Did you know the insurer with the most denial of claims is Medicare…?
I could have figured, because I had to write to Medicare for my [then] mother-in-law for a claim she filed for an injury she received at her neighbors, they subsequently denied, because the neighbor’s insurance company “should be responsible”… So, I wrote to medicade and told them they needed to take it up with the insurance company, that they were her provider, and that they needed to cover her claim…
Took 6 months, and my mother-in-law being turned over to collections, before they paid the claim O.o
What do you think…? Government owning insurance companies and health care facilities…gives government approximately 48% ownership of America…added on top of the lending institutions and the auto industry…
Cap and trade on utilities will put them over half ownership…
@WYETT… Then the government should make health care facilities, and insurance companies accountable…
Like they should have done with the lending institutions and the auto industry…
Answer by Colonel Reb
Government-run health insurance would be a disaster waiting to happen. The bureaucracy involved in any government decision is ridiculous. I don’t want to wait for 5 months to get a basic test.
This is not to say I like the current situation. There needs to be some changes, but government running the health insurance business is not the answer.
The government wouldn’t make money off health care? The government wouldn’t deny people health care in certain situations? Where do you people come up with this stuff? As soon as the government gets involved and finds it can make money it will do the same, particularly if it really is going against other insurers to start out. Combine that with the fact it will take forever to get anything done and we’ll be in a worse situation than we’re in now. The fact the constiutionality of government-run health care is very questionable at best hasn’t even been discussed at all, but then again the Constitution hasn’t worried too many people for over 100 years so that’s not really surprising. I suppose that would be inconvenient for the argument.
Anyone who’s close to someone who works inside the government knows better than to trust them with something like this.
People don’t understand–OUR GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE SAME AS EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS. I think we’re better off for it for the most part, but that’s another discussion. Anyway, things do not work the same here as they do there. If you want the government to wipe your butt you’re living in the wrong country (assuming you’re American, and I know not everyone is).
People make a profit off food too, and providing shelter. I don’t exactly see massive protests about that despite the fact many people die without both, and can die much faster without either, than health insurance, and have died for that throughout history (and probably still do worldwide today). If you provide a service you should get something in return. I don’t agree with the way insurance companies do it but the basic idea isn’t wrong.
And you prefer a profit driven, corporatist cartel to run America’s health care system?
These people make money off of you being sick, and like any other business, their aims are to make more profit than the year before. And contrary to Republican propaganda THESE COMPANIES DON’T COMPETE! They offer the same rates, benefits, and lack-luster coverage..
Profit isn’t always good. You shouldn’t be getting rich off of sick kids, which is what these CEO’s are happy to do.
My mother in law and her husband are self-employed. Their income is variable, and highly dependent upon the economy. She suffers from allergies, and he has some problems due to the fact that he performs manual labor. Right now almost 40% of their income goes toward paying for health care. They pay over $ 2000 per month for catastrophic insurance, for coverage that doesn’t kick in until after they’ve paid $ 100,000.00 in medical bills. Her medications for basic allergies cost over $ 500 per month. His cost double that. They’re discussing selling their house that they’ve lived in for 20 years and planned to retire in because the medical bills are too high. They may well end up homeless. This doesn’t happen in civilized countries with government provided medical care. People don’t have to choose between eating and buying medication, or paying the insurance companies (that will probably deny their claims anyway) and having a roof over their heads.
First of all, that absurd situation you had to deal with for your mother was a direct result of our health care system being a hobbled together mish-mash of for profit and non profit entities. Every other democratic industrialized nation has some model based on the single-payer method. Most of them don’t have governments owning hospitals and employing doctors but EVERY other industrialized democratic nation on the planet has some variety of government administered risk pool, rather than a bunch of “competing” for-profit risk pools. They all spend a lot less money per person than we do and they all have much better health outcomes then we do. Nobody in any other first world nation ever goes without necessary treatment, and nobody goes bankrupt because they get sick or have an accident. 80% of bankruptcies in the US are a result of medical bills and two thirds of those people had private health insurance at the onset of their sickness.
“”Did you know the insurer with the most denial of claims is Medicare…?”‘ My subject area is health care administration and I know that is not true!
Wyett, Fraggle etc are right. I resent people making a profit by denying health care.
thundercat is misinformed. Right now his medical treatrment is not between him and his doctor- its between his doctor and what his insurance company says he can have. That same insurance company makes a profit if it denies care.
Here in the UK it is government run, most of our health care is free. So, if we are involved in a road traffic accident, or if we need an urgent operation, we dont have to prove we have adequate insurance before the surgeon starts work on us.
Doesn’t that sound better to you?
I have been lucky to enjoy relatively good health, but so far I have had physiotherapy, two minor operations, contraception, light therapy for a skin disorder, broken bones fixed and numerous xrays, stitches after accidents, treatment for a blood disorder and breast and cervical cancer screening, all absolutely free.
D.E–why would you want government run health care? For the very example you have provided.
Newsflash to you Americans–It is the drug and insurance companies as well as the wealthiest of Americans that are attempting to convince regular people that gov’t run health care is bad. It is only bad for THEM–not regular everyday people. Seriously folks–do some research and stop listening to the propaganda. Your British and Canadian cousins are trying to tell you that it is good for the majority of people!!
There’s really no point in discussing it. There is no way in hell that the U.S. would ever adopt a Canadian- or European-style health care system. Obama has already said that he does not seek to implement a single-payer system.