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Quote by: Gods_Mercenary  If he comes in with a common cold, he should be given two aspirin and shown the door. If the condition is life or limb threatening, it's morally wrong to turn him away, then again, a private hospital could do what it wants, and it's the doctor on call who should make the decision. |
The fact is they would set the arm and perhaps put it into a cast with a sling. A private doctor does not do such treatments in his office anyway. Who pays? Simple: They make up the loss by overcharging some rich person's insurance company when the next person comes in with good insurance. They overcharge people with insurance to make up for those charity cases. But is is done secretly and in different ways, the insurance company then must raise the costs of their policy and cut paying for some drugs or treatments to make up their losses.
That is how things now work in the private industry at emergency rooms because all doctors who get permission to use the hospital must do a limited amount of "duty time" in the emergency area, as part of his contract with a hospital. Therefore, everyone who is buying insurance right now and uses it is paying for the treatment of those charity cases.
By force via the rising cost of medical coverage.
When medicare or some insurance does not allow a doctor to make up for losses on the charity cases or lack of co-payments then the doctor will not longer honor that insurance company or medical payment. As medicare sometimes refuses to pay for apparent overcharges many doctors will not accept it anymore. All this is sort of secret stuff going on because the private industry does not want those who pay for good insurance to know they are also paying for charity cases. But you are none the less.
Universal health care, proposed by Hillary Clinton and John Edwards faces that fact and will cover everyone. Obama does not support that same program but another plan that covers more people in an affordable way, but not everyone. Especially homeless people who roam around and do not sign up for insurance coverage.
So you have a choice to continue to pay higher prices for a insurance policy, a governmental program that may or may not come form taxes, or just doing totally without going to a doctor or hospital. It you select one of the two first options you are being forced to pay for charity cases, like it or not.
But doctors can get into trouble for stuffing their bills with extra charges or overcharges and for ripping off the policy holder on behalf of his poor clients. But they hardly never get into trouble because a insurance company does not want to be blacklisted so they ignore minor overcharges (which add up to a lot). You think you are just covering your self and your family, and you got hoodwinked and do not even know it.
Therefore if you think you can avoid not paying for someone else's hosptial treatments by voting no on democratic health care programs you are sadly miss-informed. You will be forced to do it on the "hush hush" plan presently used via private businsess.
Face reality and lets get it out in the open where we can manage all that in a proper and knowledgable way.
Nearly everyday hostpital emergency rooms are filled with uninsured people seeking non-emergency treatments or advice. Some are left sitting there til the give up hope of being seen and they walk away. But many get attention and do you really think the hospitals and doctors do that for free? No - they just charge more to those who have insurance and they treat them first. So one way or another the insured are paying also for the uninsured. That's reality.