The Cost of Uncompensated ER Visits

This is like another one of those "Who could have ever predicted that would happen?" moments from the bush adminstration.

Its like throwing a match on some gasoline, and expressing amazement that a fire started.

Bush and his republican enablers have been slashing the Medicaid program, and reducing reimbursement rates for years. Why? Because they're republicans, and they've never liked Medicaid. Poor people aren't an important political constituency in this country. Whenever budget cuts are proposed, they're the first to take it on the chin.

So guess what? You cut medicare, and reduce medicare reimbursment rates to hospitals and - voila!. Reimbursement rates go down. Its not rocket science.
 
how the heck do we have 60 million people poor enough to qualify for medicaid and another 47 million uninsured on top of that?

60 million people's health costs are paid by the gvt, then who knows how many medicare seniors covered by the gvt, then you add all the gvt employees whose health costs are paid by the gvt, then most all of those covered by their employers, the gvt pays about 35% of that with the tax credit given to them....

how much more could it cost the gvt to pay the remainder? seems like our gvt is already paying the healthcare costs for the most of us as we sit right now? there are so many different ways they contribute it is hard to put a handle on it, but it sure seems like our taxes are paying for the most of everyone's healthcare?
 
RStringfield said:
It's often stated that the cost of care for ER visits of the uninsured falls on the insured. But medicaid pays less than the uninsured do.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSNB758230720071108?sp=true

It's also claimed that government provided insurance will reduce unneeded ER visits, yet the CDC states that the highest rates of ER visits are from Medicaid, followed by Medicare, the uninsured and, finally, privately insured.
Click to expand...

Really, RS? The most ER visits come from the poor and elderly? OMGZ?!!!!!
 
Watermark said:
Really, RS? The most ER visits come from the poor and elderly? OMGZ?!!!!!
Click to expand...

You mean the uninsured are not poor? OMGZ!

The claim by supporters of more government argue that ER visits will go down with government inurance paying for office visits. But rates of er visits are higher among the government insured.
 
all i know is that when my mom had her heart attack and i went to the hospital in Springfield, all anyone kept asking me is "does she have insurance" i had to keep saying "yes she does, I just don't know what it is" then 15 minutes later someone else would come up to me and ask me, "does she have insurance?"


I would again say "yes she has insurance" then another person came, and it went on and on. My mother couldnt answer since she was comatosed and on a respirator. I think its really wrong that people ask you about insurance all the time when your mind isn't obviously on that.
 
Connecticut Stud said:
all i know is that when my mom had her heart attack and i went to the hospital in Springfield, all anyone kept asking me is "does she have insurance" i had to keep saying "yes she does, I just don't know what it is" then 15 minutes later someone else would come up to me and ask me, "does she have insurance?"


I would again say "yes she has insurance" then another person came, and it went on and on. My mother couldnt answer since she was comatosed and on a respirator. I think its really wrong that people ask you about insurance all the time when your mind isn't obviously on that.
Click to expand...

Does she have insurance?
 
Cypress said:
This is like another one of those "Who could have ever predicted that would happen?" moments from the bush adminstration.

Its like throwing a match on some gasoline, and expressing amazement that a fire started.

Bush and his republican enablers have been slashing the Medicaid program, and reducing reimbursement rates for years. Why? Because they're republicans, and they've never liked Medicaid. Poor people aren't an important political constituency in this country. Whenever budget cuts are proposed, they're the first to take it on the chin.

So guess what? You cut medicare, and reduce medicare reimbursment rates to hospitals and - voila!. Reimbursement rates go down. Its not rocket science.
Click to expand...


Medicaid spending (2001) $129,374,000
Medicaid spending (2006) $192,334,000

Avg. annual increase...8.3%
2001-2006------------+49%
 
Who is funding the medicade and medicare programs? The people. So, it is a tax payer paid program that seems free to the people that have it. Darn, I have a hang nail--I need to go to the ER. I have a head ache, I need to go to ER. I am a wimp that never learned how to take care of myself--I need to go to ER. I don't have a job because our education system stinks, and I never learned how to earn anything for myself, because I know I will be taken care of--I need to go to ER, just to say hello to my friends.

Is it a suprise to anyone that it is abused more than any other system? The S-chip is abused like crazy also--and allowed, even encouraged to be abused.

If there is one person who is like theMAJORITY of the people out there that actually lives from pay check to pay check--and supports socialized health care---my money says you will not retire, or you will retire very poor if socialized health care happens in this country. The country with the fattest government on earth. There is not one country that does not tax their citizans under 50% of their income. The American people can not afford that. Get your head out of the sand and stop begging for welfare. Most people are living to pay the bills, and that is about it. Socialized health care will break the back bone of this country. The peoples ability to take care of themself--and make their own choices. Welfare?---no thanks--I want to take care of myself, like every American has the right to do.

Please show me where socialism health care is a right? Welfare babies.

My prediction, if this country goes to a socialized health care system.
1) I will state that the growing poverty level (growing now from greedy globalization and bad trad deals that hurt our people right now), will grow almost exponentially, to the tune of 30% of the population entering poverity. But, we do still have some good paying jobs in the health care industry---right?

2) Those decient paying health care jobs will be next to go (after the private industries have desolved--knocking down many peoples standard of living to a lower level also). What is going to stop the government from replacing doctors and nurses, that retire, with immigrant cheap labor, because they were trained cheaply from their respective contries. Did you know that it is because of the free market, that we have the best medical expertese and methods in the world?

IMO, we need to stream line the current free market system. To do that, we need to reduce the expensive size of the government, so people can afford insurance. When people can afford it (like we did a short 20 years ago), we can almost stop the abuse that raises preimums.

Isn't it amazing, that a government "for the people, by the people" and a free market system was a joke in the rest of the world with cultures that were thousands of years old. Thats right--over 200 years ago, the rest of the world thought the USA expeiment was a joke. Yet--in a short 130 years (approx), we became the most prosperous country in the world!!!!

IMO--other countries should try to be more like us----not the other way around.
We love this country for a reason--but most of us forgot that reason and think welfare is a good thing.
 
Last edited:
Lol I think that last one started a parody of the position it articulates but actually ended up making a decent case for it.
 
The line of thought that American healthcare is expensive because people go to the doctor enough is so retarded I don't have enough words for the morons who emit it's stupidity.

This is America. People don't go to the doctor HALF as much as they need to and people DIE because of it. And one of the biggest reasons are the humongous prices we pay to support insurance CEO's fat paychecks.

I believe in national healthcare because I am a fiscal conservative. We don't have to raise taxes to instute national healthcare. National healthcare is simpler and it saves costs in itself, and this has been shown in many countries. America is already paying for a national healthcare system in our taxes, we just don't get one.
 
TheIDIOT, would you like me to break out the figures PROVING that America pays as much in taxes per capita for our coporatation subsidizing medicare and medicaid as the worlds most expensive national healthcare system pays to cover everybody?
 
Watermark said:
The line of thought that American healthcare is expensive because people go to the doctor enough is so retarded I don't have enough words for the morons who emit it's stupidity.

This is America. People don't go to the doctor HALF as much as they need to and people DIE because of it. And one of the biggest reasons are the humongous prices we pay to support insurance CEO's fat paychecks.
Click to expand...

Do you have a source to show we are going to the doctor less?

Prices are probably the biggest factor, but there are other ones.

I believe in national healthcare because I am a fiscal conservative. We don't have to raise taxes to instute national healthcare. National healthcare is simpler and it saves costs in itself, and this has been shown in many countries. America is already paying for a national healthcare system in our taxes, we just don't get one.
Click to expand...

Do you have anything to support this? What country effectively reduced prices with government programs, throughout the healthcare market?
 
Watermark said:
TheIDIOT, would you like me to break out the figures PROVING that America pays as much in taxes per capita for our coporatation subsidizing medicare and medicaid as the worlds most expensive national healthcare system pays to cover everybody?
Click to expand...

Go ahead. It proves nothing. If you think this means we will need no more tax dollars to fund single payer healthcre, then you are delusional.
 
If it were possible to implement without raising taxes I wouldn't even care. It would be a better use of our tax dollars than we currently see.

But it is not going to happen, not because it's impossible but because people like Mid, usc, and 1by are attached at the hip to their favorite social programs and would never accept a serious cut.
 
RStringfield said:
Do you have a source to show we are going to the doctor less?

Prices are probably the biggest factor, but there are other ones.



Do you have anything to support this? What country effectively reduced prices with government programs, throughout the healthcare market?
Click to expand...

Every developed country?

Would you like me to pull up the figures that I've already shown you several times?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top