Healthcare

Traci - posted on 05/30/2009

Wow. Whereever you girls are going, that seems really high to me. I'm in NW Indiana and my hospital was only around 3K, maybe less. The doc's portion was 3200.00, with no drugs, but I was induced and I was almost 2 weeks late both times. Maybe insurance is so high because the hospitals are ripping them off! lol. Actually, Newt Gingrich has spoken a lot about that. I mean, you look at an invoice and the hospital charges 36 buck for a bandaid. Nobody cares because the insurance company pays for it anyway! When you've got a third party paying for you, you don't care to look at cost. There are a whole host of reasons health coverage is so high....insurance fraud, medical malpractice insurance, trial lawyers, etc. Nobody is really innocent in the whole game...

Gina - posted on 05/30/2009

I understand! when I had my last one, we refused them to do a lot of things with her, and they really questioned me. I basically demanded she be in the room with me all the time, and they thought that was strange.

Crystal - posted on 05/30/2009

I'm doing prenatal care through the post, and my midwife just so I'll know some of the doctors that would be there should something go wrong, and so Tricare will cover my ultrasound, I want to know the sex ;)

I've had so many problems with giving birth at the hospital and the lack of actual care they provided (giving medicine to shut the mom up, misdiagnosing serious problems, giving formula without permission etc) that I refuse to go to the hospital now unless there's something seriously wrong.

Gina - posted on 05/29/2009

That really stinks, I have insurance and still paid the full amount.



Crystal, I'm with you on the midwife's. My sisters have their babies at home, I had my third one at home, but broke my tailbone and figured out that hurt worse than a ceserean. I came to the conclusion that if your body can deliver a healthy baby fine then why not. Although I do recommend getting an ultrasound if you are going to do it at home. My brother and his wife had a baby last November and when she had her ultrasound they seen that it's intestines were developing outside of the babies stomach. They had to have the baby at Primary Childrens and had to have surgery right away.If it were delivered at home I believe it would have died. So I think having a baby at home is great if you are well prepared. My ideal way would be to have one at a birthing center right by a hospital so if there is any problems you're close by.

Christa - posted on 05/29/2009

Another note, mine was also a normal vaginal delivery, no complications. But I did get an epidural and pitocin. (Won't do that again!)

Christa - posted on 05/29/2009

Quoting Traci:

Your hospital charged you 10K to have a baby??? That's crazy! Mine was only about 3K. See, if we knew what the charges were up front, they would have to compete, which would drive prices down.

That's what they charged the insurance company.  I had really great coverage so I only paid 1250 out of pocket.  My point was if I hadn't had insurance I would have had to pay the whole 10K, where as the total amount the hospital recieved from me and the insurance company was about 4500.  It's robbery!

Christa - posted on 05/29/2009

Quoting Traci:

Your hospital charged you 10K to have a baby??? That's crazy! Mine was only about 3K. See, if we knew what the charges were up front, they would have to compete, which would drive prices down.

That's what they charged the insurance company.  I had really great coverage so I only paid 1250 out of pocket.  My point was if I hadn't had insurance I would have had to pay the whole 10K, where as the total amount the hospital recieved from me and the insurance company was about 4500.  It's robbery!

Crystal - posted on 05/29/2009

Maternity care in America is highway robbery. I believe that women should have the option of having the birth they want to, with as little or as much care as they want. I am paying out of pocket to have my baby at home and only paying $2100. If I were in the hospital receiving the same level of care as I'm getting and will receive my my midwife it would cost around $8000-$12000 without insurance. Ridiculous. I don't believe in having interventions, constant monitoring or having to deliver flat on my back against gravity (seems counterproductive to me). I also would not want to stay in the hospital for 2 days because then they tend to push other unnecessary things on your baby. I could go on and on about this. This is why we need more midwives in this country though. So much cheaper and much more in depth care than going to an OB.

Gina - posted on 05/28/2009

When my last baby was born 2 1/2 years ago, we paid 10k for her too. We had extra insurance to help with the cost, but when she was born, later that day my husband was chomping at the bit to get us out of there to save money. I wasn't ready to leave since I had 3 kids at home to take care of, and wanted to enjoy time alone for a while. So I went home that same day. Come to find out our insurance wouldn't cover any of it since I didn't stay long enough... as in atleast 24 hrs. I was so mad! I think insurance companies do need to be regulated, because they just try to make as much money as possible. Oh, and she was delivered naturally with no complications, and it still cost 10K... ridiculous. My oldest son was a ceserean, and he had complications, his bill was 19K.

Traci - posted on 05/28/2009

Your hospital charged you 10K to have a baby??? That's crazy! Mine was only about 3K. See, if we knew what the charges were up front, they would have to compete, which would drive prices down.

Christa - posted on 05/28/2009

Quoting Shelly:

Quoting Kelly:

Everyone is entitled to healthcare, but you have to pay for it! I love how they make it sound like millions are just with out healthcare. No they do not have health INSURANCE. Half can afford it but CHOOSE NOT to insure them selves. Some of them are ILLEGALS and the rest are the lazy SOB's that live off of welfare in the first place!

I had one guy tell me that I was heartless because I don't agree with universal Government ran healthcare. This was a man who said he can't afford the $300 a month to go on his wife's insurance. So he goes to a clinic for his Asthma medication! Come to find out HE SMOKES!!! So I told him QUIT smoking save the money you spend on Cigarettes to pay for your insurance and since your not smoking you probably won't need to visit the doctor as much!

Kelly,

  I have news for you it's not that I am lazy and want to live off of the system and it's not one of those that I can cut back on things and beable to afford Insurance...We can not afford insurance for the simple fact that it would cost us over 900.00 a month b/c both of my boys have pre exciting conditions and I have pre exciting female problems and my husband has pre excitting lung problems...When our medical insurerance is more than my house payment then there is a problem....IDON'T WANT any one paying for my health care I have a payment plan with my doctors and will pay ou of my pocket THANK YOU VERY MUCH...When you are paying for my medical bills hen you have the right to tell me how I should lve my life!!Until then you need to be careful about how you decide to state things...Just like with my surgery I'm not having t until I can save up for it!!!

That's one of the major problems with our healthcare system.  If you do go the route you are Shelly and pay for it yourself, you end up paying way more then the insurance company would have paid.  Last year when I gave birth the hospital billed my insurance company 10K, but the insurance company only paid 4K and said the rest weren't valid charges.  And that was that.  But if I had no insurance I would have had to pay the whole 10K.  That's pure robbery!  If the insurance company only pays 4K and that's ok, then that’s the true cost of the services and that should be what they charge everyone, insurance or not!  I think we need to put competition back into the system.  You should be able to go around to hospitals/doctors and ask for quotes on services.  Lowest quote wins.  That's how every other industry works so why not healthcare.  When I take my car in they give me an estimate, why can't hospitals/doctors do that.  Before I went into labor I called the hospital and the insurance company several times to try and find out how much the birth will cost me and nobody could give me a figure.  I understand the unexpected happens, but they couldn't give me that average cost of a normal birth?  That's ridiculous!!  I'm actually excited to have my next child because I want to compare the bills, I bet they will be drastically different for very similar services.  There's no way to hold these people accountable for the charges.  Sorry for the rant but I think that is what's wrong with this system.  It is too easy for corruption.

Gina - posted on 05/27/2009

Exactly, my husband is self employed, so getting insurance pretty much stinks. I still as bad as it is now, wouldn't want to nationalize healthcare. Could you imagine how if the government is running it how they would want to run your life. They are already trying to tax us more on things that might make you fat, so I could just see them making you pay more in taxes if you want more kids.

Shelly - posted on 05/27/2009

Quoting Kelly:

Everyone is entitled to healthcare, but you have to pay for it! I love how they make it sound like millions are just with out healthcare. No they do not have health INSURANCE. Half can afford it but CHOOSE NOT to insure them selves. Some of them are ILLEGALS and the rest are the lazy SOB's that live off of welfare in the first place!

I had one guy tell me that I was heartless because I don't agree with universal Government ran healthcare. This was a man who said he can't afford the $300 a month to go on his wife's insurance. So he goes to a clinic for his Asthma medication! Come to find out HE SMOKES!!! So I told him QUIT smoking save the money you spend on Cigarettes to pay for your insurance and since your not smoking you probably won't need to visit the doctor as much!

Kelly,

  I have news for you it's not that I am lazy and want to live off of the system and it's not one of those that I can cut back on things and beable to afford Insurance...We can not afford insurance for the simple fact that it would cost us over 900.00 a month b/c both of my boys have pre exciting conditions and I have pre exciting female problems and my husband has pre excitting lung problems...When our medical insurerance is more than my house payment then there is a problem....IDON'T WANT any one paying for my health care I have a payment plan with my doctors and will pay ou of my pocket THANK YOU VERY MUCH...When you are paying for my medical bills hen you have the right to tell me how I should lve my life!!Until then you need to be careful about how you decide to state things...Just like with my surgery I'm not having t until I can save up for it!!!

Tami - posted on 05/26/2009

AMEN! People think socialized medicine is going to be FREE. I'm sorry but NOTHING is free in this world! I had to take my son into urgent care on a Sunday. He ended up on three different meds and has to use an inhaler. I wouldn't have been able to do that if the president gets his way with the healthcare system. Who know how long it would've been before he could see a doctor!

Lindsay - posted on 05/19/2009

Did anyone watch Fox this morning? They had a guy on from Canada that was told to live with his heart problem and take pills to "help" it. There are waiting lists to get on waiting lists there. Even for serious conditions. This man went to Oklahoma to see a dr and this dr said he could have died if he had waited. He got his condition fixed in the US. He warned us not to go down that path of free healthcare

Traci - posted on 05/18/2009

*sarcasm* But, Kelly, that makes too much sense! Why would he do something so simple? lol. These people are a riot. It's just too bad we are the ones who will get affected by this.

Kelly - posted on 05/18/2009

Everyone is entitled to healthcare, but you have to pay for it! I love how they make it sound like millions are just with out healthcare. No they do not have health INSURANCE. Half can afford it but CHOOSE NOT to insure them selves. Some of them are ILLEGALS and the rest are the lazy SOB's that live off of welfare in the first place!

I had one guy tell me that I was heartless because I don't agree with universal Government ran healthcare. This was a man who said he can't afford the $300 a month to go on his wife's insurance. So he goes to a clinic for his Asthma medication! Come to find out HE SMOKES!!! So I told him QUIT smoking save the money you spend on Cigarettes to pay for your insurance and since your not smoking you probably won't need to visit the doctor as much!

Pattie - posted on 05/18/2009

One of the saddest parts of this is that they (the left wing media an the administration) have convinced people that this is the compassionate thing to do. This is the way to help you fellow citizens. I have a friend who's husband is in the medical field in Seattle. They are getting guidlelines for treatments for end of life issues. CRITERIA that in includes a vague notion of what the individuals contribution is. HellOOOOOO, does this not smack of government determining if people should live?? If you haven't read the series "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Petterson Haddix, do it. It's usually in the children's section, but it's a great synopsis of this type of propaganda. (You really have to read all 7 books, but well worth it)

Pattie - posted on 05/18/2009

One of the saddest parts of this is that they (the left wing media an the administration) have convinced people that this is the compassionate thing to do. This is the way to help you fellow citizens. I have a friend who's husband is in the medical field in Seattle. They are getting guidlelines for treatments for end of life issues. CRITERIA that in includes a vague notion of what the individuals contribution is. HellOOOOOO, does this not smack of government determining if people should live?? If you haven't read the series "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Petterson Haddix, do it. It's usually in the children's section, but it's a great synopsis of this type of propaganda. (You really have to read all 7 books, but well worth it)

Megan - posted on 05/17/2009

What I find the most infuriating is the fact that the middle class is taking the hardest hit with all of this crap. It doesn't matter to the rich because they can afford health insurance now and most of the lower class have state benefits. The middle class are the ones left to fend for themselves and we are now the ones that will be most effected if/when we are forced to pay for this nationalized health care. It's rediculuous!!! Our benefits will cost more and cover less. No more getting yourself or children into the doctor's office if they are sick you'll have to go to urgent care or the ER to be seen that day. I am so disappointed with where our country is heading.

Gina - posted on 05/16/2009

If you ask most people from another country about what's the worst thing America could do they'd tell you not to socialize our healthcare. It sounds nice until you really think about how it works, nothing is for free and people for some reason think it is. The problem with our healthcare is that they have to treat everyone wether they can pay or not, and there are a lot of illegals who get treated. That goes on our tax dollar tab, and to me it is like they're shoplifting. They just need to figure out a way to treat illegal aliens in a way that they could pay for it.

Lindsay - posted on 05/16/2009

I think most people that don't have health insurance have the chance to get it but like myself they never go to the dr so they don't see it as an important thing to waste money on. I have my kids covered and thats all i really need at this point.

If we have free health care for everyone people will see how bad it is. You get what you pay for and there is a reason people from other countries come to the US for care. Women in Canada come here to have their babies. Leaders of other countries come here when they are sick. Why? It's not because they enjoy the road trip it's because we are the best. Obama is a moron if he messes with that

Macy - posted on 05/14/2009

they are so worried about helping everybody that they are hurting us all in the process. Nationalized healthcare doesn't work in any other countries. So why do they think it will be great for us? I don't get it. I think they could care less about all of us and how much money they take from us. Everyone in Washington has gotten to big headed. They think they can do whatever they want because they think it is a great idea. Why don't we get to vote on it since we are paying for it? Wouldn't that be a little more fair to actually ask the American people if they want Nationalized Health Care? Of course they don't care whether we want it or not. I am scared to think of what our country is going to be like in a few years. How much will our government control then?

Dawn - posted on 05/14/2009

I would love for everyone to have healthcare, it's just not possible for the government to provide it. The government has no money of it's own, they get the money by taxing us. So many people are taxed to the hilt as it is and I see this as the straw that's going to break the camels back.



I can barely afford my own healthcare let alone try to help pay for someone elses. Sooner or later Obama needs to get a freaking clue and realize that he's not going to be able to tax or spend his way out of this. This damn spending and taxing is what is getting us into this mess.

Shelly - posted on 05/14/2009

Traci,

I am one of those people that are uninsured and I don't want the goverment messing with my medical health...And I don't want everyone else paying for my medical treatments...I have to go in for surgery here in a little while and I don't want the goverment telling me that b/c it's not canceris I don't need it...If they want to get medical cost down then they need to rien in the Insurance Co. and the Lawyers.

Brenda - posted on 05/13/2009

Traci - I know! It's amazing how much people would rather be entertained or distracted from our predicament we find ourselves in, but therein lies the WHOLE problem. There are some people who are uneducated by our system, don't choose to learn more about the Constitution, would rather take the easy road (ie socialism) because they haven't learned any work ethic; who think the 'world owes them a living' and because of their slothfulness and ignorance are taking the rest of 'us' - sane, educated patriots, down the tubes with them. It's easy to sway their vote. All you do is have to make a lot of empty promises and sugar coat the issues and they will vote for you - UGH!!



I am so one the same page with you!! Everyone who has half a brain, a shred of patriotism, etc needs to SPEAK UP! Call, write letters...make a FUSS!