Tax supported national health care programs are a really horrible idea..
Why should responsible citizens who eat right, exercise, and take care of themselves have to bear the same burden of the national bill as those who smoke, drink, and eat like shit?
The beauty of the free enterprise system and a free market, is that people's actions affect THEM. Having the community foot the bill for people's health care is a departure from a society with a healthy respect for individual accountability.
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Anonymous2006-06-21 21:23
Your right. One insurance company. Medicare pays less for services than any other company pays. Hospital or doctor hands sends in a bill, they pay pennies on the dollar. But every major hospital and clinic takes medicare. Reason? Because it's gaurenteed money. It might be less money, but for the time being, it's money you'll get.
You want to know why Health Care costs so much? Two Words. United HealthCare. The largest health care company in the world. They, and companies like they CONTROL EVERYTHING. They operate the clinic, the hospitals, the nurse lines, the pharmacies, the organ donor programs, nursing homes, assisted living, medical transcription, labs AND the health insurance AND the malpractice insurance.
Even if you're not going to a place that's not them, there's a good chance that on the back side your hospital/clinic/insurance company is outsourcing something to one of the two or three superlarge health care/insurance/whatever company.
These companies have created a system of contracts, shell companies, and outsourcing schemes so that YOU WILL NEVER TRUELY KNOW WHERE YOUR MONEY IS GOING. PERIOD.
Any attempt to reform the system is bastardized by paid punduits and lobbiest that will convert a good plan into something to make the largest of large health care companies get more money.
Remember how back in 2000 healthcare costs were pinned on out of control lawsuits? "We need tort reform. Blah, Blah, Blah." Guess what, we got tort reform. Have you seen your rates go down?
Poster 6 talks a good talk, but really, doesn't know what they are talking about. Insurance not paying for the little stuff doesn't help. You won't know how you'll be charge until you get the bill. And the bill you get will be 10 times more than anything the insurance company would ever pay.
The era of the small time doc is gone. Those doctors were lured out of private practice ages ago. Now you work at an HMO. Insurance companies won't pay for your services unless you're credentialed with them (meaning you agree to treat a patient in a way that most cost effective, not what's best for the patient.)
Get rid of companies like United HealthCare and switch to universal. It's the only way you'll ever be able to know where the money goes.