Fifty Per Cent Of Personal Bankruptcy Claims in US Due To Medical Costs

by hillary_step 51 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  fairchild

  Coming from the UK it is astonishing to me that an affluent nation as is the US, cannot provide better protection for the health and welfare of its citizens. I was especially astonished by the fact that insurance companies withdraw their coverage while a person is sick and in need of help. What happens to a person who has no cash and no insurance?

  To Europeans, this often comes as a surprise. In the USA, insurance is a very strange thing. I too was shocked when I found out. Even for people who do have health insurance, it is still different compared to Europe. It is sad indeed. I have lived in the US on and off for over 12 years now. I don't have health insurance. A minor surgery in 1997 ate up my entire life savings. I paid for everything and it wasn't cheap. A year later, 1998, I had saved a bit again. The money suddenly left my savings account after a trip to the hospital (cut my finger off). Back to saving again, until I slipped and fell in February of 2000, I was carrying a huge pot of beef stock which had just boiled. Third degree burns, more than enough of them to be in the hospital. Once again my savings went back to zero. After that, I started saving again, right until January of 2004, when pneumonia and kidney stones put me in the hospital. I just finished paying off on that one last month and I am down to no money at all. Starting to save again until next time I get sick. It sucks, don't get me going.

  Do you want to know what happens to people who have no insurance and no cash? Sigh. Too many people I know are in that situation. It is actually worse when you DO have money. If you really don't have any money, you can apply for some kind of financial aid (but even with that, your life is still ruined, as they will take everything you have first). People like me, who work hard and don't waste their money are in a bad situation, as they are not eligible for financial aid, because they have some savings in the bank.
• 

  Bonnie_Clyde

  At the last circuit assembly I attended (over a year ago), our circuit overseer mentioned that there brothers who were concerned about health insurance. He said not to be overly concerned because shortly the new order would here and we would enjoy perfect health.

  How do like that solution?
• 

  freedom96

  I would be in favor of some sort of medical plan for all citizens of the United States.

  So, where do we get the money from?

  My suggestion is we start with the money that we loan give to foreign countries that eagerly take our money but don't really give a rats ass about us anyway.

  That money could easily supplement what is actually needed in order to have a decent health care program.
• 

  bebu

  Fairchild, have you looked into catastrophic health insurance? It's cheaper but at least there are limits (out-of-pocket limits per year).

  HS, I think that the ever-rising expectation of outcomes and treatment also has a great influence. When the standards in medicine are raised because of new understandings for diagnosis, medical treatments, etc, every doctor must meet them; he must prescribe every test to avoid being sued for malpractice. A lot of medicine is CYA, therefore. Doctors are under immense stress to be PERFECT.

  Tort reform is one essential ingredient in bringing costs back down from the stratosphere. That is, putting a cap on damages for the "suffering" part of a malpractice lawsuit can make a huge difference. Right now, there is NO cap and juries award plaintiffs millions in awards for suffering.

  Tort reform will also help communities stop the hemorrhaging of doctors who have left the state due to ridiculous malpractice premiums they must pay. I lost my own FP because of this last year, and a brilliant surgeon in town moved out of state last year because her premiums went from $27k a year to $270k a year!!! They rose simply because a frivolous lawsuit was filed against her (and settled out of court by the insurance co., to save court costs).

  bebu
• 

  hillary_step

  Bebu,

  Well I have to say it has been a real eye-opener to me to read this thread.

  I have been a frequent and often long term visitor to the US and have noticed over the years a growing cynicism towards the whole structure of national health in the US. I can well understand why. It seems so tragic to me that those who are at the most vunerable end of US society have been abandoned to their destiny and that governments seem impotent in dealing with this whole issue.

  The system has failed its citizens and it should be an obligation of its government to find out what has gone wrong and attend to it. The first thing they might do is recognize the limitations of capitalism in defining their road to national health and look to other countries with similar political ideologies but who also have an element of social justice injected into their health systems.

  'No child left behind', yes, but how about 'no citizen left without health treatment'?

  HS
• 

  mkr32208

  My father-in-law is the second highest paid pepsi employee in the state of florida and yet is constantly on the verge of bankruptcy due to my mother-in-law's medical bills. They have some sort of insurance that is an 80-20 split and her medical bills cost them at least 30k a year not including medications... She's actually coming back from the Mayo clinic in Washington DC today (flying into jacksonville the day before the super bowl... yep thats thinking ahead ) but this one week treatment will cost them 10-20k easy plus her expenses up and back (hotel airfare etc...) My wife's insurance through bellsouth with the two kids cost 1500 a month. The employer pays it but thats just another way of saying you won't get paid as much... You DO pay it in the long run! The system NEEDS overhauling thats for damn sure but I dont' think socialized medicine is the solution either... Gotta admit I don't know what is!
• 

  upside/down

  I used to work as a Division Manager for Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Just like when I was a Dub I believed in the system as long as it was working for me (assumed it was working for everyone else-wrong). As I enjoyed COMPLETE coverage at a decent rate.

  Fast forward 15 years... no inurance at all and pre-existing conditions that will forever keep me from getting it. The good news in the USA is that if you're rich you can afford ins. and health care. If you're poor the government pays 100% of the bill (Medicaid) which is what my kids get. I am the only one left out of the loop. Oh well, it could be worse. But if I were in need of emergency care the hospitals here, by law, HAVE TO TREAT ME! The bad news here is all the people in the "middle". They stand to lose everything if a catastrophic medical problem crops up!

  What I never see though (correct me if I'm mistaken) is everyone bitches about the sky high cost of health care and only attacks the insurance companies (deservedly so). What about the doctors? Who the hell is making all the money? The doctors, ins. co's and pharmacists (drug company dealers) have the market sown up as it were. I can't get a simple prescription without first going to the MD and then to the pharmacist. I go down to Mexico and buy the same stuff LEGALLY on the street for a fraction of the cost.

  MEDICINE is a SNARE AND A RACKET!!! And i't BIG BUSINESS (one of the biggest). They have us all by the balls.

  I think their demise will be just like the French revolution when finally no one can afford it anymore-- "Let them eat cake!"

  u/d (of the I can't solve all the worlds problems in one day class)
• 

  upside/down

  The system has failed its citizens and it should be an obligation of its government to find out what has gone wrong and attend to it

  That's is where you will have a fundamental debate and battle of ideologies (Dem vs. Rep) in this nation. There are two polarized camps of view one leaning toward old fashioned self reliance (antiquated to say the least, although with merit) and socialistic reliance (neither practical or economically feasible).

  We need something in the middle. I'm not exactly sure what, but eventually need and the market will dictate. So for now I eat my veggies and avoid bungy jumping and stay AWAY from the doc's.

  Alas, a "new system" would sure be nice. "The rich stay healthy, while the sick stay poor" - U2 & BoDiddly

  u/d
• 

  bigboi

  It is actually worse when you DO have money.

  Sadly, this is a true statement. Sometimes it's pretty bad when you have insurance too. To get fair treatment it's almost like you have to be really poor or really rich.
• 

  hillary_step

  MKR,

  The system NEEDS overhauling thats for damn sure but I dont' think socialized medicine is the solution either... Gotta admit I don't know what is!

  Well, I have lived in a number of countries with some sort of measure of socialized medicine and while it is not perfect, *every* citizen of those lands is entitled to medical care and subsidised medicines.

  It seems to me that the US system is not just flawed, it is close to being barbaric.

  HS