Health Insurance's balanced billing woes - Page 5 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

DieselAddict · #61 10-02-2009, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Trust is EARNED, not given. So, not without a good dose of GHB. Nice thing about private insurance is that the govt, like the traffic cops are always waiting to earn a few bucks by levying fines for misdeeds. IOW, there is one more layer of control. One of the reasons I moved to USA is that it was easier for me to change the environment than to change the govt. I would assume the same is true here too. A few years back, I got pissed by my HMO. I went to another one. How do I change my govt as easily?

As stated in my previous post changing insurance companies is not an option for everyone. If you have a qualifying pre-existing condition and a lapse in coverage they won't do business with you. Plus the polices are so expensive that few people can really afford them individually unless it's a crappy benefits package. And with the in and out-of-network BS, there's really very little choice in our health care. I must say if you moved to the USA because of its health care then you are quite foolish. I moved here despite of it (well actually I didn't really know much about it), not because of it. And who said anything about having to change the govt? All we were really talking about is the public option where people would purchase insurance directly from the govt if they like. Heaven forbid we would have more choice and competition in the marketplace. I know you're going to say the govt will compete unfairly. To that I say BS. The competition between public and private universities and between the Postal Service and Fedex and UPS is working just fine and no competent private entity is going out of business because of it.

aklim · #62 10-02-2009, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DieselAddict

As stated in my previous post changing insurance companies is not an option for everyone. If you have a qualifying pre-existing condition and a lapse in coverage they won't do business with you. Plus the polices are so expensive that few people can really afford them individually unless it's a crappy benefits package. And with the in and out-of-network BS, there's really very little choice in our health care.

I must say if you moved to the USA because of its health care then you are quite foolish. I moved here despite of it (well actually I didn't really know much about it), not because of it. And who said anything about having to change the govt?

All we were really talking about is the public option where people would purchase insurance directly from the govt if they like. Heaven forbid we would have more choice and competition in the marketplace.

I know you're going to say the govt will compete unfairly. To that I say BS. The competition between public and private universities and between the Postal Service and Fedex and UPS is working just fine and no competent private entity is going out of business because of it.

And changing govt is easier? The only way someone gets voted out of office is if they have more "hot" issues against them than the other guy. So, for us to vote Senator X out of office, it will mean that he not only pissed us off on healthcare but he pissed us off on many other things. So, even if we all hated his stance on healthcare, but he did other things we liked, we'd probably end up keeping him. If I don't like my insurance company, I would think it is easier for me to change them on 1 issue as opposed to getting rid of a senator on that one issue.

It was "a" reason and not the only one. I feel much more comfortable with having the proverbial gun against the doctor's head as opposed to the govt controlling the doctor and thus protecting him in Singapore. Right now, I feel even more comfortable having my wife watch over the doctors just to make sure they are not snowing me. We go there and I already have a diagnosis and a treatment plan. I just need their rubber stamp for insurance purposes. For my regular doctors that I see often and if I feel good about them, I would be inclined to see them without my "bodyguard".

As long as people can freely purchase what they want and not be somehow maneuvered into it, sure. More choice is better. But can we trust that it will be a decently running item and not become a cash cow for the govt in times of "need"? How can we trust the accounting that ensure this when we can't even trust what they put out for other things? That is, unless you consider this to be a new item and therefore the counter goes back to zero and the past is the past.

I see. So if the business adapts to unfair competition, life is good. If it fails to adapt, bad business. I shoot you and you die, I am at fault. You live, I did nothing wrong. Maybe you could explain to my wife's friend why MIPPA prevents her from telling medicare people about her service. IOW, if they come to you, fine. You cannot tell them about yourself.

DieselAddict · #63 10-02-2009, 08:23 PM

Let's move over to just that other thread. It's hard enough to have a single discussion with you, let alone 2 parallel ones.