Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group
Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.
I'm sure that Surfrat is going to love this thread!
This morning I opened Saturdays mail and found a bill from the hospital for my 3 days and two nights from my stroke. Here it comes, hold onto your hats:
$26,644.68 if I had no insurance. The insurance company wholesale cost reduced it by $11,573.75. So far the insurance company paid $2907. Therefore my resulting bill is $12,163.93.
Tomorrow I need to talk to my insurance company to find out what the glitch is. They absolutely should pay the whole thing (except for the phone).
The cost of medical care is this country is absolutely astonishing.
My ablation is April will probably run 100 grand!
This morning I opened Saturdays mail and found a bill from the hospital for my 3 days and two nights from my stroke. Here it comes, hold onto your hats:
$26,644.68 if I had no insurance. The insurance company wholesale cost reduced it by $11,573.75. So far the insurance company paid $2907. Therefore my resulting bill is $12,163.93.
Tomorrow I need to talk to my insurance company to find out what the glitch is. They absolutely should pay the whole thing (except for the phone).
The cost of medical care is this country is absolutely astonishing.
My ablation is April will probably run 100 grand!
1: Medicare currently serves 50 million Americans rather well, so government can run a large program with competence.
1a: The Obamacare rollout was really unfortunate. The intentions were good. It will get better. However, it needs to address the distorted pricing of health care services. If they continue the work of Medicare, they may be able to contain costs, however, there are several areas (like pharmaceuticals and others) where the government is prohibited from negotiating prices. Restricted by laws written by the lobbying groups whose clients stand to reap enormous profits from a runaway health care system.
2: The reason that insurance companies need to negotiate lower prices with hospitals is that hospital pricing is not based on any cost, but on the CHARGEMESTER, which bears resemblance to nothing on this planet. READ: http://livingwithmcl.com/BitterPill.pdf
3: As one of the very fortunate ones who has excellent health insurance because I was a government worker for 23 years -- I still feel that tying ones ability to get health care in this country to an employer is a form of slavery. Note: When I was growing up my mother sewed dress in a sweat shop, my father worked in a print shop. The times when we had health insurance were rare, but we ate regular. I grew up with the motto, work for the government, youll get health insurance!.
4: Denying health care to tens of millions of Americans because they didn't win the brain, luck, inheritance, physiology or connections pool is something out of the Middle Ages and has no place in a civilized society of the 21st century.
5: I feel the one of the reasons (among others) that health care in America is so insanely expensive is that we spent huge amounts of time and energy figuring out the billing/ insurance/payments system. With hundreds on insurers each with dozens of plans, what health care delivery unit doesn't have several people assigned just to figure out the payments system. Maybe a single payer system isn't the complete solution, but it does move things in a better direction.
6: Working citizens should be able to obtain health care even if they work for Wal-Mart and should not have their entire health care matrix thrown into disarray because they quit and went to work for McDonalds.
7: On my conservative side, I am uncomfortable with the idea of spending large amount of money on health care and education for illegals. We should take care of our own citizens properly, before dealing with the rest of the worlds peoples. However, because we do not have a path to citizenship in this country, I dont see any way to move this problem into something more equitable.
And finally: the inequitable distribution of wealth and income in this country is real and growing at a alarming rate and, if it continues will lead to a breakdown in civil institutions. I dont think that socialism is the answer, but a government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich that doesnt serve the needs of its entire citizenry will ultimately fail (look at the Ukraine, Egypt, Tunisia, Brazil and Rome). Since the entire process historically available to correct such a huge distortion in the evolution of this society has been captured by big money (either through the direct ownership of Congressmen and Senators, or through their gerrymandering), I dont see any way out.
Especially, your comment: "I grew up with the motto, work for the government, youll get health insurance!.
This is true.
I heard a long and detailed piece on NPR a few years ago regarding national stats on medical costs for health care proportionate to the common population. The figure was wacked out, it was something like 45% payed for government employees. I believe the military may have been included in this figure. I wish I had recorded the piece.
Not quite sure about KeepPumping's remarks, but it appears that several have addressed them, so I'll leave it at that.
I just decided not to look at the cost of ablation #3. OOP was about $4K.
I don't discuss health care and politics. What I DO know is that you need alot of $$$ to cover your health care.
Robert