Healthcare Reform Megathread: Can I sell my organs to pay this hospital bill?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Healthcare Reform Megathread: Can I sell my organs to pay this hospital bill?

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Family Values posted:

Just a PSA (for you or anyone else reading), but don't ever put yourself in this position. Just because you're out of work doesn't mean you're invulnerable to traffic accidents or any other random disaster. Pay for COBRA to stay on your old plan (up to 18 months, although some states like CA double that) until you find a new job. Always have continuous coverage.

Part of it is that deductibles and coinsurance are so high that many poor people can't afford anything more than basic medical care even with insurance. Why should poor but healthy adults spend a significant portion of their income on insurance that they can't meet the deductible on if something catastrophic were to happen?

# ¿ Mar 8, 2017 01:23

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 00:30

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

So? If you have $500 in savings there isn't much difference between a bill for a $6,000 insurance deductible and a hospital bill for $20,000, you can't pay either and are equally hosed.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2017 01:40

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

quote:

"Most Americans don't think of healthcare in terms of deductibles, premiums, or how much will the government give me. They want to pick a doctor they trust and select the treatment options that they want."

So I assume the new bill allows patients to keep their trusted doctor if they move to a new plan without worrying about if the doctor is "in-network?" And it also requires that insurance companies cover a wide range of treatment options? I must have missed those parts.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2017 19:02

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Ze Pollack posted:

Both are true, entertainingly. Too many of the wrong kind of doctors, too few of the right kind. Turns out they'd been churning out as many high-tier specialists as they could for decades and then discovered whoopsie, without competent primary care docs to feed them cases they sit around very expensively doing nothing.

For the last twenty years, primary care was where you shoved the bottom forty percent of your graduating med school class, who couldn't get a specialized position. This turns out to have been a problem.

It's also why the muslim ban+derivatives is a particularly nuanced bit of bad news for health care: awful lot of kids from southeast asia went through med school, and for the usual the-people-making-hiring-decisions-at-the-desirable-positions-are-almost-invariably-old-white-guys reasons they're overrepresented in the list of people who couldn't get specialized positions.

Long story short, whole lotta rural primary care docs with family in islamic-majority countries, and seriously weighing if sticking around in the States is a good idea at the moment.

As a bonus, a lot of the top medical students end up going into fields like dermatology and cosmetic surgery, simply because they can get paid in cash and don't have to bother with insurance claims, meaning they make more money with less effort.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2017 02:26

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Ryan overplayed his hand, pure and simple. He could have crafted a relatively moderate bill that kept the healthcare industry lobbyists happy, called it an Obamacare repeal, used those lobbyists to get some conservative Democrats on board, and told the far right to go gently caress itself. Instead Ryan thought he could use the electoral mandate to get everything he wanted, and he'll probably end up with nothing to show for it.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2017 01:49

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Paracaidas posted:

The GOP can still escape this by following the Cruz path and having Pence overrule the parliamentarian about whether or not their other prongs can be passed via reconciliation. That broadens what they can put in to appease both wings in the house, but risks a pretty epic revolt in the Senate. There's also the chance that the parliamentarian rolls over if this becomes a real threat, to avoid the destruction of the office.

This will have serious and far-reaching consequences. If Pence, a de facto member of the executive branch, decides to interfere in the internal procedures of the Senate in this way, it would be a massive power transfer to the executive branch from the legislative. I can see some Senate Republicans blocking this to preserve the power of the Senate as an institution, and a bill passes as a result of this, the judiciary may even set aside the enrolled bill rule and review it.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2017 03:51

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Actually, most of the characters in Breaking Bad had insurance, and even those that didn't generally received some care. They ended up with sky high medical bills because they went out of network and actively sought out the best specialists available. There's no telling how long Walter would have lived without chemo or surgery, or if Hank would have walked again with less frequent physical therapy, but people who are willing and able to pay large amounts of cash generally can get more care.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2017 12:55

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Lote posted:

Nursing. 2 year associates degree then work or 4 year BSN. Then go back and do a nurse practitioners degree. Or do ICU care and rack up a ton of OT. 100k+.

The academic requirements for becoming a nurse are no joke, even at the LPN level. Plus, you are going to have serious joint injuries after a decade or two of lifting 300+ lb. patients.

# ¿ May 5, 2017 17:15

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Do doctors in other countries have to pass something like the USMLE Step 1? It's an absolutely brutal exam that requires knowledge in many areas of biological science, to the point where the first two years of medical school have a heavy focus on the subjects covered. A big part of why medical training takes so long is that we require doctors to have a lot of general scientific knowledge that might not be directly applicable to general medical practice. This also puts a lot of pressure on candidates in undergraduate institutions, a lot of wannabe doctors have their dreams crushed by getting a C in Organic Chemistry.

# ¿ May 9, 2017 23:04

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Highbrow Slick posted:

If those changes are legit then the market will be nothing more than a 10% MAGI buy-in for preventative care & an out-of-pocket maximum. Cough up 10% of your yearly earnings and your expenses (outside of your monthly premium) will be capped at whatever the OOP may be at that time (right now for a bronze plan it hovers around $7k/person/year). That falls right in line with defunding Cost-Share Reductions. No outpatient co-pay only services. If people think coverage & co-pays are poo poo now, I imagine they'll be pretty pissed about that.

Plus, it would cost the government even more because premiums will skyrocket without a mandate.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2017 04:44

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

The Phlegmatist posted:

But likely what's going to happen is that the Senate parliamentarian says refusing to subsidize plans that cover abortion is against Byrd Rule, Pence overrules it. Now suddenly everything HFC didn't get because it would violate reconciliation rules is on the table, and the joint conference turns into Meadows reaching into a bag of bark scorpions and throwing them at Mitch McConnell.

I seriously doubt Pence will overrule the parliamentarian. Doing so would have massive implications, since it means the Executive can interfere in the internal procedures of the Senate. This would be a huge transfer of power to the Executive, and would undermine the very concept of seperation of powers. The Constitution says "Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings" and that right is fundemental if you want an independent legislative body. Senate Republicans want to repeal Obamacare, but they don't want it badly enough to give up their own power.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2017 21:22

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

TROIKA CURES GREEK posted:

And this is why professionals are completely redoing the recommendations for testing and screens. People are loving stupid (hell even most people here are badly informed on the topic).

This is an issue. Science changes quickly, but public perception does not. It can take years to educate the general public on health related issues, and it can take even longer to convince them that what you said before was wrong. This is a situation where less information could be better, the government and medical community shouldn't be recommending specific tests and treatments to the general public unless they are absolutely sure it is settled science that is extremely unlikely to change. In the vast majority of cases, it is better to tell patients to trust medical professionals to recommend specific tests, since they are able to better evaluate new and changing evidence.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2017 01:28

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

The Democrats really only need to convince one Republican to support their healthcare plan, and luckily he's rather unconcerned about policy details and mainly wants to be known as a winner who made a great deal to repeal Obamacare. With Trump's support, a lot of Republicans will fall into line.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2017 22:10

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

How fast can they get a new person in? I assume if McCain resigns and names a successor Arizona's Republican governor would appoint that person, could they start the next day or are there formalities that delay things?

# ¿ Jul 25, 2017 19:25

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Now that amendments are open, can Sanders force a vote on single payer? I know it won't pass, but it will be a good way to see where Democratic Senators stand.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2017 20:20

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Even if the Senate passes something, I doubt the conference negotiations can be completed by 9/30. The Republicans have tiny margins in both houses, and there are several other must pass bills that need to get done this month.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2017 23:22

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 00:30

Konstantin: Jun 20, 2005; And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

One big issue is doctor time. Even if treating these individuals is beneficial, we already have a shortage of primary care physicians, and it's a zero sum problem. Every hour a physician meets with patients who have mild hypertension is an hour they don't have to meet with patients who may have more urgent issues.

# ¿ Nov 16, 2017 06:39

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Healthcare Reform Megathread: Can I sell my organs to pay this hospital bill?