The high cost of health care
I posted a detailed article on my blog and will share a portion of it. You can read the whole post here.
The High Cost of Health Care
Americans without health insurance are suffering through lack of knowledge. As a licensed health insurance agent a few years ago, I learned some of the industry secrets, and often shared them with my clients who were having problems that developed while they were uninsured. I had my own personal experience back in the early 90′s when my then husband injured his wrist and needed 2 stitches. The doctors did their job, and when I went to pay the bill it was over $400.00 dollars for a shot to numb the area and two stitches! Needless to say, I was aghast.
I asked why the bill was so high and the lady said, because people without insurance do not pay their bills, it increases the costs. I said, well, I know for a fact that if we had major medical insurance that the bill they sent to the insurance provider would only be about $80.00, and if you gave me an $80.00 bill, I will pay it right now! She failed to understand what I was saying, and as I did not have an extra $400.00 at that moment, I became a statistic that had an unpaid bill until we eventually paid it.
The fact of the matter is, doctors are not making the ungodly profits off of the uninsured, it’s the hospitals that are raking in the bucks, even with insurance. As a health insurance agent I had the information of what doctors were paid for various procedures and surgeries and it was shocking at how low that amount really was. I can’t give you an exact number from 2008, but a close example would be if a doctor did an emergency appendectomy, they got about $3500.00. Yep, a kings ransom for all their years of experience and saving your life right? Of course it’s not, but the total hospital bill would be well over $10,000.00 in many cases. Now, if you did not have insurance, that bill could easily be $20,000.00 and they will happily set you up on a payment plan of $200 to $300.00 per month until you pay it off which you will on time if you want your credit to stay in the excellent category. Here is the little secret they do NOT want you ignorant uninsured peons to know about. The fair trade act says that you cannot be overcharged for services in comparison to comparable care say with insurance. Meaning, they don’t have the right to charge you 5 or 10 times the amount they accept from insurance companies! I mean lets’ face it, when you find yourself or a loved on in an emergency say a car wreck, heart attack, stroke, ruptured organ you don’t have time to let your fingers do the walking and call hospitals and doctors to work out a reasonable cost for their services. You need help NOW, and you rush to the hospital to be fixed. When I almost lost my right leg in an auto accident in 2000, I did not get into the emergency room with my leg nearly severed and say, “Hey wait a minute Doctor Smith, how much are you going to charge me to re-attach my leg?”
Now, at the time I did have major medical coverage and my bill was $100.00 co-pay in my hmo. But what if I hadn’t had that coverage? I can guarantee you that for all the care I received, my bill would have been over $40,000.00! Who has that kind of money laying around? Now, I am not saying we should not pay our bills, but the bills must be fair, and yes, there is a way to find out if your bill is fair. One of the best hospitals in the world is John Hopkins. A non-profit group has compared all other hospitals in America against the charges for similar care of John Hopkins which is viewed as a hospital that charges people fairly according to this group. The organization is called Hospitalvictims.com.
The end of the article I shared:
Why am I putting so much effort to share this with you? I have witnessed countless families destroyed and lives ruined by credit problems and health care bills. We have a health care crisis in America, and the solution has already be provided. We do NOT need socialized medicine. What we need is an informed consumer market that exercises their rights! If you are struggling with this problem go to the site and avail yourself of the information therein. They even have a program to help you fight this and analyze your situation for free. They also offer other solutions but are not tied to that entity which will charge some fees.
Last but certainly not least:
You may qualify for Charity care. Go to this page at Hospital Victims to see the charts and register to find out if you do qualify.
Many of the nation’s hospitals have charity care or financial assistance programs for which you may qualify. Some of the hospitals offer assistance up to 400% of the HHS Federal Poverty Guidelines.
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