Hey, whatever happened to that universal healthcare plan that Trump promised us right before the 2016 election?
Give him time. His Mideast Peace Plan eventually came out. I understand that they are both similar. Neither brings about what they promise and they both look very much like the status quo.
Nah, this is all perfectly normal. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireS...ees-mexico-lower-prescription-prices-68861516 Lovell is one of about 10 state workers participating in a year-old program to lower prescription drug costs by having public employees buy their medication in Mexico at a steep discount compared to U.S. prices. The program appears to be the first of its kind, and is a dramatic example of steps states are taking to alleviate the high cost of prescription drugs. In one long, exhausting day, Lovell flies from Salt Lake City to San Diego. There, an escort picks her up and takes her across the border to a Tijuana hospital, where she gets a refill on her prescription. After that, she’s shuttled back to the airport and heads home. The cost difference is so large that the state's insurance program for public employees can pay for each patient’s flight, give them a $500-per-trip bonus and still save tens of thousands of dollars.
Sounds like a market opportunity. But I suspect that if this was done on a massive scale drug companies would complain to congress or raise prices in Mexico.
I'm having a baby in May, and it would literally be cheaper for me to fly to my husband's country of origin (Austria) and pay out of pocket for a nice private hospital there. It would probably be cheaper than my yearly out of pocket maximum with my health insurance, let alone what my insurance company will be paying on top of that.
And the baby would have an EU passport (meaning easier to break into European soccer leagues). Lots of Russians and Chinese people already do this, by having their babies in the USA. That American birth privilege we all take for granted.
Congrats! Back when we were having kids in the 2000s, IIRC there was a $100 copay for the OBGYN & $100 for the hospital. This was for C sections too. I have no idea what it'd cost today.
Since hubby is still an Austrian citizen, technically kiddo will qualify for both US and Austrian citizenship. Only problem is that Austria is picky about letting people have dual citizenship. We've had some...debates about which country kiddo is going to lead to its first World Cup. I maintain that, since I'm clearly donating the superior soccer skill genetics, it'll be the US.
Sam Brownback (may he die in a fire) decided that all state employees should have only high-deductible insurance plans to pick from, so I'm preparing for having to pay out the ass. I'll be pleasantly surprised if it's just co-pays.
Incidentally, I've been having some thoughts to retiring (early) in the old country. Decent health insurance about 1/10th the price is part of the incentive. Dental is cheap too with good quality American/European trained doctors as well. I now hold a passport from the old country for the first time since childhood. One of my gringo kids claimed citizenship as well.
BTW, maybe insurance companies should have a deal on sending people on a 1 month 'have your baby' vacation to India with Yoga classes included. This is a bit old (2015) but shit the Hospital room stay price is huge. In Virginia In India. Even 200K rupees is about 3,000 USD. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-31052665
Congrats! When Wifey gave birth to twins a while back [] the bill was about $1,200. She came home after a 3 day stay and one boy after 2 weeks...the other after a Month. Didn't cost me a dime!! Ps....of course as they grew I ended up spending a bunch more $$ for soccer boots.
And if you don't pay.... Should we send you cigarettes or cleaning supplies? 1226950265342963712 is not a valid tweet id
Oh man, ProPublica did a great feature on this sort of thing happening here in Kansas in a small-ish town called Coffeyville: https://features.propublica.org/med...kvlTIRiEuXH8QinZXxN0wXNwaAZYIwfEi5rFrDv9gqqxI The hospital there is facing huge budget issues because running a hospital is really expensive, but tons of people in Coffeyville and the surrounding area don't have health insurance or the cash on hand to pay their medical bills. Coffeyville is the kind of place where you can get a house and put food on the table for you and your kids just making the current minimum wage. There are 55 houses for sale there right now on Zillow for $100,000 or less, including 7 houses that are under $20,000. It's cheap as hell to live there. Buuuuuuuuuuuut. Those low paying jobs frequently don't provide any health insurance. When you are making such a small amount of money, you are literally too poor to qualify for subsidies for health care plans on the ACA, and you are certainly too poor to pay for any medical services out of pocket. This is where the Medicaid expansion of the ACA was supposed to come in. Of course, since Brownback (may he die in a fire) and Republicans in general had complete control over the Kansas government, we didn't expand Medicaid, leaving hundreds of thousands of these working poor with literally no options to pay for health care. So, what is hospital in Coffeyville supposed to do to bring in enough revenue to stay in business? All they really can do is rely on debt collectors to try to recoup money owed to the hospital from people who can't afford to pay. And one of the debt collectors they work with is this dude named Michael Hassenplug. Once every three months, Hasesenplug will pull all the folks with medical debt into court to try to extract blood from a stone. If the debtor doesn't make it to court, the judge will find him or her in contempt of court, Hassenplug will ask that the judge issue a bench warrant, the judge will agree, and then the debtor goes to jail. Even though Hassenplug and the judge both know that these individuals don't have the money or assets to pay the debt. Here's a little taste of what this Hassenplug douche is like: In happier news, electing moderate Democrats who are capable of compromise in red states makes good things happen: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/1/9/21058531/kansas-medicaid-expansion-obamacare-trump This is going to be a great benefit not just to the individuals who will now be covered by Medicaid and will be able to go to the doctor. It will also help small rural hospitals like the one in Coffeyville remain in business. Which will, consequently, be good for those residents of Coffeyville who have insurance, since they will still have a local hospital to go to, and won't have to travel hours to the next nearest hospital. Also, not related to medical debt, but Governor Laura Kelly got 6 weeks paid parental leave for all state workers implemented, which means I don't have to hoard my sick and vacation time to be able to get paid during my FMLA time. I can actually take sick days when I'm feeling shitty, which, I dunno if you knew, but during pregnancy, that's a lot. I can go to my prenatal appointments. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but...Vote. For. Democrats.
This is really really sick.... Making poor people go to jail because they're working two jobs to pay for the care of their sick child... It's the kind of some long haired hippie community organizer would rally against... On top of that, I'm sure that people like Brownback, HasAssPlug and the judge consider themselves good Christians...
"Tres Biggs went to jail for failing to appear in court for unpaid medical bills. He described it as "scary."" We can discuss the issues behind the summons but the jailable offense was not appearing in court. There are people going to court in Kansas everyday and negotiating payments for their outstanding medical debts, sometimes as little as $10 a month. Why did she not show up?
Her showing up is not required tho and/or doesn't necessitate jail time. Summary judgements are a thing and are frequently used if/when one of the parties fails to show for a trial date. She can also be given additional fines, or be forced to pay for the lawyer fees for causing unnecessary costs. Obviously, fining someone that is already in court for failing to pay a debt may not be overly productive, but debt collection is a civil offense, it is not a criminal offense.