Questions about insurance and Obamacare.

I have been reading many articles that are for and against Obamacare. Unfortunately for all of the information out there, non of it is really hard fact. Much of the facts for both sides are baseless, sketchy, or based on predictions on which factors can not be predicted at this point in time. I can see how it "may" be a big huge liability and tax drain on the government at first at least. Let's face it, as much as we think we know about our health, we do not know to live a perfectly healthy lifestyle. Unless you are in some sort of health field or someone who knows how each and every thing we do affects our body, we are making our best educated guesses on how to live healthy.

Over the debate ,and maybe some people can clear this up, I have developed some questions. It would be nice to hear some opinions and maybe even better, some facts and figures that are proven to be true.

First off, as I said, I do believe when this act is in full effect, that it will be expensive to government and therefore expensive to us. It remains to be seen if we utilize more preventative medicine/education rather than reactionary medicine then maybe those costs can come down to controllable levels. With that being said, knowing that private health insurance companies are in the business of making money and they definitely are very profitable considering that not only are they doing well and but many more are cashing in on this area of commerce, why would health care costs skyrocket when this come into effect? There are simple answers, I know, but I would like to open myself to new perspectives.

1.Why would health care costs skyrocket when this come into effect?

2. Why is Obamacare being blamed for skyrocketing costs when costs were already skyrocketing in the first place? I know when I first paid for heath insurance over a decade ago I paid 22 dollars biweekly. I have paid up 630 dollars monthly (with wife and child, no special medical conditions) in which I would have aid 250 dollars for single. These were kind of the jumps I have seen when Obamacare wasn't even a thought.

3. When hospitals are almost like cable companies and have monopolies over entire areas, how can we expect our prices to go down?

4. Does anyone think that we should leave the healthcare system alone? And why?

5. If you believe in deregulation, why do you believe pricing may go down? Even though I understand the costs that may go into many parts of healthcare, I do not believe if we all of the sudden made it cheaper for some of the private businesses in the healthcare field that those businesses would pass on those savings to the customer or use the extra money to pay for greater wages or more people.

6. Would price fixing common procedures be a viable solution?

7. Now many believe that the some of the other socialized healthcare systems are better. Why are they better or not better than what we have?

8. People blame law suits for many of the costs of healthcare? Should we relax the rules or standards of care to cheapen the costs?

9. If poor people without insurance are still being treated in hospitals and not paying, aren't those costs being passed on to those of us that do pay anyway? What is the difference?

10. Should we allow companies deny coverage for pre-existing conditions? If so, what happens to people like those who were victims of crimes, accidents, and even situations like the Boston bombing who can be considered people with pre-existing conditions? Should people be denied healthcare because of things that have happened out of their control?

These questions are not meant to be political or inciteful, but these are questions that I have thought about over this situation and would like new perspectives.

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reply to post by clarkness
I cannot answer all of your questions but I would like to take a crack at a couple of them, so here we go!

1.Why would health care costs skyrocket when this come into effect?

Anytime people are forced by law to purchase something companies take advantage of the situation and jack up their prices, not to mention that insurance companies are being forced to cover people with expensive medical issues- and the costs are spread out amongst us all since the companies will never take even a small loss to their profits.

2. Why is Obamacare being blamed for skyrocketing costs when costs were already skyrocketing in the first place?

Yes, prices go up over time- but with us being forced to purchase insurance the insurance companies now have us by the "jewels" and can charge whatever they want because they aren't regulated.

3. When hospitals are almost like cable companies and have monopolies over entire areas, how can we expect our prices to go down?

Depends on where you live. If there is only one hospital system in your area you are between a rock and a hard place. There are 5 hospitals in my general area and dozens more within an hour or two drive- I shop around for the best price.

6. Would price fixing common procedures be a viable solution?

We could have avoided a lot of this mess by the government passing a few regulations on insurance companies and by putting limits on what hospitals can charge for certain procedures- but when has our government ever done anything practical?

8. People blame law suits for many of the costs of healthcare? Should we relax the rules or standards of care to cheapen the costs?

In my state there have been limits on the amount doctors and hospitals can be sued for in malpractice suits and it has made no difference- prices keep going sky high anyway.

10. Should we allow companies deny coverage for pre-existing conditions?

No, that would be inhumane. Should people with pre-existing conditions pay higher premiums? Yes. Should healthy people have to pay higher premiums to cover their care? No.

Just my opinion on some of your questions. Hope it's helpful to you, and good luck!

reply to post by clarkness


Aside from answering your questions below, I would like to point out the AFFORDABLE CARE AND PATIENT PROTECTION ACT (ACPPA, not OBAMACARE) would have passed in one form or another, REGARDLESS of WHO OCCUPIED THE WHITE HOUSE, REGARDLESS OF PARTY AFFILIATION!!! This is because our dirty rotten politicians are more interested in building weapons of mass destruction and killing people rather than life...

1.Why would health care costs skyrocket when this come into effect?

Healthcare costs would have skyrocketed whether the ACPPA went into effect or not...Have you looked at what a hospital costs? The technology to use costs? As far as MEDICARE/MEDICAID costs, the jack up in premiums is just now finally matching actual costs...A person, 65, was only paying approx. 100 @ month for Medicaid HMO, with a max out-of-pocket of 4500 @ year. Under ACPPA, this needed to go up to around 400 @ mo and 10000 a year...

2. Why is Obamacare being blamed for skyrocketing costs when costs were already skyrocketing in the first place? I know when I first paid for heath insurance over a decade ago I paid 22 dollars biweekly. I have paid up 630 dollars monthly (with wife and child, no special medical conditions) in which I would have aid 250 dollars for single. These were kind of the jumps I have seen when Obamacare wasn't even a thought.

I see you have some understanding of the situation...

3. When hospitals are almost like cable companies and have monopolies over entire areas, how can we expect our prices to go down?

Hospitals do not have monopolies...most of them are private, and, for the most part (thank God), we just do not need a lot of them...

4. Does anyone think that we should leave the healthcare system alone? And why?

Yes, we should. Anything the government puts its hands to, get SCREWED UP!!!

5. If you believe in deregulation, why do you believe pricing may go down? Even though I understand the costs that may go into many parts of healthcare, I do not believe if we all of the sudden made it cheaper for some of the private businesses in the healthcare field that those businesses would pass on those savings to the customer or use the extra money to pay for greater wages or more people.

They would have no choice. Not needing to meet redundant and UNECESSARY regulations would subtract a great amount from operating budgets, and just like EVERY other field, cost savings would be passed along to the consumer.

6. Would price fixing common procedures be a viable solution?

Sounds more like a COMMUNISTIC solution you have in mind.

7. Now many believe that the some of the other socialized healthcare systems are better. Why are they better or not better than what we have?

They are not. Opinion/belief does not matter. Facts do.

8. People blame law suits for many of the costs of healthcare? Should we relax the rules or standards of care to cheapen the costs?

It is called the MEDICAL PRACTICE for a reason. There hould be no government regulations in place to limit CAPS on recoverable damge for MALPRACTICE!

9. If poor people without insurance are still being treated in hospitals and not paying, aren't those costs being passed on to those of us that do pay anyway? What is the difference?

The facts are this...just like any reputable recipient of any doctorate, a certain amount of work per year is REQUIRED TO BE PROVIDED PRO BONO!!! It was another BULL!@#$ reason peddled out by politicians on both sides to jam governmental interference into the healthcare system...

10. Should we allow companies deny coverage for pre-existing conditions? If so, what happens to people like those who were victims of crimes, accidents, and even situations like the Boston bombing who can be considered people with pre-existing conditions? Should people be denied healthcare because of things that have happened out of their control?

Another piece of crapola trotted out in order to jam further government interference into the healthcare system...pre-existing conditions were ALREADY ACCEPTED by most reputable insurance companies...

There's a lot of misinformation and fear mongering propaganda going around about the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and before the looney righties come in here and post their breitbart links and world net daily articles, I'd like to direct you to a thread I created a while ago that will hopefully give you NON-PARTISAN answers to your questions.

Link

reply to post by clarkness


After reading the first two responses to your questions, I thought I'd answer them from a different point of view.

1.Why would health care costs skyrocket when this come into effect?

Because we screwed up and left private health insurance companies in the picture. Healthcare insurance should be not-for-profit but if I remember right, the representatives who favored a "Public Option" and/or "Medicare For All," were not allowed a seat at the table.

2. Why is Obamacare being blamed for skyrocketing costs when costs were already skyrocketing in the first place? I know when I first paid for heath insurance over a decade ago I paid 22 dollars biweekly. I have paid up 630 dollars monthly (with wife and child, no special medical conditions) in which I would have aid 250 dollars for single. These were kind of the jumps I have seen when Obamacare wasn't even a thought.

News Alert! In case you hadn't heard, everything and I mean everything, is Obama's fault. Actually, the rates were and are going up because of the fact that private health insurance & pharmaceutical corporations are not in business to save us money, they're in business with one ultimate goal which is to make money for themselves and their shareholders. We're not just talking about profit margins here either. They have entire departments who's sole purpose is to find reasons to deny claims.

3. When hospitals are almost like cable companies and have monopolies over entire areas, how can we expect our prices to go down?

Not sure this is related to ObamaCare but it's been my experience that most hospitals are already overcharging the hell out us and doing so with very little oversight and/or accountability. IMO, a problem that needs to be addressed at the federal level. I'm sorry, but when a hurricane comes to my area and lumberyards start overpricing their plywood, they are charged with price gouging. The same should be true when a hospital charges $30 for aspirin, etc..

4. Does anyone think that we should leave the healthcare system alone? And why?

No, because too many people are left uninsured under the current system.

5. If you believe in deregulation, why do you believe pricing may go down? Even though I understand the costs that may go into many parts of healthcare, I do not believe if we all of the sudden made it cheaper for some of the private businesses in the healthcare field that those businesses would pass on those savings to the customer or use the extra money to pay for greater wages or more people.

And you would be right! Those extra saving are going one place and one place only, in the profit column. Remember, they're not in business to make you healthy, there in business to make themselves healthy, economically that is.

6. Would price fixing common procedures be a viable solution?

I'm not sure it's a "solution," but I do think it helps especially for common procedures.

7. Now many believe that the some of the other socialized healthcare systems are better. Why are they better or not better than what we have?

Yes, many of them are better and they have the statics to back them up. A quick google search will verify what I'm saying. Actually, here in America we have a piss poor record for getting the biggest bang out of our medical buck.

8. People blame law suits for many of the costs of healthcare? Should we relax the rules or standards of care to cheapen the costs?

More specifically, I think it's the frivolous lawsuits that hurt the system and we need to find a way to weed them out and punish those who file them. On the other hand, I would never want to limit the amount of damages a person could seek, because some of the malpractice suits are more than justified. I mean hell, when they operate on the wrong patient or cut off the wrong leg, "I'm sorry" just won't do.

9. If poor people without insurance are still being treated in hospitals and not paying, aren't those costs being passed on to those of us that do pay anyway? What is the difference?

Yes they are and this is precisely where we can make a difference. Those who are uninsured usually utilize emergency room services which is probably the most expensive way to get medical care. Seeing how we're paying the bill anyway, it just makes sense to insure them and let them seek much less expensive care from a regular physician.

10. Should we allow companies deny coverage for pre-existing conditions?

Sorry, I had to shorten this question in order to leave room to respond.

Absolutely not! And charging 4 or 5 times the rate is IMO, about the same thing as denying coverage. Lose your job while you're sick and guess what? You have a pre-existing condition.

reply to post by clarkness

1.Why would health care costs skyrocket when this come into effect?

2. Why is Obamacare being blamed for skyrocketing costs when costs were already skyrocketing in the first place? I know when I first paid for heath insurance over a decade ago I paid 22 dollars biweekly. I have paid up 630 dollars monthly (with wife and child, no special medical conditions) in which I would have aid 250 dollars for single. These were kind of the jumps I have seen when Obamacare wasn't even a thought.

Obama repeatedly said the PPACA would lower costs for insurance.

Maybe only selective people will see reductions.

Medicaid will be expanding, and so will IRS tax credits.

Maybe the 80/20 rule (been in effect already) is a factor ??

Littled16: To follow up with you first. You said in question 1 that whenever the government forces people to purchase something that those companies selling the product jack up the prices. Now if there is a government option that hopefully would be priced to cover the expenses that is needed and cover the overhead of of said government entity, wouldn't you think that it would be cheaper and therefore drive prices down over the private insurance companies?

For question 3, I should have made myself a bit more clear. I understand that more populated areas will have many hospitals, but for the most part, if you are a situation that requires you to get emergency medical attention, you may not have the choice on which hospital to go to. And much of the time, even if you have multiple hospitals in an area, they are under the same company in which you have no choice in pricing to even compare unless you go outside your general area.

For question 6, but when it comes to regulations and price fixing, isn't government interference just backdoor socialism?

Totallackey: When I said monopolies, I was mainly referring to emergency situations in which you do not get a choice in hospitals to go to rather than you go to the nearest hospital in technically that hospital is basically the only hospital you will go to in life-threatening conversations. In someone is in need of medical treatment quickly, the EMTs will more than likely chose the closest rather than cheapest.

I don't think the government screws up everything it touches, but it does have problems keeping up with technology and better ideas. Now in question 5, you said anytime overhead and operating expenses are reduced, cost savings are past onto the customer. Now this happens a lot with new technologies such as TVs, VCRs, cameras and so on. Even new product business will lower their prices sometimes either to create more demand or to stay competitive, but in the medical field, the demand for medical care never really changes in fact it normally goes up because our population is growing so when will the operating costs ever go down enough to lower cost to consumers without it affecting their profit margin?

Now question 7, in most studies, many countries around the world have better healthcare ratings in longevity, birthing, mental health, weight issues, and preventive medicine. They have the same technology as us, not much difference in wait times and generally have a healthier public. Usually in most of those world studies we tend to place in the 10-30th rank in individual areas. The WHO ranked us 37th in the latest study where places like Costa Rica, Columbia, and some African and Middle Eastern countries beat us. If we are the best country in the world, why are we not at the top of one of the most crucial areas?

About pro-bono work, few states even require lawyers to do pro-bono work and as far as I know. Doctors are generally recommended to do 50 hours a year, but it is not a requirement. Besides, even taking out the wage of one doctor doesn't take care of the material costs and wages of techs and nurses.

And people with pre-existing conditions can get coverage but at a much greater cost, but then again not always

Muse 7 thank you for the link, going through after this post.

Originally posted by clarkness
Littled16: To follow up with you first. You said in question 1 that whenever the government forces people to purchase something that those companies selling the product jack up the prices. Now if there is a government option that hopefully would be priced to cover the expenses that is needed and cover the overhead of of said government entity, wouldn't you think that it would be cheaper and therefore drive prices down over the private insurance companies?

You would think it would logically work that way, but somehow it never does.

For question 3, I should have made myself a bit more clear. I understand that more populated areas will have many hospitals, but for the most part, if you are a situation that requires you to get emergency medical attention, you may not have the choice on which hospital to go to. And much of the time, even if you have multiple hospitals in an area, they are under the same company in which you have no choice in pricing to even compare unless you go outside your general area.

Then sorry, but you are royally screwed.

For question 6, but when it comes to regulations and price fixing, isn't government interference just backdoor socialism?

I agree that it is, but at this point unless you the way prices keep going up and up if somebody doesn't do something about price gouging we all are in a fix! After hurricanes in my area the government stepped in and put a stop to price gouging that was happening with gasoline and building material prices- something similar could be done with medical costs without going socialist.

reply to post by clarkness

Totallackey: When I said monopolies, I was mainly referring to emergency situations in which you do not get a choice in hospitals to go to rather than you go to the nearest hospital in technically that hospital is basically the only hospital you will go to in life-threatening conversations. In someone is in need of medical treatment quickly, the EMTs will more than likely chose the closest rather than cheapest.

Of course they will...no surprise there...and they will do a walletectomy also...what is wrong with that?

I don't think the government screws up everything it touches, but it does have problems keeping up with technology and better ideas.

Name one thing it has not screwed up...

Now in question 5, you said anytime overhead and operating expenses are reduced, cost savings are past onto the customer. Now this happens a lot with new technologies such as TVs, VCRs, cameras and so on. Even new product business will lower their prices sometimes either to create more demand or to stay competitive, but in the medical field, the demand for medical care never really changes in fact it normally goes up because our population is growing so when will the operating costs ever go down enough to lower cost to consumers without it affecting their profit margin?

When TV's first came out, hardly anyone had a TV...Now, virtually everyone has one...that is, those who want one. And they are plentiful and cheap. Same with computers. Demand for medical care will continue to go up as we grow older and people live longer.

Now question 7, in most studies, many countries around the world have better healthcare ratings in longevity, birthing, mental health, weight issues, and preventive medicine. They have the same technology as us, not much difference in wait times and generally have a healthier public. Usually in most of those world studies we tend to place in the 10-30th rank in individual areas. The WHO ranked us 37th in the latest study where places like Costa Rica, Columbia, and some African and Middle Eastern countries beat us. If we are the best country in the world, why are we not at the top of one of the most crucial areas?

I want to see those studies. Please provide a link. I know a lot of retirees are leaving the US and taking top notch doctors with them to Costa Rica, but their government is very libertarian and non-socialistic.

About pro-bono work, few states even require lawyers to do pro-bono work and as far as I know. Doctors are generally recommended to do 50 hours a year, but it is not a requirement. Besides, even taking out the wage of one doctor doesn't take care of the material costs and wages of techs and nurses.

For as long as I have been alive, there has always been a sign in every hospital I have ever visited stating that if a person cannot afford the care or treatment, then the fees would be waived.

And people with pre-existing conditions can get coverage but at a much greater cost, but then again not always

If you get in an accident while you are driving a car, your rates will go up. What is the difference?

reply to post by clarkness


Double post...sorry.