Corrupt Motherfuckers

[Guest]

So a few of you may remember how this summer when a few of us were in Austin, I twisted my ankle and went in to have in X-Rayed.

Well, here's a tale of corruption, deceit, and outright swindler-ness.

So when I was there, I paid the hospital $100 bucks. Out of pocket.

TODAY, I get a bill from the hospital for $455 bucks. Naturally, I call them, all pissed off.

The total charges for the visit were over $1000 dollars, Blue Cross picked up part of the tab. Broken down, they include a room charge which costs more than the nicest 5 star hotels in Austin, and a slew of other ridiculous charges.

So then I get on the phone with my insurance company, who are going to look at this again.

The point is, all I did was go in for a few minutes, and get my ankle x-rayed. Repeat. All I did was go in for a few minutes, and get my FUCKING ankle x-rayed!

Now, let me tell you how it works in a NORMAL business. Normally, you invoice somebody the same day they receive a service, or at least not SEVERAL MONTHS after the fact.

Second, normally, prices are determined by market forces - like competition. But hospitals have no competition. If your ankle fucking hurts, you just go to the nearest one. So they can charge room charges that are higher than a 5 star hotel and nobody can say shit.

Never, ever, ever get sick, hurt, etc. Never. I can see how this bankrupts people, even if they are insured like I am.

And don't let 'em fool you. It's not the insurance companies who are the bad guys in all this health care stuff. They are actually working with me. It's not the government who's at fault. They're just trying to look out for people.

100% of the fault lies with the doctors and the hospitals who are nothing more than corrupt swindler hoodlum motherfuckers who make our quality of life lower.

So what's the point? Go burn down a hospital. Have a nice day.

[Guest]

I remember that night thinking how lucky you were to have insurance. I myself don't have it. If I get sick it is all out of pocket. So naturally people like me say ohh my ankle hurts....I will just sit here till it feels better. I am currently a bit under the weather. If it gets bad enough I will suck it up and visit the doc. They give me a discount since I pay cash and are usually really cool to me there. Often they give me hook ups I guess since they feel sorry for my non insurance having ass.

The problem currently though is Yes, I will go bankrupt if I get hit with a major medical issue. I used to carry major medical insurance with a 5k deductible just in case I was hit with something major. Even that was a couple hundred a month though. Which reminds me...I should probably get that again.

[Guest]

Don't forget the drug companies. They are way over priced and if you need a drug and can't afford the huge mark up on the pills, then tough shit, go die in the corner.


But, I finally get insurance after the first of the year.
Obama is the greatest president ever. And UT austin is the best college football team of all time. Hook em horns!

[Guest]

Well the best thing about it all is you live in the good ole U.S. of A.! The land where you don't really have to pay your medical bills if you don't want to! Not saying you would go that route at all but plenty do and thats part of the reason prices for medical care are what they are.

After my wreck those fucking medical bastards would send me bill after bill. Some places I never even heard of. Nobody knows who owes who what or exactly what services were rendered by who and when. It was such a beat down to go to my mail box every day to see which bastard was trying to swindle me next.

I had one company try to collect on $22 14months after they hooked me up with a "free" wheelchair that they said my insurance would cover 100pct. I mean what kind of SOB bills somebody $22 14months after the fact???? They send me billing statements monthly and call once a week. I rip their ass and tell them to go fuck themselves and they still come back for more verbal abuse. My pimp hand is strong. I pay my bills on time but I don't owe those fuckers shit.

Ok, I feel better now! thank you. ;-)

Oh yeah......let me give you a little insight into the pharmaceutical companies and why drugs cost what they do! I dated a pharmaceutical sales rep for about a year and hung out with all her drug dealing friends. This chic knocks down $125K/year, has a free company car she can drive any where she wants with all the bills paid for on the car. They get new cars every two years or 80,000miles. She leaves the house at 9 and is home by 4:30. Takes Doctors out to high dollar restaurants. she gets $5000 bonus checks. Usually gets an all expense trip to some exotic destination on a yearly basis. Basically no brain necessary, just an ability to look good and flirt with doctors.

[Guest]

[QUOTE="gunslinger"]Obama is the greatest president ever[/QUOTE]

This is how I know Gunslinger is an alpha male. No beta would dream of living in Texas and saying this. I know its a political thing, but is cool. Im an Obama man myself.

[Guest]

Ok, so that was a bit of an exageration, obama is no where near the type of president that washington, fdr, or clinton was. There are a bunch of things he is fucking up on(like why are we still in iraq, didn't he say he would get us out? And cut the spending down, we need a surplus like clinton had). But...the new health care bill is getting me insurance in january. So, for that I have to give him props.

I work two jobs, and an american citizen, yet I couldn't get insurance till this bill passed because I wasn't considered 'full time' even though there has been many weeks that I've worked over 40 hrs. Wtf is up with that? And look at how much grimm had to pay with insurance, someone like me, without insurance would have to skip the hospital...regardless of the severity of the injuries.

[Guest]

[QUOTE=Gunslinger;38263]Ok, so that was a bit of an exageration, obama is no where near the type of president that washington, fdr, or clinton was. There are a bunch of things he is fucking up on(like why are we still in iraq, didn't he say he would get us out? And cut the spending down, we need a surplus like clinton had). But...the new health care bill is getting me insurance in january. So, for that I have to give him props.

I work two jobs, and an american citizen, yet I couldn't get insurance till this bill passed because I wasn't considered 'full time' even though there has been many weeks that I've worked over 40 hrs. Wtf is up with that? And look at how much grimm had to pay with insurance, someone like me, without insurance would have to skip the hospital...regardless of the severity of the injuries.[/QUOTE]

Health insurance isn't a right. It's a luxury.

[Guest]

What blows my mind is the costs. I think it's just insane what Playercool said, that even with an ass-high deductible like 5 grand, it's STILL a couple hundred a month for coverage.

The costs are crazy and unrealistic. No way in hell does 1000 dollars make sense for an ankle x-ray, it just defies common sense. Those costs are padded big time, which by the way is why insurance is so damn expensive.

If someone did the things we need to do to lower costs, then insurance would be a lot cheaper.

For one thing, we have a lot of illegals taking free services, and somebody has to balance out the books. I probably paid for my x-ray, and also Juan's, Paco's, Margarita's, Enrique's, and Rosalita's. That's to say, I don't think illegal immigrants coming in and getting free healthcare makes my bill any lower.

I don't know if healthcare is a right or a privilege, but it's def way more expensive than it would be if there was some honesty and accountability in the system, and it's people like Gunslinger and PC are the ones who are getting really screwed because of that.

[Guest]

[QUOTE=Finesse;38264]Health insurance isn't a right. It's a luxury.[/QUOTE]

Let me ask you, what do you think should be the requirements in order to get health insurance?

I do agree with you a bit, that people who are here illegally, or that are just lazy and don't want to work shouldn't get health insurance. There should be certain criteria to be met.

But the way I see it, is that having insurance is more luck than anything. It isn't really how hard you work, it is what job you work at. You have to be lucky enough to work at a company that offers coverage, and then be lucky enough to work at a position in that company that offers coverage. Isn't the motto of america that if you are here and work your ass off, that you can do anything? Ya right, nice fairy tale there.

I think if you are a hard working, beneficial person to society, like me or pc, that you should be able to get insurance. I'm not asking that it be free either, I am willing to pay money out of my check for it, as long as it isn't something crazy like $1000 a month for coverage.

I could be totally minding my own business, walking down the street, and some low life could walk by, stab my, then rob me. Guess who would have to foot the enormously large doctor bills and never be able to get out of debt? Me. I would essential be punished for not doing anything.

And the reason I would go bankrupt, would be because of what grimm said....that the price of health care is beyond crazy. Health care is a monopoly, so they CAN overcharge for their services, and there is nothing you can do about it. Doesn't the government usually break monopolies up? Isn't that what they tried to do to Microsoft awhile back? I went to the dermatologist a couple months back. He prescribed me adoxa (acne pills) and epiduo (acne topical creme). Without insurance, the Adoxa was $500 for a one month supply, the epiduo was $250, and would probably last about a month. That is $750 for a month supply....and that's just for minor pills for acne, think what it would be like if you had a life threatening illness. It's retarded that they can charge that much for those products. They would simply say too bad, and send you away to die. What that tells me is that money is more important than health in our society, and I find that a bit ridiculous. Only the rich can afford the proper medical care, and if you aren't lucky enough to be rich, than that's tough shit.

There is no way in hell that it costs anywhere near that amount to produce those medications. And on top of it, there are no generics (for the medication I wanted), so they are able to screw you even more. It's like if wal mart was the ONLY store to shop at, they would raise their prices tenfold.

I'm not saying we should give health care to everyone, people being lazy and trying to live off the goverment cash flow shouldn't be eligible. But if you are a hard working american citizen, that has to fight to make it by in the world, I say you damn well deserve health care. And it shouldn't be impossible to get the drugs you need because the drug companies and doctors want to bring you down like the titanic.

The system is broke, it's time that it gets fixed. But is the fix coming what we need? Only time will tell.

[Guest]

[QUOTE]There is no way in hell that it costs anywhere near that amount to produce those medications.

But if you are a hard working american citizen, that has to fight to make it by in the world, I say you damn well deserve health care.[/QUOTE]I think you're missing my point. I am not saying you are less deserving just because you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

I am in the same boat you are right now GS. I have no health insurance. If something happens, I am screwed.

The problem I have is a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to tell you what to do.

Is health insurance worth giving up your freedom over? I don't think it is.