[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

At JHU right now there are doctors who read X rays. It takes about a min to read an x ray. The cost to each patient or their insurance co for the 1 min of service? over $100.

If this doctor reads 10 x rays in an hour, the hospital has billed well over $1,000 for 10 mins of work.

But yeah, lets **** the person who works and makes just enough to not be eligible for medicaid but doesnt make enough to afford priv health care.

There is a very real and large gap of this country's population that falls into this category. they are usually 20 somethings, struggling to pay off college loans, still on the low spectrum of the pay scale and cant afford to spend 200 bucks a month on health insurance. these are the good hard working people of the country.

they will eventually raise their status to a point were they can afford health care but for now and tomorrow, they have to hope they dont suffer a serious injury. if they do suffer a serious injury, they have a 12k debt that closes alil further their window of future financial stability.

They way some of you all talk and opine about things, makes me think you've been livin the good life too long and forgot what it was like to truly struggle to make ends meet. there is a segment of our population that is in a catch-22 right now. to broke to buy insurnace, but since you work a 9-5 you cant qualify for free health care.

The real poor get free everything.
The rich can afford everything.
The people who make 25-35k a year, get screwed until their broke or die trying to get rich.

With regards to doctors charging an insurance co. 100 dollars for a x ray viewing whats so bad about that? That’s what they charge because that’s what doctors and insurance co. have generally agreed upon as a fair price. If there were doctors that were willing to sit in a cubical all day and review xrays for 10 bucks and do 60 an hour and make lots of money but hate their existence then great, but I don’t think there are.

Very few people who make 25-35k a year cannot afford health insurance at 200 per month. Its the 15% tax bracket at that level. If you have a kid you probably have trouble but you are getting TONS of entitlements at that level. Unless you live in Georgetown or NYC, or San Fran or somewhere else real expensive then you might have trouble. There are very few jobs that require you to live in certain municipals and also have low pay. This is all about life style choices, nothing more. There is healthcare service available for people in this country who need it, but truly cant afford it. The problem is people also need to live in a fun part of town, have cable, leased cars, cell phones, nice clothes, eat out 3x a week, go to bars on the weekend, have a macbook, and have all sorts of nice shit. And if youre a 20-35 male you don’t really need healthcare coverage as much as you think you need all the stuff above, so you choose not to get it.