If you can't afford healthcare you sure as hell can't afford health insurance

[tonyvicksa]

People are obsessed about the cost of health insurance. It is a mathematical FACT that MOST people in this country will pay more in health insurance premiums from birth until age 65 than they would have paid in healthcare.

What people fail to grasp is we have a cost of healthcare issue NOT a cost of health insurance issue.

[Prolongus]

I agree with this. When some greedy fuck pharma owner can raise the price of a pill from $100 to $5,000 it's no wonder premiums are what they are. However, insurance companies share some of the blame. Too bad there isn't a rebate program for people who've paid tons of money in premiums over the years and have never used it.

[tonyvicksa]

Just look at the Epipen price hikes. The CEO's parents are a Senator and President of National Association of State Boards of Education. They managed to get subsidies to schools that stocked the Epipen. Then come the price hikes on the backs of the tax payer.

http://www.businessinsider.com/mylan...-bresch-2016-9

[Guest050619-1]

Originally Posted by Prolongus

Too bad there isn't a rebate program for people who've paid tons of money in premiums over the years and have never used it.

True dat, Pro. I'm mid-60's and I've been admitted to the ER once my entire life (turned out I was trying to pass a stone...let me add, that little dude can put you on your knees). As far as other stuff: I've had one surgery my entire life (repaired a torn meniscus).

(As was the case with other Boomers, I'm sure) my own health insurance premiums in my 20's right on into my early-mid 50's were minor...barely noticeable in fact. That said, the past few years it's reached levels of absurdity.

I can't imagine what that dollar amount might look like today had I simply "banked the ca$h" instead of carrying "health insurance" (ie: premiums paid in from age 20 until, let's say, 55). Add Life Insurance premiums and that total prolly looks pretty staggering today.

[Luke_Wyatt]

I agree with the OP, but what's the solution because the cost of the same medicines in the U.S are far cheaper than in other nations.

[Prolongus]

Originally Posted by Luke_Wyatt

I agree with the OP, but what's the solution because the cost of the same medicines in the U.S are far cheaper than in other nations.

Not true with the Epipen:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.blo...icing-itnvgvam

I remember in late 80's paying around $100 a month for our family of five. Just dumped a $1,500 a month health ins. payment last year, thanks to Medicare. This shit is ridiculous.

[Luke_Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Prolongus

Not true with the Epipen:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.blo...icing-itnvgvam

I never said it applied to every drug in the world, but for the vast majority drugs are more expensive in the states by far:
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-drug-prices/
https://mic.com/articles/125688/here...rts#.bmFSgV6T4


According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, people in the U.S. spend more per capita on medicine than any other surveyed OECD country by large margins, at around $1,000 a year per person. The next closest country is Canada at roughly $771 per year, and many other wealthy countries spend less than half of what the U.S. does on a per capita basis.

Part of the reason U.S. consumers pay so much for their drugs is a lack of bargaining power. Other countries with universal health care systems negotiate the price of prescription medication with pharmaceutical companies. But in the U.S., only Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs can do so, leaving Medicare out. Instead, Medicare drug prices are negotiated by insurance companies, which have much less leverage to bring down the price of drugs.

The situation is further complicated by a lack of competition in certain drug markets. Twenty-year patent rights for most newly developed drugs ensure many newer treatments remain expensive and unavailable in generic forms.

These factors, along with several others, combine to lead to Americans paying, on average, much more for the same prescription drugs than any other comparable country.

[R.M.]

Times like these are when you have to be healthy and take care of yourself. It does make common sense to do so.

[Prolongus]

I remember the local newspaper doing a survey of medical procedure costs in different areas/hospitals a few years ago. The difference in a hip replacement varied by 30K - 40K. WTF!!!! Heart surgery (triple bypass) varied at 80K.

[Luke_Wyatt]

Originally Posted by R.M.

Times like these are when you have to be healthy and take care of yourself. It does make common sense to do so.

I totally agree with your statement- every individual health, but R.M there are things that happen to people that are out of their control- healthy men and women get diagnosed with cancer, people are born with diseases to no fault of their own and many can't afford treatments.

[Luke_Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Prolongus

I remember the local newspaper doing a survey of medical procedure costs in different areas/hospitals a few years ago. The difference in a hip replacement varied by 30K - 40K. WTF!!!! Heart surgery (triple bypass) varied at 80K.

I bet the rates in other countries are 1/4th those amounts albeit you have to be on a long waiting list for certain procedures, but at least you don't have to spend your life savings.