The Medical Industry is soooooo Broken

[fenderman]

By way of just one example. A family member who suffers from migraines has been taking ubrelvy for a about two years now. It is the only thing that works for her. The market price is 100 per pill all paid for by insurance less a small 10 dollar copay. This drug was just approved in canada in November of 2022. How many thousands of folks suffered in canada until its approval? The delay approval to save on paying for expensive treatment.

 

[looktall]

This drug was just approved in canada in November of 2022. How many thousands of folks suffered in canada until its approval?

How much does it cost per pill in Canada?

You mentioned subsidizing earlier.
You're already subsidizing huge corporations, why not people instead?

Subsidy Tracker

Subsidy Tracker, produced by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First, is a wide-ranging database on misconduct by large and small corporations throughout the United States.

subsidytracker.goodjobsfirst.org

 

[CCTVCam]

Ask them to justify the tests.

I fail to see why you need a CT scan for potential singles. Apart from exposing you to the radiation that increases your chance of cancer by being euqivalent to many times a typical xray, I believe I read as much as 12 depending on what got scanned and ebing ionising, I fail to see what they're looking for that was so urgent you wouldn't wait for a blood test result 1st.

Also, how much are they billing you? I could purchase an MRI scan privately over here for around £800 ($900 dollarish). I doubt a urine test or blood test would run to more than a couple of hundred dollars. Your health care seems expensive even by our pirvate standards.

Strikes me though, most of that bill is the CT. I'd ask for a full breakdown of costs and then challenge the CT at the very least as an unjustified investigation.

 

[looktall]

I'd ask for a full breakdown of costs and then challenge the CT at the very least as an unjustified investigation.

anecdotal evidence on the internet suggests people who do this tend to get massive reductions in their bills.

 

[fenderman]

How much does it cost per pill in Canada?

You mentioned subsidizing earlier.
You're already subsidizing huge corporations, why not people instead?

Subsidy Tracker

Subsidy Tracker, produced by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First, is a wide-ranging database on misconduct by large and small corporations throughout the United States.

subsidytracker.goodjobsfirst.org

You are confused. The US does not subsidize large corporations other than woke electric credits to automakers making silly EV's - but that is really a subsidy to the well off buying EV's. This notion that we subsidize large corporations comes from a misunderstanding of the US tax code which is designed to incentivize investment and growth which benefits the economy tremendously. The link you provided is intentionally misleading. The government is not paying those companies, but rather incentivizing them by lowering taxes. The incentive could be to build a factory in a specific state or city which would reap 100 fold revenue via new jobs and investment. Or to perform another task that would generally not be in the best interest of the corporation but is beneficial to the government entity that provides the incentive. This is not a bad thing. Ask bartender AO Cortes of NY about killing incentives for amazon so they went elsewhere. Who won? Certainly not her district in NY.

Moreover, the cost to include all us citizens healthcare would literally double the national debt in 10 years or less. Why in the world should I subsidize someone making 100k with free health care? Insanity. Pay for it your damn self. There should also be a system in place for those mooching of the rest of us to incentivize a healthy lifestyle so hard working folks are not stuck paying for the lazy.

 

[fenderman]

Also, how much are they billing you? I could purchase an MRI scan privately over here for around £800 ($900 dollarish). I doubt a urine test or blood test would run to more than a couple of hundred dollars.

You are getting jacked at $900. You can get an MRI all day long here for under 500. They will bill insurance 2k and get paid 300-400. If you walk in the door and pay cash or tell them you cant pay the 2k bill they will almost always take 4/500.

 

[samplenhold]

@bigredfish make sure you get the shingles vax. Realize that once you have it come out, it can reoccur at the drop of a hat. Usually stress induced. I had shingles back in 2019. Did not want to get that again. Got the vax and no issues since.

 

[bigredfish]

@bigredfish make sure you get the shingles vax. Realize that once you have it come out, it can reoccur at the drop of a hat. Usually stress induced. I had shingles back in 2019. Did not want to get that again. Got the vax and no issues since.

Good to know. Thx

 

[Jim I.]

In another 10 months I would hope to see the same, very little if any out of pocket. Plan is to go on Traditional medicare plan and a UH supplemental policy.

Mom in the years before she passed had a lot of very expensive visits and paid exactly 0$ out of pocket with Trad Medcare and a $200 p/mo Part B supplemental policy

I just did the same now that I'm eligible for Medicare. A traditional Medicare plan with a supplement may cost a little more than an advantage plan, but you aren't locked into a particular network and can go to any doctor you want. For instance If I was in an advantage plan and needed specialized care for cancer I wouldn't be able to go to MD Anderson in Houston. I would have to go wherever the advantage plan network sent me.

 

[Jim I.]

@bigredfish make sure you get the shingles vax. Realize that once you have it come out, it can reoccur at the drop of a hat. Usually stress induced. I had shingles back in 2019. Did not want to get that again. Got the vax and no issues since.

Yes, everyone over 60 should get the shingles vaccine. Insurance usually won't pay for it if you are younger than that. My stepson had a bout of it in his scalp when he was fifty though.

 

[wittaj]

My taxes pay for the same things your taxes pay for.
Fire, police, military, education, transport, various infrastructure etc.

They just also happen to pay for medical, which yours don't for whatever reason.

Could you imagine if your house caught fire and the fire department sent you a bill for putting it out?

Some parts of the country you will get a bill, or they will bill your insurance, for things like ambulance runs, false alarms from security systems, etc. Wouldn't surprise me if somewhere some community is charging home insurance for putting out a fire at a house.

 

[bigredfish]

Detailed bill…

Note this is employer provided insurance for a small company of 200-250. It’s gone up quite a bit over the past 6-8 years. Cost/Premium is about $500 p/mo for me and wife. Annual deductible is $3400. Max out of pocket is $7600 for both combined.

I remember when we were 1200+ employees (2017) paying about $280 p/mo with $1500 annual deductible and $3000 max out of pocket combined

 

[sdkid]

You are getting jacked at $900. You can get an MRI all day long here for under 500. They will bill insurance 2k and get paid 300-400. If you walk in the door and pay cash or tell them you cant pay the 2k bill they will almost always take 4/500.

I had an mri on my knee 3 years ago for a torn minuscus.
Cost locally at Avera Health: over $4,500
Drove 220 miles to Sioux Falls to an MRI business.... $550
I told the radiology department locally, as well as the billing department locally, that they are overcharging by about $4,000, and they couldn't believe I could get the imagery (to the same resolution and specs) for that price. Meanwhile--- they keep billing away for every person who needs that mri, and insurance keeps paying on it.

Geeee..... maybe we need to get government heavily involved in healthcare. I bet Joe can fix it all... OR NOT.

 

[CCTVCam]

You are getting jacked at $900. You can get an MRI all day long here for under 500. They will bill insurance 2k and get paid 300-400. If you walk in the door and pay cash or tell them you cant pay the 2k bill they will almost always take 4/500.

We get it free if doctor requested. However, if you choose to go private, because either you don't want to wait if it's routine, or if it's something a doctor most likely wouldn't recommend but you want it anyway, I believe it's around the £800 mark but I understand that includes everything, staff, contrast etc.

 

[samplenhold]

If I was in an advantage plan and needed specialized care for cancer I wouldn't be able to go to MD Anderson in Houston. I would have to go wherever the advantage plan network sent me.

Sounds like you are talking about the same insurance that I have.

 

[Lucian]

you might take a look at companies like Resolve Medical Bills They understand billing/charges. It is like a hotel room $900/night on the door. $90.00 on priceline.

 

[tigerwillow1]

make sure you get the shingles vax. Realize that once you have it come out, it can reoccur at the drop of a hat. Usually stress induced. I had shingles back in 2019. Did not want to get that again. Got the vax and no issues since.

I had shingles in the 1970s. No vax, no more shingles.

 

[ncpilot]

Haha, you piker! Every month (Medicare summary below)... had pills for cancer treatment that were about $750 each... I was taking 11 per month for about 10 months. Insurance at the time didn't cover it all, had to get a "charitable grant" to cover balance. Got infusions every 8 weeks for over 2 years that were billed at about $25k each, insurance paid maybe around $3k.

Got Medicare now with supplemental, maybe around $350/mo total, deductible of about $230, then $0 out of pocket for the year... no complaints so far...

 

[jpc-s4]

How much does it cost per pill in Canada?

You mentioned subsidizing earlier.
You're already subsidizing huge corporations, why not people instead in addition?

Subsidy Tracker

Subsidy Tracker, produced by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First, is a wide-ranging database on misconduct by large and small corporations throughout the United States.

subsidytracker.goodjobsfirst.org

There... I fixed it for you...

 

[samplenhold]

I had shingles in the 1970s. No vax, no more shingles.

You are one of the lucky ones. I did not say that it WOULD reoccur, I said it can reoccur. My dad had it several times before he died. They did not have a vax for it back then. I have had a few friends that have had it come back more than once. Those of my friends that have had the vax never had a reoccurrence since they had the vax.