Is There a ‘Right’ to Health Care?

Even if we ignore the fact that the USPS is going broke as a cautionary tale against state run healthcare, it is a completely different situation. USPS and Fedex actually have comparable services at comparable prices (shockingly only one is going broke). They don't both buy services from the same people. The mail service only proves that the gov't can't run as efficiently as the private sector. Also, it isn't offering the exact same product at a lesser price. If the USPS was delivering overnight packages for 5 bucks and subsidizing their money losing business with tax payers money, then FEDEX would go broke because they were unfairly thrown out of the market place by a "company" with unlimited funds and with no motivation to make a profit.

I would still like someone to tell me how a government plan paying less than cost for services will not crush the private sector and then either run completely out of control cost wise, or severely diminish or quality of care. If anyone has an explanation I would love to hear it.

 

It looks to me like your article agrees that there are 46 million uninsured in america. The fact that a person ill-advisedly declines insurance doesn't make him insured, he's still uninsured. That was supposedly 38% of the 46 million. They are a big part of the problem, and if they don't provide insurance for themselves, I am in favor of them paying a tax to participate. If 15 million folks decline insurance we can be sure some of them will get very sick or suffer an accident requiring hospitalization, and if they haven't saved enough money to pay the tab, they'll stick you and I with the tab. That's one reason our rates are so high.

Do you know anybody that doesn't pay school tax, whether they have kids or not? No, everybody pays school tax, regardless of where you are and how its collected, its expensive and you don't have an option to opt out. It's the only way the system will work.

If there are 10 million illegals in the number, your article would imply we should just forget about them. But they're here, they're real, and when they get very sick, we're going to care for them because its the right thing to do. We're not going to let folks die because the stamp on their drivers license isn't the right color.

The fact that there are 10 million people eligible for coverage under medicare, medicaid and schip but they don't have the coverage, does not make them covered. They may be ignorant or the systems that are available may not advertise their availability well, or they may make it hard to apply for, but the folks would get covered if they knew about the program and how to apply for it. That does not make them insured, they remain uninsured, and your article admits that.

So, the number of uninsured remains at 46 million, and your article does not dispute that, it adds what it thinks are factors that indicate maybe we ought to not care about some of them, since they are here illegally, or they are too stupid or lazy to sign up for a program they are entitled to, or they are stupid and running a risk of financial ruin that they will then ask us to share with them through higher rates when their inevitable serious illness or accident occurs. But, they are all uninsured today and we have to deal with them.

 

I've responded to the post about the 46 million uninsured, I wish someone would respond to this post, which I posted earlier and everyone passed on a response. This really is the crux of the matter, and it requires a fix.

U.S. Heading For Financial Trouble? - 60 Minutes - CBS News

That does not describe the best health care system in the world. What's the plan to keep America from going bankrupt in 20 years?

 

Obviously you haven't shipped and compared prices between USPS, FEDEX, and UPS. UPS and FEDEX are a HELLUVA lot more expensive. I know this, I ship every day. The US Postal Service is ALOT cheaper. This may have something to do with their losing money, but I know I save alot of money by using the post office vice the other shipping services. You don't believe, me? Check it out for yourself.

 

I think EVERYONE is missing an IMPORTANT point here. One of, if not the largest problems is the way we're all treated by the healthcare industry as a whole.
The healthcare system treats everyone but the very wealty like sh*t. They overcharge on a routine basis for almost all procedures. They overbook patients on a routine basis (how often have you seen a doctor when your appointment time says you will?). Almost all doctors feel that they are above the rest of the humans on this planet in the food chain. ALOT of doctors and nurses are very overpaid. They have been treating most of us like crap for years, and years and we've put up with it. Laws need to be made and enforced as to what we can be charged for medical services. Medical services should not keep us waiting in an uncomfortable office for sometimes hours while we wait to be seen. There should be limits on what we're charged. It never ceases to amaze me how a doctor or a hospital can charge an individual more for a procedure if he doesn't have insurance. It should be against the law to treat people this way.
However we figure out how to get everybody treated, this industry has to be better regulated.

 

I am not very wealthy. I am not even a little bit wealthy, and the big bad healthcare system hasn't treated me likesh*t.

If you feel like you are being overcharged go to a different doctor. You can look up most CPT codes online and get a good estimate for what the procedure costs in your area.

Don't go to docs who do this. Vote with your wallet.

Irrational anger. Most docs I know are good folks.

So don't do business with those docs. Who are you to decide what someone else is worth?

Did your ex dump you for a doc?

I'd rather let the law of supply and demand determine this.

Don't go to docs who operate like this. I would go somewhere else if they did.

There are limits. It is what you are willing to pay. I'm sorry you can't get all the healthcare you want at the price you want. I wish beers only cost a nickel.

Actually docs, by law, have to charge everyone the same amount for a given procedure. They have huge books with the prices of each procedure in them. The insured folks get a contractual disallowance that their carrier negotiated and the healthcare provider agreed to take. Medicare and Medicaid have fee schedules that mandate what docs will be paid for a given procedure.

Private payors generally don't get those discounts, especially when they don't ask. Many docs provide a pretty large discount for their cash paying customers.

The main point is the charge is the same on a given procedure regardless of payor class.

 

My first question for you is: Are you employed in the healthcare industry? Your opinion sure makes it seem that way. You obviously fail to admit that most of my comments are true.

Going to a different doctor isn't always an option. Last year, I had to see a specialist, and there were only 2 in the area.

You advised me not to go to docs that operate a certain way. Again, that's not always an option due to the ppo that I am FORCED to use.

Irrational anger? I'm the most rational person I know. Maybe you really do work in the healthcare field as a psychiatrist or psycologist? If that's true, you've misdiagnosed me, which is common, but we'd have to start a whole new thread. If in fact this is the case, you need to go back to school.

I do not pretend to put a value on another person. I value all the same except for those close to me and family.

Did my ex dump me for a doc? I can only assume that you're making a joke about my private life. Hmmm. But then again, maybe you're a psychiatrist or psychologist making another diagnosis that's wrong and to make matters worse, you'd probobly overcharge me for it.

Supply and Demand is hardly a factor in determining healthcare costs. People are gonna get sick, see a doctor, get treatment, even die no matter what the cost. Healthcare can charge whatever they want if there is no oversight which seems to be the case in the United States. It's a proven fact that overcharging and abuse is rampant in the healthcare industry. You just have to read instead of assuming.

I think your reply is completely ridiculous and although you make yourself seem informed on the subject, in actuality, you're misleading people or you're simply a dimwit (I don't know which is true). Then again, I'm also not gonna insinuate your spouse left you, etc........as you felt you had to do in your reply.

 

I'm sure FedEx and the others wouldn't mind if the USPS wasn't there. Just because they co-exist in different markets of "mail" doesn't make it right.

The postal system is a complete money pit, not to mention the head postmaster getting some $1M in pay I think it was.

Totall IN-Efficiency..