although i get where you're coming from, i don't believe the elderly and the sick should be thrown under the bus. i'm a believer in the social safety net. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are important safety net programs for the elderly, the disabled, and the poor. but these programs should be pay-as-you-go and not paid for with borrowed money imo. and Medicare needs to be totally revamped to make it sustainable. the for-profit business model of Medicare providers is just nuts for a healthcare system. and it's hospitals, not doctors, which are driving the unsustainable increase in costs of Medicare. i did a study for one of my HL&P classes on a segment of the Medicare program called LTACs, and the way these long-term acute care providers (hospitals) gamed the system was just shocking. and the LTACs are just the tip of the iceberg. Medicare today revolves around the needs and wants of for-profit companies and their shareholders, and not around the needs of its beneficiaries. it needs to be redesigned from scratch.
although i've resolved to take up base jumping and wingsuit flying if i get old enough to be no longer having fun, that's a personal decision. how a society treats it's poor, disabled, and elderly reflects on the values, or lack thereof, of that society.
different topic. here's a pretty good chronicle of some of Trump's most idiotic statements showing that he is clueless, although it barely scratches the surface: https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/16...-be-president/
finally, great article on Nancy Pelosi:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...y/?arc404=true
Originally Posted by pxmcc
I agree with you on the health care system and it's doctors too. I've got a personal example that I won't go into but trust me the doctors are as much to blame. When I called my Dr. out on his BS he immediately went into blaming the system. I asked him if he was part of the system. He stumbled around a half-assed acknowledgment and refused to talk to me anymore when I told him by being part of the system he is part of the problem.
One other thing, the insurance companies are in on it too. Try sending them disputed invoices with unsubstantiated tests, bogus charges and double billings. They'll take the side of the Dr or Hospital every time. They need those facilities and providers accepting their insurance in order to have paying customers.
They play these games of sending you invoices for exorbitant fees. $8000 for an MRI, for example, then show the insurance companies "negotiated" discount which brings the cost of the MRI down to $2000. I kid you not. I know of a young man who had the exact same MRI but showed up to the ER as a cash payer.
The charge for the MRI? $750. This was less than 6 months apart.
Total billed charges Doctor, labs, diagnostics, all in, $15000 with insurance vs $1250 as a cash payer. Same amount of time in the ER, same tests.
Present that to your insurance company and see what they say. They won't say a fucking thing.
If I ever need to go to the ER again and I can walk in and speak I'll identify as a cash payer.