"Medical providers gouge non-insured people. Capitalistic swine that they are. ...
How dare, I SAY HOW DARE, the anti-universal heath care supporters advocate the denial of adequate health care for all Americans regardless of their economic abilities!!! I wonder if any of those tea-party type people have been in the position of needing necessary health care but were unable to get it because they either had no insurance or could not afford to pay for it themselves."
The above quotation is just part of a comment I made in response to an entry from Judy Hansen Commentary.
You may read Judy's entire entry and my complete response to it by going on over to:
Medical Cost Ripoff
Oh, by the way, if you did not previously read, or do not remember reading, a commentary I made a few years ago, I suggest you click on over now to read the Roland Hansen Commentary: Giuliani Illness Insurance Plan.
3 comments:
Amigo Roland,
The insurance providers do have the clout to negotiate more favorable rates; this is a cold, hard fact of life.
This leaves the self provider vulnerable to the higher rates to allow the medical service provider to use the higher rates to cover the costs to provide service to those who cannot pay.
Have you ever tried to negotiate a discounted rate before receiving the required services?
Of course, then you would be required to pay the entire discounted/negotiated amount in a very timely manner; that though is your only form of clout, but in many cases it works.
Also, after reviewing my latest batch of hospital bills, I saw DOZENS of ancillary charges and lab tests that were not paid because my insurance had negotiated for a bundled price which included such extra charges...
Amigo Roland,
Sounds like what you are advocating is true health care reform and not necessarily Universal Health Care. Reform is in fact needed in health care: in fair payment for services, in tort reform for medical malpractice, and in some of the abuses by insurance companies.
Most of what we are dealing with however, are previous ill-conceived govt attempts to manipulate what was once a free market system of health care. The bloated programs that govt has instituted (along with their own form of price fixing) have created a good bit of the mess.
Something must be done to fix the problem, but Congress (often prey to lawyers, lobbyists, and other bottom feeders) has proved themselves woefully suited to the task.
Dave,
I try the negotiation route each and every time. It worked only one time; I got a big whopping 3% discount for paying cash instead of putting the charges on a credit card. Gee, it seems to me that the medical provider still got the full 100% amount by not having to pay the credit card transaction service fee.
Tim,
I am not just advocating true health reform. I am, in fact, advocating universal health care. Let me put it this way: I strongly favor and support (are you ready for this?) socialized medicine.
Post a Comment