Your Health Care Hypothetical

[rebeccajo 14]

You don't have an option for "I'd let the hospital do the procedure and pay them $10 a month for the rest of my life".

I would have no problem whatsoever with expecting a hospital to do their job.

I would definitely go this route if it were possible, but wouldn't you just lose your house, savings, etc. first?

Nope.

You negotiate with the hospital for payments.

But doesn't income factor into that payment amount? So, when you do go back to work, you'd have a huge payment to make?

Once you enter into an agreement with a hospital, it's an agreement. If you incurred new services, those services might be amortized differently based on 'new' income.

State law varies but generally medical debt is not treated the same as 'regular' debt. Hospitals and doctors tend to work with people on a payment arrangement because otherwise if the patient files a medical bankruptcy, they get nothing.

Here's a little google thingy I found pretty quickly which might explain stuff:

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-new...t-tips-1266.php

Edited July 27, 2009 by rebeccajo

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

How bout I dont want my fellow man takin care of me! I'll do it myself?

[Emancipation 2]

"I would accept state or federal sponsored health insurance, even if I disagree with it in principal, for the sake of my spouse or child."

Can I ask what the principal is to not accept fed or state sponsored insurance?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

"I would accept state or federal sponsored health insurance, even if I disagree with it in principal, for the sake of my spouse or child."

Can I ask what the principal is to not accept fed or state sponsored insurance?

In Marc speak? "Git off government's teet and change yer own diaper!"

[Emancipation 2]

"I would accept state or federal sponsored health insurance, even if I disagree with it in principal, for the sake of my spouse or child."

Can I ask what the principal is to not accept fed or state sponsored insurance?

In Marc speak? "Git off government's teet and change yer own diaper!"

But carrying that out to the extreme would it not mean not driving on highways, using public transportation, fire depts. etc. cause they are all subsidized by tax payers & local govs?? I don't understand why it's okay to accept some forms of Gov. assistance/control, but not others.

Edited July 30, 2009 by Emancipation

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I don't understand why it's okay to accept some forms of Gov. assistance/control, but not others.

That question is designed to piss off Republicans. Why would you even ask such a question? Why piss them off? You wouldn't piss off any other armed and angry mental-deficient but yet it becomes ok to do so if they're Republican? Just wrong.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I don't understand why it's okay to accept some forms of Gov. assistance/control, but not others.

That question is designed to piss off Republicans. Why would you even ask such a question? Why piss them off? You wouldn't piss off any other armed and angry mental-deficient but yet it becomes ok to do so if they're Republican? Just wrong.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

flawed poll - no appropriate choices for me.

indeed

[Emancipation 2]

And this is exactly the reason I try to stay out of OT.. cause people either just want to bait the right or they just want to avoid the issue at hand with tired simplistic arguments.

[Jewel-8 21]

I'm the only one that has responded to the poll that spent over $15k on medical in the last 12 months. I pay for United Health Care through my employer, but they have a lot of exclusions.. hence my having to pay for costly surgeries out of pocket. I'm not so sure I would like a government ran health system. I mostly just wish the insurance companies had a hard kick in the @*($&@. There's no reason they need to continously raise rates while at the same time adding in more and more exclusions. I had to pay a lot of money to improve my quality of life, and I will still be paying for it 5 or 10 years from now as I make less than $35k per year and have had to finance the expenses.

[mawilson 2,133]

Results are very good, no wonder most VJers don't want health care reform.

It's a bit off the national norm. If you go with 45 million uninsured, that is about 15% of the US population. Right now the poll is showing 10% of the poll respondents uninsured.

This number - 45 million - is a gross exaggeration designed to produce the hysteria of a crisis.

[mawilson 2,133]

But carrying that out to the extreme would it not mean not driving on highways, using public transportation, fire depts. etc. cause they are all subsidized by tax payers & local govs?? I don't understand why it's okay to accept some forms of Gov. assistance/control, but not others.

Because health care involves a higher degree of personal responsibility.

For example, people who eat junk food all the time or have otherwise bad eating habits

generally have more health problems than those who are nutrition conscious.

Chronic or genetic ailments aside, people who are proactive with their health and

understand that true preventive care starts at home and not in their doctor's office

should not be forced to subsidize the bad behavior or lifestyles of others.

[Aubrey 10]

A great op-ed piece on this topic:

NYTimes "The Uninsured"

A few quotes from the piece:

The most frequently cited estimate, 45.7 million in 2007, comes from an annual census survey.

THE WORKING POOR The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that about two-thirds of the uninsured — 30 million people — earn less than twice the poverty level, or about $44,000 for a family of four. It also estimates that more than 80 percent of the uninsured come from families with full-time or part-time workers. They often cannot get coverage at work or find it too expensive to buy.

The Institute of Medicine estimated in 2004 that perhaps 18,000 deaths a year among adults could be attributed to lack of insurance.

The oft-voiced suggestion that the uninsured can always go to an emergency room also badly misunderstands what is happening. By the time they do go, many of these people are much sicker than they would have been had insurance given them access to routine and preventive care. Emergency rooms are costly, and if uninsured patients cannot pay for their care, the hospital or the government ends up footing the bill.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 28 million people were uninsured for all of 2005 and 2006 and that 18.5 million of them were uninsured for at least four straight years. That does not sound like a “temporary” problem, and the picture today is almost certainly bleaker.

[mawilson 2,133]

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 28 million people were uninsured for all of 2005 and 2006 and that 18.5 million of them were uninsured for at least four straight years. That does not sound like a “temporary” problem, and the picture today is almost certainly bleaker.

Maybe they didn't want insurance? I don't remember ever needing a doctor when I was 20+.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

A great op-ed piece on this topic:

NYTimes "The Uninsured"

A few quotes from the piece:

The most frequently cited estimate, 45.7 million in 2007, comes from an annual census survey.

THE WORKING POOR The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that about two-thirds of the uninsured — 30 million people — earn less than twice the poverty level, or about $44,000 for a family of four. It also estimates that more than 80 percent of the uninsured come from families with full-time or part-time workers. They often cannot get coverage at work or find it too expensive to buy.

The Institute of Medicine estimated in 2004 that perhaps 18,000 deaths a year among adults could be attributed to lack of insurance.

The oft-voiced suggestion that the uninsured can always go to an emergency room also badly misunderstands what is happening. By the time they do go, many of these people are much sicker than they would have been had insurance given them access to routine and preventive care. Emergency rooms are costly, and if uninsured patients cannot pay for their care, the hospital or the government ends up footing the bill.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 28 million people were uninsured for all of 2005 and 2006 and that 18.5 million of them were uninsured for at least four straight years. That does not sound like a "temporary" problem, and the picture today is almost certainly bleaker.