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What Is The Best Way To Lower Medical Care Costs In America - We Are Being Raped.

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posted on Jun, 28 2017 @ 08:07 PM
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originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: carewemust

That's not the only reason people hated it. A lot of folks, particularly folks who bought individual policies also hated the service mandates and regulations that made it impossible for them to essentially only buy catastrophic policies and use HSAs to cover their routine care because those policies were classified as substandard because they didn't have all the "essential" coverages.

So people had to buy insurance for stuff they neither wanted or needed covered.

A lot of people who were previously insured wound up uninsured for that reason.


I was referring to the first 3.5 years of ObamaCare...before those heavy-handed "metal" plans became mandatory for all Americans buying their own policies.

Obama phased-in the REVENUE GENERATING side of the ACA for just over 3 years. This got the program off to a head-start with building up a slush-fund, in order to pay the subsidies that helped people buy those expensive metal plans, starting on 1.1.2014.

During the 3.23.2010 to 01.01.2014 time-frame, Obamacare was in effect, but only the taxes and fees were imposed. The mandate to have insurance, or pay a fine to the IRS, was due to kick in on 1.1.2014, which is what people were most angry about. Republicans swept race after race by explaining this to the population.



posted on Jun, 28 2017 @ 08:11 PM
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a reply to: jimmyx

A big problem is that most people don't try to learn "the system" of America capitalism. They invest too much time and energy complaining. But that's for another thread...



posted on Jun, 28 2017 @ 08:13 PM
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a reply to: wantsome

Which is exactly why I and a couple others have written posts calling for lawful application of long existing anti-trust laws along with consumer protection laws to not only pharmaceutical but entire medical industry.

There is no legal impediment - only bought off politicians in way of upholding the law.

Many complain of capitalism but we don't have that right now, we have cronyism pretending to be capitalism.



posted on Jun, 28 2017 @ 08:26 PM
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a reply to: carewemust

Honestly, I just read the Op's post and am responding. I know I am frustrated. It is so obvious that 'insurance' in a free market makes the prices higher. A friend who was head of radiology in a hospital debated with me about billing. Prices for insurance are much higher to offset the non-payers and low regulated government Medicare and Medicaid.

I was in this debate with him after I had a MRI done with insurance. I was originally pissed because the co-payment was the same price that I actually had to pay in cash the prior time when I did not have insurance!

Admittedly, I understood the balancing act the hospital has to play from his standpoint...but it does seem that if insurance and government were out of guaranteeing payments ... The free market would naturally lower costs?

Edit add: just caught up. Holy crap! Many ATS Members recognize this as well. Kudos to all of you! Explains why I don't really post much...normally I read a thread completely and simply star and find no reason to add my voice in repitition.
Lol.
edit on 6 28 2017 by CynConcepts because: (no reason given)

edit on 6 28 2017 by CynConcepts because: Repitition...not reptilian! Wth ATS!



posted on Jun, 28 2017 @ 11:08 PM
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Good news posted to ATS by "allsee4eye"

The U.S. House passed legislation to limit damages awarded from Medical Malpractice lawsuits today.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Every Democrat voted against this, which means that it's a big WIN for Americans.


edit on 6/28/2017 by carewemust because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 28 2017 @ 11:19 PM
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a reply to: CynConcepts


I can't speak for all sections of the country, but here in Illinois, Medical Insurance lowers the cost to the patient, if the Doctor/Hospital/Facility is "In Network".

I know a few people who pay cash for their medical care. Generally, they pay higher amounts for a given test or procedure, than what health insurance companies pay for that test/procedure, after the Medical Network PPO or HMO Discount is applied.

The key to making this work to the consumer's advantage though, is to have health insurance premiums low enough. Paying $1,000 a month, just to save a couple hundred per year via the PPO/HMO discount isn't worth.



posted on Jun, 29 2017 @ 05:55 AM
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The traditional way to lower costs is through competition. Many of our current medications are derived from herbs. If we passed a law that said "every clinical trial for fda approval must include the medicine, the control, and the most common alternative/holistic/herbal treatment for the condition" that would significantly lower treatment costs, especially if doctors were then educated on the alternative treatments that work. For example, acupuncture (and especially electroacupuncture) is more effective than surgery for treating carpal tunnel syndrome.

This doesn't help the diagnostic end or the cost of surgeries, though. I don't know enough about the medical industry to pinpoint where the egregious costs originate. Supposedly it's from research and development but I would guess corporate shareholders are a bigger expense. There's the costs of complexity, too, with things like malpractice insurance and the cost of acquiring a phD... that's probably more expensive here, too. Also, it seems like healthcare has been one of the last places that consistently hires a lot of people and pays well starting out. I hate to say it, but most likely, if we do manage to get the costs back down, they will cut the jobs and nurse/admin wages long before they cut the real drains on our country's wealth.
edit on 29-6-2017 by anotheramethyst because: Spelling



posted on Jun, 29 2017 @ 07:27 AM
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There are some serious issues that happen with an exclusively for profit medical system.

I am generally a free market libertarian but the dangers that arise in conflicts of interest from the push to generate profit off of illness has created massive problems in drug research. A field my wife is a professor in.

It's been said by the chief editor of the NEJM that 50 percent of drug trials are false and get passed through. This also includes false diagnosis for the drugs uses.

50 percent. Half the drugs on the market could be significantly fraudulent and in effective vs the side effects.

To me this is probably the largest issue. It makes medicine pseudoscience and quackery.

The way to change medicine in the US is with a nonprofit competing system similar to the Swiss.

Insurance needs to be mandatory to lower the pool's costs like car insurance, and it should be non profit to avoid the need for excessive regulations for all the bad players who are often reaming their costemers because the medication is literally life or death.

IMO the moral issues that can arise from profiteering from illness can mitigated and a free market can still be used if the insurance and drug companies operate as non profits. Still getting to account for research pools in their nonprofit status. Meaning you can still recoup millions and keep it in a research pool for drug development. Profit is not used for research anyway. It's one of the dumbest arguments presented.
edit on 29-6-2017 by luthier because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 29 2017 @ 07:55 AM
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Just as expensive in South Africa.Here we have plenty of medical insurance companies to choose from,and you better pick one and start paying because the state hospitals are not feasible anymore.The medical insurance gives one access to private hospitals,but wow the monthly payments are High,with often excess to pay out of one's own pocket.Like when i gave birth to our son 11years ago,and when my oldest gal had her twins in May this year.The insurance company assures one everything is covered,then you start getting obstetrician's bills running to thousands.And then a whole rigmarole of back+forth between member,insurance company and obstetrician and in the end you have to make arrangements to pay off those thousands because the insurance company won't.Still in an emergency having the med insurance will save your life if it is salvageable,at most state hospitals you would likely die from inadequate care.It's bad all over,medical expenses.



posted on Jun, 29 2017 @ 08:00 AM
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a reply to: Raxoxane

I had an 11k dollar kidney stone, iv flush with fluid, anti inflammatory injection, pain killer, xray 2.5 hours.

Than God everyone in my insurance pool paid for it. Ithe would have taken me a year at the time to pay that off.



posted on Jun, 29 2017 @ 08:02 AM
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originally posted by: carewemust
Good news posted to ATS by "allsee4eye"

The U.S. House passed legislation to limit damages awarded from Medical Malpractice lawsuits today.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Every Democrat voted against this, which means that it's a big WIN for Americans.



Not so much a win when you get fraudulent doctor care and you cannot think or walk or talk bc this piece of legislation restricted how much money you won when you sued.



posted on Jun, 29 2017 @ 08:03 AM
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Lots of good ideas in here. I would also say stop the medicare/medicaid fraud. There’s a reason you see commercials to contact (x) to get catheters or a cane, etc. It’s so the person running the ad can subvert the system and get 1000x the cost of the product from medicare/medicaid. And that’s not even addressing the organized crime aspects of similar fraud.



posted on Jun, 29 2017 @ 08:23 AM
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a reply to: luthier

That is a great help,that your insurance company covered it all..wow in our currency that would amount to well over a 100K



posted on Jun, 29 2017 @ 10:47 AM
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a reply to: Raxoxane

Oh it didn't cover it all. I had a 1000k deductible. I was lucky to even have insurance I was a carpenter at the time. It literally took 1/3 of my paycheck every month to have the most basic insurance.
edit on 29-6-2017 by luthier because: (no reason given)




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