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Rob, I'd like to second mella and Damon's posts. Your wife is in our prayers also and we wish her a speedy recovery.
Not that it would be used that often, but is it possible to equip your site with an "ignore" button?
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I've seen a couple variations:
After Sophie was in her accident, I received a lien from the hospital while she was still a patient - and she had insurance. As she was only in that hospital 15 days, I was quite shocked how "efficient" the were. Seems in the intensity of the moment in ER, one of the forms I signed was to acknowledge financial responsibility. Her insurance case worker and I became well acquainted as she spent 5 months in the hospital before coming home for homecare. In a way, the insurance company good the last laugh - because there was a lawsuit involving a third party they actually got the first check - even before the attorney. Yes, they attempted to recoup every penny they spent.
We had a neighbor who lived across the street from us in Atlanta, not well off by any standard, but owned their house, cars, his business. On at least two occasions of hospitalization the insurance covered only a small amount, leaving them responsible for a significant balance. In both cases, they were able to get the hospital reduce that amount to some small affordable amount which they paid and the rest was written off.
Near the end of my Mom's life, she spent about a week in the hospital. No surgery, just a couple blood transfusions. Anyway, after she passed, the hospital would mail a bill addressed to her. The first couple, my Dad opened and would phone the hospital to remind them of her demise. When that didn't work, whenever a bill came he'd write "Deceased, no forwarding address - Return to Sender". Apparently it worked after awhile.
David
Ninole Resident
Ninole Resident
quote:
Originally posted by Timkona
There should be no recourse for litigation, except that a doctor should lose his license.
Yes Brother!
Shoddy doctors basically buy get out of jail-free cards by buying malpractice insurance of which the premiums are shared by all doctors, even the good ones, and the ultimate cost of those premiums are paid by patients. Q.e.d.
Insane!
Insurance is basically a pay to play form of socialism that just promotes mediocrity just like regular socialism.
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Just my 2 cents worth - I keep reading about "socialism" in the blog. In case you haven't noticed. Socialism died in the 90's capitalism died last year.
In the meantime what we have left is a discussion of rights. Some countries take the position that their citizens have rights to education, medical care, etc others do not.(we are among the last hold outs)
The reason we have shoddy doctors in my opinion is that the US medical profession is basically self policing, has the political leadership in their pockets (AMA) and is made up of individuals (with few exceptions) chasing the dollar, not health for their patients.
As an example. this latest medical tempest about the woman with eight kids, she got care that was dollar based, meanwhile the Sophies battle the institutions to get basic care. Socialistic or not, you would not read about that kind of lunacy in Canada
go figure
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I don't know the solution to our medical/insurance problem in America. But we DO have a problem. Anyone who thinks the current system isn't broke is delusional. (As an aside, some folks seem to believe it's unpatriotic to criticize anything about America. I submit that the opposite is true: that the mark of a great human being--and a great country--is the very ability to self critique--but that's a topic for another day.)
Some people are vehemently against socialized medicine. But no one seems to get upset about socialized education. Why?
For a democratic society to work (in theory, anyway), the citizens must be literate, correct?
Will a democratic society work if the citizens are not healthy? Do we care? Or does political dogma supersede our concern for our citizens? ("If-it-ain't-100%-free-market then screw it!" attitude...)
The critics of socialized medicine will point to all the failures around the world as justification for not socializing health care in America. Yes, failures abound, but successful models exist too. (Switzerland and Japan seem to be doing fine.) 10 years ago I'd have said that America's system was superior to Japan's (for example). At this juncture, I have to give Japan the edge. Whatever the pros and cons, we have to change something soon or conditions will continue to deteriorate. And it begs two questions: 1) Who's gonna pay for all this? And 2) Can we afford NOT to pay for it?
I'm not smart enough to have all the answers, and am not posting to argue politics--I'm an independent with no allegiance to any political dogma)--just raising some issues.
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
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Wow.... now I am up to (or down to) Dope the Delusional Idiot Troll...
So, everyone that has ever disagreed with you is delusional? Or just in this case?
It seems what most people around here want is Big Brother to dictate who gets medical care and who does not... Remember that with this comes the possibility of some one in power saying that if you don't work or contribute to society, why should society heal you? How is that deferent for the way it is now? If you have money you can get all the medical care you want. The current system lets you define what Medical care you want to get, under a socialized system, the Government will tell you what is medical care and what is not.... ie. dope will be off limits for medical uses.
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I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
HBAT
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I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
The Wilder Side Of Hawaii
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Punafish rightly asks: For a democratic society to work (in theory, anyway), the citizens must be literate, correct?
Will a democratic society work if the citizens are not healthy? Do we care? Or does political dogma supersede our concern for our citizens?
I'm afraid that there are a great deal of fellow americans that care only about themselves and their families and vote their convictions,
but I don't believe thats any way to have a coherent society. Shall we just revert to anarchy?
woof woof woof
lurking in darkness, maggo's stump wags in anticipation
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If our health officials determined that there are doctors and other health care professionals from outside the US who meet our standards and the country of origination of same was willing to loan us same to practice and teach, should we use them if their services were offered?
Should our health care officials be speaking directly to their peers in these countries about our lack of services in hopes of learning for their experiences dealing with the issues that come with living in a community that is under served or under equipped?
For whatever it's worth, these two questions are at the crux of my posts on this subject.
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Jon, your response speaks volumes about you. You seem to take everything personally.
The old, hackneyed "everyone-that-has-ever-disagreed-with-you-is-delusional" argument doesn't hold water. Remember, we're all just giving opinions here. In fact, I posted to listen to intelligent, well-thought-out responses on both sides of the argument. I prefaced my previous post by saying that I didn't have the answers. But Jon, you always seems so cocksure of your opinion on so many topics, including that America's medical/insurance system is hunky-dory. I respectfully disagree, and reserve the right to question how open your mind is.
And I'm not following your logic about "big brother dictating who gets medical care and who does not." Is this a metaphysical argument or do you have specific case studies to back up your claim? (And who's talking about dope here?) All I know is that in some countries, EVERYONE gets medical care. Jon, have you ever lived in a foreign country and experienced first hand socialized medicine? Or are you basing your opinion on second-hand information? My concern would be on how good the medical care actually is in countries with socialized medicine. (See, I'm objectively trying to look at the pros and cons here, not make the reality fit my preconceived opinions.) Honestly, I've never heard of anyone in Japan or Switzerland being turned down for medical care.
Feel free to post what you will, Jon. Personally I'm looking for informed, objective, out-of-the-box opinions free from the mind-limiting constraints of political dogma.
Tim
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
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"... then sued to take their only real asset, their home. ..." I was not aware the bankruptcy laws in the US allowed this.
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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