Don't know who Bobby is- assume you meant me, Lefty. lol
Yes, its a mess & yes, it's partly due to high liability due to unwarranted malpractice lawsuits... but as an owner of a company and having two special needs kids I, like you with your hip replacement, have had first hand experience with (actuarial health) costs vs. coverage vs. exclusions over the past 25+ years. At first, we began to shop it around but almost inevitably the premiums would rise whether or not we used our policy. Our deductibles began at about $200 per individual with 80/20 coverage ($1,000 cap per family). Now it's a $5k deductible (with $10k family cap) and the premiums are about 6x higher having soared approx. 25-30% every year. Dental & vision has long been dropped & is no longer automatically included in our BC/BS coverage.
I don't even want to go into what is excluded by those idiots but suffice to say insurance carriers favor psychotropic drugs pushed by Pharma & the FDA that mask symptoms over nutritional and other trail blazing alternatives that are not as destructive (and addictive).
In the meantime, most doctors, with the exception of brain & plastic surgeons AND your hip specialist, are making a pittance of what they used to... many belong to HMO's, PPO's, etc. and/or rely on Medicare/Medicaid to supplement their practices with those stingy coverages (payment schedules). And you're correct, their liability insurance has also risen astronomically. I remember my father paying over 50k per year despite only having one questionable lawsuit brought against him over a 35+ year private practice career.
So you have to ask yourself, who, besides the aforementioned specialists & occasional ambulance chaser, is making the money? Btw, those lawyers are not always looking to make a fast buck at the expense of an "innocent" doctor. Some physicians are very inept & apt to take the safe route with rote remedies instead of attacking an illness aggressively. Then again, you could argue, that that safe/lame behavior was mitigated by fear of lawsuits... But to answer my own question, I believe it's insurance executives who are hauling the bulk of doe. Their bonuses/salaries are based on how many claims they deny. The key is to fight them after the initial rejection but that takes it's till in time and money. They rip off the insured AND vendors whether it's a hospital or a diaper supplier.
I could go on and on like some windbags but I have matters to take care of in the office and besides, most of us are set in our ways and not liable to change our minds after sparring on a cigar board. No hard feelings either way.
Curious as to how a conservative came up with leftyposthole however... lol
bloody spaniard wrote:
