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The Water Cooler
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Health care reform and its battles draw similar lines to the civil wa
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<blockquote data-quote="finnimus" data-source="post: 1451955" data-attributes="member: 12900"><p>A single payer system does not mean you have free access to care. It means there is only one administrator of insurance benefits. The purpose is two-fold. You create the largest pool of people to share risk. Secondly, a component of healthcare costs is the administrative cost of processing claims. The theory is that if you put everyone under the same roof, you will reduce redundancy and increase efficiency. </p><p></p><p>A system providing free care would fail quickly and miserably. Consumption would increase without any penalty to the consumer for the increase. Thus, there's no reason for a consumer not to "consume." </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't know if you're fully aware of the costs of running a medical practice. Here are a few costs to consider:</p><p>1. Nurse Salary: $38k</p><p>2. Office Assistant Salary: $26k</p><p>3. Rent: $24k</p><p>4. Utilities: $12k</p><p>5. Office Expenses (computers, phones, etc.): $12k</p><p>That's a total of $112k no including the physician salary (minimum $150k), malpractice (minimum $10k), continuing education ($2.5k), clinic supplies ($12k), billing (18k), benefits (15% salaries), electronic medical record ($18k per year and $60k implementation) or the startup costs of a practice like remodeling, exam tables, trash cans, computers. Then there's the 90-120 days you go with no income as you wait for Medicare and insurance companies to start paying you. After all those expenses, most physicians have 6-25% of patients that can't pay (uninsured/unemployed/broke). This doesn't include patients who have insurance and have the ability to pay, but choose not to. $30 per visit doesn't go very far. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>You are paying for the cost of the office you sat in as well as the salary of the person who drew the blood. Also, without understanding the sensitivities of the test as well as the equipment being used for the test in the background, there's no way to compare price. Not all tests are created equal. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is somewhat true. If you're paying cash, ask for the cash discount. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Did some quick research and the cost of having a baby without complications is somewhere between $9k and $17k. Let's assume it's $9k. If your friend's wife pays $100 per month, she would have to pay for 80 months with no other covered expenses in order to break even. If she's paid less than 80 months and/or has had other covered expenses (prenatal care, anesthesia, OB physician) she's ahead.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Many employers/insurance companies cover flu shots as part of preventative care. I'd do the same thing. It's a benefit I'm paying for, so I'm going to take advantage of it, $5, $20 or $2,000. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>More often, what is and is not covered is determined by the employer and not by the insurance company. The insurance company is just the administrator for what the employer purchases. There are a number of employers that cover weight loss counseling with a medical professional.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="finnimus, post: 1451955, member: 12900"] A single payer system does not mean you have free access to care. It means there is only one administrator of insurance benefits. The purpose is two-fold. You create the largest pool of people to share risk. Secondly, a component of healthcare costs is the administrative cost of processing claims. The theory is that if you put everyone under the same roof, you will reduce redundancy and increase efficiency. A system providing free care would fail quickly and miserably. Consumption would increase without any penalty to the consumer for the increase. Thus, there's no reason for a consumer not to "consume." I don't know if you're fully aware of the costs of running a medical practice. Here are a few costs to consider: 1. Nurse Salary: $38k 2. Office Assistant Salary: $26k 3. Rent: $24k 4. Utilities: $12k 5. Office Expenses (computers, phones, etc.): $12k That's a total of $112k no including the physician salary (minimum $150k), malpractice (minimum $10k), continuing education ($2.5k), clinic supplies ($12k), billing (18k), benefits (15% salaries), electronic medical record ($18k per year and $60k implementation) or the startup costs of a practice like remodeling, exam tables, trash cans, computers. Then there's the 90-120 days you go with no income as you wait for Medicare and insurance companies to start paying you. After all those expenses, most physicians have 6-25% of patients that can't pay (uninsured/unemployed/broke). This doesn't include patients who have insurance and have the ability to pay, but choose not to. $30 per visit doesn't go very far. You are paying for the cost of the office you sat in as well as the salary of the person who drew the blood. Also, without understanding the sensitivities of the test as well as the equipment being used for the test in the background, there's no way to compare price. Not all tests are created equal. This is somewhat true. If you're paying cash, ask for the cash discount. Did some quick research and the cost of having a baby without complications is somewhere between $9k and $17k. Let's assume it's $9k. If your friend's wife pays $100 per month, she would have to pay for 80 months with no other covered expenses in order to break even. If she's paid less than 80 months and/or has had other covered expenses (prenatal care, anesthesia, OB physician) she's ahead. Many employers/insurance companies cover flu shots as part of preventative care. I'd do the same thing. It's a benefit I'm paying for, so I'm going to take advantage of it, $5, $20 or $2,000. More often, what is and is not covered is determined by the employer and not by the insurance company. The insurance company is just the administrator for what the employer purchases. There are a number of employers that cover weight loss counseling with a medical professional. [/QUOTE]
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