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Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

theguardian.com

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Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#181

Post by alan-hn »

petre wrote: post #38
nonameiguess wrote: post #23

The definition is amusing. "Have the ability to pay but don’t." They don't exactly make it easy. I'm usually good about this but am probably on this list right now. My cat got out of the house and bit me on the hand last year around this time and it got infected and swelled up. Went to one of those boutique ERs with no wait, which I specifically did because I have plenty of money and can pay. They still couldn't bill…

> My cat got out of the house and bit me on the hand last year around this time and it got infected and swelled up. Always have betadine on hand. My cat scratched and bit be numerous times, never had an issue, always washed with plenty of soap and water and disinfected the wounds with betadine. Indoor cats also go crazy. I'm never keeping another cat indoors without free roaming access.

I generally oppose declawing cats but it may help in this situation. Free roaming and outdoor cats decimate local bird populations, that's the primary reason I kept my cat totally indoors.

Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#182

Post by petre »

alan-hn wrote: post #181
petre wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My cat got out of the house and bit me on the hand last year around this time and it got infected and swelled up. Always have betadine on hand. My cat scratched and bit be numerous times, never had an issue, always washed with plenty of soap and water and disinfected the wounds with betadine. Indoor cats also go crazy. I'm never keeping another cat indoors without free roaming access.

I generally oppose declawing cats but it may help in this situation. Free roaming and outdoor cats decimate local bird populations, that's the primary reason I kept my cat totally indoors.

We a have free roaming cat at the office. It doesn't bother with birds or mice, as it has learned to bug humans to feed it and it's quite succesful at it. So there's no need for declawing = amputating its fingers. Very active cats like the common European are not fit as indoor pets and might develop a stress disorder if kept inside at all times.

Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#183

Post by AniseAbyss »

smileysteve wrote: post #121
redleggedfrog wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, and my family, are now literally asking on every single thing, "Is that covered by my insurance? Will I be billed extra for that?" Like, over and over. Stupid system, stupid questions. At a recent minor surgery I must have asked it 10 times, and once for these little grippy socks they wanted to give me for my bare feet. And yup, they cost extra. So, get 'em out.

You'll eventually run into a hospital that will 1) refuse to answer if it is covered by insurance because they have so many providers they won't know. 2) a "3rd party" like a MRI tech that is not in network

Not in network is something that I'm facing in my country despite "universal healthcare". You have to go to a website to find out if the hospital or clinic has a contract with your insurance company.

But at least emergency care is exempt.

Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#184

Post by StockHuman »

jseliger wrote: post #2

It's very expensive being sick for any extended period of time; I had my first partial glossectomy surgery (removal of a piece of my tongue) in October 2022 ( https://jakeseliger.com/2023/07/22/i-am-dying-of-squamous-ce... ), and there are at least three major components to being sick for a long time: health itself; financial viability; and managing the healthcare team. I've been lucky with the generosity of friends…

The old Onion joke about a nation with a GoFundMe-based healthcare system rings true.

Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#185

Post by bobongo »

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #45
taeric wrote: post #7

That has included me, in the past. It is stupid easy to accidentally have a debt to a hospital. For families, sensible privacy rules at clinics can mean that it is very hard to choke point bills to a single person. To the point that I asked every time if I owed money when I did checkups to be told that we did not. Only to later find that my family did, in fact, have a bill due. For a while. Recently I'm getting it wi…

One thing my mom has been dealing with recently is where the insurance EOB and the bill differs substantially. My mom called the hospital to ask for an explanation and poof the bill is magically lowered by a several hundred dollars. How the heck is this not criminal fraud? Why are people allowed to simply bill whatever they feel like it, and why is my mother getting 'balance billed' for random amounts? They're still…

> How the heck is this not criminal fraud?

It probably is; however, it's probably also not being enforced, since no government agency in the US seems to have the teeth or the will to protect consumer rights to the level they are elsewhere.

Also, when they do get a bit too willing, their regulatory activities get shut down or their funding cut because they become a little too visible in the public eye (who has a negative view of government agencies and federal employees in general). Very few government agencies have the courage to take actions that might end up on Washington Post etc.

Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#186

Post by StockHuman »

beaeglebeached wrote: post #74
mynameisnoone wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except you're tone deaf trivializing systemic evil as a banal "business misunderstanding". I was roadtripping through Redding, CA several years back. While in line at a coffee, I ran across a young lady with a nasal infusion pump tube taped to her face arranging some paperwork. After chatting, she informed me she had Stage IV cancer and the hospitals and doctors were coming after her for every cent she had while she…

A nasty truth is when people are terminally ill, the vultures emerge. With animals too. In socialist paradise your kids dispossessed because inheritance is immoral. In capitalist paradise, dispossessed because the hospital can charge the captive buyer limitlessly. Doesn't matter what system, the order of life plays out. Humans are chimps with high order skills to do the same chimp shit and explain it away with variou…

No, the American system is measurably worse. Dying destitute of a preventable cause is a uniquely American phenomenon contrasted to Western nations with socialized healthcare within capitalist frameworks.

And as far as I know, Cubans have inheritance.

Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#187

Post by crazygringo »

wolverine876 wrote: post #170
crazygringo wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I could spell it out concretely Well please do then. There are lots of people with drive on the Democrat side -- look at everything Bernie inspired, for example. There's ideas and drive aplenty. Look at the optimism that propelled Obama into office. And then look at how little he was able to accomplish, compared with what he hoped to. Look at how he discovered that Republicans wouldn't work with him, no matter how…

The only advice is: Get up and start working, start thinking and focusing on solving problems, start organizing and winning. Any leader, any manager, anyone with life experience can tell you: If I do it for you, then nothing has changed. Yes, Republican Party political tactics - pretty consistent since at least 2000 - have been effective. Why would they stop until someone stops them? Did you think those power-brokers…

So, you've got zero effective political strategy.

Just a bunch of empty exhortation and generic advice.

Sorry but that's not helpful. A little bit of advice back to you: the world is a much more complicated place than you seem you to think. The real world isn't a morality play where simply having "the truth" and "good faith" makes it so it "couldn't be easier" to win. That's the movies. That's fantasy. Not real life.

Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#188

Post by meepmorp »

wolverine876 wrote: post #180
meepmorp wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's entirely fair to ask what you are doing if you are exhorting others to action.

It's fair, but it's a waste of time. It's fair to pick your nose, but not responsible to your community, the people who built it, and the people who will come after you.

Deflecting the question while simultaneously insisting others act without questioning ("it's a waste of time," apparently to ask questions) is an act of hypocrisy. Show us that you practice what you preach - and make no mistake, you are preaching.

Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#189

Post by [deleted] »

wolverine876 wrote: post #180
meepmorp wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's entirely fair to ask what you are doing if you are exhorting others to action.

It's fair, but it's a waste of time. It's fair to pick your nose, but not responsible to your community, the people who built it, and the people who will come after you.

[deleted]

Re: Majority of debtors to US hospitals now people with health insurance

#190

Post by nojvek »

paxys wrote: post #78
slfnflctd wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should've gotten single payer. The insurance lobby is just too strong, I guess. In several recent years, I would've been better off not having insurance and paying out of pocket because I never (or just barely) hit the deductible. Even when my deductible was lower, if you added up my premiums against what was covered I still probably overpaid most years. So all I've been doing is subsidizing someone else's bills w…

Insurance companies are very much to blame, sure, but that doesn't change the fact that >50% of the country rejects these systems because "socialism". If we can't get over that hurdle first then nothing will ever change.

Socialism is such a stupid argument because we pool our taxes for common things such as Transportation infrastructure, defense, port immigration, and other social benefits.

Australia charges 2% for medicare (I'm sure other countries have something similar). Because the money is pooled, they can negotiate prices for common procedures and medicine down.

I'd rather pay 2% extra tax for not having to deal with getting new insurance when I switch jobs. An x-ray shouldn't cost in $1000s.

Australia still has private insurance and special surgeons. The deal is that the 2% covers most common basic heathcare related things.

Imagine if we had to pay separate tax for going on each highway. Middlemen sitting and ripping off based on demand and supply. Getting billed for each highway use and having those bills come months later. Because it is so expensive to travel, we'd need highway and flight insurance.

That's the absurdity of US healthcare. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

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