Need to burn the entire healthcare system to the ground and start from scratch. I used to be a proponent of the Medicare for all who want it approach and then maybe universal from there when it proves itself (which I think it would), but I'm full-boat on single payer now.
I got a kidney stone in 2017 and my bill was $250 for the ER visit, CT scan, and RX's to get me through (Flomax and painkillers, wheeee!). My paycheck deduction for insurance is about $90.
My wife got a kidney stone this past August, 2 weeks before we got married. Her bill for the exact same treatment was $4,000. She made $12 an hour and her paycheck deduction for insurance was about $65.
That doesn't sit right with me and riles the hell out of my class warfare jimmies. People who make 1/3rd to 1/4th as much as me having to pay 16x as much for the exact same treatment because their insurance deduction in their paycheck is $65 as opposed to my $90. And then that in turn puts them into perpetual poverty because who the hell making $12 an hour can afford a $4k bill? Never mind the fact that it is an extremely common medical emergency that doesn't require anything other than an IV drip, some drugs, and a scan.
Nah, bro. Burn that sh*t to the ground.
Completely agree, my husband had to have his appendix removed, before us being married, and had just finished getting unemployment following his first enlistment.
He refused to go to a VA hospital (I can‘t blame him there) and the bill for the procedure and one night stay was $88,450. Lucky us we live in “socialist” California which has expanded Medicaid that happens to cover people who‘s income is below 25k a year on an emergency basis. They ran his social and got approval in 5 minutes, the state paid just over $11k and no balance billing.
How the fuck is an unemployed person supposed to pay $88k? I figure that‘s still a 8-9 year payback on our income taxes, so I can’t even be mad about those.
Also, I’m one of the “uninsurable“ prior to the ACA.
I don’t like the way the ACA went about doing what it did in terms of bolstering the insurance industry, but prior to that, when I was between jobs, I would buy insulin from Canada and have it shipped because I was unable to purchase health insurance, and even 10 years ago, the price to have it shipped cold from Canada was 1/6 the cash price here. Now it’s like 1/15 the cash price (hint, the Canadian price has remained the same).
I just hate the idea that everything is a lifestyle choice, I run a marathon at roughly a 4 hour pace, yet if the ACA were disbanded, would still be unable to buy health insurance. At least I have Uncle Sugar to thank for these awesome FEHB. LOL