Healthy Government
So, the Health Care bill passed the Senate...
I noticed that it was split right down the party lines.
Just like the House.
Which means one very important thing to me:
Either a) no one has any opinion on their own
or b) There is some powerful rhetoric going around.
I have heard all kinds of things about this new bill which is just lovely:
1) "It will allow illegal aliens to get health care."
Really? Those Illegal Aliens with Illegal Social Security Numbers, I'd guess...
2) "It will allow people to force old people out of health care because of pre-existing issues"
(Even if that WAS true) Because these days when you are old, you are in such great hands...
3) "(Said with Sarcasm) The Government has done such a great job with public education..."
Yeah, it's good that every American child is in private school... What? They aren't? You'd think We the People would pay for the better option... it's available!
4) Let the market control it! If people don't want it, they will pay for the better course!
Right, over the last 50 years people have chosen, by letting the market decide, that they want to pay $500 for a 60 minute visit. People have chosen, by letting the market decide, that they want to give up health care for themselves so that their children will live... Somehow I think the market has gotten smarter than us and are taking advantage of us. They banded together to charge us insane amounts of money.
5) That's not because of the market, that's because of frivolous lawsuits!
Perhaps that is somewhat true; but my mother sacrificed herself for us in the 80's, long before it was hip to sue... I remember a number of times when she would say "I'm sorry, we can't take you to the doctor, we can't afford it." She was a single mom, with her own business (Read: No health insurance-Even if she had it for everyone else, she could never afford it for herself; she was the boss). My dad was self-employed, with no health insurance. So my sister and I, we just laid low and hoped that no big diseases would hit us...
The problem is, big companies have health insurance, poor people have government mandated health insurance. So this lack of health insurance only hurts us, the middle class.
As a running talley for you guys: Kai has cost us $1,902 in health insurance premiums, and $2,160 out of our pocket, payable right now, in Cash (Because our Health insurance has a $5,000 deductable). So far we have paid $4,000 for that baby (He's worth it), and that is what the Market has let happen, that will triple by the time he is born, to $13,000 out of pocket, payable right now, in cash.
So forgive me if I don't want to hear "Let the Market control it!", the Market has decided that we get to be billed twice; once for the outrageous medical bills which we pay for in full and a second time just in case the outrageous becomes insane.
Look, Republcians; if you don't like the bill, that's cool... if you are voting against it because all the other Republicans will hate you for it, then I will never forgive you. But since EVERY Republcian voted against it and EVERY Democrat voted for it, it very much seems like no one actually cares about the bill, they just voted because everyone else was doing it.
-Me
posted by Aabh @ 1:49 AM
6 Comments:
"So forgive me if I don't want to hear "Let the Market control it!", the Market has decided that we get to be billed twice; once for the outrageous medical bills which we pay for in full and a second time just in case the outrageous becomes insane."
What? Why are you getting billed twice? I am not sure I follow the train of thought here...
-- Mal.
Hi Mal! :D Happy New Year, my dear one! :D
Now:
Once to pay for the pregnancy (Out of pocket because our insurance has such a wonderfully high deductable) and once more to pay for the insurance that has such a high deductable... that means that provided everything is normal, we pay twice. Well, not really twice, per se, we pay $315 for our insurance and $320 per month for the doctor.
I don't know...
It's kind of like me saying that I paid twice for medical school AND I keep paying. Because you know, I paid for tuition and then my taxes paid (and continue to pay) for the part of the tuition that I didn't cover.
I think that it's the wrong way to be looking at this thing. You aren't paying twice, you are contributing to the price of your health care. I don't have a problem with that.
Perhaps... though I don't think you are paying $1000 (Can) per month when you have a baby up there, do you?
Right now, our medical bills are 1/4 of our income. We still have to buy baby things, like a crib and car seat and things like that... so we are quickly getting to the point here where the baby costs more than we make. I guess babies always cost a lot, but when we pay $700(US) for a 30 minute consultation with a doctor it starts to really feel like it's not worth it (For the baby, yes! But I'd rather spend that $700 on a safe, reliable crib... not have to get a cheap, knock off so I can afford my 30 minute talk with a doctor...) Perahps the "double Pay" thing wasn't 100% accurate, the point I was making was that we still pay waaaay too much for health care, and it means we have to make choices about our health that aren't good (Gee, food or health care... Hmmm...). The Republicans are saying we should let the market control itself, and I'm saying "You did: and now look where it got us."
Ah ok, I see your point a little better now.
$700 for a 30 minute visit?!? I can only assume that you are being followed by an obstetrician at that price. Even then, it sure sounds expensive. Here in Canada, unless you have a high risk pregnancy, you are being followed by your GP until you are in your late 20's/early 30's week. Good Lord! If everyone was followed by OB the cost of medicine would skyrocket for sure!
The other problem is the malpractice costs. You aren't really paying for the OB's skill and time as much as you are paying for his malpractice insurance. If I remember correctly, OBs in the US pay in the 100,000s ($300,000 seems to ring a bell) of dollars for malpractice insurance.
I've just paid my malpractice insurance and, as a GP doing ER work and occasional surgery, I pay $1800/year and get back close to $1000 of it every year. Oh, my OB friend just walked in. So, she says that her malpractice is about $20,000/year, but she gets most of it back, so she only really ends up paying $1000/year.
So, when you point out that I don't pay $1000/month when I'm having a baby, you are right. But I think that there is more at play here than just a Republican screw-up.
Well, yes. I'm actually not pinning this on the Republicans, per se. I'm disagreeing with the Republicans whom argue that we should leave health care alone and let the market sort it out. Actually, we were indeed followed by an OB/GYN from the very beginning... but that's because we don't have a GP (We can't afford one).
Dad made the same argument: it's because doctors get sued at the drop of a hat. Yes. I concur that our legal system needs help, but if we wait until the Market AND the Legal system straighten themselves out, I'll be broke AND dead (And so would Kai and HIS kids).
Here's a different example: In our company we do Cognitive Therepy, and I've been looking for scheduling software. If you have employees which come in in the morning and leave at night, the software costs $200 a year. If you have Patients, however, it costs $10,000. That implies to me that at least someone thinks that you can expect a multiple order of magnatude difference between normal businesses and doctors. I guess my comment is; Sure, one could say it's the malpractice insurance that's killing the doctors down here, but that doesn't explain why products for Doctors are routinely super-expensive... I would say that if medical versions of things (Schedulers, office equipment, etc) were comperable in price I'd agree that it was simply medical insurance. But it's not just more expensive, it's MUCH more expensive to run a medical office than a regular one... (For example: Latex gloves are $2.50 a box, unless they are medical, at which time they are $8.50, though I can find them on sale for $6.50)
I'd be okay if some doctors were super-rich, but most weren't. That makes sense: some business men are super rich. But it seems that all doctors down here are super-rich, at least a larger percentage than any other field.
Again, I'm not arguing that malpractice insurance isn't a problem; I just think the Market is being manipulated here.
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