because of insurance companies. there is no competition between them, for various reasons. It's the same reason why windows 7 is so expensive. It's a near monopoly
Many cities have free health clinics in various neighborhoods. There are also hospitals run by Goverment that has a hard time sending out bills for payment.
I heard that MA, ME, VT, NJ, and NY have no medical underwriting and guarantee insurance coverage for everyone. They may not cover pre-existing conditions until a certain amount of time has passed. You would have to check with the insurance carriers in those states. Some states also offer high risk plans for those with pre-existing conditions. Check out this for more information... http://www.coverageforall.org/pdf/USDirectory.pdf
I went to the Scripps emergency room here in San Diego in 2002. Turned out I had Pneumonia. The Bill was $350 bucks and I offered to pay before I left but was told that I would be billed. I took it like they were not even set up to collect payment and that it had to be billed by their accounting system All you have to do it show up and get treated. Collecting money is the last thing they seem to care about.
To think that insurance companies are the cause of higher medical costs seems to be completely off base. Insurance companies, when you think about it, are simply middle men. They charge premiums for insurance, and then pay some portion of it out for your medical care. My experience has been that the insurance companies generally negotiate the cost of your medical care down, sometimes sharply. I found it interesting prior to this year that my wife's insurance company, United Healthcare, entered into it's annual negotiations with one of the local hospitals and their doctors for what they would pay for certain types of procedures. They did not reach agreement, so the relationship between this hospital and the insurance company ended. The hospital said they wanted more money than the insurance company was willing to pay. Of course, they painted the insurance company as the bad guy, just as you have done. I'd say the bad guys when it comes to health care costs are the doctors and/or hospitals. I recall the time when I had a cold/flu that would not go away. When the weekend arrived I wanted to go to the doctor, but of course he wasn't open. Not wanting to go to the emergency room, I went to one of those urgent care places. I asked how much my treatment would be. And they wouldn't tell me. Essentially, they wanted me to get the treatment, and then tell me what it cost. The fact is that if you ask your doctor what something costs, most of the time they can't tell you. But whatever it costs, the insurance companies will negotiate it down. OldTrader
You are right on illegals but they are getting not only the ER care but also follow up care usually via county indigent health care reimbursement programs to the hospitals and clinics( paid by taxes ).. You are somewhat wrong on doctors and hospitals raising the fees using the excuse they have to cover their unpaid services. Truth is that doctors are morally corrupted to the point they actually performing unnecessary procedures just to generate an income stream, prescribing medications which don't work to earn sales commission etc..It has nothing to do with illegals they are doing it because they arte greedy mofos.
The following was published in 2006 and it remains the reason that we need some kind of health care reform. Whether it is the current health care bill or other reforms, both parties should work together and not just offer demagoguery. http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=57a363b971d43b5c84940e442f9f1a42
American drs are amoral criminals and rarely do what is in the patients interest, they do what costs the most. The sheep do not realize that most AIG/enron/GS would be ashamed to do what drs do every day.
United Healthcare owns (9) corporate jets: (2) Cessna 680 (1) Embraer EMB-135BJ (1) Dassault Falcon 2000EX (3) Hawker 800XP (2) Gulfstream GV-SP Source: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinq...?Nametxt=UNITED HEALTH&sort_option=1&PageNo=1 (# of corporate pilots for each is unknown) Executive annual compensation in the millions: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=UNH "Our Approach: We're in the business of helping people live healthier lives." http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/main/Default.aspx But at what cost are you helping me? (Disclosure: my new company's insurance provider is UNH)