Re: OT - Health Care

Quiet, Jon Enslin <jenslin@xxxxxxxxxxx> -- I'm transmitting rage.

On Nov 5, 7:11 pm, James Schrumpf
<jaspammenotschru...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Quiet, Jon Enslin <jens...@xxxxxxxxxxx> -- I'm transmitting rage.





On Nov 5, 5:30 pm, James Schrumpf
<jaspammenotschru...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Quiet, Ea...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (J. Hugh Sullivan) -- I'm transmitting
rage.

If you don't care for OT subjects please delete without comment.

My wife recently received two doctor bills, one for $3200 and
the other for $2500 and change. Medicare approved $1650, a
reduction of $4000+. The approved amounts were paid by Medicare
and Tricare.

Now suppose that had been my son or grandson - or yours. The
entire bill would have to be paid, less any hospital insurance.
One son and one grandsaon have been paying on their bills for a
heart problem and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, respectively, for
several years now.

I suspect most here are not covered by programs that pay 100% of
the approved charges. Since welfare programs run by the
government seem to always be in financial difficulty, is more
government participation based on an increased revenue stream
the answer?

Obviously the left and right in Congress will block each other
in any attempt at a solution. So, I defy anyone who cares to
respond to present a solution that we could all agree on even
though it is not our exact position.

Hugh

Why, exactly, shouldn't one be responsible for one's medical
bills? We think nothing of buying cars or houses on years-long
plans; why not our health?

Well, because there are all sorts of options when it comes to
housing and cars. But there isn't much when it comes to
say...prostate cancer. You have to treat it or you will
die...there is no starter cure for prostate cancer.

Why shouldn't there be? If I want to buy a house, I have my choice
of ARMs, 15-year, 30-year mortgages; I can buy down the points or put
as little down as I want. If I'm diagnosed with prostate cancer, why
can't the work be done and the details worked out as time allows? If
I croak before the healthcare is paid off, my estate is responsible
for it, just as it would be for the house.

You are not understanding what I am saying. People with lower incomes
do not live in million dollar mansions. They live in homes they can
afford. However, people with all incomes basically have the same
options when it comes to prostate cancer. You can't get a cheaper
option...one that will cure you at least.

So you pay longer if you pay less. There's nothing sacred about a
30-year term.



Our system means that Americans can get the best health care in the
world. But our high cost of health care sucks. I am not sure that
the latter problem can be solved without harming the former unless
you have a completely expansion of Medicaid to deal with it.

I think we confuse "the high cost of health care" with "how much we
pay for it." If I get a heart transplant, it might cost a million
bucks. It costs a million bucks whether I have insurance or not, so
what you're really talking about is "How expensive to ME is MY piece
of that action?"

It's strange now to watch old movies from the '40s and earlier where
someone will suffer or die if they can't "pay for an operation."
There was zero expectation that government would step in and take
care of it, and the capabilities of medicine were a lot less then
(and a lot less expensive).

Is that a good thing? I mean, should we really be living in a society
where people have to die if they cannot afford an operation?

Jon



Why shouldn't we be? At the very least, the ROI should be examined: is
the gain to society worth the $1M for a heart transplant for a 65-year
old? Or even a 50-year-old?

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
James Schrumpf http://www.hilltopper.net

Play like your couch is on fire!
.

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