It seems that whenever a politician is about to see why healthacare costs so much, they jerk their head away and refuse to look at the situation directly. I would love to give them some cogentin, put them in a Miama J and force them to actually spend some time in the trenches and see what is happening.
First and formost, I want them to take their dog to the vet. The vet does not take insurance. The vet gives you an itemized bill for the care. Interestingly, for a check up that includes vaccinations and routine blood tests, the vets in our area charge $115. For the same exam with one fewer test and vaccination for a child, Medicaid pays $27. Hmm! What would happen if the vet had to see dogs who had, Medicaid? He would have to charge others more!
When you mandate that someone gets a service at a rate below what it actually costs to do, you have to make up the difference somewhere. Since Medicaid and Medicare have not increased their reimbursements, the shortfall has to be made up by the private payors. So, private insurance goes up. Congressman are yelling because the healthinsurance rates in the state for private insurance companies are going up by 20 to 30 % and blame the insurance companies. The reality is that the state has cut its Medicaid so to keep its healthsystem running the money has to come from private payors. The state has also increased the number on Medicaid and done nothing to decrease the number of illeagals.
Who is really to blame for the cost of healthcare?
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Okay ..that's funny! I had to look it up before I got it though. :)
Excellent points!
I wish there was affordable pet insurance.
Our dog became suddenly ill back in January and looked like he would have astronomical bills and we would've had to have him put down. But we had a thousand dollar limit we would go to *if* the vet would take payments. He graciously agreed to.
It became apparent it was serious that morning when son rushed him to the vet. So he said he would do some x-rays and labs. I mentioned lyme disease.
Turned out to be a hemangiosarcoma and had to be put down. I'll blog about it when ready.
But the bill ended up being approximately 431.00. I really wish he did the x-rays first and would've saved a good portion of the bill. The lyme alone was 98.00.
I just heard someone on the radio saying that if the senate bill gets pushed through the president will sign it and we'll be suck with it. I thought it was off the table..but admittedly have not been following the last few days. Just tell me it isn't so.
For the life of me ..I truly do not understand ..why they don't just tackle (bipartisan effort) the actual problems ..fix what we have since there is also so much that is right with the current system.
And if we know they are skewing the numbers to make it look like it will be financially feasible ..well how is THAT right?
And if you look at the financial state of mdcd/mdcr and the hardship the cuts from those programs put on providers ..well then why in the world would they think this massive overhaul with all the pork ..during this challenged economic season is a viable plan??
What about logic - reasoned thinking .. cause and effect ..abstract thinking/the big picture.. avoiding the surely detrimental consequences of their myopic agenda?
Medicaid and subsidized insurance for the poor and elderly is only half the story.... or less
The other half is that income inequality has increased dramatically since the 1970's. Working class and Middle-class America are both in danger of disappearing, due to technology and globalization. Manufacturing, which used to be a respectable upper middle class job, is now nearly gone. Who profits? The richest of the rich. The rich Americans who own the factories that are now in Asia. The Americans who own the factories in America that are now more automated than ever.
Thus, the cost of services, including the service you get from hospitals, nurses, and doctors, have gone up relative to the wages of the average American. What really needs to be done is a proportional redistribution of wealth from the richest 1% of Americans, who have reaped all the rewards of globalization and technology. This calls for a new age of socialized wages and socialized healthcare. A "New Deal" for the 21st Century. However regrettable this outcome is, it is inevitable and required if America wants to once again be a fair society.
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