Interesting system we have. Insurance companies stretch out the process in hopes you die before they have to pay on a claim. Of course, that is if you or your employer can afford insurance.
They borrow leftover prescription drugs from friends, attempt to self-diagnose ailments online, stretch their diabetes and asthma medicines for as long as possible and set their own broken bones. When emergencies strike, they rarely can afford the bills that follow.
“My first reaction was to start laughing — I just kept saying, ‘No way, no way,’ ” Alanna Boyd, a 28-year-old receptionist, recalled of the $17,398 — including $13 for the use of a television — that she was charged after spending 46 hours in October at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan with diverticulitis, a digestive illness. “I could have gone to a major university for a year. Instead, I went to the hospital for two days.”
In the parlance of the health care industry, Ms. Boyd, whose case remains unresolved, is among the “young invincibles” — people in their 20s who shun insurance either because their age makes them feel invulnerable or because expensive policies are out of reach. Young adults are the nation’s largest group of uninsured — there were 13.2 million of them nationally in 2007, or 29 percent, according to the latest figures from the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research group in New York.
[…]
Young adults are the nation’s largest group of uninsured — there were 13.2 million of them nationally in 2007, or 29 percent, according to the latest figures from the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research group in New York.
[…]
“There’s a big sense of urgency,” said Susan Sherry, the deputy director of Community Catalyst. She described uninsured young adults as especially vulnerable. “People are losing their jobs, and a lot of jobs don’t carry health insurance. They’re new to the work force, they’ve been covered under their parents or school plans, and then they drop off the cliff.”
#12, Mr. Confusion
and then there is that Article 1, Sec. 8, Cl. 3
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
So it is quite clear the Federal government has the authority to implement a single payer health care system.
Lol, happy to see you are still just as enamored with your “we can do anything we want because of the commerce clause” stance as ever. The Federal government wouldn’t even have the power to set up a post office if it hadn’t been explicitly granted it, and you think the commerce clause gives it the power to create a a compulsory universal healthcare system?
Sure, make fun of Europe and Canada’s high taxes. Meanwhile the US debt is larger than the GDP of the entire bloody world.
# 39 Woolly Mittens said, “Sure, make fun of Europe and Canada’s high taxes. Meanwhile the US debt is larger than the GDP of the entire bloody world.”
What idiots do you think hold that bad debt? Hmmm…
So why is having insurance dependent on your employer providing it?
How about trying to make insurance more affordable, and not based on employers trying to save money? Let people buy insurance from anywhere in the country, this should drop out the state mandates, and make insurance more affordable. Also, drop out the employer tax credits for health care, so it becomes an individual market, and you’re more likely to see insurance companies compete for services like the auto insurance market, and not just try and get a big block from businesses with everything else an afterthought.
#35, Cow-Patty,
So you can’t explain how this would be unconstitutional. The same as you can’t explain how regulating wages would be unconstitutional. Or they still have a debtors prison. Or Barney Frank blamed the voters for the corruption in Washington. Or any other bullshit claims?
What they don’t explain in the article is how much this 28 yr old would have had to pay in insurance the previous 10 years. I say she got the better end of the deal.
At least they are starting to acknowledge that the 40 million without health insurance is a little bogus. The number is more like 10 million, when you take out the young and rich who don’t want it, and those eligible for Medicaid but who haven’t gotten sick yet.
#4, Most of what the federal government does these days should be done by the states, but of course saying that doesn’t get you elected to congress
Well said. Put the election of senators back in the hands of the state legislatures.
#10, and bobbo, the typical Liberal, can’t seem to make a point without name calling and a ham-fisted hysterical tirade.
I’ll save you just a bit of trouble – I’m just a big selfish meanie too for not feeling some sense of moral obligation to pay for other people’s healthcare. But, like Bob, if the people are hell bent on having everything provided to them, I at least expect the Constitution to be properly amended (as was intended) so there exists an actual legal basis, instead of just going down the Mr. Fusion route of continually inventing new broad powers out of thin air, when even the guy who wrote the original blueprint for the Constitution said was not the intent (specifically of the commerce and general welfare clauses).
37,
No doubt that an executive of a billion dollar company can get a procedure quicker in the US. That has never been an issue. The problem in the US is the COMMON WORKING PERSON cannot afford to get ANYTHING done.
And you’re also aware that the rich Americans fly to India to get procedures done cheaper and better than in the US, right? Given enough, money will always flee to a cheaper place for more serivce. And with enough money, you can REALLY exploit the poor.
42,
Needlessly complicated. Look to the French system. Let me google that for you…
http://tinyurl.com/buurcu
#43, Fusion,
#35, Cow-Patty,
So you can’t explain how this would be unconstitutional.
Just because you want it to mean something doesn’t make it so. Here’s a link to an analysis of the different, yet more relevant in this case, general welfare clause with some context regarding what words actually meant when they were used and remarks by those who used them, which is a tad more than your shallow assertions are normally capable of providing.
Be advised that I have noticed one minor error in that the 10th Amendment is referred to as being the 12th.
http://connorboyack.com/blog/general-welfare
46,
So, I guess that you’re hanging outside the whitehouse every day protesting the massive changes to the legal framework outside of the constitution? Or will health-care be the one you fight against?
# 48 Sea Lawyer said, “Just because you want it to mean something doesn’t make it so.”
It’s been explained to him 100 times. This is his usual response to being owned on a thread. Remember his embarrassment about his girlfriend Barney Frank blaming voters for Daschle?
#12, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare
Promote the general welfare, not provide the general welfare.
Big difference.
Insured medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in this country.
Sounds terrible when you say it like that. It doesn’t sound so terrible when you say it is less than 1% of the population.
America spends more per capita on health care than any other nation by a long shot.
Don’t forget to add in the fact the already federal gov spends more than any other country for health care. And it’s still crap. Giving them total control would be TOTAL crap.
#31 Named- 5000 deductable… and you think that’s OK? Man, Americans have the oddest view on health care…
I can go to what ever doctor I want. I’m not told by some bureaucrat what I should eat or not eat. I can make an adult decision about what medications I want to take. My doctor gives me a service and I pay him for that service. I do the same with my accountant. I do the same with my grocer. I do the same with my auto mechanic. I don’t expect anyone else to pay for any of these services for me. I’m a big boy. And I do it on less than a auto worker’s salary….gasp.
It’s amazing what Canadians think is freedom and what they are entitled.
# 52 Robart said, “It’s amazing what Canadians think is freedom and what they are entitled.”
Why do you think they never gained independence and the Queen of England is still their head of state?
52
I can go to what ever doctor I want. – So can Canadians
I’m not told by some bureaucrat what I should eat or not eat. – Neither are we… but the government does promote a healthy lifestyle… something you Americans loathe.
I can make an adult decision about what medications I want to take. – Us too!
My doctor gives me a service and I pay him for that service. – My doctor does the same thing! Except, I don’t pay him directly.
I don’t expect anyone else to pay for any of these services for me. I’m a big boy. – And here is the crux of the difference. In a CIVILIZED society, bring those less fortunate basic and QUALITY healthcare is a good thing.
I hope you don’t get injured and can’t afford health care. Because your fellow Americans would be happy to throw your broken body into Skid Row so they don’t have to pay for you… And you’ll applaud them for it I guess. In fact, if you’re a “big boy” you’ll eliminate yourself as to not become a burden on the welfare system and those other hard working Americans. You won’t deserve the same air they breathe… being a cripple and poor and all that shit…
#38, & #46, SL,
… the Mr. Fusion route of continually inventing new broad powers out of thin air, when even the guy who wrote the original blueprint for the Constitution said was not the intent (specifically of the commerce and general welfare clauses).
Pray tell what “new powers” have I invented?
FYI, the Preamble is a nothing portion of the text. The most it can do is give insight to what the framers intended.
The Constitution has been upheld many times by the Supreme Court as the Supreme Law of the Land. Including the “Commerce Clause”.
#48, SL,
Here’s a link to an analysis of the different, yet more relevant in this case, general welfare clause with some context regarding what words actually meant when they … blah blah blah…
Ya ya, I want to read some stupid piece some asshole decided was not just his opinion but true. HE’S AN EFFEN BLOGGER for effen sakes!!!
#51, Loser,
So what is your point?
If health care costs are the leading cause of bankruptcies, how many get pushed to the edge but only lose their life savings?
# 54 Named said, “I hope you don’t get injured and can’t afford health care.”
It doesn’t work that way in the US. Gov’t health care is available to those who can’t afford it. The Octo mom & her kids will receive $5,000,000 worth of free care over the next year…
#50, Cow-Patty,
It’s been explained to him 100 times. This is his usual response to being owned on a thread. Remember his embarrassment about his girlfriend Barney Frank blaming voters for Daschle?
You have still not explained anything. Why? Because you are just a little baby troll. Unemployed. Living with your mother. You never were promoted out of the stock room. You don’t know the simple things that any manager would understand off the top. Geeze, you didn’t even make it past High School.
#27 – bobbo
Thank you, sir, for for letting me know there is nothing personal in your post. I’m going to respond to a couple of your comments, though.
First: “Right you are: YOU DON’T CARE its just all your patients that suffer from the lack of national healthcare. But you don’t care.” What I intended to indicate is that due to my work in foreign countries, at a salary far lower than most doctors in the USA, I don’t have a personal stake in the argument.. Right now, I am in SE Asia where health care is nationalized and woefully inadequate. It is painful to see since many of these national hospitals in Thailand sit within spitting distance of private hospitals that provide world-class care with excellent physicians and ancillary staff. I believe India and Thailand are the beneficiaries of the vast majority of health tourism.
Second: ” “If patients availed themselves”–why would they not? What aren’t you saying?” I’m not hiding anything, bobbo. You can’t drag a woman in off the street and force her to receive prenatal care. A lot of people will not go to a doctor – no matter the cost.
Third: “As I said, you remember the cost of certain discrete procedures going up in price. Even there, I’d bet money closer scrutiny would show your memory in error.” Bobbo, I was the department head, I was responsible for budgeting these costs and calculating their expenses. I won’t bet you anything because I have no way of collecting. I had to JUSTIFY these increases in costs. Yes, it’s been over 20 years and I don’t remember them all. But I promise you, since the x-ray department was not in my purvue, I did not mix up an echocardiogram with an x-ray. The costs I mentioned are not exact. In reality they were calculated down to pennies. But they are close.
Fourth: “Most incompetent docs are actually ignored.” I wouldn’t say MOST but you do have a good point. In private practice you can get away with a lot incompetency. The problem is that even a provate doc needs hospital priveleges. And that’s where they get tripped up. A lot do slip through, though (I could tell you some horror stories).
Last: “Again–nothing against YOU personally. Just that as an insider you offer nothing except lining your own nest.” I’m glad it’s not personal. Just in general, though, you’d hardly call me an insider. I keep my Texas license up to date but I have not practiced in the US for a couple of decades. Heck, I don’t even pay dues to the AMA, anymore. When I saw off someone’s leg, it’s more likely they stepped on a landmine than they have diabetes. You can call me a lot of things and I’ll just smile and wink at you. But – please don’t accuse me of being a medical insider and lining my own nest.
59,
if you are who you say you are, you are a credit to humanity.
But, if you don’t mind, one of the comments you made was about the juxtoposition of private/public in the same sphere.
In Canada, we have loads of private practices that function on a diagnostic level… So, you’re a high-powered exec and they demand you get a physical. So you go to this fancy private clinic where they do MRI’s CATs the whole nine yards and collect their 15K. Then they give you a print out of all your problems and send you to the public hospital to get worked on. Of course, there is nothing WRONG with you, but they have to justify the cost.
It’s almost like when a new CEO is brought in at a major corporation. he can’t say, “Well, everything here is just perfect. The last guy was the best. I’ll be at the gym.”
#55, Ya ya, I want to read some stupid piece some asshole decided was not just his opinion but true. HE’S AN EFFEN BLOGGER for effen sakes!!!
Your opinion is much more valid than that of some “effen blogger.” You’re just a random commenter on somebody else’s blog.
You post a clause and expect everybody else to just accept your overly broad conclusion about it, even though you have posted no insight or analysis of the historical context that would support it.
I’m certain you’ve read the Constitution, and I might even guess that you’ve taken a glance at the Federalist Papers (before you got scared off by the fact that is doesn’t generally support your beliefs about the role of the government). So you should be aware that the entire premise of the Constitution is that the federal government has only the powers it is explicitly granted. The onus is on you to show why the power to enact these programs exists in its present form, and not on Paddy-O or anybody else to prove that it doesn’t, as you are demanding.
So, start by telling us all how the federal government’s power to “regulate commerce” turns into the broad power to just take over an entire industry to do it itself. And please limit your answer to a discussion of what was the intended meaning by the people who actually wrote the law, and not the opinion of some effin’ blog commenter 220 years removed.
Or, we can redirect ourselves to a more appropriate discussion about amending the law… rather than just ignoring it.
#55, Poison Twin,
Ya ya, I want to read some stupid piece some asshole decided was not just his opinion but true. HE’S AN EFFEN BLOGGER for effen sakes!!!
Typical. Instead of arguing the case, you attack the source. This is really starting to become a habit with you.
#56, So what is your point?
If health care costs are the leading cause of bankruptcies, how many get pushed to the edge but only lose their life savings?
Unknown. Do you have a number? Until I have proof-positive it is a non-trivial number, I really don’t think it is worth discussing.
But here’s something to consider — most of the country has lost over half of their 401ks. Should the government stuff the money back into them? Or should the government promote an environment that is conducive to prosperity? The latter would allow everyone to afford it on their own.
SL, and not on Paddy-O or anybody else to prove that it doesn’t
That is a well known trick for strawmen — ask their opponent to prove a negative. It’s logically impossible and makes them feel as if they are correct. Some will even purposely ask that, knowing it cannot happen, thus falsely making their point. It only works on morans.
>In fact, it feels that the American WANTS his 1kg burger with .5kg bacon and 1.5 L soft drink for lunch and dinner EVERY DAY.
Step 2 after national health care, holding down costs by restricting freedom.
#63, Exactly. Once you accept money from someone, they become boss.
Best way to reduce health care costs is to encourage unhealthy behaviors. Smoking lowers the cost to Medicare by lowering life expectancy.
#65. Yep. Encourage homosexuality. That’ll shave about 20 years off the life expectancy. Help S.S. too.
#65, speaking of that… I’ve always found it interesting, and wholly unsurprising, that preschool programs are increasingly being funded by, or proposed to be funded by an increase in the tax on tobacco. This shows that the government is less concerned with reducing the health impact and social costs of tobacco use than it is in exploiting the inelastic demand of drug addicted citizens.