Technology vs. Reality

[Inkstain82]

Originally Posted by maat55

Exactly my point, the gov wanted everyone to have a house and look what happened.

A bunch of capitalist free-marketers jumped in and created a bubble that had little to nothing to do with housing for poor people?

[maat55]

Originally Posted by Inkstain82

A bunch of capitalist free-marketers jumped in and created a bubble that had little to nothing to do with housing for poor people?

Actually, it was probably a combination of both.

[irmanator]

I refuse to use the self checkouts since i am not being paid to run a cash register and i don't get a discount for doing their job so I am not doing it.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by cschin4

That is a great idea. A 24 hr family medicine clinic. If ERs could add this as a layer of care prior to being admitted to the ER, it seems like it could save a fortune. Of course, there has to be a mecchanism to trigger emergency pass throughs so as not delay emergencies requiring immediate care. There needs to be some incentive put forth by insurance and/or govt Medicare, etc to develop and pay for such a system. At the very least, they should give some kind of grant to teaching hospitals to set this up and give it a trial and evaluate it.

There are some things being done to incentivize non-ER care, but it is controversial. For example, in some areas, insurance companies are waiving copays for patients who go to walk-in clinics. As you might imagine, those of us in primary care are not too pleased with that. If a patient can go to the CVS Minute Clinic for free, why would he come see me where he has to pay $20?

Now they could pay the incentive to the hospital/clinic instead of the patient, but that might not reduce costs at all.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by snafu

Companies are closing, many people have lost their jobs, and more job loss is expected. What happens to their employer-linked health insurance? More companies hire on 'contract' basis, no benefits. What happens to medical insurance? Is it true that those who have pre-existing conditons, may not be able to qualify for insurance even if they are fortunate enough to gain employment with benefits?

Lose your job, lose your employer-sponsored health insurance. You can pay for COBRA, but it is unaffordable for most workers.

Yes, I believe most states allow insurers to deny coverage of pre-existing conditions for a certain period of time.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Lose your job, lose your employer-sponsored health insurance. You can pay for COBRA, but it is unaffordable for most workers.

Yes, I believe most states allow insurers to deny coverage of pre-existing conditions for a certain period of time.

"Denial of coverage" exists both within covered people and people without any health coverage.

Health Insurance Denials Process and Links Doctorsinfoweb

Look up Lymes disease. Some insurers are not covering beyond 30-days of treatment. Many doctors do not consider 30-days of treatment to be enough. If the insurer denies coverage, then people have to fight their insurers as well as the disease.

Does anyone read their policy to "know" for certain each and every thing that is covered? We don't really know what will be denied or not in most cases. We don't know the limits.

There are millions of cases of people fighting to be insured to get coverage for something deemed "beyond normal care." Who makes these decisions? Not patients.... and not the doctors whom try to help patients.

The costs of insurance without jobs would probably not be covered by "unemployment benefits" let alone the drugs that may be necessary. States unemplyment benefits are not sufficient.... they're not meant to be. But what about after retirement? Not everyone can work.