The last I checked regarding "fraud" in Medicare or Medicaid, the amount = pennies.(not to be confused with "waste"). When the politicians say they're going to go after fraud to provide savings you'll find the amounts probably wouldn't justify the resources used to ferret out the fraud. The "system" is just gargantuan money pit.
We all should be glad that most people have private medical insurance. If they didn't, doctors would go out of business treating only the indigent and "low payers"... and then NONE OF US WOULD GET MEDICAL CARE. Think about it.. in a "nationalized health care plan", doctors will receive minimal payments... at what point do they say, "screw it" and go on to other endeavors? (The chair of my wife's department is working on an MBA as a backup to the possibility of changing careers when/if the practice of medicine become financially impractical... think about THAT!)
Not going to read the whole thread, just gets tired for me. Insurance to include Medicare/Medicade are a big part of the problem, note I didn't say the whole problem. At the governement level we have tremendous buracracies(sp) to adminster these programs, and it grows every year, while we are threatened with cut backs to the same programs, but never a cut back on the administration end. I see a whole lot of cost to be saved by eliminating a majority of the administration end. The same with private insurance, whiile I may not be completely accurate, but close, grew out of union contracts. Health insurance is a great idea in its basic form, but now it is an added cost to everyone. Medical facilities have large departments devoted to submitting, interperting and administering insurance. Do you think they can just absorb that cost? We pay premiums to the companies and then deal with bs when we call to question a claim. Insurance companies, and I might add not a surprise Warren Buffett's biggest business, are for the most part a fraud and a huge drain on the medical system. I'll give a small example. One of my sons and I were pretty sick while out of town. I didn't want to go in as I knew the cost for out of system would be ridiculous. We pay roughly $350 a month, plus deductible and copays for insurance for in network, and the deductible and copay are even higher if you have to go out of network. The Urgent care facility looked up the cost for me, laid it out and told me what I would have to pay. For cash for the 2 of us to see a doctor it was $120. He spent an equal amount of time that going in to an in network doctor would have cost. As it so happens another son had to go in for the same crap(thanks for sharing) a week before to our in network doctor. The charge for just him, $180. He hadn't met the deductilbe for the year so we got to pay the whole thing after discount, $153. So for 2 at an urgent care we paid $30 less in cash than for 1 going to an in network provider. I'm all in for long term investments for insurance companies as they never seem to get brought up as the biggest scam in the system. I guess big boys are able to buy poilitcos away from that thought. And don't tell me how it is great if you need it for a major illness as they have capped the amount they will pay. And don't throw out how Obummercare is any different, as it has wording that affects whether you are worth keeping around and if you become too much of a cost on the system. The reason being, insurance is a fraud and they know it and the insurance companies are the only ones who will benefit from Obummer care, even in it's current form, but bet they will have it written to favor them more down the road.
What if someone has no health insurance and gets cancer? Will that person be treated for free? Do hospitals and doctors sue people for not paying their bills?