I totally concur with. Wendell that addressing and SOLVING the problem of medical debt must be part of a comprehensive overhaul of our sick health care system and the Private Insurance Companies that are exploiting this system to the detriment of the American People. There is no rational explanation to justify people losing their homes because the cost of health care is out of control. This is pathologically sickening that a rich, powerful nation shrugs its shoulders when hearing about medical debt and they say it could have been me and thank goodness it wasn't. Well, the lack of genuine competition and the emphasis on exploiting patients with policies to increase corporate profits for the Executive Management may be okay in other business sectors, but HealthCare should not be one of those business sectors. The profit motive and should be removed from the equation. A healthy society doesn't make excuses for those who are rapidly losing out and dying as a result of these venal policies of exploitation. We are talking about Human Rights. The Biggest Nation that criticizes other nation's for their abuses, but ignores US Domestic abuses of Human Rights must be address openly and transparently. Otherwise we are nothing more that bullying Hypocrites, which is a sad statement about the United States of America.
Another category of medical debt not referenced in the article comes from the unscrupulous - - even illegal - - billing practices of many so- called "healthcare providers." I am quite certain I am far-from-alone in requesting itemized bills that show many procedures and exams that I never actually received - and yet am being billed for!
I have also noted the repeat- practice of "Upcoding,'" which is another dishonest billing practice, wherein a simple procedure or vaccine is categorized at a higher level of "medical decision-making" than it actually merits. Look up "MDM" to see the scale of " difficulty" from 1 (low) to 4 (high). Some practices make a habit of falsely elevating their MDMs so they can charge higher fees. This is fraudulent, and very-probably illegal, but many providers engage in this deception -- and the consumer gets saddled with these exorbitant bills.
None of the sewer has anything to do with Neo-liberalism. You are confusing conservatism that enables private enterprises to exploit Americans with no sense of morality. Billlionaires are for the most part oligarchs and support conservative policies that enable them to remain wealthy in spite of claims that we are a meritocracy that opposes that inherited wealth is like granting titles to these people as if they are better than the rest of us and should remain within the grasp of political influence. Time to relearn what you must have missed in high school or in college history. I'm sick and tired of these ludicrous monikers spoken by people who have no clue what liberalism means and stands for.
Seniors on Medicare are being forced to buy Medigap policies ($200/month) or join inferior Medicare Advantage Plans run by private insurance companies because Medicare only pays 80% of the cost of their bills The Democrats should promise to eliminate the "medigap" by having Medicare pay 100% of doctor and hospital bills. This would be wildly popular with Seniors, but not with private insurance companies.
This is worth the cost to buy. https://www.marshallallen.com/ Also now with under $500 not impacting your credit, that’s what I’m settling bills with that go against my $6100 OOP limit. “You can take this now, or I will pay pennies on the dollar to the collections agency, that costs the hospital money to employ.” They gladly take the greatly reduced payment. There SHOULD be no such thing as medical debt. And we SHOULD have single payer health insurance that SHOULD cover head to toe care. Period.
I especially like the term forced migration. I think that in this political moment, we need to up the power of our rhetoric. The dysfunctional non system that we have is a consequence of greed. We should recognize that sick Americans receive cruel and unusual punishment, which is forbidden in the Constitution.
The root cause of medical debt must be a complex issue. It has to have origins on the insurance side, but also on the healthcare side. And fraud as well as less ethical practices probably play a role too.
This would be something worth seeing some data. If anyone knows a resource, I'd be interested.
Buy Marshall Allen's book "Never Pay The First Bill." AS a completely unaffiliated and unbiased consumer, I purchased it when I got a RIDICULOUS bill for the rabies vaccine (bat bite) that was over 11K, believe it or not. That book is a wealth of insider-information on how things actually work behind the scenes of so-called "healthcare." I fought the "law" and the "law" did not win, thanks to this book. (They dropped the entire bill, a day before we were to meet in small claims court -- thank you, Marshall Allen!)
I totally concur with. Wendell that addressing and SOLVING the problem of medical debt must be part of a comprehensive overhaul of our sick health care system and the Private Insurance Companies that are exploiting this system to the detriment of the American People. There is no rational explanation to justify people losing their homes because the cost of health care is out of control. This is pathologically sickening that a rich, powerful nation shrugs its shoulders when hearing about medical debt and they say it could have been me and thank goodness it wasn't. Well, the lack of genuine competition and the emphasis on exploiting patients with policies to increase corporate profits for the Executive Management may be okay in other business sectors, but HealthCare should not be one of those business sectors. The profit motive and should be removed from the equation. A healthy society doesn't make excuses for those who are rapidly losing out and dying as a result of these venal policies of exploitation. We are talking about Human Rights. The Biggest Nation that criticizes other nation's for their abuses, but ignores US Domestic abuses of Human Rights must be address openly and transparently. Otherwise we are nothing more that bullying Hypocrites, which is a sad statement about the United States of America.
Another category of medical debt not referenced in the article comes from the unscrupulous - - even illegal - - billing practices of many so- called "healthcare providers." I am quite certain I am far-from-alone in requesting itemized bills that show many procedures and exams that I never actually received - and yet am being billed for!
I have also noted the repeat- practice of "Upcoding,'" which is another dishonest billing practice, wherein a simple procedure or vaccine is categorized at a higher level of "medical decision-making" than it actually merits. Look up "MDM" to see the scale of " difficulty" from 1 (low) to 4 (high). Some practices make a habit of falsely elevating their MDMs so they can charge higher fees. This is fraudulent, and very-probably illegal, but many providers engage in this deception -- and the consumer gets saddled with these exorbitant bills.
Arizona State Retirement System negotiates with UnitedHealth a for profit private insurance company.
Keep up the good work, Wendell!
We live in a neoliberal sewer.
We have chosen “billionaires” over the planet. They are mutually exclusive choices. Forced birth and no care.
None of the sewer has anything to do with Neo-liberalism. You are confusing conservatism that enables private enterprises to exploit Americans with no sense of morality. Billlionaires are for the most part oligarchs and support conservative policies that enable them to remain wealthy in spite of claims that we are a meritocracy that opposes that inherited wealth is like granting titles to these people as if they are better than the rest of us and should remain within the grasp of political influence. Time to relearn what you must have missed in high school or in college history. I'm sick and tired of these ludicrous monikers spoken by people who have no clue what liberalism means and stands for.
Seniors on Medicare are being forced to buy Medigap policies ($200/month) or join inferior Medicare Advantage Plans run by private insurance companies because Medicare only pays 80% of the cost of their bills The Democrats should promise to eliminate the "medigap" by having Medicare pay 100% of doctor and hospital bills. This would be wildly popular with Seniors, but not with private insurance companies.
This is worth the cost to buy. https://www.marshallallen.com/ Also now with under $500 not impacting your credit, that’s what I’m settling bills with that go against my $6100 OOP limit. “You can take this now, or I will pay pennies on the dollar to the collections agency, that costs the hospital money to employ.” They gladly take the greatly reduced payment. There SHOULD be no such thing as medical debt. And we SHOULD have single payer health insurance that SHOULD cover head to toe care. Period.
I especially like the term forced migration. I think that in this political moment, we need to up the power of our rhetoric. The dysfunctional non system that we have is a consequence of greed. We should recognize that sick Americans receive cruel and unusual punishment, which is forbidden in the Constitution.
The root cause of medical debt must be a complex issue. It has to have origins on the insurance side, but also on the healthcare side. And fraud as well as less ethical practices probably play a role too.
This would be something worth seeing some data. If anyone knows a resource, I'd be interested.
Buy Marshall Allen's book "Never Pay The First Bill." AS a completely unaffiliated and unbiased consumer, I purchased it when I got a RIDICULOUS bill for the rabies vaccine (bat bite) that was over 11K, believe it or not. That book is a wealth of insider-information on how things actually work behind the scenes of so-called "healthcare." I fought the "law" and the "law" did not win, thanks to this book. (They dropped the entire bill, a day before we were to meet in small claims court -- thank you, Marshall Allen!)
Kerry,
Thanks for responding. Think of the Powell memo, Reagan et al, and take look at wiki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism
Regards to all,
Dave