Comments on: [cancer] The long and grinding road

By: Meran

Meran — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:59:26 +0000

I do think the med systems charge too much for what they do.
Last year, to do a timed blood draw, I was put into the special brand new cancer ward at providence hospital in Portland. three hours in a nice comfy chair in a shared room, with cookies and a soda (neither of which I could have on my gluten free diet but I’m sure it was still factored in) without the lab charges OR blood pull charges was $1250. It wouldn’t have been separated like that nor have that price tag in the regular hospital lab. I was not given a choice of where to go either.
Gotta pay for that new wing somehow! (my bill was $280. Prob what the whole thing would have cost in the normal lab)
yeah, the whole system needed an overhaul, something that won’t be done in my lifetime)

By: Mike Brotherton

Mike Brotherton — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:00:45 +0000

I think the conservatives usually argue that the quality is tops, at least somewhere with someone in the U.S. Then they stop thinking. It’s “the best” so why change it?

Of course the cost to individuals or our society is far, far from the best. And they think if they have coverage they have access to that theoretical best. They only change their tune when they get sick, and most people don’t get so sick, so most people are ignoramuses.

Good luck, Jay! I’m sure you have enough friends to help raise some real cash (I’d pitch in) but $175k is an incredible amount…

By: Stevie

Stevie — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:15:01 +0000

I’m really sorry about this; I live in Britain where medical care for citizens is free at the point of use, and I use rather a lot of it.

And my daughter qualified as a doctor last year, so I’ve got a functional ‘grow your own’ programme working for me as well.

I’d offer to join the phone team but the Atlantic is a bit of a problem…

By: John Ginsberg-Stevens

John Ginsberg-Stevens — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:50:17 +0000

This kind of shit makes my head explode.

My dad was on Medicaid, so he had pretty good coverage. My mom had insurance through Walmart, and it was a constant battle to get them to do what we were paying them to do. Once she went inactive at her work we were allowed to keep her insurance by paying the full amount, which was a struggle but was better than paying untold thousands of dollars for her care. But even that was a battle because they would move the due date of the payment and sometimes paying over the phone was delayed and . . . yeah, a struggle. They did all they could to try to get off the hook, and more.

And of course today my daughter caught pneumonia in AZ (where she and my wife are) and we discover that no pediatricians will take out-of-state insurance, so off to the ER for a 4 hour wait, puncutated by having to pay for meds out-of-pocket.

Yeah, anyone who says this system is good is blind or numbed. And sadly, the current bill on the table is not going to do a lot to help. I really hope it gets strengthened (hell, I think we need to discard the health insurance system altogether), but I am afraid that fights like this will continue.

By: Damon Kaswell

Damon Kaswell — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:44:56 +0000

At this point, the sad truth is that the insurance company hopes you die. The premiums you pay aren’t worth the cost of your (completely doable, sensible, and life-saving) care. They are a corporation, first and foremost, and as a corporation, they are inherently amoral. The bottom line is, as they say, the bottom line.

I hope that makes you angry enough to ream them a new one until they decide not covering you isn’t worth the PR disaster.

(Note for folks who work in insurance: I don’t believe you are evil on an individual basis. It’s the organization you work for that is evil.)

By: Dave Robinson

Dave Robinson — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:23:17 +0000

Yep, this is what happens when you put health care in the hands of people who benefit financially from not treating sick people.