American insurance company bullshit !!!!

[Nssca]

When Peggy had a doctor-ordered C-section several years ago, her insurance company told her to get sterilized if she wanted to keep her coverage. Listen to her story in the links below:
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

 

[maldorf]

I had not heard those stories. Really does make me sick to see that. It is hard to believe that they can legally do something like that. I sure hope that the laws get changed soon. I personally know someone that has a little boy with all sorts of problems he was born with and she cant find anyone that will cover him.
I am lucky that I havent had any trouble with my insurance companies. My first stay in the hospital was 5 days in ICU and 2 days in a regular room and the charge was $120 k. I paid just $200 for it. That was blue cross blue shield. Then we had to go to humana because of change in employment. They didnt try any preexisting condition bullshit on me ,I was covered one month later for another 5 days in ICU and got my ICD implanted. That trip was $140k and cost me $4500. I dont know what we would have done without insurance. I do believe that medical bills are the number one cause for people losing their homes and filing bankruptcy.
Funny thing too, that last charge I had to pay of $4500 was reduced to just $3k because someone in collections called from the hospital and offered to reduce the payment to that if I paid over the phone with a credit card. I said hell yeah! I wasnt even late. In fact I had not even received the bill yet. I guess they have so much trouble collecting on bills that they are proactive and do things like this to get all of the money up front. I was going to mail them a check for $4500 but $3k was a nice surprise.

 

[617ricky]

As bad as government regulation is for businesses, I really feel we need it for the health insurance industry.. These places are like investment firms so goddamn money-hungry for profits - trying to suck as much money out of people as they can, having agents going over claims with a fine-toothed comb just looking for a reason to deny people.. Is that really how this type of industry should be run?

I guess it wouldn't be as much of an issue if prices hadn't doubled-tripled in the past decade, and it goes deeper than just the insurance industry.. The cost of prescriptions and medical care in general is also a large factor - with uninsured people (even illegals) being a big factor in that when they can't pay up.. But it's like a double-edged sword when alot of them WOULD have insurance if it wasn't so friggin expensive or they didn't get denied.. Whatever the fucking case is, strict regulation is needed very soon..

 

[maldorf]

I recently used my insurance to purchase some equipment. At first I found a place to purchase it and the cost was about $1800. Problem is Humana doesnt have an agreement with them and wouldnt pay a dime. I found 3 others and none of those worked either, all were about the same cost. I tried calling the list of providers insurance gave me and none of them knew crap about what I needed and were unable to help. Finally I had to call and bitch them out and have them do the ground work for me. 5 hours later they called back and had the only place that carried it that they would do business with. I end up going through them and the cost of the equipment was $5k!! LOL. Seems these companies jack up their prices because in effect they have a monopoly of sorts since they are the sole distributor of what you need. ITs not like I had a choice of where to go. Such a farce. It ended up costing insurance $3k and me $620. They could have gone through who I found and the cost was less than $2k. Systems works great huh. Capitalism at its best.

 

[jalsmiley]

It's so simple it's sickening. Take the state by state regulation out n have it regulated federally across the board n we would have somewhat fair priced insurance. But they don't want that!!! They wanna keep jammin it up our azzes! My cobra cost me 1600 a month WTF!!!! Every penny from unemployment goes to just insurance n these fxcks have the nerve to say we don't need healthcare overhaul! Blowme. Sorry. Had to vent!!!!!!

 

[hawkmoon]

It really makes me sad reading about the state of insurance in the US. At least my home state of MA is trying.

In Japan everyone has insurance. Either your company pays into the hybrid national system, or you do it on your own, and rates scale with your income. In fact if you land here with a work visa you HAVE to obtain insurance.

The biggest difference about health care here in Japan is it is clearly not a for-profit field. Yes doctors are paid well, but you don't see the ludicrous spending like you do in the US on artwork for the hospital lobby etc. Everything is kinda old here (except the equipment). Focus is on the care.

Also, there are no insurance companies, no HMOs, no middle men. Probably the only business without middle men in Japan, which shows how seriously they take medical care.

 

[JAG]

As bad as government regulation is for businesses, I really feel we need it for the health insurance industry.

Health care is one of the most regulated industries already! You really w2ant to improve health care give the free market a shot

Health Care Regulation: A $169 Billion Hidden Tax

 

[jalsmiley]

Health care is one of the most regulated industries already! You really w2ant to improve health care give the free market a shot

Health Care Regulation: A $169 Billion Hidden Tax

i think people are mixing up regulation with need for reform...you are right, it is overregulated, every state having its own rules and insurance companies using these rules and regs to profits on. for instance, in some states it is regulated that insurance has to pay for hair transplants in some cases...so in that state insurance companies will have high rates and say since we have to pay for hair transplants we must charge everyone across the board higher rates to cover that. where as in montana they dont have to cover a lot of unneccessary things and have cheaper insurance, but me living in nj i cant shop in montana online for insurance....i can buy a car there...and just about anything else..but just not insurance!!!

 

[marshallmadman]

The reform needs to be in the Class Action Lawsuit field. There are literally thousands of doctors in the U.S. that don't practice medicine because malpractice insurance is so costly. Doctors that don't practice because of that, feel that trying to keep up with your insurance forces you to turn your practice into a cattle call. You spend less time with patients so you can get the next person in there to get their money.

Too many blood sucking lawyers, and too many pieces of shit looking for free rides. That's what's wrong with healthcare in America.

 

[jalsmiley]

The reform needs to be in the Class Action Lawsuit field. There are literally thousands of doctors in the U.S. that don't practice medicine because malpractice insurance is so costly. Doctors that don't practice because of that, feel that trying to keep up with your insurance forces you to turn your practice into a cattle call. You spend less time with patients so you can get the next person in there to get their money.

Too many blood sucking lawyers, and too many pieces of shit looking for free rides. That's what's wrong with healthcare in America.

well...i too thought this after hearing doctors complain about malpractive insurance....BUT...do you know what it takes to file a malpractice case??? my mother recently did file one a few years back...you cant just go to a lawyer and say i wanna sue this doctor because he fxcked up. you have to have a lawyer right up the grievance and then a doctor or doctors have to review it and actually decide if there is merritt before it gets brought against the dr you complain about...and do you know how hard it is to get a doctor to go against other doctors and say yes this dr fxcked up!! its all BS and coming from a DR friend of mine....too many doctors dont want to say "i dont know" cause of their egos and ask for help or point you in another direction, they fuck up like anyone else and should be held accountable for it. also, i dont know about you but i have a dr...my son has a dr...and my wife has a dr...and they all drive 80k dollar cars...i dont think they are starving too much!!!

 

[617ricky]

Health care is one of the most regulated industries already!

By regulation I mean a total overhaul - shutting down every last one of these independent money hungry investment firms under the guise of "health insurance".. This industry should be run with people's health being the top priority, and paying only how much it should REALLY cost.. It shouldn't be run as an investment firm where their goal is to profit profit profit!! and suck every last penny out of people they can, denying others who are too sick along the way and not giving a fuck.. Call it socialist if you want but it's an industry that SHOULD be run non-profit.. We are the butt end of jokes of so many other countries that can handle insuring their citizens and it's pretty pathetic..

And yes the malpractice shit is part of the reason too and that should also be shut the fuck down.. Same thing with car insurance with people paying thousands a year to insure a car.. And it's cuz any Joe Blow scumbag who gets into a fender-bender can just hop on an ambulance and get his claim rolling with no injuries whatsoever.. I can think of well over 10 instances with people I know collecting THOUSANDS on claims from car accidents, having sustained NO injury - it's fucking sickening.

 

[russian-bodybuilder]

This sounds really crazy....

 

[gelatine]

You can talk about insanely high costs for insurance, and sure that's something we need to look at, the entire medical industry is ridiculous in the US.

But you know what's even worse? How about the insurance companies taking your money for years and then denying you coverage for a non-related condition you forgot to disclose? This practice is called recission, and it happens more often than you'd imagine and in every major insurance company in the country.

Imagine if you will, spending thousands and thousands of dollars on insurance over the years. Maybe you're even happy with your current insurance provider. You've been sick a few times, maybe an emergency room visit once or twice, but they pay their end and you pay yours. But now you've been diagnosed with cancer, and it's going to cost millions by the time it's done one way or another. Your insurance company isn't going to be so friendly this time around.

Your insurance company exhaustively searches your medical history for anything you haven't reported. You had athlete's foot when you were 20 and didn't report it on your insurance application? That's grounds for dismissal of your policy in many states (some few have laws against this practice).

Maybe you can fight the decision though and go to battle with the company and their small army of lawyers. Maybe you can fight it while fighting cancer without insurance. Fight it while you struggle to keep a job and your family fed while paying some fraction of the always growing bills. Fight it while you wither away and don't have the resources to explore new treatments that might help.

Or maybe you'll just die and the insurance company's stock will go up a hundredth of a cent. That's what the company hopes for when they see that diagnosis, and that's what they get.

 

[hawkmoon]

I heard about this on an episode of NPR's "This American Life" (I think, or Planet Money...).
A woman was scheduled for an urgent, life-saving mastectomy due to breast cancer and her insurance company found some unrelated pre-existing condition and they canceled her operation to be held only days later.
Nauseating...

You can talk about insanely high costs for insurance, and sure that's something we need to look at, the entire medical industry is ridiculous in the US.

But you know what's even worse? How about the insurance companies taking your money for years and then denying you coverage for a non-related condition you forgot to disclose? This practice is called recission, and it happens more often than you'd imagine and in every major insurance company in the country.

Imagine if you will, spending thousands and thousands of dollars on insurance over the years. Maybe you're even happy with your current insurance provider. You've been sick a few times, maybe an emergency room visit once or twice, but they pay their end and you pay yours. But now you've been diagnosed with cancer, and it's going to cost millions by the time it's done one way or another. Your insurance company isn't going to be so friendly this time around.

Your insurance company exhaustively searches your medical history for anything you haven't reported. You had athlete's foot when you were 20 and didn't report it on your insurance application? That's grounds for dismissal of your policy in many states (some few have laws against this practice).

Maybe you can fight the decision though and go to battle with the company and their small army of lawyers. Maybe you can fight it while fighting cancer without insurance. Fight it while you struggle to keep a job and your family fed while paying some fraction of the always growing bills. Fight it while you wither away and don't have the resources to explore new treatments that might help.

Or maybe you'll just die and the insurance company's stock will go up a hundredth of a cent. That's what the company hopes for when they see that diagnosis, and that's what they get.

 

[617ricky]

Or maybe you'll just die and the insurance company's stock will go up a hundredth of a cent. That's what the company hopes for when they see that diagnosis, and that's what they get.

Exactly why this shouldn't be a for-profit industry.. Unfortunately a capitalistic approach among other things has shown that we cannot currently handle the situation as it is now.. The government needs to step in, take over, and manage it as a NON-PROFIT industry.. Cuz the chain reaction of the past TEN fucking years with premiums up 200-300%, leading to where we are now - is pathetic, disgusting, and inexcusable..

 

[gelatine]

In March, he was laid off from his job as a raw materials coordinator for a plastics company called PolyOne, where he'd worked for 20 years. His severance package had provided several months' salary, but by August the paychecks were winding down. Soon the cost of his family health coverage was going to triple, then a few months after that, nearly triple again. They needed coverage so Mom could fight her cancer.

...for weeks before enlisting, Bill had sought other options. He revised his résumé. He answered "help wanted" ads, then watched the companies cut workers instead of hiring them. He interviewed for one job that would have paid $13 an hour - less than half of what he was making at PolyOne. He didn't get the job.

Finally, on May 13, his 39th birthday, he signed the Army papers.

He's in the Army now - JSOnline

One more year and he wouldn't even have had the option. "Lucky" him.

 

[617ricky]

It's shit like this that proves that even tho the USA is still the top-dog of the world, we do not kno it all and we're far from perfect.. The full-fledged capitalism worked for a while, and things were great.. But when things were good, the gov. and citizens took things for granted.. The gov. spent billions they didn't have yet.. They just figured "hey, as long as we continue at this pace, we'll pay for it".. And the people followed suit too charging the fuck outta their cards.. Wall St. investors and mortgage brokers followed suit along with everyone else - figuring yea, we'll give you the mortgage (even tho you can't currently afford it) - cuz since things are going good now, you WILL be able to afford it.. But no one thought about the possibility that things would NOT continue to keep going up and up, and we weren't prepared for it in the least bit when it happened.. So when things started going shitty and we had this enormous burden that still hadn't been paid for, we were fucked.. And that's the mess we've BEEN in, and the mess we will CONTINUE to be in.. ANyone look at the national debt recently? It's fucking absurd! They said that shit was supposed to be paid for years ago - except ummm, it's gone up by the 7th power.. Moral of the story is, don't get all caught up in yourself when things are going great and make obligations you can't fulfill tomorrow if things make a turn for the worse..