Birth Control

[delldude]

Insurance companies are regulated at the state level.

By what entity?

Government

 

[tech2101]

By what entity?

Government

What is stopping your state republican legislature from doing just that?

My link

 

[delldude]

What is stopping your state republican legislature from doing just that?

My link

Probably interstate commerce clauses.

 

[tech2101]

Probably interstate commerce clauses.

Probably that Penn wants the ability to regulate companies?

 

[delldude]

Probably that Penn wants the ability to regulate companies?

No, they are quietly sitting aside monitoring several challenges in other states instead of blowing their money upfront.

 

[Ms Tree]

I find it humerous that anyone would trust an insurance company to watch out for their self interest. One.does not have search far to find cases of treatment being denied to patients. Insurance companies are in it to make money. Your health and welfare are an inconvenience.

 

[SparrowHawk]

I find it humerous that anyone would trust an insurance company to watch out for their self interest. One.does not have search far to find cases of treatment being denied to patients. Insurance companies are in it to make money. Your health and welfare are an inconvenience.

Unless of course you know how to defend yourself both in the court of Public Opinion AND in State and Federal Court as well. The cases you hear about are because some patients or their families stand up for themselves or hire a lawyer. In my specific case the mere mention of an attorney helped.

Further when you look at the role the Government plays in terms of rates of Reimbursement it's quite easy to see why things are as they are. Take that Cardiologist who tried to pad my bill by $450.00. Evil? Unethical? Immoral? Perhaps but the word that comes to mind is clever. He found an out of plan patient who he assumed would not challenge his charge. In probably 95% of the time he'd be right. With me he ran into a person who had a Medical Case Manager for a girlfriend for two years who showed me how the system worked. As it turned out he billed my for services never rendered as once I made a big enough stink with the Hospital they admitted he was NOT on duty or in the Hospital on the date service was supposedly rendered. I had this guy by the balls in black & white and I let him off the hook! WHY, because he was just trying to grub a buck in a flawed system. I'm sure he's a very decent man caught in a bad spot.

However his conduct is part of the reason Insurance Companies take such a hard line on certain things. Due to the Government manipulated market caused by the pitiful Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates Hospitals try to shift costs to what they call "Private Pay" which are the big insurance companies. This forces the Insurance Company to in many cases do the wrong thing. Profit is not the dirty word here, Government intervention is the dirty word. If you track the rise in Malpractice cases, rise in percentage of Government reimbursement you'll see that overall Health Care cost as a percentage of GDP rose pretty much in lock step. Austrian School economists are far better skilled in explaining this than I am. However they are being proved right at every turn.

When it becomes more profitable for Insurance Providers to be more flexible in covering procedures and lawsuits drop as a result you'll start to see a decline in cost. When Lawsuits diminish you'll have the added benefit of less "Defensive Medicine" where a Dr. runs every test known to man to keep from losing a malpractice case that may never occur.

 

[tech2101]

The cases you hear about are because some patients or their families stand up for themselves or hire a lawyer. In my specific case the mere mention of an attorney helped.

The majority of people (IMHO) do not have the resources, education, knowledge, or wherewithal to challenge any part of the system that the insurance companies have created.

We are in the minority (by knowing how to work the system). My wife was a "patient representative" in the accounts receivable department of a medical billing firm many years ago. She has an insider view as you have learned, so we do not get played. The industry understands that and counts on writing off a certain amount of us who call their bluff.

The problem is that they (insurance companies) make up the difference on the elderly, weak, and sick that are not able to, nor have the ability to challenge any bill. They just get their bills and pay them, if they can. If they don't, they get the collection treatment.

But hey, that is the market, and every man/woman for themself right? The market will sort them out. If they can't fend for themselves then they will be eliminated through attrition. After all, that is the Libertarian way.

 

[SparrowHawk]

The majority of people (IMHO) do not have the resources, education, knowledge, or wherewithal to challenge any part of the system that the insurance companies have created.

We are in the minority (by knowing how to work the system). My wife was a "patient representative" in the accounts receivable department of a medical billing firm many years ago. She has an insider view as you have learned, so we do not get played. The industry understands that and counts on writing off a certain amount of us who call their bluff.

The problem is that they make up the difference on the elderly, weak, and sick that are not able to, nor have the ability to challenge any bill. They just get their bills and pay them, if they can. If they don't, they get the collection treatment.

But hey, that is the market, and every man/woman for themself right? The market will sort them out. If they can't fend for themselves then they will be eliminated through attrition. After all, that is the Libertarian way.

I agree with you 1000% right up until the last paragraph. Individual Liberty means you have the right to live as you choose correct? One of your choices as an individual is to become part of a union. Another choice might be to use your spare time educating people on how to stand up for themselves. When I was flying regularly I helped start the group FFOCUS.org as a way for airline customers to have a voice. I was a behind the scenes customer advocate. I got quite a few customers the help they needed. I was and am proud of the fact that 100% of the issues I brought forth the airlines agreed with me and took care of the customer. A Libertarian Society does ask a great deal of its members when it comes to making your own way. What it doesn't do is thwart the efforts of Men and Women of good will from helping their fellow man. For me helping comes directly from my faith. The Book of Matthew 25:40 - "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Tech, In any society someone must speak for the least of our brethren and truthfully you and I can do that far far better then any government hack.

 

[delldude]

DETROIT (WWJ) - A man was shot and killed Friday night after an apparent dispute over the price of condoms at a Detroit gas station.

WWJ’s Beth Fisher spoke to an employee at the BP gas station on Fenkell and Meyers, where the shooting took place on the city’s westside overnight. The employee said the argument was apparently over the price of a box of condoms.

He said the customer bought a box of condoms, but made a comment that he was overcharged and could have bought them somewhere else for a cheaper price. After being told he couldn’t get a refund, the customer allegedly began tossing items off the shelves. That’s when, according to the employee, the overnight clerk came out with a gun and fired a warning shot, which struck the customer in the shoulder.

 

[delldude]

 

[delldude]

Pittsburgh Diocese Wins Delay Against Affordable Care Act
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A federal judge in western Pennsylvania says Catholic groups don’t immediately have to comply with mandates in the federal health care overhaul law.
The Diocese is challenging its participation in the health care program because it would be required to provide its employees with contraceptives.
There were strong words earlier this month from Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese leader Bishop David Zubik as he testified in federal court on the issue.
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/11/21/pittsburgh-diocese-wins-federal-lawsuit-against-affordable-care-act/

 

[KCFlyer]

Pittsburgh Diocese Wins Delay Against Affordable Care Act
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A federal judge in western Pennsylvania says Catholic groups don’t immediately have to comply with mandates in the federal health care overhaul law.
The Diocese is challenging its participation in the health care program because it would be required to provide its employees with contraceptives.
There were strong words earlier this month from Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese leader Bishop David Zubik as he testified in federal court on the issue.
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/11/21/pittsburgh-diocese-wins-federal-lawsuit-against-affordable-care-act/
 

I will give more credence to the stance of the Catholic church the minute that they prohibit any female members on birth control, or their husbands, from taking Holy Communion.  Until that time, I could care less what they think about birth control. 

 

[Ms Tree]

I will give more credence to the stance of the Catholic church the minute that they prohibit any female members on birth control, or their husbands, from taking Holy Communion.  Until that time, I could care less what they think about birth control.

I like to see them with some plan for sex ed, birth control in schools. How about seeing them start to adopt all these children in foster care. How about they turn the rapists and molesters over to legal authorities.

I agree i the last part. Till they step up to the plate I really could not care less about their view point on anything.

 

[KCFlyer]

I like to see them with some plan for sex ed, birth control in schools. How about seeing them start to adopt all these children in foster care. How about they turn the rapists and molesters over to legal authorities.

I agree i the last part. Till they step up to the plate I really could not care less about their view point on anything.

Catholic sex ed - sex is bad sex is bad sex is bad.  Then you get married and all of the sudden sex is a gift from God.  No wonder that so many Catholics are screwed up when it comes to sex.