A good video about a Canadian couple's experience w/single payer healthcare

[Thomas Rogers]

Les,



My sister-in-law works for the claims/billing dept of a large New England hospital. She is constantly on the phone with deadbeats that don't want to pay their bill. Many have insurance, they just don't think they should have to pay $600 for something their insurance company "only paid" $5k for. They don't understand or agree with things like their personal or family deductible, out-of-network fees, etc. The hospital gets caught in the middle and left holding the bag because such people don't understand their insurance and their responsibilities.



She said that for many truly "sad sack" cases, they reduce and write-off. Others she tries to put on a monthly payment plan. But there are some folks that she stands firm and and sends to collections. Especially the guy that shows up in the Polo shirt and wearing a Rolex complaining that shouldn't have to pay a $200 bill because he thought he didn't get the level of care he deserved, or because he has a permanent medical condition called: bug-up-the-arse-itis.



TJR

 

[Richard L]

The current healthcare and Health insurance system is way to complicated for many people to understand. Much of the problem lies with the excessively high cost of medical care. Insurance companies and Medicare do not pay anywhere near what an uninsured patient is charged. If a procedure cost $2000, Medicare and insurance companies may only pay a maximum of about $500-$700 as the allowable charge and then pay 80% to 100% depending upon the deducable and/or the copay. The uninsured patient is charged the full amount.



The other problem is that many medical facilities, especially hospitals are notorious for over billing and erroneous billing. I worked at a local hospital for 10 years and everytime I got a bill from that hospital I was always able to find errors in their billing including errors in the actual chagres as well as errors my insurance plan ID where the insurance was denied because they submitted the wront social security number, etc



Most Hospitals do not even send out itemized bills any more. They only send out a statement showing the blalance owed. I always request an itemized bill and can usually find that they have some error in the bill like the wrong service dates, charges for services or itmes that were not provided. My insurance company weeds out most of that crap but if they file the claim with the wrong SSAN etc, my insurance just denies the claim and the hospital then goes after me. When I ask for an itemized bill, they don't like it, but in every case I have found out why my insurance did not pay and they were always errors made when they filed the claim.



If everyone was insured by private insurance or a government insurance plan, and all insurance companies were reimbursed at the same rate for the same service, Hospitals would get more money than they do now, and people would be more able to pay their deductables and copays.



...Rich

 

[Thomas Rogers]

If CSPAN reruns the Senator Barney Frank town hall meeting from last Tuesday do yourself a favor and watch it. It was hosted in Massachusetts. Frank couldn't understand why people were so angry, in general, and why when they asked a question and when he tried to answer in political speak the people booed and interrupted him.



Yes, the meeting could have been more civil, but the general feeling by most is that the people DO NOT WANT this plan and DO NOT TRUST THE GOVT to do it right, and they would rather LEAVE THINGS ALONE. Lastly, most believe we CANNOT AFFORD this type of CHANGE, and we have to STOP PAYING FOR NEW GOVT PLANS by INCREASED TAXING OF THE PEOPLE, even IF THE PLANS ARE TO TAX THE "RICH."



The messages above (in all-caps) came out loud and clear, and continue to come out whenever the people talk to the govt about this plan.



So, why isn't our government listening?



It's tyrannical. What kind of liberty do we really have when the government puts out policies that don't help the masses, and aren't wanted by the masses?



People are "fighting mad", and rightfully so...



As Thomas Jefferson said:

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

TJR

 

[Les]

The joke of a town hall meeting held in Delray (Boca), Florida only included invited Democrats from local unions that supported Obama. So by contrast, the "inside" meeting was very tame. The "outside" meeting was a little more robust and clearly showed most people do not want goverment intrusion. I am all for an improved healthcare system, but until you show me a sensible solution that includes tort reform it's all a bag of crap. I keep waiting for someone to just say to their representative, We elected you and if you don't vote the way we want you too, we will elect someone who will.

 

[Tom Schindler]

We elected you and if you don't vote the way we want you too, we will elect someone who will.

They know those are nothing but empty threats. This is how Ted Kennedy keeps getting re-elected over and over again.





Tom