2y ago

Health insurance

96 comments

This joke is so American
- Laughs in Europe

Man do I feel bad for you Americans when I see this shit.
So many Americans justify it as well... I can mention it on reddit and I'll get viciously attacked defending that shit healthcare system.
It's hands down, the worst in western civilization.
- In that aspect I see the US as a developing country.
  
  I sometimes refer the US in discussions as "worlds richest 3rd world country"
  
  I'm thinking of calling it the post-developed country where all the goodwill of the generations past rotted into a nasty, greedy mess
  
  Ah, but our healthcare system is the best in the world—for shareholders. It's a highly advanced system for extracting money from people with health problems.
- I remember seeing Gene Simmons getting interviewed on TV here (UK) and he started talking about how great private healthcare is. If I remember right it was a weird tangent from the question he was asked. It felt like he had Stockholm syndrome.
  
  Gene Simmons is an ultracapitalist bastard who only went into rock music for the money. Fuck Kiss. I don't listen to that shit.
- That amazes me. Our healthcare system is terrible; I have no idea how people defend it.

Had a relative in a car accident. They climbed out the vehicle, walked to the ambulance, and took their suggestion to get looked over at the ED.
Nothing needed but an X-ray then a CT to make sure the spine was fine. Doc saw them for all of 10min. Most of the time was spent doing nothing, alone, waiting for a ride in a mostly empty rural ED.
Bill comes. $15k.
I did charges in the 2000s as part of my ED tech duties. Back then the stroke/heart attack go to ICU or get prepped for life flight charge, the most acute of 5 tiers of service was ~$2.5k. The lowest, say getting a ring cut off, was less than $200.
I know costs have risen in the last 20 yrs but how the fuck do you go from what is at a very generous at most a tier 3 for ~$1k to $15k. AND that CT scan, 90% of what happened there, was billed separate.
AFTER Medicare, the ED bill is $1.8k. Imaging is $800, and the ambulance ride, that didn’t even put in an IV, is $1.9k.
So an elderly person on a fixed social security income is getting billed almost $5k for a ride, a glorified wait for my ride room, and a CT.
One non displaced broken rib btw, that’s it.
$15k. Is ring removal in ED now $15k a pop? I just don’t know. Or is a remote, empty ED soaking anyone who goes because they don’t have lines out the door and around the block like city EDs do?
Either way, that’s several months of social security to pay for it while not buying groceries or driving.
- AND many hospitals have lobbied local governments to make it illegal for Uber to take you to the hospital, ensuring their sweet, sweet ambulance profits.
  
  Guess I'm taking Lyft then

I have cancer and diabetes, and aside from the premiums insurance costs me a minimum of $4,250 every fucking year, plus stuff they refuse to cover.
And I found out the hard way that you're better off dead than getting air medivacced, a delightful experience I've had twice.
The first time I told the ER head to just let me die. The cost of a hundred mile flight was over $80,000.
The second time, this February was over $143,000, but by then I had gotten air transport insurance. Which of course initially denied the claim.
In the U.S. you are just meat that is harvested for money.
- by then I had gotten air transport insurance. Which of course initially denied the claim.
  Leave it to the ridiculous American insurance system to invent an insurance package for something so obscure and specialized that almost nobody would ever need it, collect your premiums, and have them still refuse to pay out a claim when someone does try to actually use it.
  
  "Well, he probably didn't need to be airlifted because of... what was it again?"
  "His car was hit by a car and went down the side of a mountain into an area that they couldn't get to by road."
  "Right, he probably didn't need to be airlifted because of that. He just chose to get airlifted."
  — air transport insurance, probably
- For that kind of money I would start a new life in a normal country and have decent healthcare.
  
  Back when I was on reddit I had seen few people who had left america for other countries mainly in the Europe region because america is a shithole
- Another reason I'm glad I don't live in the un-united shithole of america

Good insurance won't, but the problem is, most companies don't provide "good" insurance. In most cases you are better off without it.
One company I worked for had the worst insurance I've ever seen.
I paid like $180 per paycheck JUST FOR ME! and I had no co-pay woooooHhhOoooo! Well anytime I'd go to the doctor i'd be fucked, with one visit really sticking out in particular: I went in knowing I had strep throat and just needed a doctors note. Doc took one look (didn't do any tests or anything because it was really obvious) said "yep, you've got strep. " gave me my note, and I was oit of there in like 5 minutes... A week later? A $200 bill…. What…. The…. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!? Yeah bad insurance will ruin you.
- If you had no co pay you wouldn't have had a $200 bill ( unless you went out of network and then fuck you for wanting to have a choice)
  
  Found the European (or just someone young who doesn't know much about typical insurance shell-gaming).
  You have no copay, but most insurance plans include any non-preventative visit in the deductable. That means you are responsible for 100% of the bill until your $1500/yr deductible (in as low deductible-plan, a LOT higher in most plans) is reached. To look like they're actually doing something, they treat the negotiated rate from the doctor's MSRP as a "discount" (the doctor says $300, the insurance negotiates you to $200). The really ugly irony of that, is that if you were uninsured, many offices would have given you an NP for $70, and some have an "uninsured rate" of like $150.
  
  Nope, in network, that's just how their insurance worked.
- The only time you're better off without insurance is if you never use it.
  The insurance company isn't only paying part of the bill, even if it's ridiculously expensive and pays laughably little of the bill.
  They're also negotiating the price down. Without insurance you're pretty much bare assed to the healthcare industry, who can and will charge you whatever they want. They'll charge you for every individual wet wipe at hilariously inflated prices. They'll charge you for the presence of a tray in your room to set a drink down on. When a nurse pops her head in for 30 seconds suddenly you're billed for an hour of her time. And you're stuck with that bill, no matter what, without insurance.
  The insurance company will require them to verify the hours billed, they'll reject charges for shit they shouldn't be billing for, and negotiate down the price of stuff they can bill for.
  The difference even for simple visits can but several thousand dollars. For more serious visits the sky is the limit.
  
  This isn't necessarily true. I've seen and heard of multiple doctors who had a lower price for those without insurance.
  
  The only time you’re better off without insurance is if you never use it.
  This is absolutely not true. I have a high-risk, high-expense family member on my plan. Most years, we reach her deductible at the very end of the year and we're ultimately paying all that money for "a rate plan". Of the years we crossed the deductible and the insurance covered much of anything, it was still less than the $12,000 we shelled out that year in all but one case. In that one case, we saved about $5000, still a bit less than the overall money they've made off us. Literal cancer wasn't enough to make health insurance a good investment.
  We still need it for three reasons. First, "what if you end up needing $100,000 or more in medical procedures". Second "the doctor won't be able to see you for 6 months unless you're insured" (though this sometimes goes the other way). And finally, it's a lot less of a financial drain through my employer as a pre-tax expense. Napkin math makes it $3-4000/yr saved in taxes.
  They’re also negotiating the price down. Without insurance you’re pretty much bare assed to the healthcare industry, who can and will charge you whatever they want
  This might surprise you, but many offices have "uninsured rates" because hitting someone with a $2000 bill for 5 minutes of time is a great way to have someone in collections for years and not actually see the money. They often do that alongside inferior service like an NP instead of a Doctor, but I've never found an office or hospital group who didn't do something for uninsured folks. And you're missing that they charge these things for insured folks much of the time to leverage their negotiated rates with hospitals.
  The insurance company will require them to verify the hours billed, they’ll reject charges for shit they shouldn’t be billing for, and negotiate down the price of stuff they can bill for.
  Oh, you're not talking about usual hospital bullshit? You're talking about fraud? Yeah. You call them on it once and that disappears from an entire bill. Most hospitals around here don't do it anymore because there's too much attention on them. TBH, the same hospitals you're talking about are are often getting away with coding fraud, which is still reaching the patient's wallet.
  The difference even for simple visits can but several thousand dollars. For more serious visits the sky is the limit.
  The "sky is the limit" is basically the only time insurance is cheaper than not being insured. And why the government really needs to become a singlepayer for healthcare costs.
- I went to see a gastrointestinal specialist two weeks ago and also had a five minute visit where he didn't really listen to me about my issues and told me to call back in two weeks. I did, gave all my symptoms in detail to the nurse. A different nurse took two days to reply and the doctor still didn't listen to my problem. Or I guess didn't read it. And he's the only gastrointestinal doctor in town. All the others within a 90 minute drive are either not taking new patients or won't see me for 3 months, at which point, it will be too late. I haven't eaten in 22 days. I'm basically fucked until I end up in a hospital.
  Please no medical advice. Thank you.
- I feel like the total bill without insurance would've been even more? Idk
  
  Nope, when I ditched my insurance from that company and had to go to my regular doctor, it was $65 up front and I didn't see another bill. It was the most bullshit thing I've experienced.

I'll never be able to finance a car over $15k and I'll never be able to afford a home.
What difference does it make? Might as well be free.
- What an upsetting thought, why is this our only option?

Have medical bills? Why not make and sell meth? The fact that breaking bad wasn't satirical was a crime.
- Or move to another place like Europe
- Also the movie John Q

Obviously it’s a joke, but get insurance. Thanks to the affordable care act they have a maximum out of pocket cost (for what is covered) and will save you from ruin.
- for what is covered
  This is doing some really heavy lifting.
  
  Yeah it sucks, but a lot of common costs are covered, like going to the ER after an accident.
- $400/mo for me. No thank you. Unless I want insurance that sucks absolute balls.
  
  It is often called catastrophic insurance, it doesn’t cover much day to day costs, but when you get a $50,000 bill it would cover $42,000.
- No, do not get insurance. It is a waste of time and money.
  
  I'm paying a $2000 bill right now. Without insurance, it would be more like $50,000. And a surgery I had last year, they delayed because the insurance company didn't want to cover it at first and we would have to give them $1500 up front. Thankfully, that got taken care of. Still had to pay that $1500 though. I just could pay it in installments.

No wonder the Brazilian universal healthcare system (SUS) is constantly bombarded and attacked from all sides, just think of all the profit$ being "lost". It's far from ideal and full of horror stories, but when you do manage to get medical attention, chances are good you'll be well treated and cared for.
- It's Conservatives everywhere attacking those countries with public healthcare. Healthcare should be universal and freely covered without the fear of bankruptcy. American insurance companies are a scam and you can guarantee there's some foreign meddling happening in your country by Americans.
  
  Hasn't america's CIA meddled with other countries before by assassinating people and members of government
  If I recall correctly they assassinated left wing government members in the past
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Condor#:~:text=Operation%20Condor%20(Spanish%3A%20Operaci%C3%B3n%20C%C3%B3ndor,leaders%20in%20South%20America%20from
- I gave my Brazilian friend quite a bit of money for a CT at a private clinic. The public clinic (hospital?) supposedly was totally overbooked for this kind of examination so they had some kind of lottery going on for appointments.
  Could of course also be that my friend scammed me, not sure.
  
  Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for that kind of thing to happen. CT scanners aren't common because they're expensive as fuck, as is its maintenance. Not every public hospital has it and if it's underfunded, that's usually one of the first equipments to stop working, because that maintenance money will pay for higher priority materials.

The NHS has its problems but I'm so fucking grateful we don't have to put up with this bullshit.
- you don't have to put up with this bullshit yet

Insurance means they get paid next month, not years after a legal battle.
- Ah, ok. Guess I'll just die then.

I live in Germany and I just had hernia surgery. The entire procedure including appointments leading up to surgery a couple weeks ahead of time and post-op appointments over a couple weeks after came up to 905€, TOTAL... my copay was 45€. And I have the expensive private insurance that gives me access to single person hospital rooms and my procedure is done by the hospital chief surgeon
- Oh, look at fancy angeben over here, gloating about his functional healthcare system that doesn't bring his country to it's knees, but instead strengthens it. Next your going to tell us that the education system is ausgezeichnet and doesn't leave most students financially crippled. The nerve of some people. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go study up on which wealthy hyper-geriatric politician is going to represent my interests!
  PS: I totally didn't have to google translation for those words because of my superior American education!

( · _ ) ·
- Pugs be like

Me, with Spain's default free insurance wondering where do I pay.
- Me in the U.S. with $2000 of medical bills just from office visits. And I have "good" insurance.

If I bought insurance I'd be paying way more than I pay out of pocket for my routine healthcare because I'd never meet the deductable, and being insured , the visit would be priced higher. I pay a cash price that is lower . If some catastrophic injury occurred, I couldn't afford it insured or not so fuck it. I also live accordingly , I think we all do consciously or unconsciously, live with a certain amount of fear of financial ruin due to sickness or injury. Instead if eating the rich, they are apparently eating us.

I've thought about it.
One of my kids spent 10 months in New Zealand working with a Maori tribe to mediate with the government over fishery issues.
If Trump wins this election, I'm done.
- I've decided even if he doesn't, the system is so fucked up that "fixing" it will be worse for me anyways. I'm out as soon as mil kicks the bucket.

It was kind of bizarre.
REACH provided the insurance and the helicopter and then rejected the $143 grand claim.
The funny thing was, I heard the pilots talking and they had to go to my destination to meet another copter's pilots anyway.
I will say it was one hell of a beautiful ride.
I was in a coma the first time. There was a million acre wildfire up north and they had to commandeer a plane. All the helis were providing support to firefighters on the ground.

'MURICA!!!!!

Why is muscleman employed at a hospital

HA HA HA goes back to crying

From personal experience. No it will not.
- Well, hopefully John Oliver will do another special on medical debt and create another medical debt collector agency whose purpose is to free you from medical debt. Because that's probably your best hope. You know... a British dude that feels bad for Americans... that's... that's how this should work right?
  
  To be fair, he has American citizenship, so he is an American.

Well...

I know that it’s not going to apply to everyone in every situation but if you utilize healthcare services, like if you have a family. Then it’s actually a really good deal. I’ve basically hit my deductible every year just a few months into the plan year ever since I had kids. I’d also recommend putting at least as much as what deductible is onto an FSA card so you don’t get taxed on that money as well.
Now of course when I was single and the health insurance was basically just so I didn’t get ruined due to catastrophic injury, I complained about it immensely.
- It's still a rather bad deal due to the inflated prices for health care in the US.
- To be honest, still sounds like a bad deal. We just see it from different perspectives. Even the concept of a deductible sounds like a bad deal.
  
  Tottaly

Less than 3% of us bankruptcy is medical.

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