SiCKO- What Hospital Bills?

[halutzparilla]

well i'm afraid to share this but after seeng the movie Sicko, you can search youtube for trailers,

YouTube - SiCKO- What Hospital Bills?

<here one.
i was left but wondering are we all at the mercy of billionaires that runs pharmaceuticals and insurance company? why are we so afraid to be like others with it comes to the healthcare?

i'm not running a propaganda, but none the less this movie + experience in Nursing Home setup, made me but wonder, those the system working for us or against us...

its up to all of you to form your own willing conclusions. if you got time look where you can find this movie documentary and be enlighten by the other side of the story...

here is the movie url: SiCKO - The Official Site - In Theaters June 29th

i leave you to decide...

[Capper]

While i think the health care and pharmaceutical industries are a sham, I think even less of Michael Moore.

[halutzparilla]

putting Michael Moore aside, this is much true. the manipulations of papers in the health care industries are enormous in magnitude.

Insurance has the monopoly of our health for as long as this continue, we can never have the most prompt medical attention we need.

[fstroupe]

You missed the entire point. The trailer and the movie in general are advertisements for President Hillary's socialized health care plan.

Why do you think that the American heath care system is so expensive? Because of our other two socialized medical plans, Medicare and Medicaid. The rest of us are footing the bill for the shortcomings of those two plans.

Yeah, its not hard to find horror stories here. Its not hard to find them in the countries that do have socialized medicine too, but the Michael Moores of the world don't publicize that. They are too busy trying to destroy America.

[MantaBase]

Originally Posted by fstroupe

Why do you think that the American heath care system is so expensive? Because of our other two socialized medical plans, Medicare and Medicaid. The rest of us are footing the bill for the shortcomings of those two plans.

That makes no math sense.

It sounds like it does - but it really doesn't.

The rest of us are footing the bill for the for profit insurance and health care industry. A % of my monthly insurance bill goes to pay for someone's new house and car (far nicer ones than I have - or ever will) - as well as the amenities of share holders et al. The annual sum is far higher than what I pay to the Fed for keeping the "social" programs of Medicare and Medicaid floating (barely) - and that payment is far higher than any cost passed to you or I for short comings (by magnitudes).

I've had a great deal of experience with the health care industry in the last year and a half. I can promise you that our system is costing you and I far more in money and actual "health" than you think.

I love it when people say thing like if we switch it could mean an increase in taxes at much as $400 a year. Hell - I would pay $1200 - and still be saving money.

Instead I pay nearly twice that much for a system that is broken. Dangerously so. I watched it nearly kill my father until I was able to step in. While I watched our friend have to choose between walking with a cane for the rest of her life or going bankrupt on a common procedure her provider didn't want to cover (it was considered experimental even though its been done for over 30 years). And, while i consoled and looked for cash to cover a $3k MRI for someone who had been in an auto accident and her insurance said it was not pre-approved (in a twist, I just found out my insurance company does not pre-approve procedure - you just wait and see if they will cover it)

I'm finished with the political kool-aid. Social Health care is not socialism anymore than having a standing military is. It's only insurance lobbyists who want you to think that.

I'm not voting for Hillary
I'm not a fan of Micheal Moore.

I'm just not dumb anymore and I'm not listening to the RNC lobbist infected crap that's spewing over the airwaves.

/rant! - I'll ban myself later.

BTW - no offense to you Fstroupe, I just disagree on this one - strongly

[fstroupe]

Actually, I don't think that I have ever heard any republican politician or pundit claim that Medicare or Medicaid is to blame. If I have, it was after I decided long ago that they were damaging the system... long before the current crisis was big enough for anyone to pay attention.

I'm not defending the insurance companies or the insurance lobbyists. I hate them as much as you do. I resent the fact that over the years they have taken advantage of situations that force everyone to use their services. Hell, even the government forces you to use them. There's a $1000 fine here if you get caught without auto insurance. (different insurance...same companies)

And I'm not really that concerned with the increased taxes that a socialized health care plan will cost me. I have been paying nearly $3700 a year for my particular insurance plan (though I just opted for one much less expensive), I doubt that a government run plan will cost me that much. I pay more for insurance than for federal income tax, so even if my tax bill doubled, I'd come out ahead.

What I am concerned about is that involving the government in any public enterprise is a losing situation, and involving the government in our health care system more than it already is will further deteriorate it. The government is not a business. It has never made a profit. Most of the career politicians and bureaucrats that run it have never run a business and never made a profit. Neither Hillary nor Michael Moore have ever run a business or made a profit. None of these people have any appreciation of your dollar, my dollar, or a business's dollar...including a health care business. And though regulations are necessary to control those whose greed would harm us or our environment, the government has screwed up or destroyed every industry it has gotten involved in. The health care system is no different.

And I don't buy the rhetoric spewed by the DNC...that the entire problem has been created by the evil insurance industry, evil pharmaceutical industry and the evil health care providers, and all will be well if you vote for us and let us save you.

There is one other model of US Government run health care...the veterans' health care system. That's another thread so I won't even go there.

Keep in mind, that although most people feel that health care is a God-given right, hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices, radiological firms, medical labs, etc, etc, are opened to make a profit for the people that invest in them. Profit is not a bad word. I'm not going so far as to say that doctors go into medicine to get rich, I'm sure that many do, but all of the doctors that I have known pre-med school went into it to help people.

Take my mother, who passed away last year, was on Medicare. In the last year of her life, her MD bills were over $100,000. In the last few weeks of her life, they were another $100,000. Actually, probably more. Out of all of that, it cost my dad maybe $1000. Now, Michael Moore and Hillary, along with many other people, would say that was a successful situation. I might too, if it had been a rich insurance company footing the bill. But no, the US Government paid it....the American taxpayer.

And since Medicare caps what it will pay for most procedures, and the medical providers know that, they charged $200,000 instead of the probably $75,000 that they were worth, to ensure they secured ample payment. And hey, if they got a little extra, hell, its just the government.

I haven't mentioned waste fraud and abuse, which isn't stealing...its the government. LOL They've pretty much stopped it now, but it wasn't very long ago that you could walk into most hospital emergency rooms most evenings, and they would be full of mothers with children...on Medicaid. Uncle Sugar gets a $300-$500 bill because her child had the sniffles. (the need for 24 hour clinics is a different problem altogether, I've heard that they are getting more popular)

I'm not claiming innocence on the part of the insurance companies. These higher costs have cut into their huge profits, and they are desperate to come up with ways to restore them. There are horror stories everywhere about denied procedures or treatment, etc. I don't think that it will be any better if the government gets more involved.

The problem with the whole thing is that everyone else pays the inflated prices, including people without insurance. And usually, the latter can't pay, declares bankruptcy, and the providers get zilch. Which causes the providers to inflate prices even more, to try to recoup some of the losses. (which is so so stupid...but most hospitals would rather lose the money rather than come up with a payment plan)

I don't profess to have an answer. But in my heart of hearts, I know that getting the government involved in providing health care to all isn't the answer.

[Capper]

I've actually read where socialized healthcare, while it sounds good, has been a failure in Canada and England.

Healthcare costs are caused by insurance companies and doctors.......not just in insurance costs to us, but for the doctors who have to have malpractice insurance, etc. Then you have doctors gouging insurance companies, who pass the ass raping on to you and me.

The healthcare industry is the biggest sham in this country, and it doesn't have one political group or the other in its pocket, it has all the politicians in its pocket.

[Fasttazz]

Why would they want to help us get healthy?
Healthy people dont visit doctors,therefore there would be no Paying customers.

[Capper]

Good lord man.......Right now, if I were asked to picture you, you'd be living in an underground bunker in a National Forest, eating chipmunks, and crapping in a pickle jar

[Fasttazz]

OK, then why do you say that Healthcare is a "SHAM"?