01-13-2009, 01:28 PM
Quote:Health care is the only odd button with me. While I think that people should have to pay for health insurance, I don't think that people should have to pay $100 for a tylenol in a hospital. Insurance companies, false malpractice suites, and actual malpractice are part of the blame for the high cost for medical care, but the main issue behind high cost is that when anyone walks into a hospital, they are taken care of, then they get a bill, or their insurance does. The people who don't have insurance, are on government care, or are illegally in America don't pay, and aren't made to. So you know who eats that bill? We do, thats the main reason you probably have a $1500 deductible.
Malpractice insurance premiums are HUGE. We're talking tens, sometimes hundreds, of thousands of dollars per year. This is largely because everyone is so quick to sue, and because the current system allows litigation for just about anything. Tort reform would fix this.
As for people not having insurance - you're right that the clinicians are still required by law to treat them, but they do get stuck with a bill. Whether or not they PAY IT is entirely different. But they ARE billed and their credit WILL be affected. They just don't care. Can't squeeze blood from a stone.