My local USA hospitals won't even talk to you without insurance. The refused to quote me on my own. As of 18 mos ago, I had to have cochlear implants put in. Out of work the whole time. There is now a cool quarter million $$$ buried in my skull.
Did you know that the medical industry is exempt from RICO? If anyone else did what they did, they would be risking jail time like the Mob.
Regarding medical expenses in the US: The US pays almost 2x as much per capita than anyone else and it is *NOT* because of the u
Medicare is not universal healthcare. It is far from it. Medicare beneficiaries still have to purchase private insurance to cover the many things that Medicare doesn't, or in some places, to even get medical care, since only about half of doctors will even see medicare patients anymore.
Medicare beneficiaries still have to purchase private insurance to cover the many things that Medicare doesn't
No, they can purchase private insurance to cover the co-insurance for stuff in Medicare Part B. It's still covered by Medicare, just not at 100%.
TL:DR version of Medicare: Medicare Part A: Everything in a hospital. Covered 100%. Medicare Part B: Everything not in a hospital. Covered 80%. Medicare Part C: First Republican attempt at privatization, it's an HMO. Coverage is as complicated as an HMO. Medicare Part D: "Hmm...expensive drugs are making people talk about single-payer again. Let's slap together some drug coverage, but don't let Medicare negotiate prices".
More commonly, people take traditional Medicare and then buy private insurance for the 20% of part B. Which makes that private insurance extremely cheap since it's only 20% of the cost. Medicaid can also be that supplemental coverage for low-income seniors.
If you decide to go with a "Part C" plan, that is indeed private insurance, mostly paid by the government. Part C plans have started running into trouble because the government is starting to insist they actually save money like the Republicans said it would, but they keep costing the government more than traditional Medicare.
Part D is a clusterfuck designed to overpay big pharma. It took a hell of a lot of effort to create that clusterfuck instead of something that is rational. But it was written by Republicans in an attempt to show how badly someone can create a public service.
Shady but legal (Score:5, Informative)
My local USA hospitals won't even talk to you without insurance. The refused to quote me on my own. As of 18 mos ago, I had to have cochlear implants put in. Out of work the whole time. There is now a cool quarter million $$$ buried in my skull.
Did you know that the medical industry is exempt from RICO? If anyone else did what they did, they would be risking jail time like the Mob.
Regarding medical expenses in the US: The US pays almost 2x as much per capita than anyone else and it is *NOT* because of the u
Re: (Score:1)
Medicare is not universal healthcare. It is far from it. Medicare beneficiaries still have to purchase private insurance to cover the many things that Medicare doesn't, or in some places, to even get medical care, since only about half of doctors will even see medicare patients anymore.
Re:Shady but legal (Score:3)
Medicare beneficiaries still have to purchase private insurance to cover the many things that Medicare doesn't
No, they can purchase private insurance to cover the co-insurance for stuff in Medicare Part B. It's still covered by Medicare, just not at 100%.
TL:DR version of Medicare:
Medicare Part A: Everything in a hospital. Covered 100%.
Medicare Part B: Everything not in a hospital. Covered 80%.
Medicare Part C: First Republican attempt at privatization, it's an HMO. Coverage is as complicated as an HMO.
Medicare Part D: "Hmm...expensive drugs are making people talk about single-payer again. Let's slap together some drug coverage, but don't let Medicare negotiate prices".
More commonly, people take traditional Medicare and then buy private insurance for the 20% of part B. Which makes that private insurance extremely cheap since it's only 20% of the cost. Medicaid can also be that supplemental coverage for low-income seniors.
If you decide to go with a "Part C" plan, that is indeed private insurance, mostly paid by the government. Part C plans have started running into trouble because the government is starting to insist they actually save money like the Republicans said it would, but they keep costing the government more than traditional Medicare.
Part D is a clusterfuck designed to overpay big pharma. It took a hell of a lot of effort to create that clusterfuck instead of something that is rational. But it was written by Republicans in an attempt to show how badly someone can create a public service.