Obamacare and Nursing.. what do you think?

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You are reading page 8 of Obamacare and Nursing.. what do you think?

MunoRN, RN

8,058 Posts

Specializes in Critical Care.
Why can't Obama Care cost the same amount as auto insurance or home insurance

instead of the outrageous amounts people are talking about?

How would that be possible? We spend $120,000,000 on auto claims, and $2,700,000,000,000 on health claims, so of course the premiums will be higher, much higher since we spend about 20 thousand times as much on healthcare as we do on car repair claims.

MrsStudentNurse

294 Posts

I'm worried about the healthcare in America. I want to provide the best care POSSIBLE to my now residents as a CNANd future RN and beyond. With this new law I fear quantity is going to overtake quality.

liono

12 Posts

There is something inherently wrong with deciding who lives, and who dies, based on how much money they have.

liono

12 Posts

i really don't see how any of this will be paid for.

It's written into the law. The money is coming from different sources than it does right now.

liono

12 Posts

Have you ever read about the Industrial/Miltary complex that the pigs have created ?

I work with an Iraq veteran. After the stories he has told me, it is clear there is no one behind the wheel. The government can't manage something as simple as providing water to soldiers in Iraq in a logical efficient way, how can they manage a gigantic healthcare system? Simple, they can't. Bureaucracy kills all progress.

liono

12 Posts

There is one point that EVERYONE on this thread has missed. No matter what the laws are they will never be fully followed or enforced for people who cannot afford legal backing. The healthcare system as a whole marginalizes people based on their income level, sometimes illegally. They get away with it because they know lower income people have: 1. Less education 2. Less ability to pay for legal fees to enforce laws. Laws aren't automatically enforced. You can't call the cops and arrest a hospital or insurance sompany. You need to take them to court. Even then you're talking about average Joe VS gigantaur corporation with a full office building of lawyers.

And it bothers me how healthcare is the stuff of businessmen and lawyers. Sure we should make a good living, but it seems like healthcare industry lost it's soul at some point. Instead of trying to heal the world we are trying maximize how much money we can extract from it. Is private, corporate, for profit healthcare really the way to go? It doesn't seem like it's working to me. It sounds like a bunch of share holders arguing about who gets a bigger piece of pie. What about helping people?

liono

12 Posts

How much education on obesity do you do with your patients?

How are you doing?

Obesity is first and foremost, a psychological disorder. Being over weight is just a symptom. Obesity should be treated by a psychologist/ psychiatrist first.

liono

12 Posts

Why can't Obama Care cost the same amount as auto insurance or home insurance

instead of the outrageous amounts people are talking about?

Simple, there is no collateral in healthcare insurance.

Alnitak7

560 Posts

Specializes in retired from healthcare.
How would that be possible? We spend $120,000,000 on auto claims, and $2,700,000,000,000 on health claims, so of course the premiums will be higher, much higher since we spend about 20 thousand times as much on healthcare as we do on car repair claims.

Let's suppose they get rid of all the health insurance fraud.

If this is possible then do you think they might be able to get health insurance down to a lower price than it is right now?

SC_RNDude

533 Posts

Let's suppose they get rid of all the health insurance fraud.

If this is possible then do you think they might be able to get health insurance down to a lower price than it is right now?

There are many reasons why auto and home insurance is relatively cheap compared to health insurance. Some of those reasons:

-Auto and home insurance is real insurance. It pays only for when really bad things happen. It doesn't pay for routine things like tires, oil changes, painting your house, visits from the plumber.

-Auto and home insurance premiums are based on real risk. It's not the same price for all. A 21 year old male driving his Ferrari will pay a lot more for insurance then grandma in her Buick.

-There is much more competition in the home and auto insurance market.

-When insurance does pay for claims, the products and services that are being paid for are in a real market. Home and auto repairs are in a market where prices are based on competition, supply, and demand. This does not exist in healthcare.

MunoRN, RN

8,058 Posts

Specializes in Critical Care.
There are many reasons why auto and home insurance is relatively cheap compared to health insurance. Some of those reasons:

-Auto and home insurance is real insurance. It pays only for when really bad things happen. It doesn't pay for routine things like tires, oil changes, painting your house, visits from the plumber.

-Auto and home insurance premiums are based on real risk. It's not the same price for all. A 21 year old male driving his Ferrari will pay a lot more for insurance then grandma in her Buick.

-There is much more competition in the home and auto insurance market.

-When insurance does pay for claims, the products and services that are being paid for are in a real market. Home and auto repairs are in a market where prices are based on competition, supply, and demand. This does not exist in healthcare.

I would think the most obvious reason health insurance costs more than auto and home insurance is that insurance cost is directly related to the costs it is covering. We spend not twice as much, not three times as much fixing people as we do fixing cars, but 23,000 times as much. It makes you wonder why we spend so much on car insurance, not the other way around.

If having a functioning car was comparable to having a functioning body then the dynamics of both types of insurance would be comparable, but it's not. If I show up at a body shop with a mangled car, and cannot present any evidence I will be able to pay the bill, the shop is under absolutely no obligation to fix my car. If I show up at an ER with a mangled body, the ER is legally required to fix me regardless of the cost and regardless of my potential ability to pay the bill.

In order for true market forces to work, a product has to be subject to supply and demand, and preferable should be something we can do without with if the market can't provide it at a fair price. Healthcare doesn't work that way, for our most expensive care, you can't shop around, although we do at least have insurance companies that do that for us. Nobody cares if a teenager gets priced out of driving a ferrari, we hold a different view on someone being priced out of cancer treatment.

smartnurse1982

1,775 Posts

Why can't EMTLA be revoked? I know Ronald Reagan signed it into law.

I'm just curious.

Many politicians and citizens think that the treatment they receive in the ER is free.

I know my state gives money to the hospitals every year because these hospitals would otherwise close. There are too many people who don't want to carry health insurance,because they believe they can just walk in and receive free treatment,and the sad thing is some politicians are telling them that.

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