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Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Let the health care games begin!



It's no secret that I've never been a fan of Trump. However, I wasn't a fan of having another Clinton in the White House either. Still with me?

There was some thought that the Republican leadership were going to handle the day to day business of government. Trump was expected to be some sort of figurehead who rubber stamped what the leadership wanted.

It doesn't look like that's going to happen. The big issue that caught my attention was health care. Republicans have been trying to shut down the ACA for years. It appeared that their plan was to shut it down and figure out some sort of replacement later . . . maybe.

Then Trump comes around and promises health care for everybody, no preconditions, kids can stay on their parent's plan, and it's going to be cheaper for everyone. Plus, the unpopular mandate will be done away with. Turns out that Trump has a plan of his own. The Republican leadership is quietly have fits.

The big question is how is that going to be paid for? Trump is talking about cracking down on the drug companies. Okay, that should help, but it won't pay for the whole plan. I am very interested to see how this will turn out. There are ways to make it work. The most practical is a single payer plan, like the rest of the civilized world has. That is ideologically forbidden, so I'm curious to see what happens next.

I used to think that competition could lower prices, but we haven't seen that happen. Drug companies have raised essential medications to ridiculously high prices, because they can. Many drugs are controlled by just one company so competition isn't going to help; there isn't any.

The medical field is not like other industries. I've got one hospital within reasonable driving distance from my house. It's not like hospitals compete on a dollar to dollar basis with each other. The pricing is totally opaque so we don't' know what a procedure really costs. We can't shop around. Besides, this not like like buying a new smart phone. Our lives are on the line here so the pressures are different.

As for myself, I'm looking at heath insurance from the outside. Before Obama care my insurance, while fairly decent, was completely unaffordable. After the ACA appeared I could afford a minimal plan with a crazy high deductible. After two years even that got too expensive. Now my plan consists of going to the emergency room and stiffing them for the bill. That's not a great plan, but it's the one forced onto me.

To sum up, as much as I'm not a fan of Trump, I'm glad he made the promises that he did. Let's see if they can pull a rabbit out a hat.

-Sixbears

14 comments:

  1. I don't think Trump will do anything to help my wife and I, but I won't blame him. There's too many things beyond his (and our) control, like human greed.

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    1. I think he may have promised the impossible, well, impossible in today's political climate.

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  2. The first law should restore the ability of government to negotiate drug price. VA and Medicaid pay mfg list. BC/BS may pay 22.48 for a drug under contract the tax payer plan pays 107.75. One place a lot of people over look is their county health department most have screening and immunization events plus other health offerings pays to check their websites.

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    1. Getting the price of drugs down is a big one. Hoping to scrape up the $350 or so my lovely wife needs for her meds at the end of the month.

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  3. "T" may never unscrew the mess others make profits off of...

    and it is killing people every day

    you may have to turn to herbal meds and under the table medical care

    stay well my friend...

    Wildflower

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    1. Alternative medicine has helped me a number of times, but it's not great if you need a broken bone set.

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  4. Stiffing hospitals is what makes them go under. If you ever have to be admitted look into applying for Hill-Burton.

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    1. Hill-Burton is good advice.

      As for the ER abuse, I didn't make the system that forces me to go that route. Why should the politicans have all the fun breaking the medical system?

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  5. There is no ay to keep all the parts of the ACA people like, like covering those with pre-existing conditions and expanding medicaid, and cutting out the parts people hate like the mandate, because the parts we hate pay for the parts we like.

    And just saying "It will be better care and cost less. Believe me." doesn;t make that possible.

    The elephant in the room is who pays for those who can't pay for themselves?

    Until you answer that question, you are just jerking off.

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    1. T just promised the impossible, so it will be interesting to see how it shakes out.

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  6. won't go into husband's cancer treatment costs, but hospital here has HCAP and we applied. hope we get it.
    years ago went to mexico for my dad's meds.
    5 cents per tablet there and 1.25$ in usa. 5 cents was a profit making price. should be sold here for 5 cents, too. still a profitable price.

    stealing because they can is big pharma. get rid of the ceo's and the company can save their outrageous salaries, make a profit, and ease burden on the sick, who already face dreadful debt.and a painful death if we cannot pay.
    lady in financial aid office at hospital said gutting obamacare will cause havoc and suffering for almost everyone, not just poor people.
    husband, like sixbears, says single payer system is the best.
    but we won't get it because congress won't get bribes from lobbyists if real statesmanship were to exist.

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    1. CEO's need that fourth vacation house on a private island. Show some compassion.

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  7. I don't think the Donald will be anybody's rubber stamp. I think he'll have the congressional leadership on the run pretty quick.

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