Month after month, we, the faithful, pay our insurance premiums or face the probability that we will be denied health care coverage if we should become ill. All over our country, those who have lost their jobs, or fell on difficult times found that their children could no longer visit their pediatrician, husbands and wives pray nightly that serious illness will not land on their doorstep.
Even those of us lucky enough to have current coverage have to sweat it out every time we need a test or procedure, the recommendation of our physicians not good enough to guarantee us diagnosis and treatment, unless our carriers feel that we should be privileged enough to get a positive nod.
Our physicians wait patiently for reimbursement for services, in a cat and mouse game of how long can we keep our money in the bank before we need to release a check for payment. How many notes will we request? Letters of medical necessity? People are no sicker now than they were forty years ago, when the physician would send a hand written note to the insurance giants and received a check, most times for close to the full amount billed. How did our physicians and our patients lose the ability to gain assured treatment ? Who are these guys and what's their problem?
Certainly there is no greater rip-off in the American way of life than car insurance. We pay month after month for a service we don't use and then get charged an even higher fee if, heaven forbid, we do make a claim. Think about it for a minute. Every month, a charge for nothing.... I could understand if our premiums payed for oil changes, or new tires, or a tune-up every six months, but literally we send a check to a strange location for NO service. Only in America!!!!!
I propose that for every year we do not make a claim, our total premium, minus a small administrative fee should be refunded in full. You say you want to boost the economy? What would be better than getting a check every year on December 31st for driving safely? Imagine how much of this money would serve as a stimulus to the economy. Perhaps, instead of billions of dollars in profits each year, the insurance giants would only make millions. What a damn shame !!!!
It wouldn't be a bad idea to make the same transition with health insurance. Instead of forming more ACO groups, whose sole purpose is to save money by denying treatment, let's reward our patients for making an effort towards preventative medicine. No emergency room visits in a year would guarantee you a refund on your yearly premium. Compliance with testing and physician recommendations would give you another small bonus. Enrolling in an exercise program - more cash.... Soon, we would have a society where individuals sought treatment to maintain health and prevent illness, rather than using their local emergency room as a refuge for a sore throat because in many cases, emergency care is covered in full.
We expect the American public to pick up the slack for every shortfall in our country and to pretend that they don't have the foggiest notion of the profits made by the insurance companies, year after year. We expect physicians to render excellence in health care, when their reimbursements are cut again and again.
Right now, we pay a ridiculous amount for gas and home heating oil, but I can assure you that the big shots at Exxon or Mobil are not going hungry to be able to afford their prescription medicine.
In the years to come, we will lose many good physicians and our future students will avoid the study of medicine like the plague. It's time we stopped dreaming and expecting the American middle class to keep doling out dollars for zero services.
Even those of us lucky enough to have current coverage have to sweat it out every time we need a test or procedure, the recommendation of our physicians not good enough to guarantee us diagnosis and treatment, unless our carriers feel that we should be privileged enough to get a positive nod.
Our physicians wait patiently for reimbursement for services, in a cat and mouse game of how long can we keep our money in the bank before we need to release a check for payment. How many notes will we request? Letters of medical necessity? People are no sicker now than they were forty years ago, when the physician would send a hand written note to the insurance giants and received a check, most times for close to the full amount billed. How did our physicians and our patients lose the ability to gain assured treatment ? Who are these guys and what's their problem?
Certainly there is no greater rip-off in the American way of life than car insurance. We pay month after month for a service we don't use and then get charged an even higher fee if, heaven forbid, we do make a claim. Think about it for a minute. Every month, a charge for nothing.... I could understand if our premiums payed for oil changes, or new tires, or a tune-up every six months, but literally we send a check to a strange location for NO service. Only in America!!!!!
I propose that for every year we do not make a claim, our total premium, minus a small administrative fee should be refunded in full. You say you want to boost the economy? What would be better than getting a check every year on December 31st for driving safely? Imagine how much of this money would serve as a stimulus to the economy. Perhaps, instead of billions of dollars in profits each year, the insurance giants would only make millions. What a damn shame !!!!
It wouldn't be a bad idea to make the same transition with health insurance. Instead of forming more ACO groups, whose sole purpose is to save money by denying treatment, let's reward our patients for making an effort towards preventative medicine. No emergency room visits in a year would guarantee you a refund on your yearly premium. Compliance with testing and physician recommendations would give you another small bonus. Enrolling in an exercise program - more cash.... Soon, we would have a society where individuals sought treatment to maintain health and prevent illness, rather than using their local emergency room as a refuge for a sore throat because in many cases, emergency care is covered in full.
We expect the American public to pick up the slack for every shortfall in our country and to pretend that they don't have the foggiest notion of the profits made by the insurance companies, year after year. We expect physicians to render excellence in health care, when their reimbursements are cut again and again.
Right now, we pay a ridiculous amount for gas and home heating oil, but I can assure you that the big shots at Exxon or Mobil are not going hungry to be able to afford their prescription medicine.
In the years to come, we will lose many good physicians and our future students will avoid the study of medicine like the plague. It's time we stopped dreaming and expecting the American middle class to keep doling out dollars for zero services.
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