My wife works for a large Mississippi Hospital... Surgery’s, Emergency Room Visits and Bed Census are all down between 60-70 percent...
Hospitals
- Thread starter Leeshouldveflanked
- Start date
So are the hospitals going to be overrun after we flatten the curve? I’m not sure which narrative we’re supposed to line up behind anymore.
You don’t want the government to take over the US Healthcare system, which could happen if things don’t turn around quickly...
My personal guess on this is the fact that 1. People that usually went to the ER for a hangnail or bad case of gas are now scared to go and staying home and 2. with all elective procedures being postponed that is also greatly decreasing the patients because no one is going to get their colonoscopy and putting off that shoulder surgery.
Once hospitals are allowed to be back to normal operations I think you will see them once again back where they were utilization wise.
Is health insurance in its current form really anything to proudly compare? We could sit here and list off all the completely insane policies and procedures for private insurance companies and the list would look just as nuts as the lists for the DMV, VA, etc.
Its almost as if many extremely large programs and companies are a shitshow regardless of if they are public or private.
I don't recall anyone saying our private insurance system is perfect. Or even mentioning it at all. But I’m sure you’re a fan of Obamacare and all of its glory (which didn’t do anything but change who goes without or pays an exorbitant amount for healthcare).
Also, our system may not be perfect, but it’s the best of what’s out there. And I’ll agree that it’s far from perfect but there’s plenty of blame to go around for that.
Also, our system may not be perfect, but it’s the best of what’s out there. And I’ll agree that it’s far from perfect but there’s plenty of blame to go around for that.
How much of the private health insurance disaster is because private insurance has to pay providers higher rates to offset the Medicare/Medicaid rates?
Many of the policies and procedures in place for health insurance are there because of government regulations.
^^^THis^^^ We are in no man's land with health insurance. The government has intervened enough to destroy incentives and market forces to the point that they don't regulate prices, but the government isn't doing much to control prices outside of Medicaid (which doesn't control prices as much as shift them). We restrict supply and subsidize demand and then try to regulate pricing through a financial instrument rather than the actual industry itself, and then we complain that free market forces don't work in healthcare.
because there's no impact to the consumer. i think the hsa is a nudge in the right direction since it can be rolled over to an ira eventually. i find that i shop around more for price than before but damn its hard to find a price on most things
There has been a bunch of money going out from Washington to hospital both for this reason and for treating virus patients. their doors will remain open when it is done and said. I feel for the workers but when a hospital charges you 15.00 for one Tylenol pill it is hard to feel for the hospital it self.
Given that I have family members on both sides of that question, yes.
As much as healthcare now sucks, it's still better than the VA. Much better.
For the record, I would roll back healthcare to pre-ACA in a heartbeat if I could. I pay dramatically more money now for much worse care than I did in 2014.
As much as healthcare now sucks, it's still better than the VA. Much better.
For the record, I would roll back healthcare to pre-ACA in a heartbeat if I could. I pay dramatically more money now for much worse care than I did in 2014.
I don't blame insurance companies. Like it or not they are in business to make money. They were not started to provide health care. They were started to help pay for health care. The whole problem and the only problem is the price of health care. Bring that down, then premiums come down. That was my whole problem with Obama Care. It did nothing to solve the real issue with health care in the United States and that the cost.
Yup. Third party payment dominates so much that providers don't even know how or what to charge for their treatments for the most part.
The real ***** is that even if we mandate price disclosure, there is some decent research showing that might increase prices because it will not just let consumers know what prices are, but competing providers are charging. And that of course assumes there are competing providers, b/c hospitals have had to buy up practices in order to negotiating power with insurance companies, and in some areas (that are not just the boonies) basically only have one hospital system providing all the service.
We have created a gordian knot as far as fixing our healthcare system without pretty significant disruption, which of course is not fun to contemplate when it comes to our healthcare.
It’s the best out there, so long as you don’t lose your job, aren’t self-employed, aren’t a gig or contract worker, aren’t a grad school student over the age of 26, or retired but too young for Medicare.
Two items:
1) there are companies out there working to provide transparency in costs for consumers, BUT they are 3rd parties and I’m sure they have to be paid in some form.
2) a reason for costs being hidden is the ridiculously complex coding system Obamacare implemented. Even doctors and their staffs don’t know what to code things. “Is it this? Is it that?” They can literally go down a rabbit hole and it basically comes down to guessing if they did it right.
1) there are companies out there working to provide transparency in costs for consumers, BUT they are 3rd parties and I’m sure they have to be paid in some form.
2) a reason for costs being hidden is the ridiculously complex coding system Obamacare implemented. Even doctors and their staffs don’t know what to code things. “Is it this? Is it that?” They can literally go down a rabbit hole and it basically comes down to guessing if they did it right.
There's a reason that you can actually get healthcare here and that people from countries with government healthcare come here for treatment when it is not available to them in their country. It's a little ironic that one of the key arguments in the US is that only people with money can afford to get decent healthcare, when you see that people with money from socialized healthcare countries are still the only ones who can get good healthcare. They just do it by flying to places like the US to get it. We could socialize healthcare here and ensure that nobody could get good healthcare, i suppose. I personally don't see healthcare as some inalienable right. I went without it for years when I couldn't afford it and never once did I think that someone should be providing it for me. I was thinking, man I really need to get a job that gives me some access to healthcare that is somewhat affordable...
"lose you job" sucks but it happens, doesn't mean someone else should buy it for you; you will have healthcare again when you get another job.
"self-employed" - that's a choice that forces you to recognize the full costs of employment; great for making folks appreciative of employers but again not a reason that someone else should provide your healthcare.
"gig or contract worker" either a choice or sucks because that is all you can find; good incentive to consider other avenues, still not a reason for someone else to pay for your healthcare.
"grad student over 26" - your choice, deal with it, I had no insurance in undergrad or grad school, had to setup payment plans for any medical care that I needed, sucked but I did it.
"retired but too young for Medicare" - please throw me into that brier patch (assume retired of your own free will and not disability)
"self-employed" - that's a choice that forces you to recognize the full costs of employment; great for making folks appreciative of employers but again not a reason that someone else should provide your healthcare.
"gig or contract worker" either a choice or sucks because that is all you can find; good incentive to consider other avenues, still not a reason for someone else to pay for your healthcare.
"grad student over 26" - your choice, deal with it, I had no insurance in undergrad or grad school, had to setup payment plans for any medical care that I needed, sucked but I did it.
"retired but too young for Medicare" - please throw me into that brier patch (assume retired of your own free will and not disability)
Yes...but now everyone with a hangnail or bad gas believe they gots the wuhan and are gonna die.
What’s the role of doctor’s malpractice insurance in all of this? I know it’s a significant cost that is passed on to patients, and I’d like to know what percentage of my cost it is. It seems to me that everyone pays for a few people to get huge paydays.
Biggest thing about Healthcare Cost is that when you pay your bill, you are also paying for someone else’s bill who is not paying their bill...
Hospital service cost will never be controlled as long as their is not direct communication between the provider and the patient. If I know up front exactly what the procedure cost and can even negotiate a better deal for paying cash, the cost go down significantly.
I often do this today, but 99% do not. I negotiated up front for all three of my kids to get braces, and paid cash for it in a lump sum. Saved over 35% off of the orthos normal rates.
As long as someone can walk in plop an insurance card down and be almost completely detached from the actual cost of the visit, prices will only go up.
I often do this today, but 99% do not. I negotiated up front for all three of my kids to get braces, and paid cash for it in a lump sum. Saved over 35% off of the orthos normal rates.
As long as someone can walk in plop an insurance card down and be almost completely detached from the actual cost of the visit, prices will only go up.
That sounds good in theory, and in a few cases it can even work (like your kids braces). But when you're sick or injured, you're not exactly in a position to price shop, compare and negotiate with a bunch of doctors and/or hospitals.
100% agree with this, but I think there is a decent chance price disclosure could make things better. It works in most other industries. I understand the limited providers make it easier to collude on prices. I don’t think it would make the prices higher. Maybe the govt could invest their resources into fighting collusion instead of creating red tape for dr’s? Wishful thinking. Maybe something can be done to address why our options for healthcare are so limited (if you have Cancer in Memphis, you’ve basically got one option for treatment I believe). I’m not sure why that is, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the massive amount of red tape associated with providing healthcare. It really sucks that costs are up, dr’s aren’t making more, but insurance companies are and they only shuffle paper. That’s ridiculous. I also don’t understand why dr’s are allowed to charge different people different rates for the same procedure, but that would be addressed by disclosing prices.
Wow. All of these downvotes from these good compliant citizens. Trust your government! They have our best interests at heart!!
Scary.
Scary.
It’s also responsible for dr’s running every test known to man. Besides them making money of the test, they could get sued and that lack of test used against them.
If it is an emergency, I would agree with you. For so many other medical conditions, price transparency gets the consumer involved and allows the market to work. I had to have 2 MRIs and a couple of Xrays last year. I could not believe how hard it was to get a price quote for either. I ended up getting the procedures for about 20% of what the hospital owned facilities charged. I have done the same when it comes to going in for ear infections etc. The price difference can be huge for a simple visit. Insurance is partly to blame in several ways, but when we don’t really see what we are paying at the point of service, it allows prices to escalate just like higher education.
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2019...lower-healthcare-costs-for-all-americans.html
I understand that hospital chains are against this because it would “hurt completion” of all things.
The government totally controls what medical providers are actually PAID, and has for a very long time. Check into it before you go off on me.
I want my hospital to be as profitable as my bank. What’s with this knocking on hospital pricing? Most hospitals operating margins are less than two percent. Hospitals are essential to society, gotta have’em. So that have to survive in a free market or let the government run them.
Did you read the 2 comments I responded to? It seems like you didnt.
- One poster says we dont want the government to take over healthcare.
- Two posters make sarcastic comments about how some government programs/departments are run.
- I reply to those comments and point out that our current healthcare system isnt exactly something to hang your hat on since it is rife with inefficiency, huge markups by multiple parties, and user frustration.
Nobody said private insurance system is perfect, you are correct. I also didnt accuse anyone of saying it is perfect. I simply pointed out that them that the current setup isnt impressive and in many ways its comparable to the programs they were making fun of.
As for Obamacare, I am do not support it nor do I dislike it. I genuinely cant sort thru the ******** claims by both sides to figure out if I think its good or not.
I know my family's insurance costs have increased each year, but they were increasing each year before Obamacare, so I dont know if there is causation there or not.
I do not like healthcare being tied to employment- that is such an absurd concept, but we created it that way and it seems to established to change.
I do like more people being covered so there is less emergency use and more preventative care.
I do not like the concept of the individual being forced into to the stream of commerce. That was basically unprecedented in this country and an egregious violation in my mind.
So there ya go- there are some thoughts on Obamacare. Do with them what you will. Perhaps you will read all of them and recognize I am not some parrot of liberalism, but I wont hold my breath.
You are focusing on finding pennies while the gold bars are right behind you.
Thats how insignificant this 'issue' actually is, but opinion news has pushed a different narrative.
I work at a hospital in the Jackson area. Our census recently jumped up with regular and COVID patients. There was a slight lull 2 weeks ago, so I thought we were out of the woods. Not sure what to think now. We opened up for elective procedures this week, but we don't have the bed capacity to do as many as normal.
Our rural hospital just spent $340,000 to rig up a 10x20 "Clean Room" room to mix IV meds. Required by CMMS or get funding cut. That's $1700 per sq ft for those keeping score on your score cards. And that is just one example of how ridiculous it has become.
Most hospitals are empty and letting people go or furloughing folks. Going to lose a **** ton of money in this whole deal.