what is US government doing about these insane rates???

Question

a couple of weeks ago i got into a hospital cuz of really bad fever i had. it turned out to be a stomach flu. after 3 hours in there, 2 pills of tylenol and a CT scan i got a medical bill for 13500 dollars (almost my salary for 6 months). now if u look at it as hourly rate would that be 4500 an hour? it doesnt seem normal to me. 2 years ago i needed a filling done, turned out it was more than that, anyway it cost me 500 bux to save the tooth. 1 year later i had to get everything redone because the dentist was so whack it started falling apart. 500 bux more... for 1 and a half hours of work for the doctor. now i feel that my tooth is f#$@'ed up again. can i do something about this... nothing. just pull out 500 bux out of my pocket and pay it because i have no choice... what is american governernment doing about these insane rates on medicine and 4500 an hour in a hospital with 300 dollars pharmacy charge for 2 tylenol pills? is it out of control? i have insurance but what if i didnt????

i mean if you're a doctor and u rip people off doing what you do paying that should not be a problem for you... just because u got education because your parents were able to support you at the time u were doing it. but we do have such thing as minimum wage here in california and it does not exist just to be there, it exists because some people actually make that little and for 7.50 an hour its kinda hard to pay 13500 for 3 hours in a hospital just because somebody wanted to rip you off. more than that... i think it's a violation of human rights against the ones that simply were raised in poor families. how much longer is US going to tolerate this?

exactly, make it affordable to the masses. but if the government doesnt want to do anything about this, why dont people that live in this country do? ill use my friend as an example. 2 years ago he spent a night at the hospital and after 8 hours of being there the bill is ONLY 48000 dollars. the reason why i use him as an example is that he never paid that, he never got a job after that and he still owes that money. if all the americans all of a sudden stop paying those insane bills what's gonna happen? headache because of every person that came in with another health problems, collections, phone calls that need to be made by people that need to be paid. instead of going through all that, don't you think they would rather lower the rates and get them closer to the point they should be at? its so simple but just because we are so used to that we are not doing a thing about it.

Answer 1

In hospitals, you are subsidizing the medicare/medicade patients, and also, the no-insurance patients. A hospital accepting just medicare/medicade patients would go bankrupt. CT scans are expensive.
I've worked in a hospital pharmacy, and I know they don't charge $300 for tylenol. For the scan, they might have injected with or given some some dye, and that would account for the cost.
Some of the reasons for high costs in hospitals is because of their malpractice insurance. People are lawsuit happy. On-patent Prescription medications are expensive because they are supporting not only their manufacture and research costs, but the costs of 999 potential medications which did not make it.

Answer 2

Because when people go to a hospital, they went health care. They are in no mood to negotiate.

Doctors are going to get paid no matter what because their services will always be in demand. People do not want to die.

As far as everybody simply not paying their bills. This is nonsensical talk. Hey, while we're at it--let's get everybody to ignore their credit card bills and their car insurance and their mortgage payments. If nobody pays these, the price will go down, right? NO. Most people pay their bills because they do not want to damage their credit rating and/or they feel an obligation to fulfill their end of a contract.

When people like your friend do not pay their bills (for any service), that causes the service provider to compensate for the nonpayment and RAISE prices for services NOT LOWER them.

Answer 3

i need more details. you make 30 grand and you can't afford 100 bucks a month for insurance. turn off the computer and the TV and pick up a newspaper. put 3 grand in an IRA. now you don't pay $1,000 in taxes on the 3 grand. spend the thousand on health insurance. 2 all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onion on a sesame seed bun. $2.30 big mac 2 all beef patties cheese pickles onions on a plain bun with a healthy slimming 1 less piece of bread double cheese burger. ninety-nine cents. the government allows you a pre tax medical savings account. i just turned you medical expenses into eight-hundred dollars total including insurance and deductible

Answer 4

Here in California we are creating a state-wide insurance plan, following a system created by a Republican governor. A plan that looks very much like the Hillarycare plan, shot down by the GOP 14 years ago, btw. In Oregon, everyone already has that right.

So just vote Democratic, especially vote for Hillary, and you will get coverage.

Answer 5

Keep the educated the elite....

I say make college affordable to the masses, and doctors will be less valuable...., but they know this and lobby to keep the "quality the best" only rich peole can attain the md status...... basically,,, without borrowing 100,000 dollars for education,,,,,,,

why do proffesors make 50k to 80 k while doctors make 200k