Obamacare

[ledboots]

This makes me very disapointed in humanity.
Health is not something to be pricetagged. If a person cannot afford to pay for cancer treatment, their fate is to die. I have no words.

http://cancer.about.com/lw/Health-M...ions-for-the-Uninsured-Person-with-Cancer.htm

http://www.cancercare.org/financial
http://www.pabreastcancer.org/find-help/patient-resources/commonwealth-programs/

http://m.cancer.org/treatment/supportprogramsservices/index

http://suite101.com/article/financial-aid-for-cancer-patients-a35384

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...-health-and-compensation-act-cancer-treatment
http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/cancer/services/partnerships/

Etc.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

People without insurance who get a diagnosis of something such as cancer shouldn't have to scratch around to cobble together options to pay for their medical treatments.

I have insurance, and everything that had to be taken care of was confusing and difficult for me. If I'd had to worry about paying for it on top of that, it would have been even more stressful. I have an awesome nurse navigator, but there are still things that get missed because of the complexity of the treatment.


The day I got my diagnosis, the FIRST thing I thought was that we could lose our house.

 

[Wolfie]

Yes, of course those at or near the federal poverty level will qualify for medicaid or pay very little. These costs will affect the middle class the hardest.

Most current plans pay 80% now at the least. Even at that, I have friends who have delayed colonoscopies for years because if polyps were found, it could cost them thousands out of pocket. Imagine that at 60% payout?

And if the premiums really are $20,000 a year on top of paying 40% of the cost of your care, who can afford that? I know there is a cap, but I can't see people saving money in case they need surgery.

Nearly every decision he makes costs the middle class the most. It's the Obama way.

 

[mlp]

The "wealthy people's" company saved my and countless other people's mother's lives. I love them all.

I'm happy for your mother and the others who are fortunate enough to be insured.

I just wish you cared as much about healthcare being affordable for all as you do about the profits accruing to the wealthy.

 

[Ansciess]

People without insurance who get a diagnosis of something such as cancer shouldn't have to scratch around to cobble together options to pay for their medical treatments.

Even many people with insurance go without more treatment, in order to avoid incurring more debt

Medical debt is an especially notable phenomenon in the United States - the US being the world's only developed country not to offer universal health care. In less developed nations those on low income in need of treatment will often avail themselves of what ever help they can from either the state or NGOs without going into debt, but in the US medical debt has been found by a 2009 study to be the primary cause of personal bankruptcy.[2]

A 2007 survey had found about 70 million Americans either have difficulty paying for medical treatment or have medical debt.[3] Studies have found people are most likely to accumulate large medical debts when they do not have health insurance to cover the costs of necessary medications, treatments, or procedures – in 2009 about 50 million Americans had no health coverage.[2]However, about 60% of those found to have medical debt were insured.[3] Health insurance plans rarely cover any and all health-related expenses; for insured people, the gap between insurance coverage and the affordability of health care manifests as medical debt. As with any type of debt, medical debt can lead to an array of personal and financial problems - including having to go without food and heat plus a reluctance to seek further medical treatment.[3] Aggressive debt collecting has been highlighted as an aggravating factor.[4] A study has found about 63% of adults with medical debt avoided further medical treatment, compared with only 19% of adults who had no such debt.[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_debt

 

[ledboots]

I'm happy for your mother and the others who are fortunate enough to be insured.

I just wish you cared as much about healthcare being affordable for all as you do about the profits accruing to the wealthy.

My mother was on medicare at the time, being over 65, and of course my parents paid into the system for decades.

Considering I have been caring for patients for decades, I wish *you* wouldn't attempt to decide who or what *I* care about.

Please go criticize someone else, if you would, as I would prefer to stay here without your strife. I will try to stay out of your threads unless directly addressed. Thank you for your future conveniences.

Have a nice day!

 

[mlp]

And none of that addresses the point, which is that you think that it's fine that companies like the one you "love" are entitled to make the maximum profit possible, even though that contributes to the overall inflated expense of our healthcare system and also means that only a limited portion of the population is able to benefit from the products/services.

Heck, we aren't even talking about limiting their profits, we're only talking about a tax to help pay for broader access. So maybe you care about the uninsured, but that caring doesn't extend to actually caring whether they get healthcare, since you're defending those profits so vigorously, while at the same time saying we can't afford to make healthcare available to everyone.

 

[mlp]

The realities of the cost of healthcare in the U.S.:

The total cost, in advance, for Sean to get his treatment plan and initial doses of chemotherapy was $83,900. (This part of the article focuses on what an individual had to come up with, in cash, before treatment would start for non Hodgkins lymphoma. He had insurance, but it was inadequate.)

What are the reasons, good or bad, that cancer means a half-million- or million-dollar tab? Why should a trip to the emergency room for chest pains that turn out to be indigestion bring a bill that can exceed the cost of a semester of college? What makes a single dose of even the most wonderful wonder drug cost thousands of dollars? Why does simple lab work done during a few days in a hospital cost more than a car? And what is so different about the medical ecosystem that causes technology advances to drive bills up instead of down?

The result is a uniquely American gold rush for those who provide everything from wonder drugs to canes to high-tech implants to CT scans to hospital bill-coding and collection services.

...the drag on our overall economy that comes with taxpayers, employers and consumers spending so much more than is spent in any other country for the same product is unsustainable. Health care is eating away at our economy and our treasury.

The health care industry seems to have the will and the means to keep it that way. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the pharmaceutical and health-care-product industries, combined with organizations representing doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, health services and HMOs, have spent $5.36 billion since 1998 on lobbying in Washington. That dwarfs the $1.53 billion spent by the defense and aerospace industries and the $1.3 billion spent by oil and gas interests over the same period. That’s right: the health-care-industrial complex spends more than three times what the military-industrial complex spends in Washington.


Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/#ixzz2LkhhEFgi

 

[Spang]

The author of that article was on The Daily Show the other day.

 

[das_nut]

That's a really long article, but good.

 

[mlp]

That's a really long article, but good.

It should be required reading for every American.

 

[das_nut]

It should be required reading for every American.

I know. I almost posted it here when I first read it, but unfortunately, the length would turn too many people off of it.

 

[rainforests1]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/12/obamacare-the-final-payment/
A second article by this person. Scary if true.

 

[ledboots]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/12/obamacare-the-final-payment/
A second article by this person. Scary if true.

Wow.

"There is no pretending that your information is private or that Obamacare is concerned with protecting your privacy. California’s state exchange, Covered California, provided insurance agents with names and contact information for tens of thousands of people who either logged onto Covered California’s website to check out plans or who had partially filled out an application but did not finish, and did not ask to be contacted. Exectutive Director, Peter Lee, excused this breach of privacy on the grounds that the exchange’s legal counsel approved it and the state wanted to offer more assistance to Californians.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/06/business/la-fi-exchange-names-disclosed-20131207 [7]

The privacy statement in the application of Colorado’s exchange, Connect for Health Colorado, states: “You release Connect for Health Colorado and the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing from all liability for sharing this information with other agencies.” Some of the sharing agencies include the United States Customs and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security and financial institutions (banks, savings and loans, credit unions, etc.).

In the event that your data has been compromised, states must notify you, but the federal government is not required to do the same, and is, therefore, more likely to hide its security flaws and privacy breaches. According to the Washington Post, administration officials knew when the federal site was launched that the privacy of user data would be at risk. An internal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) memo warned that sufficient testing of data security had not been performed." (From rainforest's link)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...f36c98-415e-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html [8]

 

[beancounter]

How many people, who are outraged by this, have put all of their personal information on Facebook for the world to see?

 

[Wolfie]

You mean people expected Obama to be concerned about their privacy?

 

[ledboots]

How many people, who are outraged by this, have put all of their personal information on Facebook for the world to see?

So that makes it okay? I don't use facebook, being all old and stuff, but I'm sure most people don't put their and their families personal health information, income, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc on facebook. And if they want to, it's their choice. As a nurse, I have to be so careful to keep patients' information private, and I know how important it is to them that I do. Maybe that's part of the reason I'm so nauseated by the idea of the willy nilly flinging around of people's information.

"(The right to privacy is a person's) right to be left alone by the government... the right most valued by civilized men."
- Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

 

[Mr Crunchy]

Bottom line is, I got my son and I insured under the ACA today. I am unemployed and he has a disability. I tried getting insurance through private insurance but no one would touch us. It wasn't a matter of how much I would have to pay, they flat out said, "we won't cover you". Obama was wise to compromise on other issues, but hold firm on not allowing exclusion for pre-existing conditions. For me, that was key, and I think the administration was thinking likewise. I would not have health insurance for me and my son without the ACA and we would be spending tens of thousands of dollars each year on health care costs. I would be on the street in less than a year.

 

[rainforests1]

Bloomberg editors question out-of-pocket costs | Physicians for a National Health Program

 

[beancounter]

The co pay is only part of the problem. The bigger issue is the deductible. - the amount of out of pocket cost you pay before insurance kicks in.

Deductibles are typically in the thousands of dollars. So, someone who might visit the doctor occasionally for minor issues will never meet the deductible. And for someone with a moderate issue, they will end up incurring the majority of the costs.

The alleged purpose of this was to make people consider whether they really need to go to the doctor. I have heard stories of people using the emergency room for non life threatening issues. But those are extreme examples. What the insurance companies are effectively doing is delaying relatively small payouts today for much larger payouts in the future (the difference between treating a condition early vs. treating it late).

I've heard that the ACA deductibles are about $5,000 per person - which is out of reach for the majority of the people the ACA is supposed to be helping.