Cost of Health Care Continues to Rise

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand............?

I love it when people here in the 'States say, "Well I heard that in _____, they have that and it's horrible." I always follow that with; "Ever been there?"
The answer is usally, but not always "No.".

I've spent time in countries that have "national healthcare" and they all seemed pretty darn healthy.

Dave

According to WHO the majority are healhier than we are.

[merrylander]

It is not only the poorly educated that believe all that crap, had an interesting chat with the specialist yesterday while he was examining Florence's hand, got the gratuitous "If you were in Canada you would have had to wait months to have that finger fixed" Kind of embarassed him when I said Doc you have been listening to Bishop Hatch and Ethanol Grassley too much, that is not true.

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by merrylander

It is not only the poorly educated that believe all that crap,

Believe? or is it self serving hence they become part of the sales campaign?

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by noonereal

Believe? or is it self serving hence they become part of the sales campaign?

Bingo!

Dave

[merrylander]

Well I got all the usual about waiting lines, how the generous US of A is funding all drug research, Canadian doctors streaming across the border, yada, yada,.

[whell]

Health insurers are starting to react to Health Reform. I suspect there will be more examples of carriers getting out of Medicare due to cuts in Medicare funding specified in PPACA.

http://www.boston.com/business/healt...dvantage_plan/

“We became concerned by the long-term viability of Medicare Advantage programs in general,’’ said Lynn Bowman, vice president of customer service at Harvard Pilgrim’s office in Quincy. “We know that cuts in Medicare are being used to fund national health care reform. And we also had concerns about our ability to build a network of health care providers that would meet the needs of our seniors.’’

Harvard Pilgrim will replace current Medicare Advantage plans with pricier plans that offer reduced coverage.

[merrylander]

But of course, heaven forbid that the CEO lose his golden parachute. Every time my wife picks up her prescription she loudly asks "Whose golden parachute am I paying for this time?"

[whell]

Originally Posted by merrylander

But of course, heaven forbid that the CEO lose his golden parachute. Every time my wife picks up her prescription she loudly asks "Whose golden parachute am I paying for this time?"

It won't do the CEO or any of the company's employees or customers to go broke offering a product that generates red ink.

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by whell

Health insurers are starting to react to Health Reform. I suspect there will be more examples of carriers getting out of Medicare due to cuts in Medicare funding specified in PPACA.

http://www.boston.com/business/healt...dvantage_plan/

“We became concerned by the long-term viability of Medicare Advantage programs in general,’’ said Lynn Bowman, vice president of customer service at Harvard Pilgrim’s office in Quincy. “We know that cuts in Medicare are being used to fund national health care reform. And we also had concerns about our ability to build a network of health care providers that would meet the needs of our seniors.’’

Harvard Pilgrim will replace current Medicare Advantage plans with pricier plans that offer reduced coverage.

I did not notice it mentioned in the article that Medicare is the best government program we have or that it is and one of the best health insurances available. go figure.

[whell]

Originally Posted by noonereal

I did not notice it mentioned in the article that Medicare is the best government program we have or that it is and one of the best health insurances available. go figure.

Maybe. Makes no real difference to the point of the article. But one might ask why PPACA calls for significant cuts in Medicare reimbursements to providers accepting patients under "one of the best government programs we have."