If these insurance companies don't pay for your hospital bills (surgeries after a car accident, ambulance ride, delivery of a baby), what are they for, then?
Are they for quenching the insatiable thirst for money these companies have?
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Convince me that the US healthcare system is good
- Thread starter Estro Felino
- Start date
Are they for quenching the insatiable thirst for money these companies have?
It's not that simple.
In some cases, government gives free care.
One friend's whole family gets it free from the state
because an infant son needed heart surgery.
Kidney dialysis is also free. Emergency
services are free to those who don't pay.
We get some free service thru Medicare.
It's a complicated mess.
Insurance companies are very legalistic and fine-print oriented, so if they can find some clause or loophole so they don't have to pay, they'll use it. Or sometimes it's just bureaucratic incompetence when they're supposed to pay but some paperwork gets screwed up somewhere that has to be fixed.
Oftentimes, medical decisions are made not based on a doctor's professional judgment of what is medically necessary for the patient, but more a matter of "what will your insurance company cover?"
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
When I had my heart attack in 2007, My ambulance charge exceeded 5 thousand for less than 20 miles, and my room exceeded 10,000 per day just for the room itself and nothing else!
One of the few things I thank Obama for in terms he pushed for disclosures that resulted in itemized billing.
Sand Dancer
Crazy Cat Lady
Holy cow! That's insane. Glad you're okay.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I'm still shocked the bill itself didn't do me in afterwards.
Soandso
ᛋᛏᚨᚾᛞ ᛋᚢᚱᛖ
This is true. There are some countries where they hold you hostage if you can't pay the hospital bill, so there's that
That's what insurance companies do. They use dishonesty to save money, and not compensate the insured.
Finding loopholes, technicalities, etc...
But when it deals with people's health...that's disgusting and inhuman.
The Kilted Heathen
Crow FreyjasmaðR
You ask the impossible; while a deluded portion of the American population believes this to be the Best In The World, Bar None, our healthcare is dog****. It could be worse, sure - globally, America is 18th in healthcare quality - but it could be a hell of a lot better in that the quality of care is irrelevant when it's not readily accessible by the majority.
I agree it's disgusting and inhuman, which is why I'm often harshly critical of the system and the political forces which operate it. The current political polarization and the perceived fractious nature of the U.S. political culture are, in my opinion, a consequence of decades of mismanagement, incompetence, corruption, and greed which have been allowed to fester for too long.
Of course. As the insurance companies must pay their shareholders. The states and the courts have been trying to chip away at our health care. There was a time when one could not buy insurance if any pre-existent health problem. Kids were automatically drop from parents insurance at 18yrs old, now its 26. Politicians continue the attempt to strike it down altogether through the courts.
In the U.S. there is universal access for emergency health care regardless of ability of pay.
Or the ERs are cluttered with those who refuse to buy insurance.
This is not technically correct. An indigent person would not be charged for such emergency care. However those with wherewithal are charged. That is the reason for insurance. Insurance is a mechanism for pooling costs and liability.
Thousands of dollars for an ambulance ride?
One growing problem is how the ACA law forced insurance companies to cover people with pre-exising conditions, and this is about 20 million people. They can't charge excessive rates so the rates are spread over all insured. The government was to contribute subsidies to insurance companies but Trump cancelled those, so the insurance companies faced losing profit and have had to raise rates. This meant some folks were priced out and lost coverage.
Insurance companies couldn't maintain profits with just raising rates os they have been denying claims, and raisng out of pocket portions for customers. Those who are denied coverage have to fight to appeal the denials, and that takes time and more money, and often at a time they are sick.
Those wwithout insurance will ften avoid seeking care due to the risk of huge bills and bankrupcy. Those that seek care when they are in crisis or trauma may face huge bills and could have their bills cancelled due to the inability to collect. This means these losses have to be offset by billing insurance companies, and this means higher rates. When I was hit head on by a car while on a training ride some years ago I was taken to a hospital, and x-rayed. I was there for two hours and released. Despite being hit by a car on my bike I was not hurt badly. I got the hospital bill and it was for $36,100. I called and asked about it and they said the ER cost was $2100 and the trauma alert cost was $34,000. So look up trauma alert, it is something hospitals bill insurance companies when there is an ambulance bringing in a patient. They ended up setting for $9000 with the insurance company, plus the $2100. Total fraud to my mind.
I think the USA should offer all citizens a health care card, and it is covered with taxes. Just charge citizens a small percentage of income for this. Insurance companies won't lose anything. But I still think the US gov should offer a non-profit option for health care coverage, and make it available to anyone making under $50K. Think how this will help poor citizens, and reduce costs to hospitals, and less money from insurance companies. Yes, it will cost the government, but then there needs to be an adjustment of tax law that has favored the wealthy in both the Bush, Jr and Trump administrations.
If the US has the billions to waste on useless wars in some underdeveloped country, it means it has the billions to fund a National Health Service.
Not on a federal level. On local level: each state diversifies their NHS.
Of course the California NHS will probably be more efficient than the Missouri NHS. But at least all citizens will have transparency and will afford necessary medical treatments and surgeries.
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
There's a lot more involved than just emergency care, especially when long-term maladies are involved.
And it's not just insurance companies, it is the system that runs like a for-profit business, and little government intervention.
About 12 years ago one of the members of Beliefnet (an online debate forum much like this one) shared that her husband had been diagnosed with ALS. Her name is Lynn. They were both in their mid 40's, and she had to start taking care of him. He lost his job and insurance, but she still worked as a nurse and he was covered through her insurance. ALS has no cure, and it depends how long a person lives, so the care is very time consuming as the disease progresses.
After about a year she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She ended up losing her job and insurance because the treatment were so taxing. They lived in Florida and the ACA was just coming out. Florida did NOT join the Medicaid expansion. They had to sell their house, which they did not have a lot of equity since they were young and mortgages tend to require more interest payments early, and principle later in the terms. They had invitation to move to a state where there was medicaid, but they were both too sick to move.
After several years of more and more debt he died, and she was able to recover from cancer. She had to file for bankrupcy. Bankruptcy is no walk in the park. Generally a person has to liquidate all valuable assets, and can only keep basic things. A car can't be too new or valuable. The filers have to hire lawyers and that costs at least a few thousand that folks don't have. Bankruptcy courts might demand a person pay off certain debt over time, and this will prevent them from being able to recover from the bad luck life imposed on them. Life in the "greatest nation on earth". Do you feel lucky?
She is still alive but all this bad luck is just the lottery of life in a nation where healthcare is a business, not a system that actually helps offset these situations.
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