Organizing for America???

[cade_avery]

"yes Man" is a figure of speech referring to someone who will do whatever the leader asks, whether it's a good idea or not. I know he picked a woman, the govenor of Kansas. But if he really cared about implementing government run healthcare responsibly, the best pick would have been someone who had private healthcare company experience as well as government healthcare experience and who had reformed a failing government run system. But Bredesen wouldn't have gone along with unrealistic plans, so I'm guessing that's why he wasn't picked.

[beth119]

No, but $100 over 12 months is only $8.34 and they don't charge interest, like credit cards, which most people these days have.

We've paid off thousands of dollars worth of doctor bills, including me having a baby (that was about a $30,000 bill and I didn't have an epidural or anything), while uninsured and surviving below the poverty line (read: $12,000 a year, maybe).

So, don't tell me it can't be done.

Seems like this situation may be part of the problem, not the solution...

Do Your Premiums Help Cover the Uninsured? - TIME

[morgansvoice]

I just don't even know how to respond to this thread anymore.

[morgansvoice]

Seems like this situation may be part of the problem, not the solution...

Do Your Premiums Help Cover the Uninsured? - TIME

That article was talking about people that are uninsured and DON'T pay their bills. I paid all of mine.

So, I'm not sure how my solution that I chose was part of this problem.

[morgansvoice]

To me, this seems highly irresponsible and reckless.

My brother and SIL unfortunately had a baby that got bacterial meningitis (rare strain for which there is no vax currently) and died. Prior to her death, she spent 3+ weeks in the PICU, and the insurance statements they received totaled almost a half-million dollars for her stay. Their insurance paid for it, as would have the State Medical insurance probably have paid for yours, had you been in the same situation. What would you have done, had you or your child required an extensive hospital stay?

To go without insurance is playing roulette with your financial and physical health every day. Ask any uninsured person. You got lucky--you did not have a medical catastrophe during the time you were uninsured, nor did your child. Others have not been so lucky, so please don't be so flip as to say "don't tell me it can't be done." Sometimes it can't.

I wasn't lucky. I didn't play roulette with anything. We weren't financially healthy at all.

I had a child during the time that I was uninsured. (Because I couldn't get insurance for my pregnancy because of VA complications.) I went without insurance for my son, not because I was being "reckless" but because I didn't want to be a part of the problem. The problem of too many people on state-funded healthcare. The problem of too many people working the system.

I just wanted to not deal with all of that.

[Siageah]

I wasn't lucky. I didn't play roulette with anything. We weren't financially healthy at all.

I think the point the PP was trying to make is that you were lucky that something didn't happen in which you would have been stuck with a million dollar hospital bill. Or worse, a hospital that wouldn't have delivered care because you had no insurance.

But it would not have happened, most likely. Making $12,000 (gross?) a year for a family of three puts you so far under the poverty line that, if you were faced with that horrific situation, the hospital would have required you to fill out paperwork for medicaid and you would, being a sensible parent, have filled it out. Because when it comes to getting your child appropriate medical care, a parent does whatever it takes.

Unless you are Christian Scientist, but that is another tale for another day.

[beth119]

That article was talking about people that are uninsured and DON'T pay their bills. I paid all of mine.

So, I'm not sure how my solution that I chose was part of this problem.

Well...think about it like this...

YOu had a 30k hosptial bill. You set a payment plan... I don't know how long it took you to pay it off, but more than likely awhile.

In the mean time, the hospital has Dr's, nurses, other employees to pay. They have electric bills, supply bills, etc...

A payment plan may be nice for you, but the hospital needs to recoup the "waiting $$" somewhere. So, they raise costs on other things...and then make up that $$ through bills that are paid within a decent time frame...

NOW, also...having insurance for your child is not part of the problem. Saying, "we hit a rough spot, but at the very least, I want my child to be protected no matter what" is NOT part of the problem.

It is the people who CAN afford insurance, and choose not to that IS part of the problem. It is the people who don't report all their income and assets JUST to get assistance that is the problem.

There is a big difference. I have a serious problem with people who cheat the system and abuse it.
Not with people who need help for a little while. Not with people who work hard to get back on their feet when they can.

[morgansvoice]

Well...think about it like this...

YOu had a 30k hosptial bill. You set a payment plan... I don't know how long it took you to pay it off, but more than likely awhile.

In the mean time, the hospital has Dr's, nurses, other employees to pay. They have electric bills, supply bills, etc...

A payment plan may be nice for you, but the hospital needs to recoup the "waiting $$" somewhere. So, they raise costs on other things...and then make up that $$ through bills that are paid within a decent time frame...

NOW, also...having insurance for your child is not part of the problem. Saying, "we hit a rough spot, but at the very least, I want my child to be protected no matter what" is NOT part of the problem.

It is the people who CAN afford insurance, and choose not to that IS part of the problem. It is the people who don't report all their income and assets JUST to get assistance that is the problem.

There is a big difference. I have a serious problem with people who cheat the system and abuse it.
Not with people who need help for a little while. Not with people who work hard to get back on their feet when they can.

That makes sense, and I completely agree with you. I paid it off in less than a year thanks to a couple of things happening, but I can understand that more than a couple of people having big bills like that can cause hospitals to have money problems.

Also- another thing that made me not take it was that I was in Savannah GA, I knew someone who had Peachcare for her kid and every doctor and nurse she went to treated her and her kids like White Trash because of the thought that they were cheating the system.

While I know that sometimes there are jerks that you just have to deal with, I didn't want to deal with that. If my son had gotten something horribly wrong with him, like someone said above, I would've gotten on PeachCare and gotten him the exact care he needed.

:smile77: I was just trying to live to my morals and values.

[beth119]

That makes sense, and I completely agree with you. I paid it off in less than a year thanks to a couple of things happening, but I can understand that more than a couple of people having big bills like that can cause hospitals to have money problems. It's great that you were able to pay it off!

Also- another thing that made me not take it was that I was in Savannah GA, I knew someone who had Peachcare for her kid and every doctor and nurse she went to treated her and her kids like White Trash because of the thought that they were cheating the system. Again, you can't base something off of one experience. I do know this. Savannah right down to Brunswick, MOST kids are on medicaid or peachcare. With the exception of the base probably. In fact, most of my friends kids are on one or the other. They seem to be treated fine. 3 of us use the same pediatrician.

While I know that sometimes there are jerks that you just have to deal with, I didn't want to deal with that. If my son had gotten something horribly wrong with him, like someone said above, I would've gotten on PeachCare and gotten him the exact care he needed.

:smile77: I was just trying to live to my morals and values.

:smile77::smile77::smile77: