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Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

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Re: Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

#11

Post by retillit »

joni123 wrote: post #7

Silly americans... in my country, it's obligatory to have health insurance and if you cannot afford it, the government will pay your insurance, for god's sake. Not even the most conservative and right-wing politicans who see our freedom in danger when we can't keep fully automatic assault rifles at home anymorehere question this system, because it just makes sense.

Can someone please explain to me the purpose of an insurance company when participation in the pool is mandatory? A policy like this seems like it creates a legislated middle-man that just wastes money.

Re: Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

#13

Post by kefs »

fleitz wrote: post #8
kefs wrote: post #5

As a Canadian, I couldn't imagine having to decide between money and healthcare. I don't know how you guys do it... Relevant reading: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/07/12/how-i-lost-...

I'm Canadian but lets be realistic, there are many things that would cause serious financial hardship due to medical costs in Canada. A friend of mine right now is suffering through intense pain from her teeth that aren't being fixed because she doesn't have money/insurance. She's deciding between healthcare and money. You can also lose your life on a waiting list in Canada. Not much purpose in having $23K in the ban…

Chemo is most definitely covered for me.. just as everything else that would be medically required.

http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/infoben/benefits.html#notcov...

Nothing you have commented with is based on fact.

Edit: OP added a ninja-edit to his comment that included the part about teeth-pain... as my link explains, non-emergency dentalcare is not covered by default.

Re: Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

#14

Post by nisa »

retillit wrote: post #11
joni123 wrote: post #7

Silly americans... in my country, it's obligatory to have health insurance and if you cannot afford it, the government will pay your insurance, for god's sake. Not even the most conservative and right-wing politicans who see our freedom in danger when we can't keep fully automatic assault rifles at home anymorehere question this system, because it just makes sense.

Can someone please explain to me the purpose of an insurance company when participation in the pool is mandatory? A policy like this seems like it creates a legislated middle-man that just wastes money.

Not sure if you are joking. Having everyone inside the pool makes up for members with chronical illnesses and other illnesses that need a lot of care. Some still healthy young poeple pay maybe a little bit more but everyone can be treated reasonably well. If you run an insurance without mandatory participation people with problematic illnesses are a risky for the business and that is one reason why the op can't get an insurance in the USA.

Re: Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

#15

Post by ojiikun »

Every time a healthcare discussion comes up and everyone gets derailed on whether (or how much) to socialize things, I wonder the following:

from a technology, taxation, and moral standpoint, what the hell led to a system where some heavy-duty antibiotics cost about 10-15X what they should? More importantly, why do generally intellegent audiences get caught up in arguments over socialism rather than correcting the cost issue first? Is it sue-happy lawyers, is is an anti-competitive marketplace, or is it the pushing of the very concept of insurance that has given us such an unsustainable system?

I truly want to put out a call to geeks: for every healthcare dollar you spend, grill your provider. Haggle them down, and make them justify the price, or we're all screwed, no matter who is paying for things.

Re: Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

#16

Post by davidf18 »

In the US there are many community health centers. NYC alone takes care of 450,000 people without any insurance at all through CHCs and other sources. The very poorest generally have Medicaid in NY State, so the uninsured might be people like waiters. At any rate, there are community health centers throughout the country.

One issue that I have with the Obama Affordable Care Act is that they should have put much, much more money into the CHCs.

Re: Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

#17

Post by TheAmazingIdiot »

T_S_ wrote: post #9

Reminds me of my kid's $6000 bump on the head. Or the time I had and knee operation and they took five minutes extra to clean out something they spotted and added $3500 to the bill. Or the eye operation where they took fifteen minutes extra because there was a detached retina adding $9000 to the bill. (Insurance wouldn't pay that one. They never said why either.) You are not exactly going to negotiate at moments like…

Insurance companies make more money if they refuse payment.

I've always liked the old Chinese medicine system. You find a doctor who is willing to take you as a client. You pay the doctor money per month when you are well. If you are sick, you do not pay. Of course, refusing treatment is acceptable to get you disqualified, as are a few other things.

Re: Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

#18

Post by marquis »

_delirium wrote: post #2

Even though I've been researching with interest, so far I haven't run across much in the American healthcare system that makes me question my decision (as an American) to move to Denmark. My taxes are higher, but my costs are very predictable, and by design cannot ever bankrupt me: I pay a flat 8% of my income to support the national healthcare system. I won't end up with a charge equal to 20% or 50% or 500% of my in…

Having experienced emergency care in both Denmark and the U.S., this is also the main reason I won't relocate to the U.S. until this is sorted out. I had what was thought to be a broken ankle in Denmark thanks to icy conditions and I was so well looked after, and charged nothing, I was awe inspired and wish there had been some way to pay it back. I sliced a finger in the U.S. and was made to feel like a statistic, with a $1000 bill. Thanks to inexpensive travel insurance that cost me just $100, but how I am supposed to feel when my travel insurance is less than quarter of the price that actual insurance would be if I lived there?

(Edit from reading other comments: probably not charged in Denmark because of European health reciprocity, but they never verified this at the hospital).

Re: Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

#19

Post by forrestthewoods »

_delirium wrote: post #2

Even though I've been researching with interest, so far I haven't run across much in the American healthcare system that makes me question my decision (as an American) to move to Denmark. My taxes are higher, but my costs are very predictable, and by design cannot ever bankrupt me: I pay a flat 8% of my income to support the national healthcare system. I won't end up with a charge equal to 20% or 50% or 500% of my in…

8% sounds great. US currently spends around 16% of GDP on health care every year. I think the majority of Americans would support a universal health care system that provides far more coverage at half the cost. Instead our total spend is expected to double by 2020.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/28/news/economy/healthcare_spen...

Re: Greg Knauss's 10-year-old son's $23,800 bug bite

#20

Post by spiralpolitik »

retillit wrote: post #11
joni123 wrote: post #7

Silly americans... in my country, it's obligatory to have health insurance and if you cannot afford it, the government will pay your insurance, for god's sake. Not even the most conservative and right-wing politicans who see our freedom in danger when we can't keep fully automatic assault rifles at home anymorehere question this system, because it just makes sense.

Can someone please explain to me the purpose of an insurance company when participation in the pool is mandatory? A policy like this seems like it creates a legislated middle-man that just wastes money.

Because getting rid of the middle man is considered socialism in these parts and that doesn't fly with Joe and Jill six pack.

(Unless of course you are talking about Medicare then its the most patriotic thing since apple pie).

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