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US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

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Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#231

Post by lotsofpulp »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #217
lotsofpulp wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to re-iterate, my original comment scrolling up was specifically responding to this claim: > We don't get this nonsense where the insurer tries to deny us and hope that we don't dispute. Restated, this is claiming that health insurers in the US erroneously deny coverage as a policy. And that is the specific statement I am saying is untrue. The crazy bills are true, you should of course budget to be able to affor…

"Restated, this is claiming that health insurers in the US erroneously deny coverage as a policy. And that is the specific statement I am saying is untrue." The policy may not be explicitly stated, but having dealt ( and likely having have to deal with both this year ) with medical issues ( and related bills ) in US, to me it is clear that everything is stacked against the recipient of healthcare benefits. In other w…

I agree with all of your comment.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#232

Post by xnyan »

FpUser wrote: post #213
simonh wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may not have meant it to come across this way, but "The alternative isn't absolutely perfect in every way, therefore both options are equivalent" isn't a useful contribution.

I meant exactly what I said. Basically nothing is perfect. And while I completely support the idea of free universal healthcare I know on my own experience that Government is on a constant lookout to cut those expenses and does it at the first opportunity. Bunch of warriors with the downvoting clubs is not going to change anything. Frankly I do not give a s..t about being downvoted. I am not here to accumulate karma.…

Nobody is trying to change your mind, it's just that most people disagree with you.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#233

Post by rsynnott »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #135
29athrowaway wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting perspective. Although preventive care is usually cheaper for society than the alternatives IMO. I've heard in some countries, e.g.: the UK, you get summoned by your doctor for preventive care, and this approach helps reducing the overall cost of healthcare.

Preventative care is not subject to deductibles (i.e. free for people with insurance) after ACA, such as annual wellness exams, vaccinations, etc. People just don’t want to do it, or if they do, they don’t want to give up their sugar/carbs/alcohol/sat fats/sedentary lifestyle habits. Which is probably the cause for the majority of chronic healthcare spending.

> Which is probably the cause for the majority of chronic healthcare spending.

I doubt it's a _huge_ factor, honestly. The fatter Western European nations (UK and Ireland, for instance) don't have unduly expensive systems; Ireland spends about 5k per capita, the UK about $4k per capita. Much thinner France spends $4.6k.

Now, France _does_ outperform both the UK and Ireland on most metrics, but not by a huge amount.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#234

Post by cmrdporcupine »

arcticbull wrote: post #23
Aerroon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's inevitable that medical care in some way is tied to personal wealth. Some treatments are so expensive and/or niche that public programs likely wouldn't cover them. Such treatments will probably always exist. (And if they didn't, then that could he a problem by itself.) But at least basic modern healthcare (things that existed ~20 years ago) should be provided as (mostly) free to the patient. We need people to no…

> It's inevitable that medical care in some way is tied to personal wealth. Some treatments are so expensive and/or niche that public programs likely wouldn't cover them. Such treatments will probably always exist. (And if they didn't, then that could he a problem by itself.) Not in a single-payer state, no. It's also not really a problem in and of itself. You'll find that if cancer treatments are actually cheaper an…

I like our healthcare system here in Canada, but this is not fully true. There are often experimental or very expensive treatments that the provincial health care systems don't cover, and so every few months I hear about some medication for a rare disease or cancer that someone is struggling/lobbying to get covered.

One historical example is Herceptin, for treating breast cancer. It took six years to get the Ontario gov't to finally cave and cover it, meanwhile some people were traveling to Buffalo or other places in the US and paying out of pocket to get it. See this old article from 2005: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/ontario-makes-herceptin...

On average, yes, it is better to be a cancer patient here than in the US, especially if you're working class or poor. And I believe last time I looked the life expectancy and recovery rates statistics etc. bore that out.

But there are definitely medications and treatments not covered, still, and having extra insurance coverage is important enough that people I know have struggled to keep their jobs so they could continue to pay for their partner's treatments.

In general, in Canada, medical care is covered but prescription pharmaceuticals are not. Which needs to be remedied.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#235

Post by protomyth »

atmosx wrote: post #48

A good question would be what can be done to fix healthcare in the US ? My understanding is that most voters don't support universal healthcare. IIRC even Obamacare was labeled as controversial. Current model costs way more, the model is clearly broken, why there is no pressure to fix it? ps. I don't want to get political or anything by mentioning Obamacare. I'm genuinely curious because the problems of the current h…

A good question would be what can be done to fix healthcare in the US?

I honestly think a good first step would be to break out the concept of long term medications from insurance. Payment support (or outright buying for low income folks) for medications that are needed long term would go a long way to making sure some very vulnerable parts of the population (diabetics, long-term cancer medication takers) are covered.

I don't think there is a "one big plan" solution, and carving off parts of the problem would actually be a better way to go.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#236

Post by protomyth »

krapp wrote: post #230
protomyth wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that most voters don't support universal healthcare. One part of our population does have universal health care: Native American tribes on reservations. It is perhaps the worst health care in the country, particularly if you get sick as the budget runs out ("don't get sick after June" is a documentary on the subject). If the United States is incapable of providing decent health care for a very sma…

The US would be perfectly capable of providing better healthcare to Native Americans if it wanted to. It doesn't want to.

Why?

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#237

Post by lotsofpulp »

alistairSH wrote: post #228
lotsofpulp wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Where is your data to backup this claim? I’m claiming that insurers do not erroneously deny claims in the hopes that people give up. I don’t have data for it, but I’ve also never seen data that shows insurers deny coverage just to dissuade people (post ACA). > experience the problem with our health care system is not just denial of claims, but about the cost of medical services and medicine. Yes, I agree here about…

I’m claiming that insurers do not erroneously deny claims in the hopes that people give up. You keep saying "erroneously" but I'm not sure what you mean by that. My experience is that for any major change in medication (either dosage or brand, but for the same chronic condition) the insurance will initially deny the claim. This kicks off many hours of phone tag between my family, the insurance, and the doctor. Eventu…

>You keep saying "erroneously" but I'm not sure what you mean by that.

"Erroneously" as in denying coverage for something that should be covered (per the terms of the contracts).

It's unfortunate that you have to go through all of that when changing medications. I don't know the reason for it in your specific case, but I would hope it's not widespread fraud across all of those companies.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#238

Post by elliekelly »

zip1234 wrote: post #222
pg_bot wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot needs to be fixed. Most of our problems boil down to lack of competition and regulatory capture. As a regular citizen, I would do the following. See if your state has certificate of need laws and ask your state representatives to repeal them. If your state has these laws you are likely paying 5% more for medical services with no difference in quality of care. Look into direct primary care clinics. Oftentimes yo…

Also, published prices in a standard format available on the web would go a long ways. Current state of system: How much does something cost? You will find out after the fact.

Reminds me of the Vox reporter who tried to get a hospital quote for how much it would cost his wife to have a baby: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tct38KwROdw

I’m sure you can guess the outcome.

Re: US doctor forgives $650k in medical bills for cancer patients

#240

Post by lotsofpulp »

rsynnott wrote: post #233
lotsofpulp wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Preventative care is not subject to deductibles (i.e. free for people with insurance) after ACA, such as annual wellness exams, vaccinations, etc. People just don’t want to do it, or if they do, they don’t want to give up their sugar/carbs/alcohol/sat fats/sedentary lifestyle habits. Which is probably the cause for the majority of chronic healthcare spending.

> Which is probably the cause for the majority of chronic healthcare spending. I doubt it's a _huge_ factor, honestly. The fatter Western European nations (UK and Ireland, for instance) don't have unduly expensive systems; Ireland spends about 5k per capita, the UK about $4k per capita. Much thinner France spends $4.6k. Now, France _does_ outperform both the UK and Ireland on most metrics, but not by a huge amount.

That is an interesting comparison, but I was going by this:

https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/infographic/chr...

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