This is what Obamacare is going to do to our lives

[sumbrownkid]

Romney was going to get tough on Chinese Insurance! We made a mistake guys!

 

[MatskiMonk]

Pfft... I really don't see what Americans have got their panties in a twist over, you should just adopt the UK's method... Tax what we earn, tax what we buy, take that money, give all of it to people on benefits/welfare, then take money from hospitals, schools and defence to pay off our national debts, and what ever is left -- use it to offer a minimum level of acceptable healthcare for free. If people want better, then they can go private....

... yes I'm being sarcastic.

 

[opelgt1969]

Pfft... I really don't see what Americans have got their panties in a twist over, you should just adopt the UK's method... Tax what we earn, tax what we buy, take that money, give all of it to people on benefits/welfare, then take money from hospitals, schools and defence to pay off our national debts, and what ever is left -- use it to offer a minimum level of acceptable healthcare for free. If people want better, then they can go private....

... yes I'm being sarcastic.

That might work but here in the USA we give too much of our tax money to too many foreign countries so they can fight each other. We have a really bad corn crop this year so instead of not sending corn overseas we raise the prices on everything.

 

[Slash]

Basically, I lose my health care coverage as my plan isn't supported, then, my mother can't get her chemotherapy treatments, and we are barely making ends meet as it is. My family is screwed.

 

[arora]

Keep up your hope for change

It's hard to say how it's going to pan out tbh, I hope you and mom will get what you need.

 

[Slash]

Getting another plan is out of the question. Our income isn't nearly enough besides the fact that we dumped life savings, 401k etc into it and we still are extremely in debt. We go grocery shopping maybe once every 2 months, and its to get a few things. I know we aren't the only ones in this situation. What really floors me is that this forces us to pay for someone elses well being when we can't afford it for ourselves, let alone fine us if we don't have it.

 

[arora]

It sounds like you are getting stuck in the middle, I've seen this first hand; to poor to afford what you need, to rich to get assistance. The obamadon'tcare doesn't take affect for a while though, things have changed for you already?

BTW I was joking about the hope and change, it just kills me that people think the government will ever offer a solution to the problems they create.

 

[Slash]

I know it won't take effect but I doubt much will change.

 

[Public'sTwin]

I am sure your consumer protection group will slam them for doing this.

I am pretty sure such a thing exists only in name in America

I lean more toward this kind of argument. I don't have any answers, and I don't really know how or what will happen as a result of Obamacare, but I feel that when imbalance occurs it becomes evident and things sort themselves out, whether it's in a free market or not.

Yes, and I was being very. . . sin . . . cere

 

[theotherspongey]

lolFoxnews.

 

[Swara]

Fox news is strictly conservative, if the OP knew.

 

[Joel]

That doesn't change that obamacare is going to harm a lot of businesses and do little other than providing health insurance companies with 30 million new customers.

 

[sumbrownkid]

I don't know Noob. I kind of like knowing that my insurance company won't drop me when I get a serious ailment.

I'd pay that extra 0.50 cents just for that security.

 

[Danoff]

I don't know Noob. I kind of like knowing that my insurance company won't drop me when I get a serious ailment.

I'd pay that extra 0.50 cents just for that security.

Obamcare doesn't change or address that situation. Your insurance company couldn't do that before, and they can't do it now.

 

[opelgt1969]

Fox news is strictly conservative, if the OP knew.

Yes the OP knew but the point was what it's going to to to each and every one of us.

I don't know Noob. I kind of like knowing that my insurance company won't drop me when I get a serious ailment.

I'd pay that extra 0.50 cents just for that security.

It's not going to be 0.50 cents by the time this is done every type of business will be charging at least 3 times more than Obamacare would every think about saving. Mark my word as soon as this passes your medical bills will be at least 1.5 times as what they are now because it's the medical profession that needs fixed not insurance. If Obama wants to fix something then he should regulate medical cost not insurance. Most times when someone gets admitted by the time they are released they have a $20,000 bill that should be no more than $5,000, that's now so do you think the hospitals are going to keep this rate no it's going up,up,up!

 

[sumbrownkid]

Obamacare has been passed dude, like two years ago. And so far the holocaust that many predicted that will come has not come nor does it seem to be forming.

I do have medical bills and it isn't any more expensive than what I paid before Obamacare came into being. So until that so called "OMG it's gonna get so expensive that medicine will be unattainable" happens, I'm in the Obamacare bandwagon.

Guess I have to raise my flame shield now...

 

[Zenith]

Probably because the Obamacare that passed is nothing but a shell of what Obamacare was supposed to be.

As it is now, it has little direct effect on our lives, but adds to the list of legislature that proves that the US Government has no regard for the Constitution or liberty and that Obama is as partisan as they come.

 

[Danoff]

Obamacare has been passed dude, like two years ago. And so far the holocaust that many predicted that will come has not come nor does it seem to be forming.

I do have medical bills and it isn't any more expensive than what I paid before Obamacare came into being. So until that so called "OMG it's gonna get so expensive that medicine will be unattainable" happens, I'm in the Obamacare bandwagon.

Guess I have to raise my flame shield now...

Tell that to the people that are being laid off right now. I posted a detailed description of some of the many companies who are publicly having to lay people off. My wife's company is among them. Other companies are no doubt being less public about it. Still others will just not hire, which leaves someone unemployed who would otherwise not be.

...and costs will/are definitely go/ing up. There's no way around that.

 

[Dennisch]

How much do you guys need to pay for an operation on the hip, that lasts about 1,5 hours?

I paid €1800,- for the operation, + 5 days in a hospital bed and all the extras. Ehm. The insurance company paid.

(just for comparison)

 

[Zenith]

That's how much you paid the hospital. You've also been paying for other people's operations through taxes.

In America, I'd have to pay for Fatty Fran's Quadruple Bypass. I do not want to pay for someone else's medical bills. I do not believe the government has the right to force me to pay for someone else's medical bills.

 

[Dennisch]

That's how much you paid the hospital. You've also been paying for other people's operations through taxes.

Yes, and the monthly health insurance of €140,-. But it includes pretty much anything. Even dental.

 

[opelgt1969]

How much do you guys need to pay for an operation on the hip, that lasts about 1,5 hours?

I paid €1800,- for the operation, + 5 days in a hospital bed and all the extras. Ehm. The insurance company paid.

(just for comparison)

Over $25,000 for removing gall bladder, 3 hours on table, ready willing able to leave that night doctors released after 3 days.

 

[Dennisch]

Dude. That is a lot of money. And all they did was take something away. At least I got a present which I carried with me for a year!

 

[Danoff]

How much do you guys need to pay for an operation on the hip, that lasts about 1,5 hours?

I paid €1800,- for the operation, + 5 days in a hospital bed and all the extras. Ehm. The insurance company paid.

(just for comparison)

I've personally paid ~$5000 for such an operation (not covered by insurance). I've also seen my insurance company pay $11,000 for an outpatient procedure that lasted about 45 minutes and should have cost about $800. I've also paid a total of just about $200-$300 for a series of doctor appointments (10-12) leading up to a surgical procedure which will require a day of hospitalization and a good hour of doctor time at the operation.

So it varies wildly depending on what the issue is and how good the coverage is for that issue. Also our medical system here in America was broken before Obamacare came along and is currently broken and will stay broken for the foreseeable future.

I bet many of you did not know that Obamacare directly discourages medical device invention through a new medical device tax:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444620104578012281306687070.html

Who thinks it's a good idea to add a specific tax directed at medical devices? Anyone? Nobody? Didn't think so.

 

[Joey D]

Tell that to the people that are being laid off right now. I posted a detailed description of some of the many companies who are publicly having to lay people off. My wife's company is among them. Other companies are no doubt being less public about it. Still others will just not hire, which leaves someone unemployed who would otherwise not be.

...and costs will/are definitely go/ing up. There's no way around that.

There are also industries that are hiring because of the healthcare reform too, one of the biggest ones is the clinical informatics sector. Since medical facilities need to be on electronic records and it's strongly encouraged they do it by 2014, they are hiring people to implement it. Both Cerner and Epic are hiring a ton of people that have experience in everything from computer programming to sales. Most hospitals are hiring people as well or contracting it out to IT firms like Compuware. Where I'm working at right now there are a ton of new jobs being posted weekly for positions dealing with clinical informatics.

===

As I've said numerous times there are bad parts to it, but there's also quite a bit of good to come out of it too which will benefit the patients in the end (i.e. all of us). It's not how I would have gone about trying to fix our healthcare system, but as always it's really easy for anyone on the internet to say they know how to fix something when in reality they have no idea the complexity of the situation.

 

[Dennisch]

Incredible. Your system is so broken that it should be put down.

 

[Danoff]

There are also industries that are hiring because of the healthcare reform too, one of the biggest ones is the clinical informatics sector. Since medical facilities need to be on electronic records and it's strongly encouraged they do it by 2014, they are hiring people to implement it.

...and costs will/are definitely go/ing up. There's no way around that.

Forcing companies into expensive systems means the little guy folds (jobs lost, competition lost), the big guy gets more market share (prices go up) has to pay for expensive systems (prices go up) and has more employees (prices go up). And does this improve medical care? Maybe slightly. Does it add a new layer of red tape and a big boundary toward creating new business preventing small businesses from starting? Absolutely.

Still waiting for any takers on this:

I bet many of you did not know that Obamacare directly discourages medical device invention through a new medical device tax...
Who thinks it's a good idea to add a specific tax directed at medical devices? Anyone? Nobody? Didn't think so.

 

[Joey D]

Forcing companies into expensive systems means the little guy folds (jobs lost, competition lost), the big guy gets more market share (prices go up) has to pay for expensive systems (prices go up) and has more employees (prices go up). And does this improve medical care? Maybe slightly. Does it add a new layer of red tape and a big boundary toward creating new business preventing small businesses from starting? Absolutely.

There are a ton of free electronic medical record systems that comply with the healthcare reform. Many physician offices are implementing them. They are supported by ads that show up on the login screen and they do work decently well.

Electronic medical records also improve medical care dramatically by reducing all sorts of medical errors and makes everything happen much quicker. It also helps protect the doctor from frivolous lawsuits because things are actually documented, meaning they have more evidence in court to prove their innocence.

 

[Danoff]

You make it sound impossible for any doctor's office to not have already done this. I'm sure there are good ($$) reasons.

 

[Joey D]

You make it sound impossible for any doctor's office to not have already done this. I'm sure there are good ($$) reasons.

The willingness too and the fear of technology are the two biggest reasons often cited. When you have a doctor who's in their late 70's they don't want to use a computer, and when you have another 70 year old office assistant, they don't want to learn either.

Yes it can be costly if you go with a costly system, but many of the programs are no more expensive than setting up a network environment. But as I've said, there are free programs out there that comply with the healthcare reform so cost has nothing to do with it. Also, typically if you are part of a larger health system, the system pays for your EMR for you so their no out of pocket expense from the physician's end.