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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 21:08:35 GMT
Health care shouldn't cost as much as it does anyway. $5000 for an implant in my ankle (to keep it from moving incorrectly) the size of a screw 1/2" long! That surgery alone cost over $28,0000! $10 for some Tylenol, one dose! and on and on. Heaven forbid if it was a really serious surgery, transplant, etc.! Healthcare shouldn't bankrupt families. For me, this is the crux of the problem with USA health care. Pharmaceutical and medical equipment (like that ankle implant) companies have strong lobbyists, and are allowed to charge whatever they want, unchecked. They enjoy governmental protection of their ability to eliminate competition I n the guise of patent protection of their drugs and devices, yet don't want government regulation of their pricing. I have a broken wrist right now which, with an ER visit, 2 sets of X-rays so far (at least one more set to go), one CAT scan, pain meds, 2 casts, and surgery likely, would bankrupt us if we had to pay all the costs out of pocket. All because I was stupid enough to trip while walking the dog. Exactly.
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Post by maryland on Aug 19, 2014 21:10:06 GMT
These stories are scary! My husband is so frustrated with his job. Promises of big bonuses if sales goals are met, then they are met and the company says sorry but we decided not to give bonuses; working 60 hrs. a week, etc. I will have to tell him that it could be much worse. At least we aren't paying thousands each month in premiums, co-pays and deductibles! I don't think we could afford it!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 21:12:03 GMT
For me, this is the crux of the problem with USA health care. Pharmaceutical and medical equipment (like that ankle implant) companies have strong lobbyists, and are allowed to charge whatever they want, unchecked. They enjoy governmental protection of their ability to eliminate competition I n the guise of patent protection of their drugs and devices, yet don't want government regulation of their pricing. I have a broken wrist right now which, with an ER visit, 2 sets of X-rays so far (at least one more set to go), one CAT scan, pain meds, 2 casts, and surgery likely, would bankrupt us if we had to pay all the costs out of pocket. All because I was stupid enough to trip while walking the dog. Exactly. But the ACA did absolutely nothing to address this issue. The ACA does not address the high cost of health care. If anyone wants to fix healthcare, perhaps this was a better place to start instead of simply shifting the crazy ass prices from one demographic to another.
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Post by elaine on Aug 19, 2014 21:14:52 GMT
But the ACA did absolutely nothing to address this issue. The ACA does not address the high cost of health care. If anyone wants to fix healthcare, perhaps this was a better place to start instead of simply shifting the crazy ass prices from one demographic to another. I agree, and ALL of our lame-ass politicians are too easily bought by lobbyists and won't do a thing about it. Not the democrats, not the GOP.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 21:15:58 GMT
Not getting at the heart of the problem is typical for politicians. Nothing in the ACA really addressed why health care is so expensive. Health insurance companies must be laughing their heads off at their successful lobbying efforts.
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Post by Kelpea on Aug 19, 2014 21:18:52 GMT
Actually the origins of the ACA act are rooted during the Republican era:
The idea of an individual mandate replacing the single-payer health care system was proposed in 1989 by the conservative Heritage Foundation and was published in a paper titled, “A National Health System for America.”
"The Heritage Foundation’s director of domestic policy strategies, Stuart M. Butler, proposed that “every resident of the U.S. must, by law, be enrolled in an adequate health care plan to cover major health care costs.” The proposal was backed by a large number of Republican politicians and was strikingly similar to the Affordable Care Act signed by Obama in 2010, which was admittedly influenced by Heritage’s proposal."
'Tis good to remember this...and as it's been said many a time in Pealand, SOMEthing had to give, 'cause what we had wasn't working. And nothing was getting done to improve our horrendous overall healthcare system.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 21:21:38 GMT
But the ACA did absolutely nothing to address this issue. The ACA does not address the high cost of health care. If anyone wants to fix healthcare, perhaps this was a better place to start instead of simply shifting the crazy ass prices from one demographic to another. I agree, and ALL of our lame-ass politicians are too easily bought by lobbyists and won't do a thing about it. Not the democrats, not the GOP. Again I agree. It is sickening how we are sold out by all sides.
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back to *pea*ality
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys ~refugee pea #59
Posts: 3,149
Jun 25, 2014 19:51:11 GMT
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Post by back to *pea*ality on Aug 19, 2014 21:25:52 GMT
Agree with *elaine*. I am not saying that it doesn't totally suck for your family - it does. But it sounds more like your employer (or someone) is shifting a higher percentage of your premiums to you vs. your premiums actually going up that much. It is not necessarily an ACA issue. In our case, husband works for a small company (less that 50 employees) so by law they don't have to provide insurance and the company is an ESOP anyway. An employee committee worked with the insurance broker so nothing going on behind the scenes. Our previous plan did not comply with ACA. Now we have coverages we didn't want/need and reduced coverage in other areas. A week doesn't go by that someone in the company isn't discovering once they hit the high deductible - things that were covered last year are not covered this year. It stinks. Like many other middle class families we believed the lie that our premiums would be reduced by around $2,500 a year.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 21:32:40 GMT
(((I have a broken wrist right now which, with an ER visit, 2 sets of X-rays so far (at least one more set to go), one CAT scan, pain meds, 2 casts, and surgery likely, would bankrupt us if we had to pay all the costs out of pocket. All because I was stupid enough to trip while walking the dog. )))
What's really kinda crazy is that you could probably agree to pay out of pocket for this and in turn negotiate a far better deal to cover all the costs than you can get by paying exorbitant prices for insurance. You can shop around for medical services when you are paying your own way and still come out with something far more affordable than insurance that doesn't even cover everything.
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Post by gossamer on Aug 19, 2014 21:41:26 GMT
I am so sorry. We went through this too...literally 2 1/2 times higher premiums with triple deductibles. My nephew has the same issue. Very healthy, only has yearly normal check-ups. He now has 2 jobs.
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georgiapea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,846
Jun 27, 2014 18:02:10 GMT
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Post by georgiapea on Aug 19, 2014 21:47:57 GMT
I was thinking the same thing S Deven just posted. Without insurance each of your procedures would have been less than what is charged to go through insurance.
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Post by SunnySmile on Aug 19, 2014 21:47:56 GMT
*Heavy sigh.*
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Post by elaine on Aug 19, 2014 21:53:12 GMT
(((I have a broken wrist right now which, with an ER visit, 2 sets of X-rays so far (at least one more set to go), one CAT scan, pain meds, 2 casts, and surgery likely, would bankrupt us if we had to pay all the costs out of pocket. All because I was stupid enough to trip while walking the dog. ))) What's really kinda crazy is that you could probably agree to pay out of pocket for this and in turn negotiate a far better deal to cover all the costs than you can get by paying exorbitant prices for insurance. You can shop around for medical services when you are paying your own way and still come out with something far more affordable than insurance that doesn't even cover everything. Maybe, but I have two kids with Autism, one of whom also has Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease), not to mention that I've been on blood pressure meds for the past 21 years and now am dependent on Synthroid because I no longer have a thyroid, so I really think that we couldn't afford out-of-pocket costs vs. insurance premiums for our medical costs. I just didn't want to bore everyone with our medical litany.
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Post by BeckyTech on Aug 19, 2014 21:57:47 GMT
I didn't really pay much attention to ACA thinking that it wouldn't affect us, since we had great insurance, and we were assured it would remain. You actually believed that? Really? You actually believed the entire health care system could be overhauled and you would be left alone because you liked your coverage? I'm stunned. I can't believe someone actually bought that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 22:00:47 GMT
For me, this is the crux of the problem with USA health care. Pharmaceutical and medical equipment (like that ankle implant) companies have strong lobbyists, and are allowed to charge whatever they want, unchecked. They enjoy governmental protection of their ability to eliminate competition I n the guise of patent protection of their drugs and devices, yet don't want government regulation of their pricing. I have a broken wrist right now which, with an ER visit, 2 sets of X-rays so far (at least one more set to go), one CAT scan, pain meds, 2 casts, and surgery likely, would bankrupt us if we had to pay all the costs out of pocket. All because I was stupid enough to trip while walking the dog. Do you have tricare insurance since your husband is military? My husband is a civilian federal employee. My children have Autism (pre-existing conditions) and under the ACA it does not matter; ABA therapy is not covered. Yet, my husband's current military co-workers (FEDERAL employees) and those retired from the military DO have ABA therapy covered. Glad it works for some. Not for our family. It varies by state, but it's not required until 2016 for it to be covered in Utah. Then, it's only ages 2-9. Since ya know, Autism magically disappears at that age. Even then I have no idea what we will have to pay. So, if you have a plan under the ACA, and it covers therapy for your kids, I'd love to hear about it.
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Post by BeckyTech on Aug 19, 2014 22:08:39 GMT
Actually the origins of the ACA act are rooted during the Republican era: The idea of an individual mandate replacing the single-payer health care system was proposed in 1989 by the conservative Heritage Foundation and was published in a paper titled, “A National Health System for America.” "The Heritage Foundation’s director of domestic policy strategies, Stuart M. Butler, proposed that “every resident of the U.S. must, by law, be enrolled in an adequate health care plan to cover major health care costs.” The proposal was backed by a large number of Republican politicians and was strikingly similar to the Affordable Care Act signed by Obama in 2010, which was admittedly influenced by Heritage’s proposal." 'Tis good to remember this...and as it's been said many a time in Pealand, SOMEthing had to give, 'cause what we had wasn't working. And nothing was getting done to improve our horrendous overall healthcare system. The Heritage Foundation plan was for catastrophic coverage. It was nothing like what the ACA turned out to be. And a great number of people disagreed with it at the time.
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Post by elaine on Aug 19, 2014 22:09:41 GMT
@iscrapcrap, yes, although since we are retired military now, we pay a premium to retain our level of Tricare insurance. We also pay through the nose to live in a school district that actually has ABA in the schools for kids with autism, so we haven't had to do additional ABA outside of what they have gotten in school. My older son no longer needs it. Both kids are on expensive medications, however, for their Autism, and my younger son has had a number of broken bones and pneumonia that has needed hospitalization a couple of times in the past two years. So, even though we aren't using insurance to cover ABA, we certainly rack up our expenses.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 22:18:43 GMT
@iscrapcrap, yes, although since we are retired military now, we pay a premium to retain our level of Tricare insurance. We also pay through the nose to live in a school district that actually has ABA in the schools for kids with autism, so we haven't had to do additional ABA outside of what they have gotten in school. My older son no longer needs it. Both kids are on expensive medications, however, for their Autism, and my younger son has had a number of broken bones and pneumonia that has needed hospitalization a couple of times in the past two years. So, even though we aren't using insurance to cover ABA, we certainly rack up our expenses. So how has ACA affected you in a positive way? Hasn't your insurance essentially remained the same? In 2010 my husband had a seizure, broke a bone, had to be taken by ambulance, had surgery and was in the hospital for four days. It would have cost around $30,000. It was much less. More recent emergency room trips and we had to pay a co payment of $100.00. We do have good insurance (minus no help for Autism). So since this came into effect, wasn't your insurance just fine before and after ACA? I guess that's my issue with ACA. It's a lie that all people with pre-existing issues are covered. It's important enough to have it covered under federal insurance for military, but not under a federal law for the rest of the country.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Aug 19, 2014 22:24:30 GMT
Actually the origins of the ACA act are rooted during the Republican era: The idea of an individual mandate replacing the single-payer health care system was proposed in 1989 by the conservative Heritage Foundation and was published in a paper titled, “A National Health System for America.” "The Heritage Foundation’s director of domestic policy strategies, Stuart M. Butler, proposed that “every resident of the U.S. must, by law, be enrolled in an adequate health care plan to cover major health care costs.” The proposal was backed by a large number of Republican politicians and was strikingly similar to the Affordable Care Act signed by Obama in 2010, which was admittedly influenced by Heritage’s proposal." 'Tis good to remember this...and as it's been said many a time in Pealand, SOMEthing had to give, 'cause what we had wasn't working. And nothing was getting done to improve our horrendous overall healthcare system. The Heritage Foundation plan was for catastrophic coverage. It was nothing like what the ACA turned out to be. And a great number of people disagreed with it at the time. I actually think a national catastrophic plan isn't crazy. Some of the biggest issues people were facing was medical bankruptcies and inability to obtain coverage with serious medical problems. A bare bones, we're not leaving people to die in the streets national plan would have been much better than the ACA. It would have impacted fewer people and let other changes actually fix the skyrocketing cost of healthcare. I still think that nothing will change until we fundamentally disconnect health INSURANCE from employment and CONNECT people with the true costs of health CARE. Studies have shown that HSA plans are one of the few innovations that have actually adjusted the health cost curve.
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Post by Kelpea on Aug 19, 2014 22:31:56 GMT
not quite true, BeckyT. It was the beginnings of what ACA has since become.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Aug 19, 2014 22:52:06 GMT
not quite true, BeckyT. It was the beginnings of what ACA has since become. One can always determine when a cause is truly lost - it's when the supporters stop trying to actually claim there is anything of value in the endeavor - but resort to just claiming it wasn't even their idea to begin with. ACA has truly jumped the shark.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 22:57:47 GMT
Does it really matter whose idea it was to begin with? It doesn't address the real issues of the high cost of health care.
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mallie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,253
Jul 3, 2014 18:13:13 GMT
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Post by mallie on Aug 19, 2014 23:00:24 GMT
(((I have a broken wrist right now which, with an ER visit, 2 sets of X-rays so far (at least one more set to go), one CAT scan, pain meds, 2 casts, and surgery likely, would bankrupt us if we had to pay all the costs out of pocket. All because I was stupid enough to trip while walking the dog. ))) What's really kinda crazy is that you could probably agree to pay out of pocket for this and in turn negotiate a far better deal to cover all the costs than you can get by paying exorbitant prices for insurance. You can shop around for medical services when you are paying your own way and still come out with something far more affordable than insurance that doesn't even cover everything. That is not always true. I have a friend who had no health insurance, had an injury and tried to negotiate. No deal. It was pay the price, pay now, or we send you to collections. She tried for a solid year to negotiate a payment plan and the hospital and neurologist refused. Every request was met with a stonewall of pay up and shut up, we don't negotiate. She ended up having to declare bankruptcy (and the hospital and doctor got nothing).
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Post by elaine on Aug 19, 2014 23:15:01 GMT
@iscrapcrap, yes, although since we are retired military now, we pay a premium to retain our level of Tricare insurance. We also pay through the nose to live in a school district that actually has ABA in the schools for kids with autism, so we haven't had to do additional ABA outside of what they have gotten in school. My older son no longer needs it. Both kids are on expensive medications, however, for their Autism, and my younger son has had a number of broken bones and pneumonia that has needed hospitalization a couple of times in the past two years. So, even though we aren't using insurance to cover ABA, we certainly rack up our expenses. So how has ACA affected you in a positive way? Hasn't your insurance essentially remained the same? In 2010 my husband had a seizure, broke a bone, had to be taken by ambulance, had surgery and was in the hospital for four days. It would have cost around $30,000. It was much less. More recent emergency room trips and we had to pay a co payment of $100.00. We do have good insurance (minus no help for Autism). So since this came into effect, wasn't your insurance just fine before and after ACA? I guess that's my issue with ACA. It's a lie that all people with pre-existing issues are covered. It's important enough to have it covered under federal insurance for military, but not under a federal law for the rest of the country. Huh? Where have I ever said that ACA affected me one way or the other? My first comment was that the OPs initial premiums wouldn't have covered her actual healthcare costs. I've since agreed with both pro and anti ACA people about issues with the current system. Just because we pay premiums for Tricare - which my husband earned with below-current-market-level pay for his service in the Navy for years - doesn't mean I don't have thoughts about and issues with healthcare as it stands in our country. I'm sorry that you have an issue with the healthcare benefits offered to the military, but we sacrificed a HUGE amount in $$$ to have my husband continue to serve our country in the Navy with a PhD (that we paid for, not the military). And Congress continues to threaten to take away the healthcare benefits we earned, so we aren't banking on continued coverage, even though we were promised it.
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Post by SunnySmile on Aug 20, 2014 0:52:43 GMT
I didn't really pay much attention to ACA thinking that it wouldn't affect us, since we had great insurance, and we were assured it would remain. You actually believed that? Really? You actually believed the entire health care system could be overhauled and you would be left alone because you liked your coverage? I'm stunned. I can't believe someone actually bought that. Hey, Obama himself said that if we had insurance we liked that we would be able to keep it. I knew our insurance wasn't getting canceled, I just didn't realize the costs would be so drastic. I don't think it's necessary to try and make me feel stupid with those kinds of remarks. You may be smarter than me, but keep it to yourself. I didn't think "I" was left alone because I "liked" something. Rude.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 1:33:41 GMT
Huh? Where have I ever said that ACA affected me one way or the other? My first comment was that the OPs initial premiums wouldn't have covered her actual healthcare costs. I've since agreed with both pro and anti ACA people about issues with the current system. Just because we pay premiums for Tricare - which my husband earned with below-current-market-level pay for his service in the Navy for years - doesn't mean I don't have thoughts about and issues with healthcare as it stands in our country. I'm sorry that you have an issue with the healthcare benefits offered to the military, but we sacrificed a HUGE amount in $$$ to have my husband continue to serve our country in the Navy with a PhD (that we paid for, not the military). And Congress continues to threaten to take away the healthcare benefits we earned, so we aren't banking on continued coverage, even though we were promised it. When you referred to your broken wrist, I thought you were saying you didn't have to pay much because of the ACA.
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Post by JBeans on Aug 20, 2014 1:47:30 GMT
Insurance is never free. You pay for it in income, or some other tax. My friend moved to the U.S. from Denmark. 10 years ago she told me she paid over 50% of her income to taxes. Do you want to give the government 50% of what you earn? That's bat nuts crazy! You're right. It's all relative. But let me ask you this, between tax and insurance premiums are you doling out 50% of your income?
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Post by elaine on Aug 20, 2014 1:57:58 GMT
Huh? Where have I ever said that ACA affected me one way or the other? My first comment was that the OPs initial premiums wouldn't have covered her actual healthcare costs. I've since agreed with both pro and anti ACA people about issues with the current system. Just because we pay premiums for Tricare - which my husband earned with below-current-market-level pay for his service in the Navy for years - doesn't mean I don't have thoughts about and issues with healthcare as it stands in our country. I'm sorry that you have an issue with the healthcare benefits offered to the military, but we sacrificed a HUGE amount in $$$ to have my husband continue to serve our country in the Navy with a PhD (that we paid for, not the military). And Congress continues to threaten to take away the healthcare benefits we earned, so we aren't banking on continued coverage, even though we were promised it. When you referred to your broken wrist, I thought you were saying you didn't have to pay much because of the ACA. No, I never said that. Please reread. I said that I couldn't afford to pay out-of-pocket, which we couldn't. Now that we are retired we pay premiums for our Tricare. Oh yeah, I also had to drive myself with a broken wrist to Walter Reed ER, an hour from my house and in another state, because it is the closest military hospital to our house. Our local hospital, 10 minutes from our house, won't get in any orthopeds for broken bones for people with Tricare insurance - twice they wouldn't do anything for my younger son other than to X-ray and diagnose a broken foot and a broken collarbone and then tell us to go to a military facility because Tricare is so awful at paying civilian institutions. No casting, nothing other than X-rays. Unless anyone is bleeding out, we now have to drive the hour to Walter Reed, which I did last summer when it ended up that my son fractured one of the vertebrae in his back in a fall. No one in the real world is happy about patients with Tricare. When dh and I first married, I was paying that $400 per month in premiums to keep my health insurance because NONE of the OB-Gyns in the city we lived in would even take patients with Tricare. If you think military health care and insurance is great, you or your dh could look into enlisting. They even offered me a waiver up until I was in my mid-40s because I have a degree in an area they need. Granted, you have to move a lot and get paid less than the going market rate, but your ABA would be covered...
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Post by genny on Aug 20, 2014 2:19:26 GMT
I feel your pain. I got a letter from our insurance company a couple of weeks ago that our premiums are going up. DH is going up 179%, I'm going up 110%. Our plan is no longer ACA compliant. What a crock of shit. We already had massive deductibles, but I was just grateful to have been able to have some coverage in case of something catastrophic. We are self employed so there is no employer contribution. Needless to say I've got to start shopping for lower coverage - our current plan re enrollment is next month. The whole thing is so disheartening.
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Post by genny on Aug 20, 2014 2:29:19 GMT
Health care shouldn't cost as much as it does anyway. $5000 for an implant in my ankle (to keep it from moving incorrectly) the size of a screw 1/2" long! That surgery alone cost over $28,0000! $10 for some Tylenol, one dose! and on and on. Heaven forbid if it was a really serious surgery, transplant, etc.! Healthcare shouldn't bankrupt families. For me, this is the crux of the problem with USA health care. Pharmaceutical and medical equipment (like that ankle implant) companies have strong lobbyists, and are allowed to charge whatever they want, unchecked. They enjoy governmental protection of their ability to eliminate competition I n the guise of patent protection of their drugs and devices, yet don't want government regulation of their pricing. I have a broken wrist right now which, with an ER visit, 2 sets of X-rays so far (at least one more set to go), one CAT scan, pain meds, 2 casts, and surgery likely, would bankrupt us if we had to pay all the costs out of pocket. All because I was stupid enough to trip while walking the dog. I could not agree with this more. 2 weeks before we got our insurance last year (we were uninsured for quite sometime) DD had a stomach virus that had been going on for a couple of days. Nothing to be done for it, you know how that can be - finally took her to Urgent Care and they gave her something for nausea and that was pretty much it. The next day she passed out in the shower, hit her head on the shelf and lay there in her own vomit until she came to (I was at work) and called me. I flew home with hazards on and rushed her to the ER. They hooked her up to an IV and that was it -she was simply dehydrated from the vomiting. We spent about 2 hours there and saw an actual dr for less than 6 minutes total. My bill was $3000. I. Was. Floored.
This was on the heels of my $23,000 appendectomy.
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