Question for Republicans: Access to health care?

Page 1 of 1 [ 7 posts ] 

ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

27 Jun 2015, 9:44 am

Republicans are busy bashing President Obama's Affordable Healthcare Act and while I don't like AHA because it's too expensive, nothing else I have seen is any better. So my question to Republicans is: what is your solution? Should everyone have access to healthcare or not? I don't see any quick fixes by anyone else but I do believe everyone should have access one way or another and we need more people in the health care fields, people who aren't just money hungry but actually care about the human condition.

If you deny access, you are just going to create problems for hospitals who will be left with unpaid medical bills. So what is the answer? My belief is they do something to limit health insurance windfall profits because I see it as a huge huge problem. This industry cannot expect windfall profits. The CEOs in this particular industry make obscene profits. It's absolutely the most unethical thing I have ever seen. It's worse than any other industry, research it like I have, and it's related to people's health, the most precious thing they have. It sickens me. I don't deny them a salary but let's be real. People are going untreated. They cannot pay their medical bills. Hospitals are going under. Why do they deserve 100 million a year when another CEO in some other industry only gets $50 million? I would be able to understand better if I didn't know how much the CEOs in this particular industry make while members of HMOs struggle with fewer benefits, higher premiums and copays. Seniors experience conflicts paying for their medications.

So what do Republicans plan to do? Nothing? Just let the same old problems fester on while the entire thing collapses and the CEOs make off with all the money because that's all they care about.



Tim_Tex
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Jul 2004
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 45,472
Location: Houston, Texas

27 Jun 2015, 10:24 am

Two words: Flat fees.


_________________
Who’s better at math than a robot? They’re made of math!

Now proficient in ChatGPT!


Jacoby
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 14,284
Location: Permanently banned by power tripping mods lol this forum is trash

27 Jun 2015, 10:58 am

Wouldn't identify myself as a Republican but I will answer anyway, I think at this point that that the majority of the health law will never be repealed but the mandate might not. Medicaid expansion won't be rolled back and eventually it will probably be passed in all the states cost aside, I think it is unlike that they will repeal the banning of pre-existing conditions and the allowing of children to stay on their parent's insurance longer. What would happen would costs would go up on insurance but insurance really isn't the issue that needs addressing is the exorbitant price of healthcare in this country, we get less for more than any other country in the world. They should allow people to buy catastrophic coverage if that's what they want as it is better than nothing. They should change or even get rid the government licensing requirements which would allow for more access and diverse range of healthcare providers which would be competing with each other thus driving down cost. Change/cut/shut down FDA regulations on devices and medicine With these changes, you would have more choices at a cheaper cost. You might be worried about a decline in the quality of care but I think healthcare out of any industry you can count on people to want to act in their own self interest if provided the right information and there is no reason this information cannot be provided voluntarily thru consumer advocacy organizations and accreditation agencies. Ultimately it is your body and your choice who receive medical care from, we live in a time where all the words information is at our finger tips so it is about time we step up to the plate and take responsibility for our own choices because the old way far more often restricts what best suits our healthcare outcomes. I think on a personal level that this would have a great deal of benefit for people on spectrum whose options are limited right now.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

27 Jun 2015, 11:09 am

Tim_Tex wrote:
Two words: Flat fees.



For each visit or the same premium for all?

I would agree with the flat fee premium without copays (copays are really just a way to nickel and dime people who already paid) but a flat fee for every little thing could be out of reach for some because the price of health care is incredibly inflated when you compare it to prices for other goods and services. So, it would depend on how expensive the flat fees are.
Every little thing the doctor does, he charges for. It's all billed to insurance, the doctor's time and every test he performs are all billed separately. So, if you were to have a flat fee for each and it they were inflated like they are now, even the upper middle class would have a hard time affording it.



nerdygirl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jun 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,645
Location: In the land of abstractions and ideas.

27 Jun 2015, 12:12 pm

I'm more moderate than Republican. My family benefits from Obamacare as my husband and I get a subsidy to help pay our premium (for still crappy insurance b/c we can't afford better), and our kids are on Medicaid. At the same time as I am grateful for the help, I do not want to bankrupt the country.

The situation is not good. Even though we "have" health insurance, we still have to pay everything out of pocket until we meet a very high deductible. We just don't have the money for that, so we are still not getting all the treatment we need. We are finding out that specialists left and right are dropping Medicaid - they will not accept it. The penalties they face will cost them less money than the money they will lose from lower payment they would receive from the government. We had to switch the kids' dentist and cannot find an oral surgeon that we need.

I don't know what the best solution is. It seems to me the biggest problem is the COST of the actual healthcare - tests and treatments. Why is an Advil $10 a piece if administered at a hospital???? Why do drugs cost so much money? One of my husband's asthma medications costs $250, and I know other people who have prescriptions that cost an exorbitant amount of money.

We are only *slightly* better off with Obamacare than without, and that is before any expected increases in premiums. Before, we had no health insurance at all. Now, at least our kids are covered (if we can find all the doctors we need to take the insurance, thankfully we only need an oral surgeon right now.) And, my husband and I are covered in a catastrophic situation that would blow out our deductible. But, we are still not at the point where we can actually get regular care and not worry about the cost of premiums, regular doctor's visits, tests, and prescriptions.

I'd like to see a cardiologist about my irregular heart beat. I don't think it's *urgent*, but it worries me a bit. What worries me more? The cost of the visits and all the tests... I still don't have the money for it, even with Obamacare.



Jacoby
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 10 Dec 2007
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 14,284
Location: Permanently banned by power tripping mods lol this forum is trash

27 Jun 2015, 12:29 pm

Another thing is that you don't need an over qualified doctor for most healthcare related things, you can get second opinions on things from someone more traditionally accredited if need be but for general health I believe we can do it way cheaper.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

27 Jun 2015, 5:47 pm

Jacoby wrote:
Another thing is that you don't need an over qualified doctor for most healthcare related things, you can get second opinions on things from someone more traditionally accredited if need be but for general health I believe we can do it way cheaper.


Where I live, a nurse at a PCP's office sees patients more than the PCP.