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Ending Employer-Based Health Insurance Is a Good Idea
Reason Online ^
| October 16, 2007
| ald Bailey
Posted on 10/17/2007 10:34:27 PM PDT by Lorianne
click here to read article
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To: durasell
Just reading an peculiar ad right now.
“I ran a mile today. I didn’t think I could, but my HEALTH COACH did”
“Humana’s health coach work with you...”
Health coach? The State is farming out big brother. “Winston Smith, a few more push ups please!”
41
posted on
10/18/2007 12:28:15 AM PDT
by
endthematrix
(He was shouting 'Allah!' but I didn't hear that. It just sounded like a lot of crap to me.)
To: durasell
Concierge medicine is more like $3,000 a month.St. Louis Magazine
"Although prices here vary, they generally fall in the range of $1,000 to $1,600 per person per year."
"Fox, who converted to what he calls patient-supported practice in 2004, requires all members of a nuclear family to become his patients. His fees range from $180 annually for a child and $240 for a baby or toddler up to as much as $1,020 a year for those over age 65. He cares for about 10 percent of his patients at a reduced rate or no charge."
To: the808bass
The last time I was in the ER there were a lot of morons there with ailments that should have been treated in a doctor’s office. My rule of thumb is very simple: If it ain’t bleeding, broke, or on the outside when it should be on the inside, then don’t go to the ER.
43
posted on
10/18/2007 12:29:58 AM PDT
by
durasell
(!)
To: the808bass
44
posted on
10/18/2007 12:32:05 AM PDT
by
durasell
(!)
To: DoughtyOne
What does your wife pay? She’s the employee.
That premium does seem high. How much is individual ins for you?
45
posted on
10/18/2007 12:34:02 AM PDT
by
endthematrix
(He was shouting 'Allah!' but I didn't hear that. It just sounded like a lot of crap to me.)
To: durasell
Thats the very, very low end and not quite what defines it.It is what is defining it here in St. Louis. These are not "low-end" doctors. The Doctors listed in this article are thriving. They have been joined by probably 6 more in just the last 6 months in a relatively small area of St. Louis. No, it is not the "spalike" offices of M2D ($20,000/yr). It is a regular doctor's office with 1/3 to 1/4 the volume of patients seen.
To: Lorianne
The false premise is that one must have insurance.
Any supposed system that is based upon the need for insurance is sure to ensconce, increase, and perpetuate the huge profit margins currently enjoyed by the insurance and health industry.
47
posted on
10/18/2007 12:38:09 AM PDT
by
roamer_1
(Vote for FrudyMcRomson -Turn red states purple in 08!)
To: endthematrix
All rates every two weeks:
$ 27.92 Cancer+
$ 05.66 Medical*
$ 01.78 Vision*
* Pre Tax
+ an option I chose to add
48
posted on
10/18/2007 12:38:33 AM PDT
by
DoughtyOne
(Hillary has pay fever. There she goes now... "Ha Hsu, ha hsu, haaaa hsu, ha hsu...")
To: DoughtyOne
Then its not so bad for both.
49
posted on
10/18/2007 12:40:54 AM PDT
by
endthematrix
(He was shouting 'Allah!' but I didn't hear that. It just sounded like a lot of crap to me.)
To: the808bass
Then the definition is changing.
50
posted on
10/18/2007 12:41:03 AM PDT
by
durasell
(!)
To: Lorianne
Wow. The Romney virus is running wild, even on FR.
Could be fatal to our free republic.
To: roamer_1
Any supposed system that is based upon the need for insurance is sure to ensconce, increase, and perpetuate the huge profit margins currently enjoyed by the insurance and health industryI would imagine that the health insurance profit margins are relatively low compared to the rest of the economy. 5.5% is not the holy grail of capitalist profit margins.
To: durasell
Then the definition is changing.I don't think so. Upon reading your article, the characteristics listed by your article can all be found in varying degrees (some house calls, email and phone availability at all times, spa-like decor and some spa services available, etc) in the practices listed in the St. Louis Magazine article. And for $2000-2200/yr.
To: roamer_1
...huge profit margins currently enjoyed by the insurance and health industry.
Huge profits by the health industry? Please rethink that one. Try to think of a garage where you take your car in for serious repairs, and YOU TELL the mechanic what you will pay and he still has to do the work. That is what is taking place in the health industry today.
The federal and state governments as well as the insurance industry dictate what the hospitals will be paid. On top of that, indigents who present themselves to the emergency rooms have to be served, and nobody will pay for varying degrees of what their services cost to provide.
It is seriously grating to see that health insurance companies post tens of billions in profits each year, knowing that they don't provide one single aspirin, one band-aide or take out one splinter for the money.
Hospitals provide this service, and insurance companies siphon off hundreds of billions of dollars without providing any direct service at all. Hospitals go belly up, while insurance companies continue to post large profits.
Take a long look at your local hospital and wonder what you're going to do when they are gone. What will you do when half as many physicians are licensed? That is the goal of any socialized program. And that's where we are headed. And it's not the provider's fault.
54
posted on
10/18/2007 12:47:46 AM PDT
by
DoughtyOne
(Hillary has pay fever. There she goes now... "Ha Hsu, ha hsu, haaaa hsu, ha hsu...")
To: endthematrix
Well, that’s through my employer. It doesn’t cover my wife and I. She has her own set of costs to cover her through her own employer’s plan. I don’t have those figures in front of me right now. They are comparable, perhaps a bit higher.
55
posted on
10/18/2007 12:48:55 AM PDT
by
DoughtyOne
(Hillary has pay fever. There she goes now... "Ha Hsu, ha hsu, haaaa hsu, ha hsu...")
To: the808bass
I would imagine that the health insurance profit margins are relatively low compared to the rest of the economy. 5.5% is not the holy grail of capitalist profit margins. I have not really looked at insurance market profits in the last few years, but they were running 80% margins during the last major hurricanes in FLA. I remember the figure because it really baked me that with a margin like that, they weaseled out of payment, asking the gvt to cover them or they would go bankrupt.
Even if I accept a 5.5% margin, surely there is a reason why all the health facilities are owned by insurance companies and pharmaceuticals.
56
posted on
10/18/2007 12:50:25 AM PDT
by
roamer_1
(Vote for FrudyMcRomson -Turn red states purple in 08!)
To: the808bass
Dang! I know a guy paying close to $40k a year here in NYC.
57
posted on
10/18/2007 12:55:18 AM PDT
by
durasell
(!)
To: DoughtyOne
I’m misunderstanding you. I thought you needed insurance. It’s cheaper to stay on your plan. That’s cheap.
58
posted on
10/18/2007 12:57:07 AM PDT
by
endthematrix
(He was shouting 'Allah!' but I didn't hear that. It just sounded like a lot of crap to me.)
To: DoughtyOne
Huge profits by the health industry?See my #52. It is my position that the insurance and pharm companies own the hospitals in order to set their own prices. large cost of health care is what is driving insurance up. Meanwhile the insurance company is free to adjust it's bottom line by claiming write off out of it's hospital holdings.
It is insurance that keeps the cost up- It is never cheaper for someone else to pay your bills for you. The illusion of great cost is what props up the insurance health, and pharmaceutical industries.
Remove the insurance and the prices will fall in line by supply and demand.
59
posted on
10/18/2007 1:01:23 AM PDT
by
roamer_1
(Vote for FrudyMcRomson -Turn red states purple in 08!)
To: roamer_1; the808bass
"health insurance profit margins are relatively low compared to the rest of the economy. 5.5%" "I have not really looked at insurance market profits in the last few years, but they were running 80% margins during the last major hurricanes in FLA."
Apples and Oranges. Health vs Property insurance?
60
posted on
10/18/2007 1:12:09 AM PDT
by
endthematrix
(He was shouting 'Allah!' but I didn't hear that. It just sounded like a lot of crap to me.)
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