Unfortunately Ed, health insurance is in part the problem. When insurance and not a person was paying the bill, doctors and hospitals found they could charge more. Insurance companies raise prices to compensate, but are thus willing to pay more, and the cycle continues.
On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 8:10 AM, Edmund Storms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This is indeed a sad story, Jed, that is repeated many times each day. The > basic problem is that the American people have accepted the idea that life > in this country should be based mainly on the individual effort, with > socialism being un-American. Liberalism, which tries to use the state to > protect the individual, is considered a dirty word. These ideas are accepted > by the ordinary working person even though this is not in their > self-interest to do so. Your friend probably even voted for Bush and would > not support a politician who proposed socialized medicine, even though > variations of this approach work well in other countries. We get what we > vote for. If we are too ignorant to vote wisely, we get the government we > deserve. Hopefully, the pain inflicted by the Bush philosophy will cause > people to reexamine their criteria for voting. > > Ed > > > > Jed Rothwell wrote: > > > > A friend of mine in his 50s has no health insurance. Normally this is not > a problem because he is a vet who goes to the VA hospital. He has a lot or > problems, including some service related ones. The other day he suffered > from a minor stroke and passed out while at a Lowe's hardware superstore. > They called an ambulance, which took him to Grady Hospital, because that is > usually the only hospital in Atlanta that take uninsured patients. He was > there for 4 days, mostly doped up or asleep to keep him from moving. He is > much better now. > > > > At Grady they did not have to do much for him other than to take some cat > scans and keep him immobilized. They sent him home and he went to the VA > hospital a few days later, where they did a bunch more tests and declared > him okay. > > > > Anyway, the point of this story is to relate the appalling fact that Grady > just sent him a bill for $82,000. This is an self-employed, ordinary, middle > class guy who probably doesn't earn that much in a year. In other words, > four days of hospitalization for a relatively minor health problem cost > enough to bankrupt an ordinary person. This is insane. The U.S. healthcare > system is unsustainable. > > > > Bush correctly pointed out that anyone in the U.S., even an uninsured poor > person, can get healthcare at an emergency room, just as my friend did. He > did not say that after a few days in the hospital you will be billed more > than your net worth, and then hounded by bill collectors until they run you > out of house and home. > > > > - Jed > > > > > > > > -- That which yields isn't always weak.
