RE: [hercules-390] Re: RESOLVED: HDL: no dependency section in hdt3420; devtype 3420 not recognized

somitcw wrote:
> Fish wrote:

[...]
> > (**) It is absolutely FREAKING **>> OUTRAGEOUS <<**
> >the cost of healthcare in this country!!  >8-<
>=20
>    You don't want us to be number one in healthcare cost
> in the world anymore?

I never said that nor implied it.

I was simply lamenting the total cost of a few visits to the hospital.

My wife caught pneumonia on New Year's day a year ago. Called a taxi and
told them to take us to the hospital. (We haven't owned a car in over 15
years and so rely on public transportation.)

They took us to the "wrong" hospital. They took us to one we had never been
to before, but a hospital is a hospital, right?

She was in a room for a grand total of ABOUT 6 hours. In that 6 hours they
gave her some IV solution. They gave her some inhalation therapy. They took
an x-ray. They reviewed the x-ray, talked to her for 15 minutes, prescribed
some medication and sent us home.

Four days later she was still feeling badly, so we called our "normal"
hospital (the one we usually go to). They said to bring her in immediately.
We did so.

THEY went through the exact same procedure: IV, inhalation therapy, x-ray,
15 minutes with the doctor, here's your prescription now get out of here.
Time spent: about 6 hours again.

My visits were for sciatica. They left me in a room for a hour or two, gave
me some meds (opiates; I was in extreme pain), did a leg lift examination,
prescribed different meds, sent me home. About three weeks later I went
through the same procedure again (the meds only lasted less than a week and
then the pain came back (heh! no pun intended) IN FORCE. Worse than before.
That's why I went back.), but this time demanded an x-ray or MRI or
whatever, to determine what the underlying CAUSE was so we could treat THAT
instead of simply treating the fucking SYMPTOMS like they were.

Had an MRI done under sedation (general anesthesia).

Grand total so far (that we KNOW of; they keep sending bills from many
different places. From different departments in the hospital, from differen=
t
doctor groups, medical groups, etc. We got bills from over a dozen differen=
t
places!) was almost $14,000. (The actual total is probably much more than
that but that was the total at the time we filed for bankruptcy).

$14,000+ for what?

6 hours in a room, twice.
2-3 hours in a room, twice,
2 x-rays.
Some medication.
A grand total of about 30 minutes attention from the nursing staff.
A grand total of about 20-30 minutes talking to a doctor.

Is that fair?

In my opinion it is not.

The only reason they're charging so much is they can get away with it.

And my "they" I mean the entire medical industry. The drug manufacturers.
The insurance companies. (You wouldn't believe what they charge a doctor fo=
r
malpractice insurance these days!) The hospitals. The MRI machine and x-ray
machine manufacturers. The manufacturers of plastic tubing and plastic
hoses. The manufacturers of hospital beds. Oxygen supply companies. Food
service. Etc, etc, etc...

It's like the military that gets charged $600 for a toilet seat. It's nuts.

It's pure capitalism at its worse. They know they've got us by the balls.
When we're sick or in pain or our very life is threatened, they can charge
whatever outrageous price they want because they know we'll pay it. We can'=
t
"shop around" when it's an emergency.

For routine doctor visits, yeah, we can shop around. But most of them are
working for the insurance industry.

"Medical insurance"

Think about what that means!

Insurance is a business wherein you pay money without ever expecting to get
it back. No one expects to have an accident or plans to have one or
eventually WANTS to have one. The only thing they EXPECT is that, god
forbid, if/when they DO happen to need medical attention, that it's paid
for. That's why they're paying their premium!

But insurance companies HATE paying claims, because paying claims is a
"loss". They lose money when they pay claims, so they go to great lengths t=
o
purposely AVOID having to pay claims, so they can make the maximum profit
possible.

A profit at the "expense" of the very people they "claim" they are trying t=
o
help!

It's nuts!

Their incentive is to *deny* claims. Their incentive is to *deny* medical
attention. Their incentive is BACKWARDS!

Why? Because they're an INSURANCE business.

Before medical practice got fucked things up with "managed health care"
(i.e. the medical insurance scam), there were just doctors. People with
medical skills that hung a shingle out and offered people their services fo=
r
a reasonable fee.

Many of them came to your house with their little black bag when you called
them. When was the last time you saw that?

In those days if you didn't like the SERVICE your doctor was giving you, yo=
u
went to a different one. He lost business, the other one gained.

The incentive was to provide the best service possible for the best price!
If you didn't provide good service or if your prices were too high, you
didn't make money (or as much) due to lack of customers.

Thus the incentive BEFORE the insurance industry fucked things up, was to
PROVIDE medical care, not to deny it like today!

Today's bullshit system makes me sick to my stomach.

Why can't people just do the right thing instead of whatever they can get
away with to make a buck?

Call me an idealist. I firmly believe that if one does the right the money
will eventually come.

But unfortunately the bad guys (i.e. capitalists with no morals) prefer to
short-circuit the system and screw over anyone and everyone they can get
away with in order to make some short term fast money, so they can skip tow=
n
and repeat the whole thing all over again.

It's sickening.

Literally.

--=20
"Fish"=A0(David B. Trout)=20
 [email protected]





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