Re: The Cost of Health Care

I just posted this on the last topic thread about Obama - there is such waste in government run industries. Medicaid costs NY 43.4 billiion dollars. There are people stealing millions of dollars from Medicaid. Just recently, a man was arrested for stealing 47 million from Medicaid - one person! Last year 20 people were arrested for stealing 20 million from Medicaid. There are no checks and balances. People send in bills to Medicaid and Medicaid pays it out. There are Health care aids and Home health care companies that steal millions from Medicaid and there is noone to check - Department of Labor and Department of Health don't cross check each other. The only way any people are ever caught are b/c of people turning them in. IN the case of the 20 people being arrested, the only way they were caught was b/c the husband of one of the home health care aids was ****** b/c he caught his wife cheating and he knew of the scam. he called the dept of labor and health to report her and they did nothing. he called the AG's office - they did nothing. He actually walked to the AG's office, knocked on their door and demanded to speak to someone and then finally someone listened. no one cares b/c it is government money. Medicaid is a COMPLETE DISASTER. It makes my head hurt to think of what Obama's health plan might cost in the long run.

Re: The Cost of Health Care

I agree that something needs to change with regard to healthcare but, and maybe I am being idealistic, I think it would be great if they could sit down and come up with the best solution possible. Maybe it would take 1-2 years but in the end we would know that it is plan conceived deliberately and thoughtfully. What I really hate are these false deadlines - it has to be done by August, so kets slap something together.

I understand it is being done for political reasons but come on this is going to change the lives of future generations and should not be thrown together. I find it appalling that politicians do not view the implications of this as serious as they are.

Also I thought this was an interesting tidbit: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124786946165760369.html

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Posted by jellybean1420

Medicare and Medicaid is a MESS to say the least...the money is so mismanaged it's sickening.

Our emergency waiting rooms are filled with people who use the ER as their dr. b/c they are either here illegally and dont have insurance. I can't even imagine how much money was wasted when we had the swine flu situation...the hopsital waiting rooms were filled daily. My MIL was ill and DH had to bring her to the hospital and there was an 8 hr. wait at 3 hospitals in our area.

Dr's are so expensive, some specialist dont even take insurance anymore, b/c their malpractice insurance, etc. is so high b/c people in this country are lawsuit happy. I went to the hospital once and a dr. came in and saw me for literally 2 min. and I got a bill for over $700. He was out of my network so I had to cover part of the bill

Everytime someone in my family goes to the dr. there is a $15 co-pay, if any testing or x-rays are done it is double. Hopsital stays is $300 a pop and out-patient surgical procedures are $200 a pop.

Sorry, I can't afford to pay for other people's healthcare anymore than I already do. Especially considering that if Obama has his way, 50% is going to be taken out of our checks in a few years for taxes opposed to the 30% that is now

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Posted by Babyaholic

Posted by jellybean1420



Sorry, I can't afford to pay for other people's healthcare anymore than I already do. Especially considering that if Obama has his way, 50% is going to be taken out of our checks in a few years for taxes opposed to the 30% that is now

I agree. This country is full of too much waste. I can't see how implementing a new program is going to work when we have programs now that we can't even get right.

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Posted by Ophelia

Posted by Babyaholic

Posted by jellybean1420



Sorry, I can't afford to pay for other people's healthcare anymore than I already do. Especially considering that if Obama has his way, 50% is going to be taken out of our checks in a few years for taxes opposed to the 30% that is now

I agree. This country is full of too much waste. I can't see how implementing a new program is going to work when we have programs now that we can't even get right.

THIS is exactly why having all the uninsured "simply" enroll in Medicaid will not work either. people are sick of paying for others. (pardon the pun)

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Re: The Cost of Health Care

Message edited 7/21/2009 11:58:54 AM.

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Posted by DRMom

Posted by annoyedTTCer

America’s 6 million to 8 million uninsured need help with health care bills

Between 6 million and 8 million Americans are chornically uninsured and need help when it comes to paying their medical bills, not the 45.7 million that advocates of socialized medicine are fond of citing.

Sally C. Pipes, an expert on the American and Canadian health insurance markets, is president and CEO of Pacific Research Institute, and she writes in the San Francisco Chronicle (Link no longer works) that:
The Census Bureau doesn’t tell us that 45.7 million people are chronically uninsured for the entire year. The agency has stated elsewhere that “the CPS estimate of the number of people without health insurance more closely approximates the number of people who are uninsured at a specific point in time during the year than the number of people uninsured for the entire year.“
In other words, many of the survey respondents counted as “uninsured” may have experienced only a temporary interruption in their insurance. This circumstance is quite common. When workers quit or lose their job, they are technically uninsured. But they are usually in transition between one employer-provided insurance policy and another.
Despite the media’s tendency to depict the 45.7 million uninsured as a single, homogeneous group, the demographic character of these individuals cuts across age, ethnic, and socioeconomic categories. Many are uninsured for reasons unrelated to cost and don’t need to be “rescued” by mandatory socialized medicine.
We may be accustomed to thinking of the uninsured as low-income individuals and struggling families. But the Census Bureau data show that many are relatively affluent. Over 17.5 million—38 percent—of the uninsured make more than $50,000 a year. And 9.1 million have an annual income of over $75,000 a year.
How can this be? In part, it’s because a number of financially comfortable young Americans choose not to purchase health insurance. Known in the healthcare trade as the “invincibles”—because they’re so sure they won’t get sick—these young singles would rather keep their money than shell out for expensive monthly insurance premiums because of the many mandates and regulations place on insurers by the states.
This intentional avoidance of health insurance is quite common. According to the Commonwealth Fund, Americans age 19-29 comprise one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the uninsured population.
If the fact that over a third of the uninsured are pulling down more than $50,000 a year isn’t shocking enough, how about this: Nearly 10 million uninsured aren’t even U.S. citizens!
It’s certainly unfortunate that these individuals don’t have health insurance, of course. But they can still get free treatment in emergency rooms. And even a fully nationalized healthcare system would be unlikely to provide them with health insurance.
Another 14 million of the uninsured are fully eligible for government assistance through programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP.
How does that break down? A 2008 study by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute showed that a whopping 70 percent of uninsured children are eligible for Medicaid, SCHIP, or both programs. And roughly 27 percent of non-elderly Americans who are eligible for Medicaid haven’t enrolled and simply live their lives without health insurance, according to the Urban Institute.
And, thus, she comes up with her estimate of 8 million uninsured Americans.
Over the years, I’ve blogged on other reports and Census Bureau data that shows there are about 6 million to 10 million uninsured.
The question remains: Do we want to give up our relative freedom to choose health care insurers and providers and to play important roles in making decisions about our health care just because only 6 million to 10 million are uninsured?
Do we want to create socialized medicine and hire Barack Obama or John McCain to determine our health care needs? Would that be better than having faceless bureaucrats at HMOs make such decisions? Most Americans have gotten out from under the HMO and PPO restrictions over the last dozen years or so.
Do we want to back slide to the days of HMOs times 100?
I don’t think so.

Can you provide a link to this? I always when I see spelling errors in a "news" article. Thanks

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Posted by DRMom

Posted by annoyedTTCer

America’s 6 million to 8 million uninsured need help with health care bills

Between 6 million and 8 million Americans are chornically uninsured and need help when it comes to paying their medical bills, not the 45.7 million that advocates of socialized medicine are fond of citing.

Sally C. Pipes, an expert on the American and Canadian health insurance markets, is president and CEO of Pacific Research Institute, and she writes in the San Francisco Chronicle (Link no longer works) that:
The Census Bureau doesn’t tell us that 45.7 million people are chronically uninsured for the entire year. The agency has stated elsewhere that “the CPS estimate of the number of people without health insurance more closely approximates the number of people who are uninsured at a specific point in time during the year than the number of people uninsured for the entire year.“
In other words, many of the survey respondents counted as “uninsured” may have experienced only a temporary interruption in their insurance. This circumstance is quite common. When workers quit or lose their job, they are technically uninsured. But they are usually in transition between one employer-provided insurance policy and another.
Despite the media’s tendency to depict the 45.7 million uninsured as a single, homogeneous group, the demographic character of these individuals cuts across age, ethnic, and socioeconomic categories. Many are uninsured for reasons unrelated to cost and don’t need to be “rescued” by mandatory socialized medicine.
We may be accustomed to thinking of the uninsured as low-income individuals and struggling families. But the Census Bureau data show that many are relatively affluent. Over 17.5 million—38 percent—of the uninsured make more than $50,000 a year. And 9.1 million have an annual income of over $75,000 a year.
How can this be? In part, it’s because a number of financially comfortable young Americans choose not to purchase health insurance. Known in the healthcare trade as the “invincibles”—because they’re so sure they won’t get sick—these young singles would rather keep their money than shell out for expensive monthly insurance premiums because of the many mandates and regulations place on insurers by the states.
This intentional avoidance of health insurance is quite common. According to the Commonwealth Fund, Americans age 19-29 comprise one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the uninsured population.
If the fact that over a third of the uninsured are pulling down more than $50,000 a year isn’t shocking enough, how about this: Nearly 10 million uninsured aren’t even U.S. citizens!
It’s certainly unfortunate that these individuals don’t have health insurance, of course. But they can still get free treatment in emergency rooms. And even a fully nationalized healthcare system would be unlikely to provide them with health insurance.
Another 14 million of the uninsured are fully eligible for government assistance through programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP.
How does that break down? A 2008 study by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute showed that a whopping 70 percent of uninsured children are eligible for Medicaid, SCHIP, or both programs. And roughly 27 percent of non-elderly Americans who are eligible for Medicaid haven’t enrolled and simply live their lives without health insurance, according to the Urban Institute.
And, thus, she comes up with her estimate of 8 million uninsured Americans.
Over the years, I’ve blogged on other reports and Census Bureau data that shows there are about 6 million to 10 million uninsured.
The question remains: Do we want to give up our relative freedom to choose health care insurers and providers and to play important roles in making decisions about our health care just because only 6 million to 10 million are uninsured?
Do we want to create socialized medicine and hire Barack Obama or John McCain to determine our health care needs? Would that be better than having faceless bureaucrats at HMOs make such decisions? Most Americans have gotten out from under the HMO and PPO restrictions over the last dozen years or so.
Do we want to back slide to the days of HMOs times 100?
I don’t think so.

Can you provide a link to this? I always when I see spelling errors in a "news" article. Thanks

ETA: also where does $50,000 make you "affluent." My son is on prescription formula that costs $1600 a month, rent is $1550 There goes my 50k Oh and hey! I make $75 k so I guess I can food shop for my family

Message edited 7/21/2009 12:05:50 PM.

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Posted by belladi

Posted by DRMom


ETA: also where does $50,000 make you "affluent." My son is on prescription formula that costs $1600 a month, rent is $1550 There goes my 50k Oh and hey! I make $75 k so I guess I can food shop for my family

CAUSE THE BOTTOM LINE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO WILL ACTUALLY BENEFIT FROM THIS PLAN IS EVERYONE BUT THE MIDDLE CLASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS..

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Posted by Ophelia

Posted by Babyaholic

Posted by Ophelia

Posted by belladi


It wil work if you have people contribute to it. Either way we are going to pay... Family health plus is designed to help those get affordable healthcare, the problem is the criteria is unrealistic. The income limits are too low. By increase the wage limits more people would have access and it would create revenue for these programs keeping our taxes from increasing

healthy NY

see for yourself

oh no, I don't disagree with you. I am talking about people complaining about their good taxpayers dollars going towards these programs in general.

I think, at least for me, when people complain about their good taxpayer dollars going towards these programs it's because money is not being used properly/wasted. My DH works in Medicaid. I hear stories that make my stomach turn on who is eligible and who it not. Blame the government on that one.

I can't see how implementing a new program that is being rushed is going to solve our health care problems. I agree something needs to be done, but I can't say that I am happy about the current offerings.

I agree that there are things that go on...fraud and abuses and the like that are sickening. I am up to my neck in it EVERY day.

but I think it's EXTREMELY important to separate the programs of MedicAID and Medicare and their individual problems.

MedicAID is a state-run (for the most part) program that has state control (would be a GREAT argument against states rights in health care reform though ) and MedicARE is Obama territory.

BIG difference.

I think we are also missing a BIG part of this which is PERSONAL responsibility.

just as I don't blame the govt when some jackoff breaks into my house and steals from me, the same holds true when some jackoff tries to defraud our medical billing systems.

if there is fraud, it's b/c WE THE PEOPLE are committing it.

yes, it sometimes takes a long time for MedicAID/ARE to catch on but it's mostly b/c of the sheer number of claims that come in each day.

but at the end of the day, there would be NO ONE to catch if NO ONE was perpetrating the crime.

the criminals are to blame. moreso than the institution IMO.

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Re: The Cost of Health Care

Just because I wasn't really clear in my last post. I am not even talking about people stealing money or fraud. I am talking about families who come in and are in desperate need of help having to be turned away cause they make too much money. When did we start considering 2 grand a month too much money??? Meanwhile, other people, undocumented, come in and they have no problem being approved. Since they are off the books, can't verify income - approval.

Re: The Cost of Health Care

Re: The Cost of Health Care

I can not understand what propaganda people are reading that leads them to believe that there is no competition, or no money spent on Research within socialised medicine....

People are still supporting the big pharmaceutical companies, who do pay for quite a lot of research, however the NHS pays for our prescriptions (we do make small co-payments.) Doctors work to targets regularly and their pay is based on hitting those targets. That sounds like competition to me...Doctors still make quite a bit of money...

And private health insurance here, well guess what, you still see NHS doctors...same doctors, just sometimes quicker appointments.

Its not perfect, but I would rather be in a situation like this, than a young person without health care in the US.

Re: The Cost of Health Care