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July 8, 2004
THE RISING COST OF HEALTH INSURANCE
I just learned how much my health insurance coverage is going to cost me thru my new employer. To say that I'm experiencing sticker shock over the amount of money that's going to be pulled from my paychecks would be an understatement, but even so, I'm still better off then a lot of people. For many Americans like myself, hospital visits bring about happy endings. You or one of your family members need immediate medical attention. You're brought to the hospital, receive solid treatment--perhaps even life-saving treatment--and before you know it you're on the mend. This happens many thousands of times a day across the USA. But for the 44 million Americans who don't have health insurance coverage, it's a totally different story.
Here we are at the start of what's bound to be yet another nasty presidential campaign, and one of the biggest concerns is, once again, affordable healthcare coverage for all. (For those of you who remember the 1992 campaign, healthcare was going to be the big issue that a Clinton presidency would take on and solve. President Clinton did take it on, of course, handing the biggest domestic policy initiative of his administration to his wife, Hillary. It was an unmitigated disaster, to say the least, and the much-vaunted Clinton healthcare plan went nowhere fast.)
So, what has changed since the Hillary effort? Well, let's see... an additional four million US citizens have become uninsured, up from 38 million in 1992, and there's an increasing trend by hospitals to charge the uninsured higher prices than people who have group coverage through their employer. That's right... health insurance companies negotiate discounted prices for services from hospitals for their customers, but if you are on your own, you're pretty much charged "sticker price." So, the cost of an x-ray might be around $500.00 for service provided through an insurance carrier (with maybe $100 of that paid for by the insured patient him/herself), but for the uninsured it might be $1,000.00, and that's all out-of-pocket.
What's the answer for the millions of uninsured Americans, as well for the millions like me who are insured but who have been burdened with ever escalating health insurance premiums? Stay healthy, I suppose, or start lobbying your elected representatives to change the system.
Posted by Mikal at July 8, 2004 5:58 AM
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Unfortunately, the insurance lobbyists are plentiful with deeper pockets. Your comments are just touching the tip of a huge problem. There is also the problem of insurance companies deciding your medical future for you. Quick example - My mother is 77 and diabetic. She has cancer in one kidney. The doctor wants to remove with as little trauma as possible. This would require 4 small incisions instead of one huge one. It would also require two doctors instead of one. But it would mean staying in the hospital possibly three days instead of 1 week to 10 days. Guess which one the insurance company picked? You got it. The more traumatic surgery. We are having to pay out of pocket to have the other surgery done. Luckily, the surgeons are working with us to keep costs down. So much for health insurance.
I certainly don't have the solution for the health care crisis, but just wanted to add a thought and offer a little tip .
I think we as Americans (yes I know I'm generalizing) often seek medical treatment at the wrong time or at the wrong place (thus leading to soaring health care costs). For example, at the first sign of a cold, I don't run to the ER for antibiotics, because, I know it won't help. I also don't run to the Doctor for a mosquite bite or ingrown toenail. (Yes, these seem like silly scinerios, but they have happened in the past to friends..)
Alot of health issues can be dealt with at home. There are plenty of online resources to help you deal with an ingrown toe nail, as well as how to tell if an "aching ankle" is actually sprained/broken and requires medical treatment.
I personally have a copy of a book called the "Healthwise Handbook", and use it regularly. It has saved me money by reducing the number of physician visits. It also helped me determine that I needed immediate medical treament when I injured my ankle.
Please.. no lawsuits claiming I'm offering medical advice... just providing a friendly tip on where to find information that I've found valuable in the past. :-)
I'm not an expert, but I remember when HMO's were going to be a good thing. A decade or so ago, I was involved, mostly as an observer, negotiating coverage for one of our facilities in an smaller town with a regional hospital down the road from a city with a larger facility. We had consultants assist with the talks. The discussions were about managing doctors, evaluating and minimizing unneccesary procedures. It was all about controlling costs without sacrificing excellent health care. Wow, did that get blown out of the water. Doctor's groups, nurses unions and politicians vilified the HMO's. Every exotic procedure denied was a pox on the care of the unfortunate patient loudly portrayed as a victim of the evil HMO. Unions now fight to the death not to have employees participate in the health premiums to defer ever rising costs that they and, in fact, the patients themselves have contributed to. A little company I worked for a couple years ago was almost put out of business because a couple of obese employees decided to have their stomachs stapled. It is a conundrum that won't be easily resolved without control over the medical community.
We re the ONLY country in the Western World that does not have some kind of national health care and we have some of the highest medical cost in the world. Is there a link between the two?
When the local pharmacy went out of business it was because all of the major healthcare plans require you to get your prescription filled by a large corporate pharmacy, the local pharmacy said that the couldnít stay in business without sell the maintenance drugs. I know many seniors who are ordering their medications from Canada, even with the Presidentís so called Prescription plan it is still a lot cheaper to order their medicines from Canada.
When a company doses not have health insurance for their employees what they are actually doing is passing on their healthcare cost to everyone else, because the cost health insurance is driven up by the uninsured. The reason why they go to the emergency rooms for a cold is because they do not have a primary physician like those of us who are covered by health insurance. They have nowhere else to turn to.
362611: Hey, does anyone know where I can find a list of gas stations with low prices in my area?
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