Putting the cost of American healthcare into perspective.
Putting the cost of American healthcare into perspective.
Let's put it another way: imagine a pay-email (such as an ISP's email) lobbying the FCC and congress to banish "free" services like Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook/Hotmail.
When corporations are out there protecting their status quo from innovation they've effectively shackled capitalism as a free enterprise.
The Impolitic: Why our health care costs so much. http://goo.gl/mag/E81E8aO
http://goo.gl/mag/E81E8aO
Let's put it another way: imagine a pay-email (such as an ISP's email) lobbying the FCC and congress to banish "free" services like Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook/Hotmail.
When corporations are out there protecting their status quo from innovation they've effectively shackled capitalism as a free enterprise.
The Impolitic: Why our health care costs so much. http://goo.gl/mag/E81E8aO
http://goo.gl/mag/E81E8aO
Comments
How it used to work: You had insurance and had something happen that invovled needing medical attention. You go to the doctor, hopefully things work on out and the doctor gives you a bill which you pay. You go to your insurance company with a copy of the bill and say "hey, this is what happened and here's the bill", and you're paid back whatever percentage you're covered for.
How it works now: You have insurance and go to the doctor for whatever. You pay your co-pay and the doctor's office bills the insurance company. Insurance company says well, we'll pay part of that. The doctor wants some money so they take what they can get.
How it went off the rails (or the $10 band-aid): Doctor's have cost. Materials, medicine and their office space costs money. Their time is also worth money. Let's say you get a boo-boo and go to the doc and he puts a band-aid on it. The cost is $1. The insurence company say's that's too much and will only pay 10% of that. Well, thedoc is getting screwed, so he wises up and plays the game. Next time he bills the insurence for $10 so he covers his cost.
What some people don't realize: if you go to the doctor and tell them you are just paying for it yourself, you typically don't get charged the same price as would be charged to the insurence company.
But now that's out the window since thanks to Obamacare you better have insurence or you're getting the tax penalty. Even if you get hurt and your neighbor is a doctor and can stitch you up, you better not pay him for that or he'll get a couple grand worth of fines.
Healthcare system has a lot of problems, and its going to get worse.