For those interested in understanding about hospital costs here are some interesting facts. First let me preface that I am one of the uninsured being unable to purchase insurance at any price due to preexisting condition. As a result went to India for surgery at a cost of about 39 thousand for what would have cost over 180 thousand in US. My last surgery was quoted at a US hospital at $37000. When I said I could pay cash the hospital quoted $25000. When I asked the accountant at the hospital what a large insurance company would pay the answer was $9500. Took me a while to figure out why the differences but I believe the answer to be if you bill the uninsured the 40K and they don't pay the hospital can write off the 40K against profits rather than the $9500 they would actually get paid by the large insurance company. Want to help the uninsured just make it law that they cannot be charged more than an insurance company. The hospital would collect more money and the uninsured would have a better chance at health.
Not so sure the hospital can write off the loss(uncollected fees) but I know the doctors or surgeon that treated you can not. Professionals cannot write off unpaid fees for service, period. And I suspect Hospitals cannot either. Did you purchase insurance in India, no. You paid cash. If the U.S. operated on a cash basis for health care the cost here would also be greatly less. Plus, how much do the Hospitals and Physicians in India have to pay to comply with India's regulations? The regulations enacted yearly by the U.S. cost Physicians and Hospitals millions overall and that means they have to raise their fees to pay for these additional expenses. You have to look at the whole picture. Plus, why would a private insurance company want to insure a person that has cancer or needs heart surgery, unless they can charge a premium to compensate for that. And, since they are a private company they should be able to issue insurance as they chose. I totally understand your problem and others unable to acquire private insurance. But, the solution is not Obama Care it is the Government providing people in your situation coverage through the Medicaid or a new branch of the Medicare Program. Shouldn't you also be questioning why people with certain illnesses are unable to get life insurance or be forced to pay a premium too costly for them to afford? Or why don't people complain that there car insurance fails to pay enough for them to purchase a new car when an accident wasn't their fault, or for that matter why doesn't car insurance cover repairs such as a broken fan belt or pay for preventative maintenance. Obviously if car insurance was required to pay for those things, the cost of insurance would go up. Or, look at homeowners insurance, if your air conditioner or water heater goes out or you have a plumbing problem your insurance doesn't pay for it? Why not complain about that? Homeowners insurance is usually thousands of dollars and doesn't even cover flooding unless you pay for it, if you can even purchase flood insurance.
I think you are missing the point of my posting. I am in no way advocating OBama care or any other straw man you want to throw up. What I was trying to point out is the inherent unfairness of a system that requires us to purchase health care insurance in order to obtain care at reasonable rates. If I could have paid cash and obtained care in the United States for the same price as it would have been made available through large insurance companies I would not have had to go to India. The plain facts that even paying cash up front in the United States I would have had to pay almost three times what a large insurance company would have paid the hospital. Also, note that these were what the hospital would have charged. If you have ever been involved with the system you would know that the surgeons who did the actual work charge separately from the hospital as well as do the anestheologists. These charges are a tiny fraction of what the hospital charges and you can usually work with the actual doctors to reduce costs or arrange time payments What is really interesting to contemplate is why we have an entire health care system in this country that forces a person to buy insurance in order to obtain the best price for care. And then we say to people with preexisting conditions sorry you don't fit our system so tough luck. And by the way you are a deadbeat and the cause of all the systems problems because you don't have insurance so all the rest of us have to pay for you. The real truth at least in my case is when I get medical care in the US I pay more than you do so at least in my case this uninsured person is subsidizing your care and not the other way around.
I can get care I keep my income really low on paper, have not locatable income and my one bank is not domestic and Swiss laws are very protective they can't even tell my bank to verify I have an account there without a Swiss Courts order. So I go to the hospital and just let them realize I have NOTHING that usually makes them give up right away and in collections its pointless also. For regular care there is the county free clinic which has a dentist and lots of services and it costs $5 a visit. I would prefer the Medicaid expansion but with no demonstrated income I likely won't get that either. Oh well this can't be helped by me.
"If I could have paid cash and obtained care in the United States for the same price as it would have been made available through large insurance companies I would not have had to go to India". My Cardiologist and many other physicians I know give cash discounts. But patients need to shop around for the physicians willing to do that. And, my husband and the hospitals he is on staff at have frequently treated patients surgically "for free" because they had no insurance and little income. If the Government and Insurance Companies reimbursed physicians and surgeons the fee they deserve for the care and/or surgery they provided, the overall cost to all would be less. And, all the physicians I know are willing to work out payment plans based on the patients income and ability to pay. It was the Federal Government that screwed things up when they asked employers to provide health insurance as a benefit to workers after WW2 and failed to set regulations the Health Insurance were to follow. The Health Insurance Companies have gone unchecked, not subject to laws other corporations had to follow for years. Providers should have never agreed to participating in PPO's, HMO's and the like in the early 1990's, I said so at the time. But my husband was forced to join these programs, agreeing to lower reimbursements or being unable to treat their patients enrolled in these insurance plans. Since Providers cannot work together to set average fees for their services as that is a Federal Crime and while they might be able to form a Union, the Union is legally unable to negotiate reimbursement rates with Insurance Companies or the Government, so basically, they are screwed. As are the patients they treat. P.S. Physicians income has decreased yearly beginning in the early 90's. They work more hours, see more patients, do more surgery and still make less. So, you should have told your Surgeon here in the U.S. what they were going to charge you in India, he/she may have agreed to that same fee. I forgot to add that when a patient doesn't have insurance many providers will only charge the "reasonable" fee most insurance plans approve; plus the average deductible. This is fair as their surgical fees include your follow-up care, unless their are extenuating post-surgical circumstances, such as the patient failing to follow the post-surgical instructions, missing appoints which lead to a post-surgical complication. If anyone has any questions or needs advice regarding problems with their insurance company or inability to pay for emergency care I am here to answer your question.
Then you are a crook. Not only getting free medical care but likely not paying federal income taxes on your total income. You don't deserve Medicaid and I don't think anyone should care what you have to say. God Lord.
I think you are confusing the fees the doctor or surgeon charges with hospital charges. Most doctors will work with you to reduce their fees but try negotiating with a hospital about their charges before having a procedure.
If hospitals did this http://www.surgerycenterok.com/pricing.php then prices would drop significantly. Notice that the prices don't apply if you are using insurance. It is true that contract rates with insurance brings the cost down for the insurance company. When someone doesn't have insurance the price is over-blown--and I believe its ridiculously so--probably to make up the difference of people who don't pay.
I have one reply if I also don't access any government programs I'm an ID Protestor I refuse to carry or use any form of government ID or my SSN for any purpose, I likely won't benefit from the ACA and can't access food stamps. I do have some non-government ID two with my photo and my original birth certificate. But as a citizen its not illegal to not carry government ID. Right now I can only vote due to the laws have allowances like in my case I use a mail-in ballot. If I was in the system I would go for every benefit I could food stamps, section eight, free cell phone (I don't use one now) and so forth and work so as to get more money back then I pay in. But with my view of government ID noted above I live like people did in 1850 on cash for the most part rather easy in fact.
