What ObamaCare might mean for you

[Booster4324]

Well, nobody can say I'm not doing my part. I should kick before I'm 50.

 

Possibly quicker, if you really do treat people around you the way you post.

[YellowLinesandArmadillos]

There's a law that forces juries to award zillions? You proposed creating two new laws to keep people from doing stupid things. The motherment you complain about regarding gun control is the motherment you want to intervene on healthcare. Hypocrisy, know thyself.

 

The law doesn't force anything... If the incompetent white wall of doctors was removed, where they cover the backsides at the drop of a hat yet pretend to know everything yet can't figure out how to cure anything... and insurance companies that charge them too much for their premiums like they do health care participants costs could be controlled and then I might support some kind of tort reform.

 

Yet health insurance companies remain one of the most profitable industries in this country before, during and after this last expansion and crash.

 

The jury awards and settlements are just a drop in the bucket of what these companies are making yearly and as much as I think some of these rewards are ridiculous, they are a red herring for not controlling the cost of healthcare.

 

So until there can be some sort of cost structure or competition brought into the market place, such as a competitive government plan as inefficient as it might be, what is the point, there won't be any real change the Republican naysayers and the incompetent Democrats with their pork barrel demands will have blown an opportunity to actually do something constructive that could help alleviate the burden of health costs on all Americans and businesses.

 

Ah piss on them all.... same old crap... different day. Jeez, I am beginning to sound like AD

[YellowLinesandArmadillos]

People rarely do the math because the costs of healthcare are hidden to most. For those with insurance, healthcare costs only the monthly copayment to the employer provided plan and whatever out of pocket deductible. That's usually far lower than the $1,200/mo actual cost to cover a family.

 

But that's not the only problem. The bigger issue is the ongoing demographic shift and the increasing life expectancy. As Tom points out, most of the health costs are incurred later in life, and there's no way those costs could be covered profitably down the road as baby boomers go onto the sunset of their lives if the current system stays in place.

 

There should definitely be a balancing out of taxation between individually bought plans and employer provided health plans. Health plans should be portable, and catastrophic coverage should be mandatory for everyone.

 

The basic math is that people are living longer and it costs a lot to keep them living longer.

True and that is why insurance companies justify premiums going up, because those people didn't pay those costs earlier in life when they were healthy and the upcoming baby boomer retirement generation. A lot has to with ratings, but insurance cos always make money... the questions for me include are their ratings out of wack?, are they making too much by collusion, and are their increase in premiums and profits well above most industries? also are they fiscal drain on our economy both individually and as a nation as a whole?

[Alaska Darin]

Ah piss on them all.... same old crap... different day. Jeez, I am beginning to sound like AD

Welcome to reality.

[StupidNation]

The jury awards and settlements are just a drop in the bucket of what these companies are making yearly and as much as I think some of these rewards are ridiculous, they are a red herring for not controlling the cost of healthcare.

 

Not a red herring, it's a real problem that the left doesn't think much of. In South TX the doctors left in droves until there was tort reform recently and now they are coming back again and many civil lawyers went to criminal. Nationwide ObGyns are going under for lawsuits. To dismiss what lawsuits have done is comical.

 

The argument presented to defend the blood-sucking attorneys is that medical costs are X amount of money and the money won in lawsuits only represents 1%, more or less, of overall costs. What it fails to mention is that the insurance companies have sky-rocketed the premiums to cover their 3% profit (which is actually huge because of the amount of money that it represents).

 

Now, what everyone forgets in the equation is quality, which isn't measurable in Xs and Ys. When a doctor is sued his life is changed, his practice suffers, and quality of care goes down. Now if the doctor settles out of court, which is usual, his premium goes up 20% which is passed down to the consumer, or he closes up shop and goes into a hospital to work.

 

What gets me is the same argument is not made for attorneys and the courts blessing of attorney to fugg up everyone's life. Law is a practice, just like medicine. Both make mistakes because they do not have all the answers. Yet one is on the hook for every mistake to the tune of destroying their savings, while the other has a free pass with malpractice suits almost impossible to file because the brotherhood of attorneys know it will cause their own demise.

 

Here's the solution, if the brotherhood feels that contingency attorneys are needed for clients rights, when they are in fact illegal in most every country, why doesn't the court hold the lawyer accountable for court fees, defendants fees, and time by the defendant lost in the case, and why can't the defendant bill like an attorney making up shi*ty hours when in fact they didn't do anything of the sort.

 

Let's see how many of these fuggers would run to file suit.

 

Lastly, look up hand surgeons in Florida who won't do surgery past 10pm no matter what. People have lost their hands because they are sick of being sued. If lawyers do nothing wrong, let's make them liable for the suits they lose.

[ThereIsNoDog]

The law doesn't force anything... If the incompetent white wall of doctors was removed, where they cover the backsides at the drop of a hat yet pretend to know everything yet can't figure out how to cure anything... and insurance companies that charge them too much for their premiums like they do health care participants costs could be controlled and then I might support some kind of tort reform.

 

Yet health insurance companies remain one of the most profitable industries in this country before, during and after this last expansion and crash.

 

The jury awards and settlements are just a drop in the bucket of what these companies are making yearly and as much as I think some of these rewards are ridiculous, they are a red herring for not controlling the cost of healthcare.

 

So until there can be some sort of cost structure or competition brought into the market place, such as a competitive government plan as inefficient as it might be, what is the point, there won't be any real change the Republican naysayers and the incompetent Democrats with their pork barrel demands will have blown an opportunity to actually do something constructive that could help alleviate the burden of health costs on all Americans and businesses.

 

Ah piss on them all.... same old crap... different day. Jeez, I am beginning to sound like AD

Yeah, piss on the doctors and insurance companies! Let's let everyone eat, smoke, drink, drug, screw, speed, BASE jump, etc. to their hearts content and make everyone ELSE pay for it. This is America, we don't need personal accountability! We can just rely on someone else to take the fall and/or pay for it all.

[DC Tom]

Yeah, piss on the doctors and insurance companies! Let's let everyone eat, smoke, drink, drug, screw, speed, BASE jump, etc. to their hearts content and make everyone ELSE pay for it. This is America, we don't need personal accountability! We can just rely on someone else to take the fall and/or pay for it all.

 

Yeah, because base jumpers are well known for blaming others for their base jumping.

[Chef Jim]

Yeah, because base jumpers are well known for blaming others for their base jumping.

 

But there are a lot of people that don't do shiit like that because they have no insurance. There will be a lot more cracked skulls in emergency if/when this thing passes.

[ThereIsNoDog]

Yeah, because base jumpers are well known for blaming others for their base jumping.

Sorry, I should have used "engage in high risk activities."

[YellowLinesandArmadillos]

Sorry, I should have used "engage in high risk activities."

Just another reason to raise premiums above what is needed.... whatever. Hey, I play hockey to keep in shape... raise my rates... whatever, the only I have ever broken, twisted or torn has been in my own home or on the lamest game of all playing baseball. Just because you don't want to admit the insurance cos have everyone by the cahoonahs and only make politically expedient exceptions. Bet those TX doctors are still paying high rates, unless somehow the state insurance commission stepped in and regulated them.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Just another reason to raise premiums above what is needed.... whatever. Hey, I play hockey to keep in shape... raise my rates... whatever, the only I have ever broken, twisted or torn has been in my own home or on the lamest game of all playing baseball. Just because you don't want to admit the insurance cos have everyone by the cahoonahs and only make politically expedient exceptions. Bet those TX doctors are still paying high rates, unless somehow the state insurance commission stepped in and regulated them.

 

You don't play hockey "to keep in shape." You work out "to keep in shape."

 

Oh well, whatever you tell yourself.

 

[ThereIsNoDog]

Just another reason to raise premiums above what is needed.... whatever. Hey, I play hockey to keep in shape... raise my rates... whatever, the only I have ever broken, twisted or torn has been in my own home or on the lamest game of all playing baseball. Just because you don't want to admit the insurance cos have everyone by the cahoonahs and only make politically expedient exceptions. Bet those TX doctors are still paying high rates, unless somehow the state insurance commission stepped in and regulated them.

I wasn't talking about the ways people don't take care of themselves to justify insurance rates. Just to say that...people don't take care of themselves, period. Why should I have to pay for someone else's lack of self-control?

 

As for the hockey, one of my co-workers has had multiple knee and shoulder surgeries as a result of playing hockey, missed quite a bit of time, and put a strain on us. Yet the first thing he does when he gets the doc's okay is...play hockey. But neither is he asking for free health care.

[YellowLinesandArmadillos]

I wasn't talking about the ways people don't take care of themselves to justify insurance rates. Just to say that...people don't take care of themselves, period. Why should I have to pay for someone else's lack of self-control?

 

As for the hockey, one of my co-workers has had multiple knee and shoulder surgeries as a result of playing hockey, missed quite a bit of time, and put a strain on us. Yet the first thing he does when he gets the doc's okay is...play hockey. But neither is he asking for free health care.

Fair enough and I am not either. I am just asking for access at an affordable cost and that includes to my wife's employer, where we get our health insurance through. Ironically, it is a hospital and she is an OR Nurse.

 

I have never said free and I do think that everyone should pay something including those who don't have health insurance. They should all be put in a risk pool or pools, but required to pay some sort of premium even if it is only a little based on their income. This way insurance cos are guaranteed a profit but costs can be contained as the Government (taxpayers) shares the burden. Also part of the problem with insurance is that it is regulated by the States and while some states like VA have good government policies, NY is totally corrupt and between its taxes and graft can drive any business into bankruptcy.

[YellowLinesandArmadillos]

You don't play hockey "to keep in shape." You work out "to keep in shape."

 

Oh well, whatever you tell yourself.

 

 

I play to keep in shape... I am not the greatest skater, but I have speed and hustle up and down the ice.... so between running, biking, chasing my two boys and hockey I stay in shape. The doctor during my last physical comment that my blood pressure was excellent... and other than some bursitis in my elbow from that baseball injury, I have no major complaints.

[GG]

True and that is why insurance companies justify premiums going up, because those people didn't pay those costs earlier in life when they were healthy and the upcoming baby boomer retirement generation. A lot has to with ratings, but insurance cos always make money... the questions for me include are their ratings out of wack?, are they making too much by collusion, and are their increase in premiums and profits well above most industries? also are they fiscal drain on our economy both individually and as a nation as a whole?

 

The insurance premiums are going up because the cost of service is going up. Insurance is a risk weighted pool of money that transfers payments from the healthy to the sick. Premiums are based on actuarial assumptions of future costs that insurance companies ill have to bear for their policy holders. The ratings simply reflect an analysis of whether the insurance companies are well capitalized to bear that risk.

 

I never understood the logic of attacking the insurance companies, because they're not generating outsized profits but are merely reflecting the pass through of higher medical costs of private care. A big part is that as Medicaid/Medicare become a bigger portion of medical spending, the government's enforcement of mandated pricing for the services don't cover the full cost of high end care, necessitating private plans to subsidize the public plans.

 

The main problem I see with the current proposals is that they will increase the public portion and by extension, decrease the private portion without any reasonable way to pay for the added entitlements. Soaking the rich by a few % is not going to make up the difference. So, what is not being told to the people is that when all is said & done, medical service will be mandated by a government bureaucrat who will ration either the cost or the duration/wait time for the service.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

The insurance premiums are going up because the cost of service is going up. Insurance is a risk weighted pool of money that transfers payments from the healthy to the sick. Premiums are based on actuarial assumptions of future costs that insurance companies ill have to bear for their policy holders. The ratings simply reflect an analysis of whether the insurance companies are well capitalized to bear that risk.

 

I never understood the logic of attacking the insurance companies, because they're not generating outsized profits but are merely reflecting the pass through of higher medical costs of private care. A big part is that as Medicaid/Medicare become a bigger portion of medical spending, the government's enforcement of mandated pricing for the services don't cover the full cost of high end care, necessitating private plans to subsidize the public plans.

 

The main problem I see with the current proposals is that they will increase the public portion and by extension, decrease the private portion without any reasonable way to pay for the added entitlements. Soaking the rich by a few % is not going to make up the difference. So, what is not being told to the people is that when all is said & done, medical service will be mandated by a government bureaucrat who will ration either the cost or the duration/wait time for the service.

 

My guess is that the new government "plan" will look much like Medicare...bloated, inefficient, and incomplete.

[Delete This Account]

Do you like the government mandating that all insurance policies have to cover mammograms for people over 35, regardless of gender? How about the fact that it is illegal for you to purchase insurance that has a very high deductible, and only covers medical procedures and medical costs over a certain amount? Do you even realize how much money you would save on insurance premiums if you were allowed to choose what you want covered in your plan?

um, absolutely none of this concerned me until i arrived in the United States and for the first three months while my wife and I were uncovered were forced to pay something close to $6,000 for health insurance which is close to 6,000 percent more than I paid out of pocket in Canada for the first 37 years that i lived there.

yes, yes, yes, you're going to bring up taxes, but i never ever ever had to fill out a form or was turned down for service whenever i visited a hospital or clinic. and never did i ever go -- or fear of going -- bankrupt while in canada. ... but you're absolutely right, Fingon, since you've been involved with both Canadian and U.S. health care systems, then you know what you're talking about ... oh, waitaminute ...

 

jw

[Delete This Account]

Did you CHOOSE to get into an HMO? If so, bad choice. Am I a "greedhead" for pursuing a living in the health insurance business? I guess in your socialistic worldview, anyone who does ANYTHING to try and generate a profit in order to better their lives and the lives of their families is a "greedhead." Please stop me when I'm incorrect on that matter.

if you want to compare yourself with the wall street bunko artists that gathered in billions of dollars of bonuses, sure, you're a greedhead. or if you're part of the pharmaceuticals who are gouging the American public, well, you'd be guilty, there, too. if pillaging and raping were your business in the 900ds then i guess i'd refer to you as a Viking. should i stop now?

 

jw

[Jim in Anchorage]

if you want to compare yourself with the wall street bunko artists that gathered in billions of dollars of bonuses, sure, you're a greedhead. or if you're part of the pharmaceuticals who are gouging the American public, well, you'd be guilty, there, too. if pillaging and raping were your business in the 900ds then i guess i'd refer to you as a Viking. should i stop now?

 

jw

Is 900ds like 900 AD? Yes stop.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

if you want to compare yourself with the wall street bunko artists that gathered in billions of dollars of bonuses, sure, you're a greedhead. or if you're part of the pharmaceuticals who are gouging the American public, well, you'd be guilty, there, too. if pillaging and raping were your business in the 900ds then i guess i'd refer to you as a Viking. should i stop now?

 

jw

 

Yes, you're only making more of an ass of yourself. Capitalism is about profit. And I can see you're anti-capitalist. Therefore, there is no reasoning with you.