Medical bankruptcies rise

single payer....it's being ignored because its the best solution. however, big pharma and the boys in the beltway don't get their goodies. can you figure out what the problem is?

Not new news!! Yup...that is why it healthcare needs to get fixed and why the tightening of the bankruptcy laws that happened under the Bush administration was wrong and focused on the wrong side of the problem.

The evidence has always said that the reason people go bankrupt more often is because of medical emergencies and illness...NOT CREDIT CARD DEBT or BAD FINANCIAL DECISIONS (like buying too much house or getting less than stellar mortgage product).

I understand, agree and believe in the personal responsibility thing and the nature of human beings is that we all get sick and need care at some point. So ultimately, we are all dependent upon each other.

Because by means of legalized bribery the military/industrial/corporate/financial complex (which includes Big Insurance) has finally achieved its most cherished goal, defacto control of government, universal health care (single payer)--the most fair and sensible form of health coverage, as adopted by virtually all civilized nations--will never, EVER even be considered here, let alone adopted.

As long as there is insurance to cover routine medical bills the cost of medicine will continue to rise and these stories will continue to happen. For the mere fact that there is a very large pool of money to draw upon and that the patient has very little to do with the actual payments and the cost of the treatment, medical cost will continue to rise because the costs have very little to do with the actual treatment or expenses involved and free market forces are not in effect. If medical insurance for other than catastrophic illness were to suddenly disappear the cost of medicine would drop drastically.

The study is as flawed as the healthcare system. First, the simple solution is that medical insurance carriers be responsible to cover any illness to its conclusion if that illness is diagnosed while covered. In other words, make it to their advantage to keep you working and paying premiums rather than get you out of work and off the books.
Second, measuring the rate of bankruptcies and assuming that high medical bills means that is the cause is simplistic and misleading. I have dealt with irresponsible people and they are just that. Addressing one suspected cause just shifts the burden while not actually having an appreciable effect on the supposed problem. For example, an easier issue to see this affect is death statistics. They will say cause X is the leading cause of death and therefore we have to fix X. But, at the end of the day everyone will still die. All you have done is shift the cause to something else when what you really need to focus on is extending life with a quality of life, not just shifting the cause of death to something else.

Hal you're absolutely right. I have been saying the same thing for years

Universal health insurance coverage isn't the solution. More coverage is going to drive costs higher. (When less American's were insured (and pre-Medicare/aid health costs), healthcare costs were less relative to disposable income.)

America's health insurance creates a false economy. Unhealthy behaviors (smoking, overeating, lack of exercise, etc ) are not penalized or factored into a person's real medical costs, they're subsidized. Individuals over utilize medical/healthcare services because they there's no disincentives.

And if doctors could only charge what individuals could afford because there was no health insurance, prices, testing, service utilization would be more reasonable.

It's a racket - and Nobullroar has it right.

Please would someone at the Globe publish a comparison of what current premiums for health insurance are compared with what taxes would be if we went to single-payer (and got rid of the premiums). Just do it for 1 scenario, such as a family of 4. (This also might give us an idea of how much we are giving to insurance CEO's...)

Also, please say how a single-payer system would operate without our system being like Canada's. Every time I mention single payer, I hear another horror story about how the Canadian systen does- or does not- work. The argument for single-payer has to include that the service here would still be as good under single-payer as it is now (just don't go to the wrong ER!). Don't forget that even with your insurance, you probably aren't going to get the level of care that Kennedy has.

Howard Dean is correct.

"a"(Toothy, Robust)"public health insurance option is more important than bipartisanship, and Democrats should pass health-care legislation that includes the option with 51 votes if necessary."

"Democrats should have "no intention" of working with Republicans if it's not the strongest possible legislation that could be passed with a simple majority." (Howard Dean)

This is what WE THE PEOPLE gave the Democrats all that power to do for ALL of us.

You see, Dr. Dean knows that in medicine and healthcare there is only one acceptable standard. And that standard is the HIGHEST level of EXCELLENCE you can provide for everyone. Nothing less has ever been acceptable in caring for a precious human life.

And the White House is right too. "Good health care reform is essentially good economic policy." (Christina Romer)

jacksmith -- WORKING CLASS

But the problem is that serious illnesses often render people incapable of working! How do you put someone back to work when they're too sick to work? And what happens when the illness prevents them from holding the job that is funding their illness? That's one of the Catch 22's of having employer-based insurance.

RCJ - what you apparently don't realize is that when a person is seriously ill (i.e. cancer, etc.) and cannot work - they are often thrown off their health insurance plan just when they need it the most. If a person goes out on long term disability from their job, they are considered "terminated" and their health insurance is terminated. They can continue their health insurance through COBRA - but for a breadwinner with family coverage that is often roughly $1,200/month or more. Kind of tough to come up with that kind of money when you are terminally ill. I am sure this has an affect on medical bankruptcies are well.

Health is not a commodity.
Health care is not a commodity - it is a basic human right.
You cannot privatize or commoditize human rights. If you are smart, you don't even try. We were not smart - we tried, and it failed.
A health care reform that does not address this fundamental issue will not bring change, and people will continue to lose coverage when they become sick. Because, once commoditized, health care becomes pseudo-health care and concerns itself with money,in its various forms, not with health and medical care.

What to lower health care costs? Simple do the following:

1.Cap the Max amount of student loans a med student can take out at $50,000. If people don't have the money, the medical schools can charge the outrages prices.

2.Open health care clinics staffed by nurses and Physician assistants. Have only a few certified doctors on staff. Then, make it illegal to go to the ER unless you see your doctor or go thru one of these clinics first. The exception being the most dire medical emergency.

3.Restrict all medical law suit rewards to only the correction of a medical mistake. Cap all pain and suffering awards to $10,000 or less. Force the lawyers to only get 10% of the pain and suffering.

4.Put an end to end of life treatments. If someone is dying, let them go home (or were ever they want) send along medication to make them comfortable and let them die in a place that they (or there families) want. We spend and obscene amount of money on end of life care.

5.If you want to see a doctor, prove that you are an American citizen (or are here legally). There will always be those of us who for one reason or another can’t afford medical care. But why should my bills be inflated to care for and treat non citizens? If they want medical care, they can go back to there own country and let their people pay for them.

6.Don’t force people to have medical procedures done to them, which they don’t want. If some refuse a treatment, let that be their choice and let them live with the consequences. By the way, this only works if #3 is enacted.

7.Make all medical costs transparent. Clearly state at each clinic what the cost for a particular procedure will be (broken arm, $1,000, see a nurse $25, see a doctor $100, ext…) this way you could comparison shop. This would also let you know what it was going to cost you ahead of time. There is nothing more aggravating then asking a doctor how much something is going to cost only to hear “we’ll send you the bill”.

8.One other change I'd like to see is coverage for procedures, meds, etc. that are not necessary to sustain life or prevent a condition from worsening or spreading to others- examples include coverage for ED meds and infertility treatment. No one NEEDS to have an erection or a baby - these are both WANTS.

While there are many other little changes that could be made, these 7 things would dramatically lower the cost of health care. It doesn’t matter if it’s single payer, third party, for profit, non profit ext…

Just a few months ago the globe did several reports on Partners Health Care and what they did to make sure the rest of the insurers either raised their rates or went under. They have record amounts of money just sitting around. If everyone just stopped paying their health care then we would be all set, people dont pay then priced come down. Hospitals cannot refuse you treatment. This happens to work for oil as well. If we all picked a weekend not drive then oil would drop about $60 a barrell because it would cost so much to have 2-4 million barrels of oil sitting on barges in the sea.