4 Trillion For Healthcare?

[Issachar]

I just heard them say on the world news that by 2017, healthcare will cost Americans 4 Trillion dollars, more than double what it is now.

I'll see if I can find a source for that to link to.

Now that is one bunch of money. Double what it is now? I'd hate to see what it would be if "inflation" was not under control. :)

Issachar

[Amanda's mom]

I think that there are several things adding to the rising costs...

1. We've come to expect that every little problem will be taken care of by medicine
2. People do not take good care of themselves. They overeat, smoke, and sit in front of the television or computer.
3. The baby boomers are all reaching retirement age and will be needing more medical attention.
4. Our expected life span is much longer. With age, the body breaks down.
5. We are going in to procedures that are expensive like organ transplants. Once done, they cannot be undone and they require constant drugs and monitoring to prevent or stop rejection.

Unless we are willing to accept and expect less, the expenses will continue to increase.

[Issachar]

That is all very true and add to that, just plain ol' inflation as the gov't/fed continue to drive down the value of the dollar. I just wonder what insurance premiums will be in the next 9 or 10 years? It's hard to believe that companies that are covering employees now will be able to continue to without employees paying a huge chunk of it which leaves less for spending on other things ... then theirs the spiral down from there as manufacturers lay off due to less demand for their products, etc., etc. .....

:idunno

Issachar

[Tammy]

I can get so upset with health care sometimes. You pay so much into it and there is always a reason they can't pay. My son just had a physical for driving permit. They would not pay for it because he got it to be able to do something. They will only pay if there is no reason for getting a physical. So that was 98.00 for something he really didn't need but by law had to have for his permit.

[Issachar]

One argument I hear about nationalized healthcare, which I don't want to see just because of the principle of free enterprise, is that in countries like Canada (can any Canadians weigh in here?) you have a long wait to see a doctor. My dil needs to have her daughter, my dear, dear granddaughter ( :) ) see a skin doctor. 9 weeks! The pediatrition prescribed something in the meantime. Dil goes to pharmacy. Oh, your insurance doesn't cover this. Dil calls doctor. Doctor says it must be that. Pharamcy says, $142.00 and it's yours. Isn't it nice to pay insurance premiums?

Issachar

[god is my protector]

4 trillion is more than the entire governments budget today wich is around 1.2 trillion

[Issachar]

Actually, Mr. Bush's most recent budget proposal is 3 trillion. Crazy, eh? 4 trillion would be more than a fifth of today's annual US economy.

Issachar

[SummerSailing81]

I think that there are several things adding to the rising costs...

1. We've come to expect that every little problem will be taken care of by medicine
2. People do not take good care of themselves. They overeat, smoke, and sit in front of the television or computer.
3. The baby boomers are all reaching retirement age and will be needing more medical attention.
4. Our expected life span is much longer. With age, the body breaks down.
5. We are going in to procedures that are expensive like organ transplants. Once done, they cannot be undone and they require constant drugs and monitoring to prevent or stop rejection.

Unless we are willing to accept and expect less, the expenses will continue to increase.

These things are true. However, hospitals and home healthcare companies are charging outrageous prices for things - $11 for a dose of Tylenol liquid (an entire bottle at Walmart goes for around $2.99 Equate brand) and $30 for a bag of diapers that you can buy at the local drugstore for $12? Our dd is disabled and has LOTS of supplies she needs on a daily basis. I contacted the insurance company we had a few years ago to ask if we could buy dd's diapers and Ensure at our local Walmart and have them reimburse us for it. We would have been saving them around $200 a month by doing this. Their response - no, we had to purchase these supplies from a home healthcare company. Why? They said it was "just the way it is" with their company. There is sooooooooo much mark up in hospitals and home healthcare companies which is another reason our insurance premiums are so outrageously expensive and are continuing to rise! I've also never understood how one of our local hospitals "claims" to be non-profit, yet the director's salary is $650,000! Sounds like they need to make a lot of profit to pay just his salary!!!

[jds6958]

These things are true. However, hospitals and home healthcare companies are charging outrageous prices for things - $11 for a dose of Tylenol liquid (an entire bottle at Walmart goes for around $2.99 Equate brand) and $30 for a bag of diapers that you can buy at the local drugstore for $12? Our dd is disabled and has LOTS of supplies she needs on a daily basis. I contacted the insurance company we had a few years ago to ask if we could buy dd's diapers and Ensure at our local Walmart and have them reimburse us for it. We would have been saving them around $200 a month by doing this. Their response - no, we had to purchase these supplies from a home healthcare company. Why? They said it was "just the way it is" with their company. There is sooooooooo much mark up in hospitals and home healthcare companies which is another reason our insurance premiums are so outrageously expensive and are continuing to rise! I've also never understood how one of our local hospitals "claims" to be non-profit, yet the director's salary is $650,000! Sounds like they need to make a lot of profit to pay just his salary!!!

It is difficult to understand how the whole system works. I work for one of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S. and one of the largest employers in MO, it is also non for profit. The non for profit just means that all dollars are put back into the organization. Our organization gives away millions in free care to individuals with no insurance. The E.R. basically functions as free care. The costs of free care are made up elsewhere in the organization. Those who have insurance or can afford to pay support the whole system which contributes to high cost. The $11 Tylenol is likely paying for your dose and 4 others who do not pay. In a nutshell that is how it works. This is also one of the many reasons things are getting worse. Unemployment is rising which translates to less with insurance which makes insurance more expensive which causes other employers to drop it as a benefit and so on and so on. $650k for a director's salary is a little surprising to me, but I am in the midwest, not the east or west coast. The healthcare system is beyond broken. It is on an unsustainable path, like many things are in the economy lately. It is just one more challenge that is not likely to see a solution soon.

[Issachar]

Thanks for the insider insight jds ... I often wondered what the cost justification for "$11 tylenol" was.

Unemployment is rising which translates to less with insurance which makes insurance more expensive which causes other employers to drop it as a benefit and so on and so on. And employment with no benefits is rising; I'd say faster than unemployment. At least in the manufacturing area of the Great Lakes, it is almost impossible to find new jobs with insurance ... or any benefits for that matter. If you're off a day; i.e. Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, etc., then it's no pay day. So employment no longer is much of a guide as to how many have health insurance. Also, some have insurance but it is greatly reduced from what it used to be. Also, insurance companies are declining benefits more and more often.

It's just so strange and sad that a great nation such as the US is (waning) with so much technical know how, so many advancements at it's disposal, such good healthcare, but so many don't have access and the system for those that do is spinning crazily out of control ....... crazy, crazy world, I say.

Issachar