I'm so glad we don't have any government run health-care bureaucracy.

[white_wolf]

I mean can you imagine how much trouble dealing with that massive bureaucracy would be? No instead we have a massive for profit bureaucracy that we have to pay for and bankrupts people. Here is my vacation story of dealing with the convenience of our for-profit system.

I've been on vacation in Hawaii for the past two weeks visiting my cousin who's husband is in the Navy and got stationed there. Anyway after a few days I started having stomach problems and went to the doctor who prescribed me medicine for it.
I'll admit I forgot to bring my insurance card with me, but my mom had the numbers and gave them to me and the doctor had no problem. The pharmacy however had to spend an hour on the phone with Blue Cross trying to sort it all out,even after they talked to my mom and got the pin number off the card and everything. After spending an hour talking to Blue Cross it turns out they don't even cover the medicine. It just struck me as odd that one of the biggest complaints against the government is it's massive bureaucracy and yet I had to deal with an very large and incompetent bureaucracy dealing with a private company. Those who actually think private companies don't have bureaucracies have obviously never had to deal with them. Hell, I was even thinking I'd rather be dealing with my local DMV then deal with these people.

[ejpoeta]

1. it's just not called a bureaucracy when it's a private company

but you are right. if you had medicare or some other government insurance you probably would have had no problems at all.

[Fumesucker]

2. I had a tetanus booster shot as part of a routine physical some years back when I had insurance..

It took over a year of back and forth with the insurance company before they would cover it.

It's not like it was that much money but I'm a stubborn asshole and wasn't going to pay out of pocket for something my doctor gave me as part of my physical that was supposed to be covered under my policy.

It's hard to see how government run healthcare could be worse.

[K8-EEE]

3. As if anything could be a bigger bureaucratic nightmare than our current "system."

My husband cut his finger on a piece of glass a couple of weekends ago. The bleeding didn't stop so we went to the ER and got 2 stitches. I now have a PILE full of paperwork for these 2 stitches an inch thick. What the ins will pay, what they actually paid, co-pay, our remaining bill and etc etc.

Grand total for 2 stitches: $1,840.64. Our cost was $212. $100 co-pay at the hospital and a bunch of little bills adding up to another $112. I am happy to have insurance of course but can't help thinking that the cost would be a fraction of this if we had universal health care that everyone paid into.

[hunter]

7. In a nation with socialized medicine the cost would have been negligible.

The staff in the ER would be on duty whether your husband was there or not, so the total extra cost to the taxpayer would be for a suture kit and some lidocaine.

In civilized nations people don't pay $920.32 per stitch.

[Edweird]

4. The real problem is the fact that there is a profit motive to deny/obstruct access to care.

[Cleita]

5. Actually, we do have government health care bureaucracies that

take care of more than half the nation and they do it efficiently. They are known as Medicaid, Medicare, the Veterans Administration and the military. None need private companies to help them operate. In the past few decades, private insurance and others corporations have insinuated themselves into those programs to avail themselves of the corporate welfare they receive courtesy of Republican law makers tinkering with and shooting holes into the original programs. If we outlawed private health insurance and put everyone on Medicare, you would see more efficiency and savings. The privateers are parasites on our health care system and should be banned legally from practicing medicine.

[Canuckistanian]

6. I'm Canadian. If there's any bureaucracy, I've never seen any

Health care is simple in Canada. If you're sick, make an appointment to see your doctor or walk into ANY hospital.

Nobody will ask you to fill in any forms, just hand over your health card, answer a few questions, then go to the waiting room.

And after you're treated, just thank the doctor and nurses, walk out and go home.

That wallet never needs to leave your pocket. And no bill comes in the mail.

THAT'S what single payer means. You get the treatment, the government pays the bills - DIRECTLY to the health care provider.