Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

Post by kalleboo » Tue, Dec 26, 2017, 9:50 AM UTC

blhack wrote: post #82

throwaway0255 wrote: post #48

I injured myself and needed to go to the ER. The injury wasn't life threatening, but I definitely needed to go to the hospital immediately. I called an Uber. I don't have the time or expertise to do the months of legalese and calculus it would take me to understand my insurance policy, so I have no idea how much an ambulance ride would have cost me. $0? $400? $15000? None of those numbers would surprise me. As best I…

There is pretty much nothing that infuriates me more than the health insurance system. Here is just one example (other than your ambulance example, which is like some trolley-car problem come real): We use "insurance" for routine medical examinations which are supposedly to be done regardless of health. We use "insurance" for YEARLY checkups. The absurdity of this is on par with insuring yourself against getting hung…

Post by dantheman » Tue, Dec 26, 2017, 9:56 AM UTC

blhack wrote: post #82

throwaway0255 wrote: post #48

I injured myself and needed to go to the ER. The injury wasn't life threatening, but I definitely needed to go to the hospital immediately. I called an Uber. I don't have the time or expertise to do the months of legalese and calculus it would take me to understand my insurance policy, so I have no idea how much an ambulance ride would have cost me. $0? $400? $15000? None of those numbers would surprise me. As best I…

There is pretty much nothing that infuriates me more than the health insurance system. Here is just one example (other than your ambulance example, which is like some trolley-car problem come real): We use "insurance" for routine medical examinations which are supposedly to be done regardless of health. We use "insurance" for YEARLY checkups. The absurdity of this is on par with insuring yourself against getting hung…

Post by briandear » Tue, Dec 26, 2017, 10:02 AM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #81

throwaway0255 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree, but I don't think it's a winnable fight. I think it's so big and so entangled with everything that the only thing that could ever pry it loose is some kind of fundamentally transformative event that results in the complete dissolution of our entire economy and/or nation. Trying to make any progress through typical political avenues is hopeless. You're casting your vote into an ocean of voters that…

I think this is something where individual US states need to blaze a trail. California passed a (light-on-details) single-payer healthcare bill through the state Senate, though unfortunately the matter has been tabled for now by the Assembly, and funding it would require creative use of Medicare dollars that a) would require federal approval, and b) may not even exist much longer if the GOP gets its way. I agree that…

Post by skrause » Tue, Dec 26, 2017, 10:08 AM UTC

briandear wrote: post #136

blhack wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is pretty much nothing that infuriates me more than the health insurance system. Here is just one example (other than your ambulance example, which is like some trolley-car problem come real): We use "insurance" for routine medical examinations which are supposedly to be done regardless of health. We use "insurance" for YEARLY checkups. The absurdity of this is on par with insuring yourself against getting hung…

Insurance should be used for what it is — an financial instrument to protect against unforeseen and catastrophic financial loss. Car insurance doesn’t pay for tires or oil while it could be argued that bad tires increase the risk of accident. However tires and oil are an inextricable requirements to owning a car. This idea that health care should be paid for by someone else has always puzzled me. It’s the equivalent…

Post by flexie » Tue, Dec 26, 2017, 10:17 AM UTC

briandear wrote: post #136

blhack wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is pretty much nothing that infuriates me more than the health insurance system. Here is just one example (other than your ambulance example, which is like some trolley-car problem come real): We use "insurance" for routine medical examinations which are supposedly to be done regardless of health. We use "insurance" for YEARLY checkups. The absurdity of this is on par with insuring yourself against getting hung…

Insurance should be used for what it is — an financial instrument to protect against unforeseen and catastrophic financial loss. Car insurance doesn’t pay for tires or oil while it could be argued that bad tires increase the risk of accident. However tires and oil are an inextricable requirements to owning a car. This idea that health care should be paid for by someone else has always puzzled me. It’s the equivalent…