OUCH!......I need to go to the DOCTOR..

[plifter]

HMO's can be a pain in the ass but they are much more cost effective. My coverage only costs me $12 per month. My primary physician ordered some x-rays for me recently. Guess how much I paid for these x-rays. Nothing! They were covered 100% by my HMO because my primary physician said the x-rays were necessary. I only have to pay $10 for a Dr. visit. I can get a 90 day supply of my prescriptions for only $15.
I had the option of choosing another insurance carrier that was not a managed care company and the costs were unreal. The monthly rate was over $100 month compared to the $12 HMO. Plus they had a $500 deductible and a 20% copay on everything. With this plan if I break an arm and have a $10,000 surgery procedure I would still have to pay $2000 out of pocket. Under my current plan I would only pay $200.

 

[RyanH]

No response? So ez. Your hopes and dreams of socialized healthcare will never come true.

You realize that under socialized healthcare, it would actually be a CRIME to go to a PRIVATE DOCTOR? Imagine that! Going to prison for being concerned about your health!

Why are you so concerned with having to be able to sue your HMO? Just get a private doctor. I'm sure you can afford it. Why would you want to be stuck in the worst HMO - the Federal Government - and be a criminal for making an individual choice?

Individual choice? Lol... that's so... free. There's a civilization for you, RyanH, it's called "The Borg Collective."

-Warik

When I lived in New York at just the age of 25, I paid over 200.00 a month for healthcare coverage through an HMO plan. Now that I live in Atlanta, I pay 100.00 a month. If I choose a plan that is "out of network" I would have a 20% deductable. Imagine if I had cancer, AIDS, or some terminal illness, how would I pay my expenses with such a large deductable?

Further, to go to any sort of specialists most of us have to go through a general practitioner to do so----even for simple matters such as going to the Dermatologist. And, if the HMO wants to refuse to pay a claim---guess what? They can do so without any real repercussions.

This bill is about accountability. We all have the right to get what we pay for. If I pay money to an HMO, my money should not be taken for granted----HMO reform would ensure that HMO's think twice before stepping on the backs of the average hardworking American.

Your defense of the insurance industry is AMAZING WARIK. Quality healthcare is not about getting a free ride, its about getting what you paid for. Thus far, many Americans are not getting what they pay for.

Of course, all this ignores the millions of Americans without healthcoverage or the children who lack any sort of coverage. But, then the rich got their tax break---thats all that matters---right Warik?

 

[Warik]

Quality healthcare is not about getting a free ride, its about getting what you paid for.

No offense to plifter, but he says he pays $12 a month for coverage. Is he getting what he pays for? No. Imagine if all Americans paid $12 a month for healthcare. You think that'd be enough for everyone to get x-rays, 90 day supplies of prescriptions, and fixing a broken arm for dirt cheap? LOL

Someone has to pick up the tab. Guess who? The evil rich people paying for all the ingrates in the US who hate them.

But, then the rich got their tax break---thats all that matters---right Warik?

Is the fact that they won't be paying for everything (as much) for the next 10 or so years before all tax brackets are reverted to present day status (oh you didn't know?) the only reason you're upset about the tax cut? How funny. I thought you'd be upset because it was somehow unfairly in favor of the rich.

It's such a shame that Mr. Smith earning minimum wage at a fast food restaurant (probably the guy who "served" me this morning!) doesn't get a tax cut like the evil rich people! Such a shame he probably doesn't pay taxes to begin with either.

-Warik

 

[plifter]

Warik, to be fair my employer pays a good portion for me. I'm just saying that when I compared the non HMO plan to the HMO plan, the HMO was the much better deal. The only negative thing is that I have to be referred to a specialist and can only see the Drs. that are approved by the HMO. In my case the HMO made more sense financially.

 

[Milhouse]

Well I can tell you up here in Canada where we have Public Health Care that the system here is fucked and rife with abuse by both patients and health care professionals.

Up here to all the Lefties scream about private health care as a threat to the poor etc and that the system should remain public and accessed by all.

Now here's the funny part. Since I was 16 I have paid for my own dental, eye exams and other treatments not deemed "medical" by the system. And for my business we have a full medical plan. Why? Because the public/social system only covers so much yet people pay so much into it.

That aside I have been known to give people shit here who complain when they have to wait for something medically. They go " we pay for this thru our taxes" I say oh really? Well my grandfather went in for a triple bypass 4 years ago, which I assume would have cost 100's of thousands of dollars to pay if it came out of his pocket. My point being that he and to my knowledge most Canadians do not even contribute in taxes what it costs for a heart operation like that.

I am for a system that will be there poor/low income people but I would honestly prefer a system like you have in the states with insurance. This way there is more liability and people won't show up to the emergency room like they do up here when they have the flu because they would have to pay the $10.

The only other probelem we have in Canada with our system is that there are tons of new immigrants who come here every year sick and healthy alike. While I do not have a problem with immigration, I do feel giving them a free pass to the health care system without them contributing one penny to the system is wrong and is causing financial problems within the system. They should have to buy some kind of insurance in the interim for the first couple years.That and when I see some sick lady on tv here complaining about our healthcare yet she just arrived in the country a year ago and in her old country would have been left to die in the streets makes me kind of pissd off.

 

[rudedawg]

When I lived in New York at just the age of 25, I paid over 200.00 a month for healthcare coverage through an HMO plan. Now that I live in Atlanta, I pay 100.00 a month. If I choose a plan that is "out of network" I would have a 20% deductable. Imagine if I had cancer, AIDS, or some terminal illness, how would I pay my expenses with such a large deductable?

Further, to go to any sort of specialists most of us have to go through a general practitioner to do so----even for simple matters such as going to the Dermatologist. And, if the HMO wants to refuse to pay a claim---guess what? They can do so without any real repercussions.

This bill is about accountability. We all have the right to get what we pay for. If I pay money to an HMO, my money should not be taken for granted----HMO reform would ensure that HMO's think twice before stepping on the backs of the average hardworking American.

Your defense of the insurance industry is AMAZING WARIK. Quality healthcare is not about getting a free ride, its about getting what you paid for. Thus far, many Americans are not getting what they pay for.

Of course, all this ignores the millions of Americans without healthcoverage or the children who lack any sort of coverage. But, then the rich got their tax break---thats all that matters---right Warik?

Numbber 1) If you have a major hospital bill your losses will be capped at a predetermined amount....... Read your contract. You are so knowledgable I know you know this or you are simply leaving this info out to over dramatize this subject like you do everything else.

Number 2) If you go to a specialist you are going to be referred to one from your PCP right? Then he for sure is going to be in the Provider Directory. If he is not then that is YOUR fault for not making sure he was.

Number 3) A good portion of people enrolled in HMO's pay very little out of their pocket for their insurance. They get most of it subsidized from their employers and if you use it like my family does we take it pretax along with health care reimbursement and day care reimburesement.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

But, then the rich got their tax break---thats all that matters---right Warik?

Income tax levels were "lowered" to 33% for the top bracket? Is 33% anything to celebrate? That means if you are in that bracket, you work the first four months of the year for others.

Hardly a break.

 

[rudedawg]

HMO's can be a pain in the ass but they are much more cost effective. My coverage only costs me $12 per month. My primary physician ordered some x-rays for me recently. Guess how much I paid for these x-rays. Nothing! They were covered 100% by my HMO because my primary physician said the x-rays were necessary. I only have to pay $10 for a Dr. visit. I can get a 90 day supply of my prescriptions for only $15.
I had the option of choosing another insurance carrier that was not a managed care company and the costs were unreal. The monthly rate was over $100 month compared to the $12 HMO. Plus they had a $500 deductible and a 20% copay on everything. With this plan if I break an arm and have a $10,000 surgery procedure I would still have to pay $2000 out of pocket. Under my current plan I would only pay $200.

That is why the HMO's are raising premiums right there. They can't continually give away x-rays, labs, etc...... and a $10 Dr. Visit either. It costs a certain company I market $100 in admin fees for every dr visit claim they process! Figure it out....too much money going out not enough coming in. In the AZ their were only 5 HMO's that made money in 2000. The biggedst loser was United Health Care.....they lost $35 million.

The RX costs for insurance carriers is going through the roof too.....thats why you will see higher co-pays now and the 3 tiered drug plans. It costs the insurance company $78/mo for Claritin, yet they "give" it away for a $15 co-pay. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they are losing in that battle. Healthcare cost on the US are now at $1.2 TRILLION and will be $2 Trillion by the year 2008.

The technology we have now alone drives up costs and usage......35 years ago having a lung or liver transplant was a dream.......today they are both done frequently for about $250K...bone marrow transplant???? sure $232K

Drug costs, technology, higher provider fees, decreased gov't contributions to Medicare, State and Federal mandates, and increased usage........it is all taking its toll on healthcare in the USA.

 

[RyanH]

That is why the HMO's are raising premiums right there. They can't continually give away x-rays, labs, etc...... and a $10 Dr. Visit either. It costs a certain company I market $100 in admin fees for every dr visit claim they process! Figure it out....too much money going out not enough coming in. In the AZ their were only 5 HMO's that made money in 2000. The biggedst loser was United Health Care.....they lost $35 million.

Drug costs, technology, higher provider fees, decreased gov't contributions to Medicare, State and Federal mandates, and increased usage........it is all taking its toll on healthcare in the USA.

Have you looked at the profits for major insurance companies. They are outrageous. So I'm crying, like most Americans, over what the insurance companies must be going through. Two of my Doctors, and the Doctors in my family complain about the abuse by the insurance industry and lobby on hardworking Americans.

Insurance companies still deny coverage to millions of Americans or either shortchange them of their rights to quality healthcare. Or, they price gouge them out of being able to afford quality medical coverage.

Further, many citizens in Canada do not share the views of Milhouse.......

Shouldn't we all be entitled to the same quality of healthcare? Again, its all about fairness and ACCOUNTABILITY.....Let insurance companies make their profits but not at the expense of all of us......

 

[Warik]

Again, its all about fairness and ACCOUNTABILITY.....

So accountability is good when it comes to healthcare, but it's bad when it comes to government education? PUBLIC SCHOOLING IS CHILD ABUSE.

-Warik