Re: Subject: Re: Yahoo! News Story - Group calls for universal health coverage
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Mon Jun 12 07:30:49 2006
Don't stop there, Dean. Were I to pay cash for a medical service, I get
charged a higher fee than the Insurance Reimbursement for the same code
... despite the acknowleged procedural angst associated with insurance
claims. It's the only biz I'm aware of in which not only do you not get
a cash discount, but rather a cash surcharge.
art
At Sun, 11 Jun 2006, Dean Huffman . wrote:
>
>..
>
>I believe that there is a difference between FREE health insurance and access to
>health insurance at reasonable rates.
>
>1) Health insurance through the employer is only a quirk of history. When there
>were wage/price controls (which, by the way, never work in the long run),
>employers gave health insurance as a way to increase wages but to still get
>around the wage controls.
>
>2) It has turned out that now, the only way to get reasonable health insurance
>is through an employer.
>
>3) Over the years, employer provided health insurance has been non-taxable
>income whereas, for the most part, income used to pay for private health
>insurance or medical care has been totally or partially taxed. Grossly unfair.
>Either all medical spending should be deducted off the top from income, or all
>should be taxed.
>
>4) Those with health insurance get a stbstantial break on cost of hospital and
>other medical bills. Just allowing "self pay" patients to pay at the same rate
>that pathents pay through health insurance (i.e., insurance payments plus
>patient payments) would cut 30% or more off of "self Pay" health bills.
>
>5) A major cause of bankruptcy is because of catastrophic medical bills. If
>health insurance were available to self-employed people at reasonable rates,
>many of the bankruptcies could be avoided.
>
>Medocare. Medicaid, and United Health are horrible for providers, I agree. But
>at least they help the unsured (perhaps not United Health).
>
>I therefore feel that health insurance should be made available to EVERYBODY,
>perhaps made mandatory. It should NOT BE FREE. But it should be available at
>REASONABLE prices.
>
>- - - -
>
>From: Joe Cutchin <forcep@intercom.net>
>Subject: Re: Yahoo! News Story - Group calls for universal health coverage
>
>"to find out what Americans want" - here piggy,piggy. We are all piglets wanting
>to suck off the government. Didn't need a committee or 5.5 mil for that big
>surprise. Joe C
>
>Meenan, Anna wrote:
>So we spent 5.5 million dollars to find out that Americans want universal basic
>health care coverage.
>What a surprise.
>Anna Meenan, MD
>
>Robert Modugno MD (rmodugno@aol.com) has sent you a news article.
>(Email address has not been verified.)
>------------------------------------------------------------
>Personal message:
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>
>------------------------------------------------------------
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>------------------------------------------------------------
>Group calls for universal health coverage - Yahoo! News
>------------------------------------------------------------
>
>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060608/ap_on_go_co/universal_coverage
>
>--
>============================================================
>Yahoo! News
>http://news.yahoo.com/
>
--
art fougner, md
"I drank what?" - Socrates
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