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Under Medicare Single Payer Health Insurance Say GOOD BYE to Health Care Bankruptcy in USA

jamesrage said:
Instead of filing bankruptcy you could wait until your debt is sold and resold to some other company. Settle with them for a much cheaper rate. Maybe wait until some charity buys that debt and takes care of it. Hospitals and and many other companies don't hang onto the debts for too long.

Meet the 18-year-old who helped wipe out $6.7 million in medical debt
A wave of letters sealed in canary yellow envelopes will descend upon Syracuse, New York, and the surrounding region in just a few weeks. They contain good news for the recipients: Thanks to the efforts of a local high school senior, their medical debt has been wiped out.

While some high school seniors were slacking off during their final months of school, Talia Zames, 18, launched a campaign to raise $15,000 in an effort to pay off old medical debt from those in her own community.

To help connect her donated dollars with those in need, Zames coordinated with the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt. The organization locates unpaid medical debt and then uses charitable donations to forgive old, outstanding debts for pennies on the dollar.

In 2016, the nonprofit gained national prominence after “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” worked with RIP to wipe out $15 million worth of medical debt for approximately 9,000 people, a stunt that John Oliver claimed was the biggest giveaway on television.

Zames’ months-long “Project Eraser” campaign did not quite hit Oliver’s level, but she did surpass her initial goal, raising $20,000 in total. That enabled RIP Medical Debt to purchase and abolish $6.7 million in old medical debt from Onondaga, Madison and Oneida counties near Syracuse, New York. The recipients will be receiving letters in the mail from RIP around July 12.

Homepage - RIP Medical Debt

Group will clear medical debt for around 4,000 people in SWFL

Can I Buy My Own Debt for Pennies on the Dollar? | Credit.com
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Very interesting BUT until matters are cleared people get hammered by bill collectors which is upsetting to most people .......
 
I thought I would share my top 10 reasons, out of literally thousands of others, to support a single-payer health care system:

--- 10. Under single-payer, say goodbye to medical bankruptcies in the United States.

According to Physicians for a National Health Program and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), more than 62 percent of the more than 2.2 million personal bankruptcies in the United States are due to medical expenses.

This problem does not just touch those with health insurance. Many of those who need to file for bankruptcy due to medical costs had health insurance coverage. Single-payer health care would provide health care for all and ensure that no one goes bankrupt due to illness.

This video explains the problem and the solution very well.

--- 9. If it’s good enough for the royal baby, George Alexander Louis, it’s good enough for the United States.

Here’s my previous blog on this topic.

--- 8. Single-payer would cover everyone.

I believe health care is a right – not a privilege reserved for the wealthy. Regardless of how much you have in your wallet, you would have access to doctors and hospitals under a single-payer system. In the wealthiest nation in the history of humanity, it is the least we can do.

--- 7. If members of Congress tried to shut down the government to defund single-payer, they would be defunding health care coverage for themselves and their families.

Unless members of Congress and their families participate directly in a particular health care system, they can hold it hostage for political gain. Case in point: 60 members of Congress recently sent a letter to their leadership requesting that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) shut down the government if the administration doesn’t “defund” Obamacare. If those representatives and their families received their health care through a single-payer system, they would be less inclined to defund it.

--- 6. It works well in other countries.

Dozens of other industrialized countries can’t all be wrong. Their people live longer, their child mortality rate is lower and they have unrestricted access to maternity care. This is an example of where we could learn something from studying how other countries provide health care.

--- 5. Transitioning to a single-payer system would save billions of dollars.

If the United States was able to move away from its private health insurance system, we could save more than $400 billion a year in administrative costs. Further savings could be obtained by adopting European-style drug pricing and provider payments.

--- 4. Single-payer is simple to administer

H.R. 676, model single-payer legislation, is 30 pages long. It does not need to be thousands of pages long accompanied by a mountain of regulations. A few key principles: Universal coverage, publicly funded and publicly administered, is easy to implement.

--- 3. Single-payer will increase business competitiveness.

If you remove the more than $1 trillion dollars that private employers pay for health care every year, it would greatly improve the playing field for American business. It is often stated that GM must add $1,500 to $2,000 to the sticker price of a car due to health care costs that car companies in other countries do not have to bear (i.e. Germany and Japan). Having the government be responsible for health care would improve business efficiency, productivity and employment.

--- 2. You wouldn’t lose your health care if you lose your job.

Every American would have health care no matter what their employment status. Now when people lose their jobs, they also find themselves without health insurance. That’s the last thing someone needs who is trying to figure out how to meet the basic necessities of life.

--- 1. Say goodbye to private insurance company abuse.

Private insurance companies have generally made their money by only insuring the healthy and denying claims for the sick. Moving toward single-payer would eliminate the perverse incentives inherent in the private insurance system and turn the focus back to helping heal the sick instead of maximizing profit.

Dave Sterrett is the health care counsel for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division.

Sign up to receive a weekly email highlighting the best from Public Citizen’s blogs.
 
The government mandates that citizens must buy health insurance = in which case the government should be paying for the insurance with our trillions of tax dollars that find their way to Washington D.C.

What should citizens expect from our tax dollar investment in Health Care Insurance 365 days a year 24/7?

*employed or not
*moving on to a new job or not

*single mom or not
*struck down with cancer or not

Practical and fiscally responsible coverage:

* long term care such that cancer would require
* prescription drugs
* hospital
* surgical
* outpatient services
* primary and preventive care
* emergency services
* dental
* mental health
* home health
* physical therapy
* rehabilitation (including for substance abuse)
* vision care
* hearing services including hearing aids
* chiropractic
* durable medical equipment
* palliative care

NO MORE deductibles and co-payments
 
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SonOfDaedalus said:
Do you understand this?

increased taxes - insurance premiums < 0
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Not according to other forum members.

Y'all should get on the same sheet of music.
 
Mycroft said:
Not according to other forum members.

Y'all should get on the same sheet of music.
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I'm pretty sure all advocates for single payer or Medicare for all would tell you the same thing. Your tax increases will be less than what you pay for medical care now.
 
upsideguy said:
I'm pretty sure all advocates for single payer or Medicare for all would tell you the same thing. Your tax increases will be less than what you pay for medical care now.
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And yet, you are the one who says this:

upsideguy said:
Not at all. Medicare will not pay for everything. Its up to you to decide if you want a supplemental policy and what you want covered under that policy.
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Like I said before, you want a massive tax increase AND it'll cost me more...out of my own pocket...to get the coverage I might need.

And somehow, you think that'll be less than what I might pay now for a good policy.

:doh :roll:
 
Mycroft said:
Like I said before, you want a massive tax increase AND it'll cost me more...out of my own pocket...to get the coverage I might need.

And somehow, you think that'll be less than what I might pay now for a good policy.

:doh :roll:
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It will definitely be less than whatever you pay now. Most seniors are already on a government health insurance plan.

This also means we can control the growth of costs like they do in other countries. A vial of insulin is $320 in U.S. but only $30 in Canada.

Let's not forget that our current system is unsustainable. Costs continue to increase uncontrolled.
 
SonOfDaedalus said:
It will definitely be less than whatever you pay now. Most seniors are already on a government health insurance plan.

This also means we can control the growth of costs like they do in other countries. A vial of insulin is $320 in U.S. but only $30 in Canada.

Let's not forget that our current system is unsustainable. Costs continue to increase uncontrolled.
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Typical simpleton thinking.

Tell me...are you aware of the effects when an outside force attempts to control the cost of anything? 1. Demand increases. 2. Supply decreases. 3. Shortages occur. Do you REALLY want a shortage of available medical care?

btw, Trump is already dealing with the insulin issue by finding ways for the US to be able to buy that Canadian insulin or equally less expensive insulin from other countries...using free market methods. Not government control methods. We don't need a massive tax increase and total government control of an industry to deal with the cost of insulin.

In any case, until you can give me numbers...you know, how much will be the tax increase, how much will the necessary supplemental policy cost...you have absolutely no idea if any American will end up paying more or less than they do now.
 
Mycroft said:
btw, Trump is already dealing with the insulin issue by finding ways for the US to be able to buy that Canadian insulin or equally less expensive insulin from other countries...using free market methods.
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Canadian drugs aren't cheaper because of "free market methods."
 
Razoo said:
The government mandates that citizens must buy health insurance = in which case the government should be paying for the insurance with our trillions of tax dollars that find their way to Washington D.C.

What should citizens expect from our tax dollar investment in Health Care Insurance 365 days a year 24/7?

*employed or not
*moving on to a new job or not

*single mom or not
*struck down with cancer or not

Practical and fiscally responsible coverage:

* long term care such that cancer would require
* prescription drugs
* hospital
* surgical
* outpatient services
* primary and preventive care
* emergency services
* dental
* mental health
* home health
* physical therapy
* rehabilitation (including for substance abuse)
* vision care
* hearing services including hearing aids
* chiropractic
* durable medical equipment
* palliative care

NO MORE deductibles and co-payments
Click to expand...

Again .........
 
Razoo said:
I thought I would share my top 10 reasons, out of literally thousands of others, to support a single-payer health care system:

--- 10. Under single-payer, say goodbye to medical bankruptcies in the United States.

According to Physicians for a National Health Program and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), more than 62 percent of the more than 2.2 million personal bankruptcies in the United States are due to medical expenses.

This problem does not just touch those with health insurance. Many of those who need to file for bankruptcy due to medical costs had health insurance coverage. Single-payer health care would provide health care for all and ensure that no one goes bankrupt due to illness.

This video explains the problem and the solution very well.

--- 9. If it’s good enough for the royal baby, George Alexander Louis, it’s good enough for the United States.

Here’s my previous blog on this topic.

--- 8. Single-payer would cover everyone.

I believe health care is a right – not a privilege reserved for the wealthy. Regardless of how much you have in your wallet, you would have access to doctors and hospitals under a single-payer system. In the wealthiest nation in the history of humanity, it is the least we can do.

--- 7. If members of Congress tried to shut down the government to defund single-payer, they would be defunding health care coverage for themselves and their families.

Unless members of Congress and their families participate directly in a particular health care system, they can hold it hostage for political gain. Case in point: 60 members of Congress recently sent a letter to their leadership requesting that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) shut down the government if the administration doesn’t “defund” Obamacare. If those representatives and their families received their health care through a single-payer system, they would be less inclined to defund it.

--- 6. It works well in other countries.

Dozens of other industrialized countries can’t all be wrong. Their people live longer, their child mortality rate is lower and they have unrestricted access to maternity care. This is an example of where we could learn something from studying how other countries provide health care.

--- 5. Transitioning to a single-payer system would save billions of dollars.

If the United States was able to move away from its private health insurance system, we could save more than $400 billion a year in administrative costs. Further savings could be obtained by adopting European-style drug pricing and provider payments.

--- 4. Single-payer is simple to administer

H.R. 676, model single-payer legislation, is 30 pages long. It does not need to be thousands of pages long accompanied by a mountain of regulations. A few key principles: Universal coverage, publicly funded and publicly administered, is easy to implement.

--- 3. Single-payer will increase business competitiveness.

If you remove the more than $1 trillion dollars that private employers pay for health care every year, it would greatly improve the playing field for American business. It is often stated that GM must add $1,500 to $2,000 to the sticker price of a car due to health care costs that car companies in other countries do not have to bear (i.e. Germany and Japan). Having the government be responsible for health care would improve business efficiency, productivity and employment.

--- 2. You wouldn’t lose your health care if you lose your job.

Every American would have health care no matter what their employment status. Now when people lose their jobs, they also find themselves without health insurance. That’s the last thing someone needs who is trying to figure out how to meet the basic necessities of life.

--- 1. Say goodbye to private insurance company abuse.

Private insurance companies have generally made their money by only insuring the healthy and denying claims for the sick. Moving toward single-payer would eliminate the perverse incentives inherent in the private insurance system and turn the focus back to helping heal the sick instead of maximizing profit.

Dave Sterrett is the health care counsel for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division.

Sign up to receive a weekly email highlighting the best from Public Citizen’s blogs.
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another view
 
Razoo said:
The government mandates that citizens must buy health insurance = in which case the government should be paying for the insurance with our trillions of tax dollars that find their way to Washington D.C.

What should citizens expect from our tax dollar investment in Health Care Insurance 365 days a year 24/7?

*employed or not
*moving on to a new job or not

*single mom or not
*struck down with cancer or not

Practical and fiscally responsible coverage:

* long term care such that cancer would require
* prescription drugs
* hospital
* surgical
* outpatient services
* primary and preventive care
* emergency services
* dental
* mental health
* home health
* physical therapy
* rehabilitation (including for substance abuse)
* vision care
* hearing services including hearing aids
* chiropractic
* durable medical equipment
* palliative care

NO MORE deductibles and co-payments[/QUOTE


Let the taxpayers decide with their votes. Politicians cannot be trusted with this decision!
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50% of bankruptcies in the USA are results of health care which include people who thought their insurance was covering their butts only to discover they are among millions that actually under insured.
 
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