Obama Care vs Republicans

[Lamplighter]

Today on Meet the Press, Mitch McConnell was interviewed about the
situation of the government shutdown, debt ceiling, and the GOP.
Obamacare was discussed twice, and McConnell made the following statement:

In Oregon, no one has signed up, in Alaska... 7.

Does McConnell addictively lie, was he ill-informed,
or inverting a fact into yet another false GOP talking point ?

Whichever - Oregon has already signed up 56,000 - in the first 2 weeks.
--- as previously posted here

Or, for the GOP, 56,000 people translates into "no one".

[Happy Monkey]

Should have been the easy part? It's the only part.

The website is the only part the law affected in that whole list. All of those things are managed by the insurer and the doctor/hospital, exactly as the did before the law. Either Upton is a moron, or he thinks everyone else is.

[Adak]

I like to spell the RINO's "RHINO", because they both like to wallow in the mud so much, and it has the correct pronunciation, with the long 'i'.

When you see what the medical expenses are, you'll know why medical insurance is needed. The insurance providers negotiate expenses with the hospitals, etc. - but if you have no insurance, you have no negotiation, and they stick it to you royally, with the highest and most outrageous expenses, you could ever imagine. Highway robbers are envious of them, believe me.

And yeah, you're a youngster!

[henry quirk]

"When you see what the medical expenses are, you'll know why medical insurance is needed."

No doubt...again: I object to mandates, not insurance itself.

#

"if you have no insurance, you have no negotiation, and they stick it to you royally"

Not (always) true.

In my experience: insurance sometimes is the reason for charging 'more' and paying cash sometimes imposes a certain frugality on the part of treatment provider and receiver, both.

How the system is used and abused depends on the players involved and what each is willing to do as much, as the bureaucratic pathways.

#

"you're a youngster!"

Then, you sir, must be old as dirt...

[infinite monkey]

A sort of tangent/agreement to the 'charging more' claim above.

My teeth fiasco would have cost me about 3600 dollars, if'n I'd had dental insurance still. That would've cost me 1800 out of pocket, as it did before. With discounts for not having insurance it cost me ~2500. So it's true: they would charge more if I had insurance knowing insurance would pick up some costs.

Now how does that make sense?

[Lamplighter]

It may not make sense, but better for the dentist to get paid the
lesser amount than to loose more turning it over to a bill collection agency

Or, maybe it's sort of like getting a 10% discount for being a member
of AAA, AARP, etc.... just good PR.

[henry quirk]

Lamp,

Or, mebbe, sometimes, it's about a services receiver who's conscious about what he or she is payin' for (and who demands bang for buck) instead of someone who just kinda ignores price since 'it's covered' (the insurance version of 'the commons').

[BigV]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

A sort of tangent/agreement to the 'charging more' claim above.

My teeth fiasco would have cost me about 3600 dollars, if'n I'd had dental insurance still. That would've cost me 1800 out of pocket, as it did before. With discounts for not having insurance it cost me ~2500. So it's true: they would charge more if I had insurance knowing insurance would pick up some costs.

Now how does that make sense?

One simple explanation is that the dentist is offering a cash discount. Getting paid cash and right away is worth more to the dentist than getting paid more by an insurance company later and with more hassle, claim filing, etc.

Maybe it "costs" the dentist more to deal with insurance patients and he's just passing those costs along to his customers.

[infinite monkey]

lamp: as I'm studying medical coding I'm starting to see some of the incentives for healthcare providers to do things a certain way. It's really confusing to me right now, but I'm just getting through the first couple chapters/basics.

And the irony is: drumroll please...if I HAD the dental insurance I would still be employed. IF I were still employed I wouldn't have my PERS paid out. IF I didn't have my PERS paid out I wouldn't have been able to afford 1800 out of pocket and would've have been in debt again (like last time, and that almost killed me) but since I'm unemployed and I have the PERS I wrote a check.

Weird, is all

[henry quirk]

"the incentives for healthcare providers to do things a certain way"

Also the incentives for the insured to turn a blind eye to cost.

After one meets his or her deductible: the cost is absorbed by the pool (the commons) so 'how much' is less important.

And: if 'how much' is less important, one is incentivized to just let the doc or hospital go nuts with tests and whatnot that may not be 'necessary'.

Sure, the insurance company wants to keep costs down but how 'gratuity-laden' is the relationship between insurer and medical provider? Buried in the line items are how many kick backs?

[henry quirk]

"my new caps are almost PERFECT"

Perfect example of one demanding bang for her buck...

[infinite monkey]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

lamp AND NOW BIG V: as I'm studying medical coding I'm starting to see some of the incentives for healthcare providers to do things a certain way. It's really confusing to me right now, but I'm just getting through the first couple chapters/basics.

And the irony is: drumroll please...if I HAD the dental insurance I would still be employed. IF I were still employed I wouldn't have my PERS paid out. IF I didn't have my PERS paid out I wouldn't have been able to afford 1800 out of pocket and would've have been in debt again (like last time, and that almost killed me) but since I'm unemployed and I have the PERS I wrote a check.

Weird, is all

[infinite monkey]

And did I mention my new caps are almost PERFECT? Better than what I had before from my now dead dentist and after two breakings of THOSE caps.

[DanaC]

Which is a s lightly different thing to demanding bang from her buck... ;p

[Griff]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Which is a s lightly different thing to demanding bang from her buck... ;p

I'm not sure anybody's had a buck bang since 1929.