re: Insurance rates going up? Thank a Liberal.

Quoting Leisurely Duchess:" I somewhat agree, but in that the country as a whole is going to have more problems in the near future, and not solely because of health care."

Very true. It's going to get much worse before it gets better.

Quoting Leisurely Duchess:" Apparently you don't know bout triage."

Yes, yes I do. Supposedly they take the most urgent first then the others go last....There is still a smurf load of people in there and it is going to take the doctor a bit before they see you because all of the people....even the ones who use the ER as a doctors office.

Quoting Fatty McRunnerPants:" The ER here doesn't go by a triage system unless you're literally going to die. Then you MIGHT get seen ... [snip!] ... fading in and out of consciousness while in active labor and had to sit out in the waiting room until my husband raised hell."

  They took forever even when my appendix went bad smh. They rushed me in when I was bleeding pretty badly from under my eye....

Like my mom says, the only way you will get seen right away is if you come in on a stretcher lol.

Quoting Fatty McRunnerPants:" The ER here doesn't go by a triage system unless you're literally going to die. Then you MIGHT get seen ... [snip!] ... fading in and out of consciousness while in active labor and had to sit out in the waiting room until my husband raised hell."

That's terrible   I'm sorry

Quoting Fatty McRunnerPants:" Very true. It's going to get much worse before it gets better."

That's is definitely something I have said in the past. Because on the whole, we're simply too lazy and ignorant to be properly involved. Things have to get really bad before people start paying attention and getting pissed off enough to get up and do something about it

Quoting ❥ Meℓi:" Yes, yes I do. Supposedly they take the most urgent first then the others go last....There is still a ... [snip!] ... to take the doctor a bit before they see you because all of the people....even the ones who use the ER as a doctors office."

It's not like the uninsured get a free ride or have it good or anything like that. The ER isn't mandated nor equipped to fully treat people, they release people when they are considered stable, so unless it was a simple injury or illness, that person is sort caught over a brine barrel because they will need additional treatment in the future. Unpaid bills go on their credit when they get turned over to collections, which in turn affects how they can get housing, cars, phones, loans, etc ... even job opportunities.

Many are caught in the middle, they fall between cracks; they can't afford insurance where they live, yet make barely just enough money to be disqualified from Medicaid, or low-cost state insurance programs, perhaps even the odd low-income clinic. These people are more smurfed that anyone when they need treatment, including those on welfare.

Another part of the problem is that many people simply don't know where else to go other than the ER, they don't know about any local free or low cost clinics that will see uninsured people. Some will just assume they will get turned away from everywhere but the ER. Know what I mean?

Quoting ❥ Meℓi:"   They took forever even when my appendix went bad smh. They rushed me in when I was bleeding ... [snip!] ... badly from under my eye.... Like my mom says, the only way you will get seen right away is if you come in on a stretcher lol."

Yeah, that doesn't even work here   Our ER is BAD. Not to mention all the damn druggies going in there for pain meds.

The last time I was in there it wasn't bad, I was having some complications from surgery and they got to me pretty quick.

Quoting Leisurely Duchess:" That's is definitely something I have said in the past. Because on the whole, we're simply too lazy ... [snip!] ... have to get really bad before people start paying attention and getting pissed off enough to get up and do something about it"

Well on top of that people are too ignorant to bitch at the people who need to be bitched at. They go too low. If there were enough people willing to get violent with politicians (not that I'm advocating it) it might just get better.

Quoting Fatty McRunnerPants:" Yeah, that doesn't even work here   Our ER is BAD. Not to mention all the damn druggies going ... [snip!] ... The last time I was in there it wasn't bad, I was having some complications from surgery and they got to me pretty quick."

I like the ER I go to, it's clean and quiet and you get seen in a decent time frame, unless it's a weekend night and there's more people coming to the ER.

It probably has a lot to do with the area you live in though. Monterey County is not very big and is one of the wealthier counties in CA. The exception would be Salinas, I went to the Natividad ER once and it was horrible, it was crowded and noisy and I had to wait 7 hours to be seen. Never again.

Quoting Fatty McRunnerPants:" Well on top of that people are too ignorant to bitch at the people who need to be bitched at. They go ... [snip!] ... low. If there were enough people willing to get violent with politicians (not that I'm advocating it) it might just get better."

I'd rather people get violent with the bankers that are smurfing up everything from the inside out; corrupting politicians is just a symptom imo.

Quoting Leisurely Duchess:" I'd rather people get violent with the bankers that are smurfing up everything from the inside out; corrupting politicians is just a symptom imo."

That too. I think a little anarchy is in order for real change.

Quoting Fatty McRunnerPants:" That too. I think a little anarchy is in order for real change."

Rawr!  

My premium increased four times in the last calendar year.

Unfortunately, we are raising a new generation of indigents who are only concerned with their next handout.

It would take a miracle to fix what's going on now.
Fortunately, I believe in miracles!

<blockquote><b>Quoting Leisurely Duchess:</b>" It's not like the uninsured get a free ride or have it good or anything like that. The ER isn't mandated ... [snip!] ... that will see uninsured people. Some will just assume they will get turned away from everywhere but the ER. Know what I mean?"</blockquote>




Agree.
It drives me insane on BG when I see people obviously amusing the ER or showing total lack of resourcefulness in finding a logical way of getting efficient care. Then, they either complain about their bills OR just shrug as strangers are paying her way.

Having more urgent care facilities and 24 hour clinics would be part of the solution. Some states don't have them or have very few of those facilities as malpractice insurance is so high.

<blockquote><b>Quoting Destiel:</b>" It seems crazy to me ... the whole thing. Here we have public hospitals (generally teaching hospitals) ... [snip!] ... things like homeopathic care, physio, dental, and a list of others. Most insurance companies will pay up to 85% of your costs."</blockquote>




Or system is very complex and differs from state to state.
Our government doesn't believe in having tiers of care.... So I'm not sure how our new Obamacare is going to work.
Prior to Obamacare, 85% of people here were satisfied with their care and coverage. Sure, it sucked for the 15% but the solution that our government has come up with is NOT a solution. There were so many other things that would have helped.
It has done nothing but make premiums go up. I'm not sure how much costs have gone up, but they can't have gone up as much as premiums.

Recent examples:
My husband had an a stress test and it was $4k! The test was about 45 mins and did not involve gear that was super high-tech.
A couple of years ago he had a brain MRI that was $8k! WHAT!!??
Our insurance is covering the bills and I'm sure they won't pay the entire fees, but the charges are ridiculous.