Time Magazine: Why Medical Bills are Killing Us
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Wait till you get hit in the head or fall or have an accident and damage part of your brain...
When they're telling you you need to come up with several thousand dollars deposit to get the test you need, remember that.
You won't get the same care in an emergency room(if that's your argument for getting the test without deposit) for a long term ailment.
The government created the insurance companies, so it shouldn't be a surprise that they protect them.
States & federal laws also protect big hospitals & big healthcare while screwing small providers who have better service & pricing. In my area, a MRI ranges from $150-$250 from a private provider, to $1700-$2500 in essentially government run hospitals. Sure, 'private' groups run them, but they milk the government for as much money as possible while pushing for laws that favor them.
I have a high-deductible policy for about $120/month. It's going up 21% in May. Thanks, Obama! When It goes above $200, I'm canceling. Insurance companies and hospitals are government sponsored scams. Obama can suck it.
BTW, if any of you live in Wichita, KS check this site out:
http://atlas.md
That doctor has stopped taking insurance. Instead, you pay him a small monthly fee based on your age. In return, you get unlimited visits and even house calls! Wait times are rarely more than a couple minutes. The guy actually works less and makes more money this way. This is the future unless Obama kills it.
BTW, if any of you live in Wichita, KS check this site out:
http://atlas.md
That doctor has stopped taking insurance. Instead, you pay him a small monthly fee based on your age. In return, you get unlimited visits and even house calls! Wait times are rarely more than a couple minutes. The guy actually works less and makes more money this way. This is the future unless Obama kills it.
until 2016 or so when you're fined equal to what you'd pay for health insurance anyways.. the penalties start out small, but in a couple years get huge.
That's the nature of insurance. I used to work for a professional liability insurance co, (lawyer liability insurance) and we had to tell them it would go up 20-30% every year for the first 5 before leveling out after more than doubling.
Same with most employers I've had, they start out with great policy, then every year when the insurance raises the premiums they downgrade the policy little-by-little to keep the same price point.
Part of it was that a lawyer who's going to be sued for negligence doesn't get claims in the first year even if they botch the case then....each year they're working the chances of a claim go up from previous years. You simply fill out the info and shop them to companies you work with and give them the best price...
It's actually a law that they have to have coverage so there was no cold calling, you just wait for lawyers to call you to get their coverage.
Nice argument, I'm sure you have first hand experience with it.
Both places I've had MRIs of the brain wouldn't even schedule until it was pre-authorized by the insurance.
I have been to the ER several times. It cost on avg 5k. You NEVER have to come up with money upfront for ER services just FYI. If you have to worry about coming up with 2 grand you should go get a fucking job and learn how to save money. Go dig a hole.
ER for a chronic condition isn't going to get you the same care as meeting monthly with a specialist who gets your shit reviewed by top radiologists and gives referrals to other specialists who don't work at the ER. They also know your problem after working with you over time better than any ER doctor will.
My doctor visits cost $75 - $150, I have the best private doctors available. The ER is only for life threatening matters that can't wait till the next day.
Specialists are a lot more than $200 for a 15 min visit. More than $300 here for the neurologist.
Chronic condition, look it up. Not killing you immediately but crippling to your lifestyle.
I paid over $1k just in $40 co-pays last year. And a lot more in prescriptions and for procedures with insurance. With insurance it's $300 for each MRI. Spinal tap was a hundred, blood work was several hundred from dozens of labs wanting $20-$50 from a single blood test.
Insurance is going up because of all the government intervention. Insurers were already forced to include a ton of things not traditionally covered by insurance. Now it's getting worse thanks to idiotic Obamacare. Insurance is only supposed to cover diseases that no one knows in advance which insured will get. Stuff that you really have no control over. Birth control and pregnancies are two things people have control over. They would not be included in insurance polices if a free market existed. And that's just 2 examples.
More on this: A Four-Step Healthcare Solution - Hans-Hermann Hoppe - Mises Daily
I don't doubt insurance companies use any excuse possible to get more money or limit liabilities. Under Bush they capped lawsuit payouts in many states taking huge liability off insurer's backs yet they didn't reduce premiums, only steadily raise them.
My insurance on my W2 paid by employer last year was $750/month and for several years there were no co-pays but now they rob you every chance they get each year degrading the policy to maintain the same premium. At first they added $40 co-pays for specialists and $20 for regular doctors, but then they changed it so they only cover 80% of procedures, leaving you paying a big premium, tons of co-pays, and now 20% of hugely inflated bills from doctors/hospitals.
This is in a large city, shit veterinarians charge $300 for a dog visit.
You have the best healthcare in the world and you aren't getting screwed. GO MURICA!
Most doctor's see patients for like 5-10 mins max, not much, some of them don't even see the patients, their PA's do, trust me, they are fucking killing it.