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TPRJones wrote:If the costs being reported to the studies that track stuff is the $300+ instead of the $42, then maybe the massive costs of health-care in this country isn't anywhere near as massive as we are being led to believe.

EDIT: And at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy nut, maybe that's been a part of the plan from the beginning. Simply by cutting out those imaginary overbills, suddenly under Obama-care the cost of healthcare in the US is cuty by two-thirds overnight. It's a miracle, and anyone that says otherwise is just a racist Republican. It could be why he's pushing so hard so fast; to pull it off before anyone notices the trick.

TPRJones wrote:On paper medical expenses in the US are huge. But I have to wonder how much of that is due to those hyper-inflated invoices that never get paid by insurance companies because they're being billed much more than they'll actually pay according to the deal they have with the doctor/institution/company?

TheCatt wrote:No, the costs are actual costs.

TPRJones wrote:

TheCatt wrote:No, the costs are actual costs.

Yes, but which actual costs? The insurance company's actual cost of $42? Or the lab's cost of $300+? Both are "costs" of a sort. (Well, for the lab they are revenue and unrecoverable accounts receivable respectively, but if someone is compiling a "how much does health care cost" sort of thing I could see them choosing either of those depending on how big they want their final results to look for PR purposes).

Or do you mean actual real raw cost, as in the (just a guess) $39 it cost the lab in time and supplies and overhead to run the test? And if that, who is capturing all that information? I would figure that if the labs were reporting it, they'd report the highest number possible for their costs to anyone doing a study, jus tout of spite for not being paid all they thin kthey should be by the insurance companies.

(CBS) CBS News has learned that up to 60,000 people have cancelled their AARP memberships since July 1, angered over the group's position on health care.

Elaine Guardiani has been with AARP for 14 years, and said, "I'm extremely disappointed in AARP."

Retired nurse Dale Anderson has 12 years with AARP and said, "I don't wanna be connected with AARP."

Many are switching to the American Seniors Association, a group that calls itself the conservative alternative as CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.

Watch Extended AARP Interview Here

Last week alone, they added more than 5,000 new members. Our camera was there Friday when the mail came.

Letters were filled with cut-up AARP cards.

Malcolm wrote:

The White House previously would not answer questions on how the e-mails landed unsolicited in so many inboxes. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday said he couldn't give an answer until he saw who received the e-mails because he doesn't have "omnipotent clarity."

I didn't realize it took divine power to sort out who sent a fucking e-mail.

After confirming to FOX News over the weekend that third-party groups could be responsible for official White House e-mails that have been sent to people who never signed up for them, President Obama's new media director took to the official White House blog to "clear up" the confusion.

The director being this dynamic-looking, confidence-inspiring individual ...

McCain praised Kennedy, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, as a master negotiator who could bring together parties with different points of view and make the right concessions to reach agreement.

I’m a Democrat, and have long been concerned about America’s lack of a health safety net. But based on my own work experience, I also believe that unless we fix the problems at the foundation of our health system—largely problems of incentives—our reforms won’t do much good, and may do harm. To achieve maximum coverage at acceptable cost with acceptable quality, health care will need to become subject to the same forces that have boosted efficiency and value throughout the economy. We will need to reduce, rather than expand, the role of insurance; focus the government’s role exclusively on things that only government can do (protect the poor, cover us against true catastrophe, enforce safety standards, and ensure provider competition); overcome our addiction to Ponzi-scheme financing, hidden subsidies, manipulated prices, and undisclosed results; and rely more on ourselves, the consumers, as the ultimate guarantors of good service, reasonable prices, and sensible trade-offs between health-care spending and spending on all the other good things money can buy.

I’m a Democrat ... health care will need to become subject to the same forces that have boosted efficiency and value throughout the economy ...

thibodeaux wrote:http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200909/health-care

I’m a Democrat, and have long been concerned about America’s lack of a health safety net. But based on my own work experience, I also believe that unless we fix the problems at the foundation of our health system—largely problems of incentives—our reforms won’t do much good, and may do harm. To achieve maximum coverage at acceptable cost with acceptable quality, health care will need to become subject to the same forces that have boosted efficiency and value throughout the economy. We will need to reduce, rather than expand, the role of insurance; focus the government’s role exclusively on things that only government can do (protect the poor, cover us against true catastrophe, enforce safety standards, and ensure provider competition); overcome our addiction to Ponzi-scheme financing, hidden subsidies, manipulated prices, and undisclosed results; and rely more on ourselves, the consumers, as the ultimate guarantors of good service, reasonable prices, and sensible trade-offs between health-care spending and spending on all the other good things money can buy.

GORDON wrote:By the way, this entire thread was too see who had un-American thoughts, and you have been turned into the White House for further action.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to [email=flag@whitehouse.gov.]flag@whitehouse.gov.[/email]

Heil Obama.

GORDON wrote:Just ask the car dealerships.