no matter what you think of MM, the movie "Sicko" provides an insider view into how the so-called 'health system' works. Hopefully, you and yours will never get caught up in the train wrecks that are shown in the movie. On the other hand, if it happened to them, it could happen to you.

The movie is about people who currently have health insurance coverage. It isn't about people who do not have health insurance. It exposes the false sense of security that people who have health coverage feel.

Knowledge is power and if you have higher knowledge of exactly how the system works, you are in the driver's seat. OTH, if the other guy knows and understand more, then you are in a position of weakness. One thing I've learned in this life is no matter how much I think I know about a given subject, there is always SOMETHING I don't know but should know or should have known. Otherwise, the other guy can use my lack of knowledge against me.

Thus, viewing the movie might give you additional knowledge to save your behind should an all out war break out between you, the hospital and the health insurance company.

sometimes, when people move or change addresses, the hospital bills may not arrive in their mail box. the hospital then assumes that the patient is trying to stiff them when in reality, the patient never received the notice. the hospital then turns the bill over to a collection agency and things go downhill from there. happens all the time.

So could winning the megabucks lottery. The question is "what are the odds for that confluence of events?" There is that show "1000 ways to die". Well, sure it is amusing, assuming it is true but what are the odds of that ridiculous series of events that will occur that will make some obscure item relevant to your death? If the odds are small enough, I'm not going to spend my life worrying.

I agree something can go wrong but once again, what are the odds? The movie will pander to someone like you who wants a 100% guarantee, etched in stone and notarized by a deity of your choice.

Absolutely true but for knowledge, I'd rely on a properly proven source and not some fear monger like MM to hype the drama up a few levels. Does he tell you what the chances of such a thing occurring or just that it has occurred in 1 out of 10 million transactions or 100 million transactions? Without odds, all you have is an alarmist's wet dream.

Hasn't yet and probably won't but if it does, I'm sure my lawyers that I will hire are going to be more on my side than MM. More to the point, more useful.

Yes, it has been inconvenient since mail forwarding has been removed. Sure, maybe it is that one letter that fell from the postman's sack every time. I worked in the lending industry before and seen how many times "The postman didn't deliver the mail" even though it was a certified mail signed by them. In which case "Oh the kid signed for it". I heard many excuses in the past and kinda need a new excuse.

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since you haven't viewed the movie, it's difficult to explain it. the one thing I have come to realize is this: the insurance boys will provide a cushion as long as there isn't too large of a financial drain on their bank account.

But, if things get a little on the pricey side, they will bring out a triple AAA rated law firm and dig their heels in and dare you to bring it. If you happen to be deathly ill while you are in a dispute with them over a hospital bill, they da** well know you are in no position to put up a fight.

The score:

Big Money: 10

Little people: 0

I have had problems with insurance claims and billing for many, many years and then all the troubles stopped.

That's because I was finally old enough for Medicare.

Not one problem and I have received excellent medical care.

For all the whining Republicans do about how no Doctor in the future will take Medicare so we might as well toss it out...... Sorry, but this is nothing but a lie. Medicare works and works great.

If I ran an insurance company I would want to get rid of Medicare, too. If the whole country had a choice of a Medicare plan or private insurance the medical insurance business would be gone in a very short time.

Not interested in viewing tripe. So haven't, won't or ever.

No kidding? You had to view the movie to realize that? Obviously, in every business there is cost containment. Either that or we have the govt that doesn't contain cost well at all and simply spends. When I have to pay $20, I don't scrutinize the repair bill as much as a $10000 bill. How do you do it?

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I didn't know govt was so magical they can remove the problem. Obviously you know little about working in the billing dept where medi-anything is concerned. I was running a franchise where a few franchisees took medicaid. All of them wished they didn't or were in the process of bailing out of it. All the paperwork and the lowered reimbursement made for a royal PITA. In my office, we did the math and figured we'd have to charge $4 an hour more to every client that DIDN'T use medicaid to cover the hours that were medicaid hours. Needless to say, we didn't accept it. Private pay and insurance only. In a few years, when my wife opens up her own clinic, I already laid down the rules. My involvement means NO medicaid/medicare. Cash and insurance only. That or she can run it herself. BTW, thanks for the tip about the Republican lie. I didn't know that. I will have to tell my wife that she doesn't have to keep finding other doctors because the better ones are slowing down their medicare/medicaid patient intake and might not want to see them.

It works great from the standpoint that YOU don't see the gyrations the billing department has to go thru. I do because one of my friends works in that department. We know the submissions and the rejects and resubmission process. Sometimes, they reject it and you resend the paperwork and it is approved. Sometimes, they tell you that a new form is needed and 2 weeks before the deadline, no new forms appear yet. Medi-anything is a great idea for getting money in the door. Can it work? Sure. Have a large enough staff and client base to offset it and it can work. If you are a smaller agency, it is more difficult. Me, I'd rather go for the lower hanging fruit than the one at the top where I have to work that much harder and the rewards are less relatively. Once I exhaust that lower fruit, I might have to if I got greedy and insisted on seeing more cash coming in (not necessarily profit) but starting out, hell no.

I would too since the doctor sticks my company to make up some of the difference for working with the govt. Or do you believe that difference simply disappears? People seem to think that govt can make problems go away. All they do is shift the location and you get it back in the end but that is another story. If you levied a "dog catcher" tax on a business, what do you think happens? They pass the cost of doing business to you. But since you don't see it obviously, you think the problem is solved. Govt is like a payday loan. Sure, it's nice to be able to go buy that big screen plasma TV. Where it comes to bite you later, how it bites, well..... But hey! We got the TV today and didn't have to save up and wait for it. Instant gratification.

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I support our medicare.
No it's not perfect but it's better than any alternative.

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It doesn't have to be perfect. Nobody can reasonably expect perfection. One of my main gripes is that i gives you a fish instead of teaching you how to fish.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
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04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow