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Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

latimes.com

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Re: Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

#31

Post by mywittyname »

koolba wrote: post #21
mooreds wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just give consumers access to a price list before service is provided. That will go a long way towards helping the problem. (Not that you are going to price shop for every service--a trip to the emergency room for a broken bone wonte get shopped--but some portion of health Care is discretionary or is deliberate enough it can be shopped.)

That’s not enough. What the people should do is demand that corporate health insurance be banned and demand uniform/transparent pricing. (Removing the corporate tax deduction and adding a personal one would have the same effect) That’d lower the cost of the average policy as their would be an influx of (on average) healthier people to the market for insurance.

We need to eliminate tax deductions as well. They distort behavior yet only benefit the wealthy.

Families making under $50k aren't paying much in federal taxes as it is. The federal tax bill for a family of 4 making $50k/yr is $2,739. Cutting their tax bill in half gives them back a little over $100/mo.

Re: Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

#32

Post by mAEStro-paNDa »

I used to work at a med school, and often I would be in the classroom. Once the Dean gave a presentation over the true cost of healthcare in the US. What was his final conclusion to the class? No one knows the true cost of healthcare. It's nonsensical.

The situation with healthcare in the US has been beyond ridiculous for quite some time. Often the conversation centers around those without insurance, but being under-insured is just as much of an issue.

We need to decouple healthcare from employment. We need a single-payer system. This would save everyone money on healthcare in the long run.

Re: Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

#33

Post by rhexs »

rb808 wrote: post #5

I have a high deducible plan and think its a good idea that everyone gets one. It means you're much more aware of costs and much more careful. One of the reasons the total US healthcare bill is so high is that many/most people get lots of unnecessary tests, lots of marginally useful procedures and lots of expensive emergency work instead of trying to be healthy in the first place. Finally having people feel the sting…

This idea would only hypothetically work without Medicare or Medicaid. Right now all it does is squeeze the middle class even more as they’re required to further bare the costs of the ever-rising, all-consuming system.

So now the middle class, a large, still-working tax base, is the only group required to ration health-care. I always found that a bit odd.

Re: Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

#34

Post by MichaelApproved »

Ididntdothis wrote: post #10
rb808 wrote: post #5

I have a high deducible plan and think its a good idea that everyone gets one. It means you're much more aware of costs and much more careful. One of the reasons the total US healthcare bill is so high is that many/most people get lots of unnecessary tests, lots of marginally useful procedures and lots of expensive emergency work instead of trying to be healthy in the first place. Finally having people feel the sting…

With employer based insurance and lack of price transparency there is almost nothing the patient can do to reduce costs. You can’t get any upfront pricing, it’s hard to evaluate whether a test is needed, you can’t change insurance. You are giving the patient responsibility for something they have almost no chance to understand.

On top of that, it's impossible to shop around for some of the biggest purchases.

Broke your leg, now what? Start calling local hospitals to see who offers the best price?

It's impossible to be an educated consumer with healthcare. Impossible.

Re: Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

#35

Post by germinalphrase »

linuxftw wrote: post #28
MichaelApproved wrote: post #6

I have $6,500 deductable. It's insane how much work I need to do to get healthcare. The biggest issue is price transparency. To get a price, I need the tax-id of the medical office and the procedure code. Often times the procedure code is unknown because I might have any number of different procedures, depending on what the diagnosis is. So, I take my list of codes to the health insurance company with the tax ID and…

Literally half the country tried to warn against this exact same thing happening before the ACA passed.

This pattern of exploding healthcare costs didn’t begin with the passage of the ACA (though the ACA is also obviously not the solution). The ACA did increase costs as insurance companies couldn’t suddenly refuse service because they are actually sick (preexisting conditions), but what is our healthcare system doing if it’s NOT treating sick people?

Re: Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

#36

Post by MichaelApproved »

rhexs wrote: post #33
rb808 wrote: post #5

I have a high deducible plan and think its a good idea that everyone gets one. It means you're much more aware of costs and much more careful. One of the reasons the total US healthcare bill is so high is that many/most people get lots of unnecessary tests, lots of marginally useful procedures and lots of expensive emergency work instead of trying to be healthy in the first place. Finally having people feel the sting…

This idea would only hypothetically work without Medicare or Medicaid. Right now all it does is squeeze the middle class even more as they’re required to further bare the costs of the ever-rising, all-consuming system. So now the middle class, a large, still-working tax base, is the only group required to ration health-care. I always found that a bit odd.

This idea could never work. Never.

It's impossible to be an educated consumer with healthcare.

Slip, fall and break your leg. Who do you call first, 911 or your local hospitals to price shop?

Re: Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

#37

Post by immanentizer »

pmorici wrote: post #11

All I know is that in 2013 I was able to get insurance in the private market to cover myself. It was ~$80 a month and the deductible was $2000. Now, there is only one company left in my state that will even offer plans in the private market. The closest plan to what I used to have has gone up ~6x in price and the deductible has tripled. The prices started going up immediately after the ACA came into being I think the…

That sucks, but not nearly as much as not being able to get coverage for a pre-existing condition, at any price.

Re: Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

#39

Post by exabrial »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #6

I have $6,500 deductable. It's insane how much work I need to do to get healthcare. The biggest issue is price transparency. To get a price, I need the tax-id of the medical office and the procedure code. Often times the procedure code is unknown because I might have any number of different procedures, depending on what the diagnosis is. So, I take my list of codes to the health insurance company with the tax ID and…

Hsa's are pretty simple.... Tax free account to pay for health expenses. If we all _exclusively_ had them, I think our insurance rates would drop significantly. Not only would purple be concerned about the price of procedures, but would actively keep a eye on their usage.

Re: Rising health insurance deductibles fuel middle-class anger and resentment

#40

Post by PaulHoule »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #23
PaulHoule wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Medical offices will bill anybody who might pay like the insurance you had 3 years ago...

But I already paid them the agreed price.

You're right, but they will do it anyway.
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