So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

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H4ever
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So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

As another working stiff paying a shit-ton of money for just another shit, health care plan with a high deductible and 20% copays and shrinking wellness benefits... I actually enjoy the thought of my kids remaining covered after they leave the nest thanks to Obamacare. Whereas before, they could basically go fuck themselves right here in dear old America thanks to the greedy fucks in the health ins industry. The following letter probably sums it up best:
The repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known by its critics as Obamacare, is a goal of all of Nebraska's Republican congressmen. Unfortunately, these GOP loyalists have been working so fervently on their own improved, cost efficient, vastly superior, post-repeal health care reform plans (cough) that they have neglected to enumerate the many compelling reasons for repeal itself.

Here are a few that they have overlooked:



1. Repeal will re-establish the status quo. Yep. A return to better times when tough- minded private health insurance companies can again deny coverage to people who have been careless, neglectful and irresponsible by contracting those disgusting and avoidable pre-existing conditions such as asthma, genetic disorders, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

2. Back to the good old days. Nothing in Obamacare allows incriminating evidence to be used against an applicant for a health care policy - not so in the past. The private insurer sees that the prospective client has a history of lower back problems, recurring stomach disorders, and some pesky hemorrhoids. Result? Applicant is advised to sit up straight, take prilosec twice a day, and start scratching because these problems will not be covered by the policy. Medical exclusions at their best.

3. Families will be reunited. Students between 18 and 26 years of age will no longer be eligible to remain on their parents' health care policy and must stop being crybabies as they find a way to pay their $150,000 student loans, look for a job, get treatment for bleeding ulcers, and make reservations to move back into mom and pop's basement.

4. Population control. Over 20,000 Americans die needlessly every year for lack of health insurance. With 50 million uninsured (after repeal) we can be assured that the mortality rate will rise even more.

5. Scrapping the care act is charitable. We can again look forward to subsidizing our enterprising friends who save 20 percent of their salaries by not purchasing insurance. After all, what are hospital emergency rooms for if not to accommodate these deserving people at our expense? This "feel good" phase of repeal is where we can see our premiums rise and know it is for charity.

6. Be gone dull care! Yes, why fret if you are a victim of unexpected, catastrophic, health care costs that are not covered by health care insurance? Remember, you are in good company: 62 percent of bankruptcies in America are a result of calamitous health care charges.

R.H.

Ogallala

God Bless America.... long live the unchecked greed
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by Bizzarofelice »

i'm not reading all that
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

Bizzarofelice wrote:i'm not reading all that

In a nutshell: Obamacare may suck but you repeal that shit and the health ins industry returns to their cut-throat, unbridled greed in the name of the bottom line where Americans and their healthcare can go fuck themselves. Anything less and you are a socialist who wants our executives' millions.

Oh yea... and after the "death panels" come about.....the whores move in !!!!
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by War Wagon »

H4ever wrote:The following letter probably sums it up best:
Where did you lift that bullshit from?
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

War Wagon wrote:
H4ever wrote:The following letter probably sums it up best:
Where did you lift that bullshit from?
The Utter Fucking Truth magazine. Do you care to dispute and then link your facts that prove otherwise?
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by War Wagon »

you're anger and disgust over health care costs is misdirected.

You want a government plan to fix it, but rather than making the cost go down, it will go up exponentially, just as the cost of everything the government gets involved in goes up.

you're angry with insurance companies, but they aren't the people charging $3,500 a night for a hospital room or $2,100 for an MRI.

You want to occupy something, go protest in the nearest Emergency Room.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by smackaholic »

Other than proclaimations that it fixes problems, how again does obongocare actually control costs?

It does absolutely nothing to fix real problems such as oppresive malpractice rates and defensive medicine.

To be honest with you, a single payer gubmint run system would be preferable to the bullshit we have now, but, of course doing so would take away the malpractice vulture's favorite sugardaddy.

A preferable system would be a simplified market one that has some sort of tort reform. It would also include a bare bones "free" gubmint clinic system. And I would also like to see a sytem where I, not my employer, picked the insurance company. Having the option of firing your provider would provide an incentive for good service. Mandating good service is a joke. It does not work.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by missjo »

War Wagon wrote: you're angry with insurance companies, but they aren't the people charging $3,500 a night for a hospital room or $2,100 for an MRI.
The cost of healthcare in the US & Also in Australia went up to the levels it is in major part because of the extraordinarily high payouts claimants were getting suing for malpractice & the like

The Average doctor in the US & Australia you will find is not making anywhere near the money you think they are, unless they are a Plastic Surgeon, Surgeon or some sort of specialist, even then it's usually only a small percent that are on the big bucks.

The cost of insurance that a doctor or healthcare professional has to pay increased to such extent that it had to then be covered somehow & that is by the exorbitant fees that are charged.

Which is Why here in Australia the payouts for medical related lawsuits were stringently capped, because our medical costs were going the same way as the US because of the rise in cost of public liability insurance that medical professionals & hospitals were having to pay.
Here in Australia it was getting to the point that small towns couldn't get GP's as a country doctor couldn't afford to pay the Public liability insurance it would cost to practice medicine in a town with a small population

I for one am glad we have medicare, I also have private health insurance so if I need elective or non emergency surgery I can choose the private hospital & doctor I want it also covers extras like Dental, Optical, Chiro, remedial massage, etc.
Everyone no matter what pre existing conditions they have in the Country is covered under medicare
though if you want private health insurance with a pre existing condition you have a 1 year waiting period before you can claim on your private healthcare but are still covered by medicare anyway
Our healthcare systems aren't perfect in any means but I would rather fall ill or be in an major accident under our system here, where no one is refused medical care for any reason even if it is my tax dollars paying for the unemployed.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by Atomic Punk »

For any of you military vets, check out your local Veteran's Administration hospital. Since I resigned from the Clinton mess in '94 I found out this past March that I have free health care. So for all of these years I was paying over $100/month just for basic coverage as I rarely get sick.

A Vietnam Vet told me to check out the VA and sure enough, everything is free except for prescription meds that have an $8 co-pay. They mail you everything so you don't have to bother them. They even mailed me custom orthotics after being scanned as the "Good Feet Store" is a scam. They mailed me 2 pairs and will get them for the rest of my life. My vision isn't 20/15 anymore but I got 2 pairs of glasses mailed to me after going through a long visions examination.

I had an accident and was in the ICU for 4 days, got an MRI, and through lab work they found a metabolic disorder. I was a student nurse here and remembered this super hot female doctor and turns out they assigned me to her.

Also they said I need to apply for a 10% compensated disability which is tax free that's only like $126/month. I'm at 0% right now but when the fine people at the Oakland regional center (I'll bet they are all white and motivated folks) approve my claim in another 7 months I'll get retro pay since I filed 7 months ago for the 10% compensation.

So if you are former military and may have some disability, check into it. The VA administration is an Equal Opportunity based bunch of asshats, but the doctors and medical staff are really kick ass.

Also, if I had kids they would get free tuition at any college in the People's Democratic Republic of California. A dude I know said the VA is paying the $9000/semester for his daughter to go to Kal.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

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missjo wrote:Our healthcare systems aren't perfect in any means but I would rather fall ill or be in an major accident under our system here, where no one is refused medical care for any reason even if it is my tax dollars paying for the unemployed.
unlike our heartless system where they let you bleed out if you can't produce a health insurance card. :meds:
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by poptart »

H4ever wrote:Over 20,000 Americans die needlessly every year for lack of health insurance.
Is this true?
I wonder.

I wonder how many non-Americans live because of health care received without having health insurance?


I wonder a lot of things.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan »

poptart wrote:
H4ever wrote: I wonder how many non-Americans live because of health care received without having health insurance?
I wonder what your point is. Would you rather they were dead?

(Note: this question is directed specifically at poptart. I already know mvscal's answer...)
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by Bizzarofelice »

H4ever wrote:Obamacare may suck

does it?
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by OCmike »

MissJo nailed it. The two monstrous weights on our healthcare system are malpractice insurance and lawsuit payouts. Virtually all of the other astronomical costs in the healthcare chain are the trickle down results of those two cash cows.

Just as one example, a General Surgeon in San Diego County makes roughly $200k per year and pays more than $60k in malpractice premiums. That's just fucking retarded.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by poptart »

MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan wrote:
poptart wrote:
H4ever wrote: I wonder how many non-Americans live because of health care received without having health insurance?
I wonder what your point is. Would you rather they were dead?

(Note: this question is directed specifically at poptart. I already know mvscal's answer...)
No, I prefer for them to live.

I was (1), questioning that 20,000 number that H4 cited, and (2), pointing out that the knife cuts both ways.
Surely illegals who would otherwise die are granted health care in America, yes?

So the number of people who needlessly die in America because of it's fucked up health care system is less than 20,000 (assuming that number is even right).
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by Bizzarofelice »

OCmike wrote:The two monstrous weights on our healthcare system are malpractice insurance and lawsuit payouts.
you are a dumbass. lots of states have already addressed these two issues on the state level. NO CHANGE IN RATE AT WHICH PREMIUMS INCREASE
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

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Bizzarofelice wrote:
OCmike wrote:The two monstrous weights on our healthcare system are malpractice insurance and lawsuit payouts.
you are a dumbass. lots of states have already addressed these two issues on the state level. NO CHANGE IN RATE AT WHICH PREMIUMS INCREASE
...without documentation to support a rate increase, which they have no problem supplying.

Do you plan on contributing anything of substance to this thread?
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by Bizzarofelice »

OCmike wrote:
Bizzarofelice wrote:
OCmike wrote:The two monstrous weights on our healthcare system are malpractice insurance and lawsuit payouts.
you are a dumbass. lots of states have already addressed these two issues on the state level. NO CHANGE IN RATE AT WHICH PREMIUMS INCREASE
...without documentation to support a rate increase, which they have no problem supplying.

Do you plan on contributing anything of substance to this thread?

I already offered this hardcore fact

me wrote:you are a dumbass
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

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Atomic Punk wrote: Also they said I need to apply for a 10% compensated disability which is tax free that's only like $126/month. I'm at 0% right now but when the fine people at the Oakland regional center (I'll bet they are all white and motivated folks) approve my claim in another 7 months I'll get retro pay since I filed 7 months ago for the 10% compensation.
10% is the hardest to get approved for, since that's when the cash starts flowing. Standard procedure is to shoot those claims down, hoping most people will say "fuck it". So plan on having to appeal and while you're waiting for them to (likely) reject your case, go to the doctor at least once every few weeks, even if it's just to bitch about pain. That way, when it's time for them to take a second look at your case, you've got fresh documentation that shows it's a persistent, CURRENT issue.

Good luck.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

War Wagon wrote:you're anger and disgust over health care costs is misdirected.

You want a government plan to fix it, but rather than making the cost go down, it will go up exponentially, just as the cost of everything the government gets involved in goes up.

you're angry with insurance companies, but they aren't the people charging $3,500 a night for a hospital room or $2,100 for an MRI.

You want to occupy something, go protest in the nearest Emergency Room.

My anger and disgust...like so many other AMERICANS....is the greed involved. And you nailed it when you said that pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, surgeons, clinics, etc are part of the problem.

88 mentions how insurance companies are in it to make money and he's right. Fuck the risk calculators...get profit out of the formula. Fuck em. The CEO's of pharmaceutical co's, hospital admins, surgeons, ceo's and admin at the in insurance companys are just as much at fault as the old standby reason for skyrocketing costs....malpractice insurance and the need for tort reform.

Get Japanese CEO's over here who will do the same or better job for 10% of the pay. Get foreign doctors who will do the same. Do what it takes to tell these "profit minded" fucks to jam their "risk calculations" up their asses and start taking care of Americans for an amount comparable to the rest of the industrialized world. Fuck American healthcare and their profits. May big Government slap them down where they belong. Fuck em
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

88 wrote:
I hope you're trolling. I wonder how you'll react when "Big Government" decides your pay is too high, you greedy fuck, and slaps you down where you belong.

Just as soon as I start providing a service as fundamental and important as healthcare where I'm in collusion with other providers to bilk, deprive, or otherwise ass-fuck American citizens...then yes, I need to be dealt with.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by smackaholic »

H4ever wrote:
88 wrote:
I hope you're trolling. I wonder how you'll react when "Big Government" decides your pay is too high, you greedy fuck, and slaps you down where you belong.

Just as soon as I start providing a service as fundamental and important as healthcare where I'm in collusion with other providers to bilk, deprive, or otherwise ass-fuck American citizens...then yes, I need to be dealt with.
so, fundamental impotent service providers should pretty much do charity work?
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by Truman »

Fundamental, eh?

I don't think that word means what you think it does, H... :wink:

BTW, nobody is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to pay a "shit-ton of money for just another shit, health care plan"... Like Obamacare does. 'Sayin'.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

Truman wrote:Fundamental, eh?

I don't think that word means what you think it does, H... :wink:

BTW, nobody is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to pay a "shit-ton of money for just another shit, health care plan"... Like Obamacare does. 'Sayin'.
basic? essential? and you're right... maybe we should all join the ranks of the irresponsible by not marrying our significant others and squirting out kids and not bother to pay for overpriced, shit coverage. Why should we? The gumbint will provide 100% coverage just as long as paternity is never established and it won't be if the missus states she has no idea who the father(s) is/are. Uncle Sam (you and me) can write the fat checks and save the industry the trouble of breaking out the "risk calculator" 8)
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

smackaholic wrote:
H4ever wrote:
88 wrote:
I hope you're trolling. I wonder how you'll react when "Big Government" decides your pay is too high, you greedy fuck, and slaps you down where you belong.

Just as soon as I start providing a service as fundamental and important as healthcare where I'm in collusion with other providers to bilk, deprive, or otherwise ass-fuck American citizens...then yes, I need to be dealt with.
so, fundamental impotent service providers should pretty much do charity work?
keep their profits reasonable? I don't think that's asking for much.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by smackaholic »

what are typical insurance profits?

serious question. i have no idea.

who determines "reasonable"?
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by Van »

smackaholic wrote:so, fundamental impotent service providers should pretty much do charity work?
Now I think we're getting to the root of the problem. They're pissed, and they're taking it out on us.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by mvscal »

H4ever wrote:
War Wagon wrote:
H4ever wrote:The following letter probably sums it up best:
Where did you lift that bullshit from?
The Utter Fucking Truth magazine. Do you care to dispute and then link your facts that prove otherwise?
You haven't provided any facts to dispute, you shitdicked fucktard.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by Dinsdale »

In regards to the thread title, "what's the alternative?"

A good alternative would be to elect some representatives who A) understand what those fancy words in the Constitution mean, and B) who at least managed a C in a high school economics class, bonus points if they know what a "supply/demand" curve is.


HMMM.... supply is "X," and something of a constant, or at best a slow moving variable, and "Y" is demand, which Congress absolutely FUCKS with the simple stroke of a pen.

Novel idea -- get government THE FUCK out of it at every level. Common fucking sense -- over time, we've put 66% of all medical transactions in the hands of the government (yetpeople think it's some odd coincidence that the timeline of that is the exact same as the skyrocketing % of GDP that health care consumes... complete coincidence).

And the rocket surgeons of the world think that since giving 66% control caused prices to skyrocket, the obvious solution is to give them control of the other 34%...perfectly logical.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan »

88 wrote: Health insurance, like all other forms of insurance, involves accurately calculating the amount of financial risk presented by a population in a pool and then spreading that risk among all members of the pool. Some people are going to "win" in the sense that they draw out substantially greater health insurance benefits than they pay in premiums. Most are going to "lose" by paying a greater amount in premiums than health benefits received. It has to work that way. Otherwise, the insurance company goes bankrupt and everyone loses.
This is the part about health insurance that irks me the most. It just seems like such a racket. I get that they need to take in more than they give out or they'll go out of business, but even when you "win," you're probably still going to just break even.

For example, in 2010, I had probably the worst year of my life in terms of health costs. I was uninsured at the time and still am. To make a long story short, I tried to quit smoking and ended up catching a cold that wouldn't go away. After about three weeks of congestion, I wound up with a ruptured eardrum, which ultimately led to a (thankfully brief) bout of Bell's Palsy. After a trip to an urgent care facility, several trips to an ENT specialist, two hearing tests, an MRI and multiple prescription and OTC meds, I wound up spending about $1200 cash on the whole ordeal.

After all was said and done, I decided to look into the health insurance offered through my employer. To get the most bare-bones plan available, I'd have wound up paying roughly $20/week. Multiply that by 52 weeks and you're already over $1000. Add on the co-pays for everything, and I probably would've spent the same amount of money, if not a little more. And that's for a bad year!

I think the solution is to just buy a health insurance plan with a $2000 or higher deductible in case of a serious emergency and just pay cash for everything else. Most doctors/medical facilities will give you discounts if you don't have insurance. I got my MRI for only $350. It does seem a little strange that people expect health insurance to cover routine check-ups and the like. It's not like people expect auto insurance to cover their oil changes.

That said, I think there could be a model for national health care within a capitalist framework. Perhaps the government could set up a program that pays for med school in exchange for 5 or 10 years of government service at a reasonable salary ($60-80k/year, maybe?) after graduation. Beyond that, you'd be free to open your own practice and charge whatever you want. And if you didn't want to participate, you could just pay for your own med school and do whatever you want as soon as you graduate. Of course, this would probably be taxpayer funded, but I'd have a lot less issues with that than some of the other bullshit our government already wastes billions of our tax dollars on, like defense spending and the war on drugs.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by smackaholic »

MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan wrote:
88 wrote: Health insurance, like all other forms of insurance, involves accurately calculating the amount of financial risk presented by a population in a pool and then spreading that risk among all members of the pool. Some people are going to "win" in the sense that they draw out substantially greater health insurance benefits than they pay in premiums. Most are going to "lose" by paying a greater amount in premiums than health benefits received. It has to work that way. Otherwise, the insurance company goes bankrupt and everyone loses.
This is the part about health insurance that irks me the most. It just seems like such a racket. I get that they need to take in more than they give out or they'll go out of business, but even when you "win," you're probably still going to just break even.

For example, in 2010, I had probably the worst year of my life in terms of health costs. I was uninsured at the time and still am. To make a long story short, I tried to quit smoking and ended up catching a cold that wouldn't go away. After about three weeks of congestion, I wound up with a ruptured eardrum, which ultimately led to a (thankfully brief) bout of Bell's Palsy. After a trip to an urgent care facility, several trips to an ENT specialist, two hearing tests, an MRI and multiple prescription and OTC meds, I wound up spending about $1200 cash on the whole ordeal.

After all was said and done, I decided to look into the health insurance offered through my employer. To get the most bare-bones plan available, I'd have wound up paying roughly $20/week. Multiply that by 52 weeks and you're already over $1000. Add on the co-pays for everything, and I probably would've spent the same amount of money, if not a little more. And that's for a bad year!

I think the solution is to just buy a health insurance plan with a $2000 or higher deductible in case of a serious emergency and just pay cash for everything else. Most doctors/medical facilities will give you discounts if you don't have insurance. I got my MRI for only $350. It does seem a little strange that people expect health insurance to cover routine check-ups and the like. It's not like people expect auto insurance to cover their oil changes.

That said, I think there could be a model for national health care within a capitalist framework. Perhaps the government could set up a program that pays for med school in exchange for 5 or 10 years of government service at a reasonable salary ($60-80k/year, maybe?) after graduation. Beyond that, you'd be free to open your own practice and charge whatever you want. And if you didn't want to participate, you could just pay for your own med school and do whatever you want as soon as you graduate. Of course, this would probably be taxpayer funded, but I'd have a lot less issues with that than some of the other bullshit our government already wastes billions of our tax dollars on, like defense spending and the war on drugs.
you have discovered exactly why our current system is fuct.

had you done all that work within an insurance policy, it would likely have cost the plan 3X as much and you still would have been on the hook for a lot.

gubmint should run free clinics, staffed by just the people you talk of. actually, it shouldn't be free. fees could still be charged and collected from those able to do so.

health "insurance" should be just that, insurance against unforseen catastrophic costs, just as it is with every other type of insurance. back in the day, it was called "hospitalization", because that is precisely what it covered. it never occured to anyone to have insurance cover a routine visit io the doc. under such a system, doctors made more and health costs were lower than today. a shitload lower.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan »

88 wrote:In my perfect world, the States would each come up with some form of public health care system, preferably using the state supported public universities. New healthcare professionals would work in the public university clinics and satellite clinics under the supervision of teaching physicians. All would be 100% immune from civil liability. Don't like the immunity provision? Go to a private clinic and pay for the care you receive.

The clinics would provide urgent care and primary care. Means testing would determine what they would have to pay for such care. Means testing would also be employed to determine the premium each person would have to pay for "major medical" or "hospitalization" coverage at a private hospital. People who wanted to opt out of such a program could do so, and could purchase private medical insurance and see their own physicians.

But hey, I'm just a dreamer. I'm sure it would be better if we had the federal government mandate a one size fits all health system. We'll all be better in the end.
I think I like your plan better. I guess I'm just selfish in wanting it on a national level, since the likelihood that a plan as thoughtful and well reasoned as yours would ever emerge from the buffoons that pass for "public servants" here in AZ is mighty slim.

But the weather sure is nice...
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

mvscal wrote:
H4ever wrote:[

The Utter Fucking Truth magazine. Do you care to dispute and then link your facts that prove otherwise?
You haven't provided any facts to dispute, you shitdicked fucktard.
Why do you enjoy the corporate cock so much? Ya gay-sailor felching pickle-puffin' fuckmonger <---- obligatory colorful insult to respond to a mvscal post.

KC provided some outrageous profit margins that should never happen on the backs of Americans and their healthcare. Obamacare came about because of how fucked and full of greed the former system was, at least insurance wise. Now the rest need to get in line before more big gumint intervention results and then you and others can ring your hands and cry socialism a little more. Blame the greedy fucks where the fault lies. Or is that anti-capitalist? Would Jesus approve Mr. Falwel....er Koch...er whatever the fuck kind of mouthpiece you're trying to be.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by R-Jack »

H4ever wrote:KC provided some outrageous profit margins that should never happen on the backs of Americans and their healthcare.
You are awful at reading.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by Truman »

If you don't like the "outrageous profit margins" that health care insurance companies earn, then don't buy their product. If enough people think as you do, the market will change. This isn't hard, H... :meds:
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by OCmike »

One of the other huge problems with Obamacare is that they want to solve the uninsured problem by adding tens of millions to Medicare/Medicaid, even though those progares have runaway fraud problems and zero dedicated funding source for the prescription drug program. Right now the government's primary source of Medicare fraud reports come from disgruntled former office workers. So it's basically an honor system with no real method of ensuring that a patient was even seen. Until that is fixed, adding 30 million people to the program will just add to the deficit.

But Obamacare has done some good here. The company I work for used to just focus on giving the best care, with cost be damned. The idea was that if you offered the best doctors and best care, people would alwaus sign up. With the prospect of a healthcare exchange looming, where we'd be competing for patients with caregivers providing cut rate care, my company has looked for ways to eliminate costs at every level, while still remaining the leader in quality care. It's been a challenge to say the least, but we've made a lot of gains. The biggest obstacle remains getting old crusty doctors to adopt best practices. Many are stuck in their ways and insist on doing things as they always have, like ordering an MRI with contrast for $900 when one without contrast for $300 would do; ordering a 3-view xray when a single view is all that's needed, etc.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by mvscal »

H4ever wrote: Obamacare came about because of how fucked and full of greed the former system was, at least insurance wise.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

mvscal wrote:
H4ever wrote: Obamacare came about because of how fucked and full of greed the former system was, at least insurance wise.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Please do expound upon that witty, poignant use of emoticons....oh wise one who sucketh the corporate cock.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by H4ever »

Truman wrote:If you don't like the "outrageous profit margins" that health care insurance companies earn, then don't buy their product. If enough people think as you do, the market will change. This isn't hard, H... :meds:
Kinda fuckin hard when your employer offers you ONE plan isn't it? Someone mentioned having a choice in providers....I'm all for that.
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Re: So Obamacare sucks....what's the alternative?

Post by smackaholic »

H4ever wrote:
Truman wrote:If you don't like the "outrageous profit margins" that health care insurance companies earn, then don't buy their product. If enough people think as you do, the market will change. This isn't hard, H... :meds:
Kinda fuckin hard when your employer offers you ONE plan isn't it? Someone mentioned having a choice in providers....I'm all for that.
that would be me. trouble with obama care is it doesn't touch that issue. people should buy their own fukking healthcare plans. let the employer pay for it, if he choses, but, the customer needs to be in charge of chosing the plan. that is how you get good service and good prices. gubmint mandates will never do it.
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