patrick.net

We spend the majority of our national health care dollars on the last 3-6 months of one's life. It is silly to try and change human perception of fighting for life. Sure, when it's somebody else, it's easy to say roll over and die, you are so far out of my sphere that i don't have the energy to sweat out your health, when death is inevitable. when it is one of your own, most will not attach a price to life

The middle men insurance swindlers certainly aren't going away any time soon, Obamacare will shackle every last sap into buying into that booswaggle. Six thousand a year isn't that bad, but it's certainly not that good either. Hard to attach a value to something that i never use. Often mentioned on this board is to remove the MID, and it would make housing so much cheaper, well what would the effect of removing the employer deduction for compensating pay with health insurance do to health care costs?

There is one thing that we can do on our own to not participate in their game of drugs and fear. Eat healthy, live healthy, and you can avoid doctors for the wide array of issues that people that participate in poisoning themselves with sugars, and stress of life in their system. That is what is in control of your own health.

How does it work in your state with hospital bills and auto insurance? Here we buy auto insurance to cover hospital bills in case of an accident

justme says

My point is that we should all stop fussing about this and start improving the system as a whole. Let's look at the big picture.

I agree. I just get annoyed by the strain of control freaks who, without a moment of thought, argue that everybody should be forced to follow their lifestyle prescription because all those weirdos are making their insurance more expensive.

errc says

We spend the majority of our national health care dollars on the last 3-6 months of one's life

That makes a point but also gets into another issue. Monopolies at funeral homes. I know it's grim to suggest competition within it but it is bad enough when people pass away..it's even worse to spend thousands and thousands on a burial. Cremation is more accepted now but in some areas it is harder to do.

mdovell says

errc says

We spend the majority of our national health care dollars on the last 3-6 months of one's life

That makes a point but also gets into another issue. Monopolies at funeral homes. I know it's grim to suggest competition within it but it is bad enough when people pass away..it's even worse to spend thousands and thousands on a burial. Cremation is more accepted now but in some areas it is harder to do.

That pretty much answers it: on average one would live about 3 months less without health insurance.

Health insurance, like many insurances, is a scam. Sadly its very existence drives up the cost of the eventuality it insures against.

Nobody actually needs health insurance....what they need is medical care, and there is no reason why insurance should be used to buy most medical care when it is a routine and entirely predictable expense (3-4 doctor/dentists/year).

Fantom says

Health insurance, like many insurances, is a scam. Sadly its very existence drives up the cost of the eventuality it insures against.

Nobody actually needs health insurance....what they need is medical care, and there is no reason why insurance should be used to buy most medical care when it is a routine and entirely predictable expense (3-4 doctor/dentists/year).

And exactly how many people have the resources to pay for surgery without insurance?

HousingWatcher says

And exactly how many people have the resources to pay for surgery without insurance?

Depends. Insurance locks you not only into the amount that the doctors would get paid but also the time structure. Some medical workers actually give discounts if you don't use insurance. You cannot negotiate pricing with insurance.

Only a very very small number of peopel have enough money to fully cover their medical expenses... perhaps no more than 5% of the population.

Gosh, without health insurance most women/families would go bankrupt with every birth, and a larger percentage of babies would die in childbirth or shortly thereafter.

You may be single or childless now, but will you always be so?

Do you want your sister, mother, daughter, aunt, neice to go bankrupt, possibly die, or lose a baby? Skip prenatal care?

Rather why is the US the ONLY developed nation that DOESN'T have universal care? Backwards, short-sighted nation in my opinion.

And the fact prices are 10x for the uninsured compared to the insured is truly criminal. Where's the class-action lawsuit on that one?

mdovell says

Monopolies at funeral homes.

Funeral planning is the one area that frosts my ass! they talk about "tributes" and the quality of the caskets - they'll hold up for years! - and all that shit. They prey on the emotions of a person during their most vulnerable moments. I love the competition in the larger cities - it results in $300 cremations and less than $1000 burials.

My kids know to spend the very least amount possible; I'm not Irish, but I would like them to spend more on alcohol for the party than for the burial itself.

Brentok3 says

I've read a statistic in various places that 85% of the increase in longevity in the US during the twentieth century was due to public health measures, not due to allopathic care.
Public health measures would include trash collection, water treatment, sewer treatment, central heating, food inspection, refrigeration, food storage and shipping improvements, control of vermin and insects, and vaccinations, and perhaps even workplace safety measures, and perhaps some would even consider product safety improvements.

There are statisticians who say more lives were saved in the 20th century by plumbers than by doctors.

I've always wondered why plumbers demand such a high price tag