Shut 'em Down!

Your congresswoman Peloski?

You're wondering why they don't impose a worse idea?

Well, it may not be the best idea, at least it is going in the right direction (making care affordable, like the title says!)

Right, the cost of health insurance cannot be counted as part of a person's healthcare costs. Insurance costs are going up for nearly everyone because of the regulations within this law. You can point to the subsidy and say well that will reduce some peoples costs, but the again, lots of people won't qualify for the subsidy. For a large portion of them, aka the ones barely keeping their head above water before the laws implementation, they will no longer be able to sustain themselves and will now have to resort to grabbing the handout from the government.

You've tried to help the poor, but instead just ended up making more of them.

Are you advocating regulation? ACA is a free market approach that conservatives came up with and are now disowning. It's even more hilarious when you consider that many of them are criticizing liberals for not being liberal in their approach...

ACA is unpopular among conservatives because they think it infringes on people's rights, it's unpopular among liberals because it pandors to the insurance companies by guaranteeing them commerce. It's by no means a complete law or even a good one, but when conservatives say its too liberal and liberals say it's too conservative, I know we're on the right track.

You also forgot to point out that those who are barely keeping afloat and didn't have insurance, now have a brand new bill per month. How is that supposed to help them? Not everyone can qualify for a subsidiary and still have to pay money they don't have!

True universal coverage GO

Only the Shadow Sparthosx knows who my congressman is!

BUT............ DEATH PANELS!!!!

/screams while pulling his hair

Stop being so negative. We'll call them Life Panels!

All paranoia that this was a gateway to single payer is now validated!

Clearly the result of the ACA is either the largest mess ever created by the incompetence of a big centralized government OR the first step to single payer by deliberately creating a government catastrophe then proposing another bigger government catastrophe to fix it.

Well we could just full on adopt a system like Canada's or European countries. If you want inexpensive insurance, then you have to reduce the cost of medical treatment equipment and such. Countries with a united system have a huge amount of bargaining power and can drop prices by a huge amount. Since we're even larger, we'd be able to drop it even more so than they can.

Free market is good for many things but I don't feel it works for this.

Except that most of the cost of prescriptions comes from Research and Development, which most countries do not have to deal with. They get cheaper products because we already paid the bill for it. Same for procedures and such because they are all learning a newer, safer, better method of doing XXX.

Except that there is no way you can justify 180 bucks for a hospital gown, no matter how many people researched the least cost effective way to rob a person of their dignity. Cost has virtually no relation to price in the medical field.

Where do you get charged 180 bucks for an hospital gown, and why are you going to that hospital in the first place?

You do know that not every hospital is privately owned...

Besides, I'm talking about the highest cost of the bill, which are procedures and equipment and prescriptions, not little overhead items like gowns.-

So do you disagree that these companies are over charging (for whatever reason)?

I looked at the itemized bill for my 3 days in the hospital last year, that's where I saw 180 bucks for a gown. Believe it or not, the "highest cost" of the bill, was all of those little overhead items, not the actual surgery. And before you assume it was an ingrown toenail, I had a multilevel spinal fusion. My insurance paid more for the little things than the procedure and the implant itself was only about 1% of the total cost. I especially liked the 28 dollar drinking mug that they didn't even ask if I wanted.

Yea, when you look at the bill and its 50 dollars for the cotton peice they tape over the IV...its a bit rediculous...not to mention the money it costs for saline,morphine,and the other drugs you're given...

You know, cause i havent been in and out of hospitals with severe migraines my whole life to know what 1-7+ days of tests,painkillers,saline,bandages,needles,IVs, "room rates" gowns, linens, and utilities(basically) are...but then again, all i see on the bill is reduced by a percentage from BCBSF...so the amount is probably FAR more asinine than i know. Also, if you go to certain state hospitals (i atleast know of the one i went to in Tennessee this last time) the hospitals have agreements to take up part of the bill for patients. And then of course, they get payed back later by the state...but i digress.

I could even go and get one of these bills right now and tell you the exact dollar amount ehy tied to everything from one of these stays/a surgery >_>' and all this being BEFORE Satan came to healthcare Obamacare the ACA.

Wow, and they didn't even tell you about these costs?

Are you fighting these costs, or did you pay for them already?

I had a minor surgery the beginning of this year. Had a lump removed for biopsy. The entire very minor ordeal cost over 12,000 dollars. The procedure was under 30 minutes. I was in and out of the hospital in a couple hours. The three largest items on the bill in front of me:

Operating Room Service: 7221.00
Recovery Room: 2005.00
Anesthesia Service: 1714.00

Supplies: 378.00
Lab Service: 452.00

So yes, the problem is the cost of insurance raising healthcare costs...not the actual bloated healthcare industry >_>'

Do you think the cost of service and the items for care is actually advertised when you walk into a hospital lobby?

Not trying to be a ***, trying get clarity of your understanding since you asked "they didnt even tell you about these costs?"

As if you have an option in most cases anyway.

"Here sir, please sign this invoice agreeing to pay the following before we start your heart back up."

This is part of the reason why costs are so high. You can't really bargain with providers. If the life saving procedure is 150$ you'll pay that. If it's 150,000 you're going to figure out how to pay it because the alternative is death. You can't walk in and say "I'll pay 75,000. Take it or leave it"

Eventually after Obamacare has had a few more years to completely take down the Health Insurance industry and get America to a single payer system; then they will finally get around to what they should have done in the first place. They will actually look into why health care is so expensive and look for ways to help lower cost. That or they will ration care more.

They know you can't put a price on life but at the same time for a person who doesn't want to die no cost is too great. Nor do they sit there and go over the formality of telling you the price of a service when you are in agonizing pain and in need of emergency attention.

When I had my appendecotomy I literally sat in the ER lobby for 4hrs before any actions were taken and 12hrs before I was operated on. During that time I filled out my insurance forms. Was given tests to determine if it was appendicitis vs a kidney stone, had an MRI performed on me, received an enema because they needed a stool sample, asked if I wanted lathroscopic versus traditional vivisection and finally got put in a room. Had to wait 4hrs before an operating room was open.

Not once during that time was the price for any of those tests and services mentioned.

I say free up the markets and allow anyone to perform these procedures for compensation. There is no reason the gov't should have standards on medical procedures and it'd help to drive down prices. These greedy companies are only making these sums of money because we're forced to go to hospitals rather than seeking our own solutions to medical issues.

That being said, Sparthos' Dental Clinic is now open for business. I'll clean teeth for 50 bucks and do fillings for 150 dollars. My prices can't be beat and our glorious refurbished garage features state-of-the-art dental tools I bought online from Costco.

Obamacare? Bah, bring on the new era of Freedomcare.

Never been to a hospital before.

Never been sick, nor has any of my family been sick.

This is the great scam of medical care. No one discusses prices because all parties know ***is ridiculous and completely unaffordable based on the average American income. You can't pay the 400,000 for some cancer procedure? Haha, enjoying dying pleb.

Yeah, my Electrocardiography study cost ~$20000 to investigate a heart condition that is still unknown based on the reports of 4 cardiologists. I've also had pretty much every test known to man leading up to that bridge to nowhere costing thousands of dollars. How anyone is supposed to afford this on average income is laughable. The whole thing is a joke and any attempt to look up prices online is met with vague and often hidden beneath layers of ***.

The whole system is like a silent gang rape where everyone knows what is going on is wrong but hell if anyone speaks up about it.

That doesn't even get me started on how doctors behave on average. No time for patients, no time to explain ***, layers of paperwork to pay for phoned in service and about as much personality as a walking phone bill. WebMD telling me I have cancer or a terminal disease when I type in "rash" has more depth. The last *** I happened to visit didn't even have the decency to call me for a followup after a major procedure.

Yeah, go read about the experiences of others. You might find out why some people support Obamacare.

So, here is a solution.

Since the government is forcing a cap on insurance that can't have more than 20% overall profit, why can't they do that to the hospital and care system?

"Your markup cannot be more than 20% of the cost to provide it (inventory cost)"

"Your markup cannot be more than 20% of the cost to preform the procedure (labor cost)"

"Your markup cannot be more than 20% of the cost to maintain the building (administration/variable cost)"

"If your markup is over 20%, you must give a refund to those who you overcharged (additional costs associated with recordkeeping)"

Still not a good idea, but it is better than a price ceiling and Obamacare combined!

/waits for the liberals here to justify the costs that hospitals charge while keeping with their principle that it is ok to do the same to insurance companies...