires hospitalization at about $1500 a day. Oh I forgot you have a $1288 deductible.

 

[Revoltingest]

An interesting article peripherally addresses increasing health care costs.....
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/06/b...ayoff-from-technology-is-so-elusive.html?_r=0
"Dr. Peter Sutherland, a family physician in Tennessee, made the shift to computerized
patient records from paper in the last few years. There are benefits to using electronic
health records, Dr. Sutherland says, but grappling with the software and new reporting
requirements has slowed him down. He sees fewer patients, and his income has slipped.
“I’m working harder and getting a little less,” he said."

 

[tytlyf]

Guess you are going to have to have a supplemental insurance plan if you have a serious medical issue that requires hospitalization at about $1500 a day.

That's the point, the corrupt insurance companies have taken greed to a new level. Charging $1500+ per day is highway robbery. I'm glad the government creates regulations to reign in corruption. Since when does a Kleenex box in your hospital room cost $20?
The sad thing is that these special interests lobby republicans in congress to remove laws that affect their bottom line. Everyone can talk about reigning them in, but decisions and laws are written in congress, and these companies have bought the people to keep them from doing anything.

 

[metis]

I feel we should have a single-payer system but one that posits non-profit private insurance companies operating under strict guidelines, such as what they have in Germany and more recently Denmark. Best of both worlds, and the Germans have been at this longer than any other country.