It LOOKS LIKE the health care bubble is about to pop.

originally posted by: 3daysgone
a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

What!? But it's Obamacare. McCain said it is okay now. We can keep our doctors though right?

Not necessarily. If say you have Blue Cross, and your Doctor is part of the system that decides they no longer carry it, then you either have to find a new doctor, or pay out of pocket.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: FredT

I hope you're right. My concern is that Obama Care has made BCBS a virtual monopoly in the area. So if other companies who can't compete with BCBS don't pick up the slack, then Mission Health can very easily go into bankruptcy.

Thats true as well. However, a monopoly works when they can make the $$$$, and once they no longer can compete then others will move in. Mind you that you almost always pay more in that scenario

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

That is also true. The battle is less about the Obama care patients and the reimbursement. The issue is over many of the others that have company offered plans etc.

Why?
For someone on say Medicade, the prices for say a hip replacement are fixed. Lets say $100,000, no more no less. For others the price is often negotiated contract to contract. This is why you are seeing the hardball play out between these two entities. The hospital wants more money from Blue Cross, Blue Cross want to pay less.

a reply to: FredT

I thought prices were set by some group and the prices were for Medicare patients mostly....but that BCBS and others usually took that amount for all insured patients, not just Medicare.

I am not sure I am explaining that very well.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Generally most government supported healthcare is just that. There is a set price to do a given service. Hospitals that say have a disproportionate amount of say Medicade patients may get a slightly higher reimbursement but in general the prices are fixed.

Big name health insurers also negotiate rates for most common problems like say the hip replacement surgery etc. They will negotiate with Hospital systems and even stand alone like the one I work at. The insurer wants to try to also estimate and control costs when it offers you insurance. The bigger the insurer the stronger position they have. However, if they don't ensure people, they don't make money so its a fine line.

Hospitals then have a vested interest in say making sure they don't give you an infection because that will eat into how much money they make from your stay.

a reply to: FredT

Thanks for the explanation.
That difference in prices saved me quite a bit when I went to the ER under unACA.
It still cost over a thousand since I had a $7000 deductible....

So, was the savings through unACA....or BCBS...my actual insurer.

I'm just so butthurt that when I was fit and healthy, insurance used to be super cheap. Granted when I got sick my insurance carrier dropped me and I was unable to find insurance to cover me with my condition, which has put me 120k in debt so far, but as a good Christian American I'll pull myself up by my bootstraps and pay all that off over the next 125 years. Now with Obamacare, its actually really expensive (not affordably so, but my 80$ a month insurance cost turned into $400). The difference is I bitch and moan about Obamacare because I pay my 'outrageous' $4,800.00 a year (plus 10k deductible max), so I'm out $14,800 the year I get sick, which is a god damn communist conspiracy, because I'm a free American, and its my right to be in debt 120k!

So really all those people who want to pay an extra $105,200 are the true American Hero's. Saving people money/health is not the free America I want to live in!

Oh also, since I've never actually been sick, I want my 80$ insurance back, and FYGM to anyone who gets cancer or some other bad disease. Its my money, let sick people with no money die.


/sarcasm off

a reply to: Wayfarer

All I really care about is getting the individual mandate out of the way so I can drop my worthless coverage. I stopped going to the doctor a long time ago. I brought my blood pressure, blood sugar, and psoriasis down to stable levels just with diet and exercise. There are alternative treatments for cancers. If/when I have to face that challenge, I'll do it on my own terms. If it kills me then so be it. I'm not looking to live forever.