The New Jimmy Carter

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Who benefits? I will tell you, hospitals, Doctors, nurses, medical staff etc that is who for they created that fee or charge or bill and drove that cost on to the Insurance Company to pay, that is who!

And the insurance industry that imposes the bloated adminstrative costs.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I just did and no where does it say that.

No not really he has not. What is new, all of these politicians are suspect and vague in this area

McCain has not really even spoke on his ideas or details of any health insurance plan yet either, so I am waiting for him to also.

You should peruse the news websites from time to time. MsSame has put out his excuse for a health care plan.

Yes, he really has. It's on his website. Look it up.

No you did not. Or you have trouble navigating the internet.

[zqt3344 21]

ONce again the insurance is billed by the administrative offices of medical system. Look who created the cost, the hospital.

Who benefits? I will tell you, hospitals, Doctors, nurses, medical staff etc that is who for they created that fee or charge or bill and drove that cost on to the Insurance Company to pay, that is who!

And the insurance industry that imposes the bloated adminstrative costs.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Funny how so many people come from all around the globe to the USA for medical treatment instead of all these other places you mention. Wonder why that is since we have such a corrupt and bad health care system.

The ones you usually hear about are the high-end experimental surgeries that aren't available in other countries.

[zqt3344 21]

You must then.

I just did and no where does it say that.

No not really he has not. What is new, all of these politicians are suspect and vague in this area

McCain has not really even spoke on his ideas or details of any health insurance plan yet either, so I am waiting for him to also.

You should peruse the news websites from time to time. MsSame has put out his excuse for a health care plan.

Yes, he really has. It's on his website. Look it up.

No you did not. Or you have trouble navigating the internet.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Funny how so many people come from all around the globe to the USA for medical treatment instead of all these other places you mention. Wonder why that is since we have such a corrupt and bad health care system.

Rightttttttttttttt sure he is, just how is he going to pay for this system??? ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY IMMEDIATE HIGHER TAXES???? there are no free lunches in this world you will have to pay for it somehow somewhere. Question is how and where?

So does Barry, guess he is one also?

Whatever Obama is able to achieve - it doesn't change the fact that John McCain's proposed health plan blows goats, and does absolutely nothing to make healthcare more affordable or accessible.

It actually does the opposite. It completely dismantles the fragmented system we have without putting anything in it's place. McCain is looking to make a bad thing worse. He, of course, enjoys superb health insurance that the taxpayer funds for him. #######!

No, he isn't. Because he thinks that every American should have a health care plan available and affordable to them as good as America affords him as a US Senator. He is interested in bringing the 47MM uninsured into the system rather than kicking the people that currently are ensured out of it as his opponent proposes.

The system we have is more expensive than any universal system anywhere in the world. I don't buy into the scare tactics of the profiteers of this fragmented crappy system we have that universal care would be that much ore expensive. In fact, I think it'd be less expensive. It's not about free lunches, it's about taking care of a person when a prophylactic treatment @ $100.00 will do rather than letting the person drag along until they end up in the emergency room for a $1,500.00 visit - which we pay for anyways. It's practiced successfully all over the globe. It can be done here. And it should.

Few very lucky people from developing countries come to developed countries to take care of cutting edge medical procedures that may not be availabe in their countries. They don't all come to the US. Don't flatter yourself. They come to Western Europe, Canada, Australia and probably Japan all the same. At the same time, there are ever more US citizens taking trips to South America and India to get medical procedures done over there.

[Cassie 8]

Well in a lot of aspects Canada is a very socialist country in regards to many services that the citizens there come to expect or take for granted that they think they are owed something all the time. Look at your own views. No offense but you have to realize what you are saying and think and put yourself in someone else's shoes for once, like US citizen and see what they think like. Which I hear you and understand why you think the way you do, you are used to getting the health care for free in Canada so I understand, wish it were that simple here but it is not and probably not ready yet anyway.

Uh huh. I know exactly what I am saying, thanks. And I call bullcrap on the typical Canada = socialist whiners who expect stuff for free stereotype #######. Canadians don't get healthcare for free, so don't give me that nonsense, there are taxes -- taxes I was willing to pay so that whenever I went into the hospital I didn't worry about coming home with a bill so large I would be in debt for the rest of my life. I am not owed squat, but I do care about my friend Doreen - a USC, by the way, *gasp*, who can't get health insurance, who has to decide every time she has a medical problem whether or not it is worth it to fight the health care system. And I care about my pastor and his wife, who have to pay for their insurance out of pocket. And I care about my friends, who constantly have to fight with the insurance companies over his diabetes medication. So I put myself in their shoes all the time, and thank the good Lord above every day that my husband has a good job, where the employer takes care of their employees and has good insurance. Because if we didn't, we'd be living in Canada because we'd go bankrupt with my medical problems.

But thanks for the thought that you understand the way I think the way I do.

Edited June 8, 2008 by Cassie

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You must then.

I just did and no where does it say that.

No not really he has not. What is new, all of these politicians are suspect and vague in this area

McCain has not really even spoke on his ideas or details of any health insurance plan yet either, so I am waiting for him to also.

You should peruse the news websites from time to time. MsSame has put out his excuse for a health care plan.

Yes, he really has. It's on his website. Look it up.

No you did not. Or you have trouble navigating the internet.

Straight Talk on Health System Reform

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

ONce again the insurance is billed by the administrative offices of medical system. Look who created the cost, the hospital.

Who benefits? I will tell you, hospitals, Doctors, nurses, medical staff etc that is who for they created that fee or charge or bill and drove that cost on to the Insurance Company to pay, that is who!

And the insurance industry that imposes the bloated adminstrative costs.

Which in turn is due to the bewildering array of insurance companies and insurance plans and dealing with the idiosyncracies of myriad different bureaucracies.

Once again:

In 1999, health administration costs totaled at least $294.3 billion in the United States,

or $1,059 per capita, as compared with $307 per capita in Canada. After exclusions, administration

accounted for 31.0 percent of health care expenditures in the United States

and 16.7 percent of health care expenditures in Canada. Canada’s national health insurance

program had overhead of 1.3 percent; the overhead among Canada’s private insurers

was higher than that in the United States (13.2 percent vs. 11.7 percent). Providers’

administrative costs were far lower in Canada.

Edited June 8, 2008 by Number 6

[SMOKE 1,426]

Thank you for answering me and proving me right, it is a cost driver passed on from hospitals on to insurance companies, the medical industry has created this monster, not the insurance companies.

uh huh. What drives insurance rates? Shareholders, that's who.

zgt is dead money on this one. the medical industry has run wild w/ their greed. no gov't control over what they can charge for their sevices & products is what has driven up the cost of health insurance not the insurance companies.

how much has your auto insurance risen in the last 5 years? not much.

how much has your home insurance risen in the last 5 years? not much.

".......keep filling them in................................................? not much.

uh huh. So you are trying to tell me that while everyone else has got their fingers in the pot and taking advantage of the situation, the insurance companies aren't, and are forced into raising their prices? I call bullcrap. You can't tell me it's all a purely reflex reaction.

So who benefits when the insurance companies deny coverage / treatments / you name it because it's "too expensive / not necessary / blahblahblah"? It's not the "greedy" doctors / pharmaceutical companies / you name it, 'cause they aren't getting money.

And it sure as heck ain't the regular joe blow on the street.

no i'm telling you where the REAL problems with your health insurance cost come from. you can deny the truth & blame anyone you want. is it the insurance companies paying the bills or the pirate medical industy that says now we will charge $200 dollars today for what we charged $100 dollars for yesterday. if you don't pay it you die....hmmm exactly who's the heartless chops here?

the reason medical insurance cost what it does is the unregulated pricing of the medical industy period.

Edited June 8, 2008 by SMOKE

[zqt3344 21]

This is not the entire cost driver nor is it large enough to cause the higher rates, come on think about it, even if you get system that is free from government, think of all the paperwork they will have also. You are trying to vilify the insurance industry and they are not to blame. I mean why do we need insurance???? BECAUSE THE Hospitals and Doctors charge way too much that is why!

ONce again the insurance is billed by the administrative offices of medical system. Look who created the cost, the hospital.

Who benefits? I will tell you, hospitals, Doctors, nurses, medical staff etc that is who for they created that fee or charge or bill and drove that cost on to the Insurance Company to pay, that is who!

And the insurance industry that imposes the bloated adminstrative costs.

Which in turn is due to the bewildering array of insurance companies and insurance plans and dealing with the idiosyncracies of myriad different bureaucracies.

Once again:

In 1999, health administration costs totaled at least $294.3 billion in the United States,

or $1,059 per capita, as compared with $307 per capita in Canada. After exclusions, administration

accounted for 31.0 percent of health care expenditures in the United States

and 16.7 percent of health care expenditures in Canada. Canada’s national health insurance

program had overhead of 1.3 percent; the overhead among Canada’s private insurers

was higher than that in the United States (13.2 percent vs. 11.7 percent). Providers’

administrative costs were far lower in Canada.

[SMOKE 1,426]

In 1999, health administration costs totaled at least $294.3 billion in the United States,

or $1,059 per capita, as compared with $307 per capita in Canada. After exclusions, administration

accounted for 31.0 percent of health care expenditures in the United States

and 16.7 percent of health care expenditures in Canada. Canada’s national health insurance

program had overhead of 1.3 percent; the overhead among Canada’s private insurers

was higher than that in the United States (13.2 percent vs. 11.7 percent). Providers’

administrative costs were far lower in Canada.

excellent example of what the gov't could do. although i am not in favor of state run health care. there has to be a way for the US gov't to regulate the cost to the consumer w/o taking the choice of care provider away from the individual & w/o making us pay more taxes for them doing so. enough is enough

Edited June 8, 2008 by SMOKE

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

This is not the entire cost driver nor is it large enough to cause the higher rates, come on think about it, even if you get system that is free from government, think of all the paperwork they will have also. You are trying to vilify the insurance industry and they are not to blame. I mean why do we need insurance???? BECAUSE THE Hospitals and Doctors charge way too much that is why!

Approximately 1/3 of a trillion dollars spent on administrative fees is not significant enough to raise costs to the consumer? Interesting...

Edited June 8, 2008 by Number 6

[SMOKE 1,426]

This is not the entire cost driver nor is it large enough to cause the higher rates, come on think about it, even if you get system that is free from government, think of all the paperwork they will have also. You are trying to vilify the insurance industry and they are not to blame. I mean why do we need insurance???? BECAUSE THE Hospitals and Doctors charge way too much that is why!

Approximately 1/3 of a trillion dollars spent on administrative fees is not significant enough to raise costs to the consumer? Interesting...

do you really think that number would be smaller if the gov't took over healthcare?...6 is starts & stops w/ the medical industry being able to set the price whereever they want & gov't not doing anything about it.

[zqt3344 21]

So the admin costs are higher in USA than Canada(US NORTH), it still does not account for the number 1, 2 and 3 cost drivers. The admin cost is simply not high enough to drive up your insurance rates!

This is not the entire cost driver nor is it large enough to cause the higher rates, come on think about it, even if you get system that is free from government, think of all the paperwork they will have also. You are trying to vilify the insurance industry and they are not to blame. I mean why do we need insurance???? BECAUSE THE Hospitals and Doctors charge way too much that is why!

Approximately 1/3 of a trillion dollars spent on administrative fees is not significant enough to raise costs to the consumer? Interesting...

SMOKE you are so right on!

This is not the entire cost driver nor is it large enough to cause the higher rates, come on think about it, even if you get system that is free from government, think of all the paperwork they will have also. You are trying to vilify the insurance industry and they are not to blame. I mean why do we need insurance???? BECAUSE THE Hospitals and Doctors charge way too much that is why!

Approximately 1/3 of a trillion dollars spent on administrative fees is not significant enough to raise costs to the consumer? Interesting...

do you really think that number would be smaller if the gov't took over healthcare?...6 is starts & stops w/ the medical industry being able to set the price whereever they want & gov't not doing anything about it.