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Examples please

justoffal

justoffal

Senator
I am told that Health care costs are going down. I am told that this is as a result of the new laws coming to town....the providers are gonna get their little behinds in shape and buckle because they know damned well they'd better do it or else!

Ten years ago my average Doctor's visit was about $250.00 billed to my insurance company and usually with a co-pay from me.
Now I see that the Average Visit is well over $1,000.00 and that's without any special service like blood work or lab testing.

Ten Years ago the average Ambulance ride was about $600.00.
Now I have seen bills for a single transport that exceed $2000.00

Ten years ago the Average cost of an ICU bed was roughly $7500.00/wk
Now the cost ranges anywhere from $35,000-$50,000/wk


Sooooooo I would like to know where in the health care industry today prices are actually going down.
An Example would be:

1.) Specific as in service rendered!
2.) Specific as in actual dollar cost to the payer....not the co-pay please!
3.) Specific as in Recent...within the last year.
 
Is there a point here that has to do with Obomneycare....or even Democratic policies?

Or is it just another counter-intuitive diversion from dwelling on the big loss? (Rhetorical)
 
My company's group health insurance monthly premiums went down this year for me and all of my employees. Same company,same deductibles,same coverage. Been in business for myself since 1998 and it's the first time that's happened.
 
Nope....

none of those deal with intrinsic cost...in other words the Hospital Bill, the Doctor's Bill....the piece of paper that actually spells out the dollar amount that the provider charged.

I see a lot of predicting.... I see where they are claiming that the coordinate plots show a curve in the rise...... I see where people are predicting that the costs will come down...

But I see nothing there of what I asked for.


How much are you paying ( co-pay plus insurance payment ) for your average Doctor's Visit today as opposed to ten years ago???...adjust for inflation if you like.
 
There is a point that deals with Liberal fairy tales....

Like the unemployment rate, like " There's no inflation " or the phony Job Creation numbers or
Dancing in the streets because Gasoline has dropped from $4.00/gallon to $3.30/gallon....here is yet another example of looney bin thought process....

The costs are doing what???????? coming down?????

Show me.
 
That's nice...

But what about average cost of services? You do realize that this is the single most important number regardless of any other number.

Actual Cost of Services.

My Plan payment went down too...

I am talking about pulling out the cost statements and analyzing them. The company that provides health care for you and your employees has found some room on their bottom line to help you out...that's good. But what do you know about their expenses?? Have they taken one more step toward insolvency???

JO
 
justoffal said:
I am told that Health care costs are going down. I am told that this is as a result of the new laws coming to town....the providers are gonna get their little behinds in shape and buckle because they know damned well they'd better do it or else!

Ten years ago my average Doctor's visit was about $250.00 billed to my insurance company and usually with a co-pay from me.
Now I see that the Average Visit is well over $1,000.00 and that's without any special service like blood work or lab testing....
Click to expand...

I got this far and need read no farther. BS sensor started clanging.

If a doctor is charging you $1,000 per visit, you need to find another doctor, preferably one from outside Beverly Hills.
 
Gotta start somewhere. Health insurance companies are gonna get more aggressive with healthcare providers. That's where the cost disparity is. If you pay cash for a procedure you can negotiate the cost down. Healthcare providers bill twice as much if it's going to the insurance company,way more than what the extra administrative cost is. Health insurance reform is gonna drive healthcare costs down.
 
I pay only the Co-pay....but I do get the statement from the Insurance company and I do look at it.

Is the cost for the Insured greater because there is a professional payer? Yes.... I think it is.

I had a similar experience recently with the Pharmacy......In between plans I offered to buy a medication for cash. The cost was $700.00 for one month supply. When I took out my Insurance card the price suddenly skyrocketed to $1800.00...... THIS is what the insurance companies are bitching about and rightfully so.

Of course I live in Massachusetts...everything here is ridiculously expensive...but I suspect the percentage rise is similar regardless of the bracket.
 
I hope you are right....

Something had better drive the costs down... and for the record it's time to stop vilifying the Insurance companies...the real crooks are hidden behind the white lab coats.
 
Stop vilifying insurance companies? Really? They are the richest in the nation!

:violin:

I'm with BD btw.. thanks to ACA, my insurance company was forced to offer me BETTER coverage for $50 less per month (about a 15% reduction on my individual plan).

Personally, i haven't felt badly for them. They're still making money hand over fist. ;-)

justoffal said:
I hope you are right....

Something had better drive the costs down... and for the record it's time to stop vilifying the Insurance companies...the real crooks are hidden behind the white lab coats.
Click to expand...
 
JO--

In 2005 I had two medicated stents placed in the left ascending artery of my heart. The total cost for both stents was a hair over $22.000. I was responsible for paying approximately $2,000 of the cost.

Today, a single medcated stent placement costs an average of $41,228.

http://health.costhelper.com/stents.html
 
You're missing the point.....I don't bleed for the Insurance companies I am simply pointing out that you cannot fix a problem if you're not looking at the problem. The problem begins with runaway and at times even fraudulent overcharging at the provider level. It has become a culture of Carte Blanche in the name of better health....whereas the Better Health part has been marginalized as a means to an end.
 
Exactly....this is what I am talking about...not the end cost to the user but the total cost of service.

It's easy for us to ignore it when we are not paying it...but someone has to pay it and that someone is the Insurance company....their profit margin is very close.
 
How do you know this is a result of the ACA? What makes you think that your insurance company was forced to do anything? Do you mean they were faced down by a competitor?
 
I too had two stents put in a few years back, total cost to me - nothing. Prescription costs - nothing. Doctors visit, or the doctor visiting me - nothing. no co-pay.

But, there again, I live in a poor country, or, so I'm told. Yet, I'm also told that the richest country in the world can't afford such health care. Who's the numpty?
 
Employer Based Health care is obsolete... I worked for a MAJOR corporation for 30 years... my insurance was part of my pay package... now it cost me over $800.00 a month because the company reneged on it's retiree responsibilities.... thay also dropped Vison Care and Dental Care is fully employee paid.

ObamaCare is not a valid solution... it is a welfare plan for his dregs... that's all - it will create punitive additional costs to workers and retirees with income - we will pay dearly for ObamaCare ... and it cut a half trillion dollars from Medicare ... that's a great harm to retirees that the lib media won't tell.
 
justoffal said:
You're missing the point.....I don't bleed for the Insurance companies I am simply pointing out that you cannot fix a problem if you're not looking at the problem. The problem begins with runaway and at times even fraudulent overcharging at the provider level. It has become a culture of Carte Blanche in the name of better health....whereas the Better Health part has been marginalized as a means to an end.
Click to expand...

Actually the 'problem' has been around for quite a few years. Through the years there have been stretches where I had health insurance and stretches where I didn't. Though I've never been one to go to a doctor much (don't trust 'em), virtually every time that I did go to one and told them that I didn't have insurance I would be told what the bill would 'normally' be but since I was paying for it myself it would be such and thus which was way lower. It occurred to me years ago that although I was grateful for the lower price, it could be one of the reasons why the insurance was too high for me to afford at the time.

The same thing happened last month when my son broke his leg. He didn't have any insurance but I told the doctor's office that I would pay for his treatment. They said it would 'normally' be a certain amount but under the circumstances it would be a much lower amount which turned out to be close to half. As usual I was grateful, but there really is a big discrepancy there.

On the other side of the coin, some years back I hurt my foot badly and went to the emergency room. They x-rayed it and said it was just a sprain. They wrapped it, gave me crutches and said to keep my foot up. (it turned out that it really had been fractured and they missed it but that's not my point here) Although I did have insurance at the time, I got a copy of the bill. It had a long list of things including a charge for a suture tray. I called the insurance company and told them that there was a number of things on that bill that didn't happen, I certainly didn't need a suture tray for what they thought was a sprain among other things, and the bottom line was the insurance company didn't care. It seemed like it was pretty much a standing deal with the hospital as to how they would bill.

Maybe somebody in the middle has been cleaning up?
 
Actually, NC, a universal health service, such as the UKs' NHS, would reduce medical insurance costs for businesses, and, you wouldn't be subject to a company reneging on its obligations.

I can't understand you, and others, objections to a universal, single payer, health service. All of your Govt employees get a lifetime (??) health service, on your tax dollars, why shouldn't you?
 
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