Why is emergency medicine different than police, fire, and military?

True, but I don't think hospitals can't refuse to admit someone in a life threatening situation.

My dad was a bit of a hypochondriac for much of his life. He also had some issues that required extensive inpatient counseling. At the time he was unemployed and had no insurance and we had no money to pay. The various medical professionals allowed him to pay a little each month. He paid without fail, sometimes as little as $5 a month and they worked with him until every last dollar was paid (they didn't charge interest). They did not have to do give him that grace and he could have declared bankruptcy, but he was not the kind of man to walk away from his obligations. Personally, I think there are more medical professionals that would do this than not, or at least there were before they became wards of the insurance companies.

 

From what I've seen socialism is the reason for the high costs of healthcare.

 

Extreme concealed carry?

 

I think it could be more accurately described as "capitalism taking advantage of attempted socialism".

 

The only way to ever get the costs down is to do away with health insurance.

 

You don't keep a gun in your ass? I thought that was the industry standard. Fuck if that red dot site was a bad idea though

 

What if you are full of shit, or have your head up your ass? You'd have to have a very small carry weapon.

 

or a VERY big ass.

 

Then the providers would have to offer services that customers could afford...gtfo with that kind of logic.

The reality is though, without HC being subsidized SOMEWHERE along the way, you'd have to be a millionaire to afford any services. Medicine is socialized in some way and always will be because the truth is none of us can afford to have more than a cough.

 

I believe that picture is the result of some punkass kid sticking a gun in the face of a Navy Seal.

 

Doctors have bills, too.

Tell me what I'm missing:

Providers set high prices to make up for those with no insurance.

Insurance companies negotiate lower rates by guaranteeing larger customer base whose bills will be paid at the negotiated rate.

Is that about right?

 

I was actually referring to how progressives (socialists) insist on passing more and more regulations on the medical community to make sure everyone is protected from cradle to grave.

 

A friend that I see in the coffee shop during the week has a 16 year old daughter who had to have her gall bladder removed. Fine up to a point but since the surgeon nicked her stomach they had to go back in and correct things. She was just over a week in the hospital ICU with a total cost of just over $500,000,00 in costs.
I guess you could say that the girl is one of those "high maintenance" chicks.

 

The one I remember is my ruptured appendix.

Total bill was around $47,000. Insurance paid the hospital around $44,000.

I paid the rest, which I figured the hospital thought was just bonus.

 

I did an 8 day stint in ICU at 20 years old with a ruptured spleen among a few other injuries. If my family was unable to meet that bar of affording insurance before being able to dip into the land of socialized medicine, that would have been the end of me whether I lived or died. The whole thing is already socialized, we just decided you have to pay an insurance company before it kicks in for you.

 

That seems a bit high for a week in the hospital.

 

Yes it does except for all the special complications that prevailed due to the surgeon's fuck up. Shit happens I guess.

 

Around here most ambulances are a medic/emt combo and provide most of the emergency med/trancport. Fire used to do it but county deals with AMR changed that practice. I'd still trust the fire medics I know over most of the AMR medics.

 

I'd but you could also say she didn't pay anything as well since the surgeon screed up.