What health care problems are important to you?

Hi oneidmnster, that is a very relevant topic for discussion . Here in India it is very difficult to claim health insurance, and when we manage to do so, we get 50 or 60% of what we have spent.I have heard most people complaining about it. I feel that the companies are more bothered about making profit and huge profits...I would definitely think that at least you should get back what you have paid , let them keep the profits they earn from our investments...all the best and have a nice weekend

I do not agree on either point. Insurance companies have to make a profit, just like any other business. If they're forced to pay outrageous amounts for existing health problems, many of them will go broke, or need a government bailout. The biggest problem is that 800 pound gorilla in the room: Health care costs too much. Why? Because we allow frivolous law suits against doctors and health care companies. Another reason is greed in the pharmaceutical companies. They do spend a lot of money on research, but they also often tilt the scales when they're testing new medicines to satisfy the FDA. That means they can sell more at a higher price because it's supposedly "effective." As to businesses having to provide insurance for their employees... that is the most disconnected issue ever! What does working for someone have to do with your own health costs? Nothing! Health insurance was offered as an incentive, a "perk" to keep employees happy at one time. It should never be mandatory. If it becomes so, companies - even the big ones - will cut the number of employees to keep costs down. Is that good for the economy??

What is most important is, that we realize the unintended consequences of these actions. Ok, so you don't like pre-existing condition clauses. What is going to happen if we force insurance companies to provide for people who have not paid into a system, yet demand coverage? Well, those companies will incur highers costs. Where do insurance companies get their money? From us the premium payers. So what is going to happen to us? We'll all be paying higher premiums to cover people who don't buy insurance until they are ill, then demand coverage. You say that isn't going to happen? Look at MassHealth in Massachusetts. That state has a gov-care system in which insurance companies must cover people. Their premiums are nearly 4 times the national average. No pre-existing condition clause, means we will pay more. Insurance companies do not have 1 penny more money than we the premium payers give them. So if they have to shell out more cash, we have to cough up more cash. Ready to quadruple your health insurance premiums? Well ok, maybe that's a bad idea, but surely forcing companies to provide full coverage insurance is good, right? Question for you, if you own stock in Walmart, are you going to just accept that you won't get as much money? Say you own your own business, and government says you have to provide X service. Are you just going to say, oh well no huge profits for me? No, you are not. Neither are they, are nor should they. If your investment broker told you your investments wouldn't be paying out as much, you'd move your investments. Well, they are no different. So where is that money going to come from? Whose going to pay for that mandated full coverage? Companies only have two places they can get money from. Only two. Customers, and employee wages. So the cost of that full coverage insurance mandated by the government is going to show up in two spots... higher cost of products, and lower employee wages. I got to see both of these happen first hand. I was working at Wendy's when a minimum wage hike hit. Yes, everyone got 50¢ more per hour, but 3 people lost their jobs. Then they raised the prices of all our products. You remember when the Wendy's "Biggie" option came out? Biggie fry, biggie drink? They did that by shrinking all the sizes. A medium became a small. A large became a medium. And the Biggie was the size of the original large. Only the prices were the same. Companies only get money from two spots. Employee wages. Wages went up by government mandate, so they reduced the number of employees. Customer prices. They left the prices the same, but shrunk the portions, while adding a new larger size. So ready to cough up more money for products, and have a smaller income check? (unless you work at a company exempt from this rule).

For here in our country Philippines the SSS and philhealth because for paying that you almost secure in the hospital bill and when you got retire you gain money.

issues? descent retirement benefit when i am old and unable to work already. when no company would hire me anymore because they think i am unproductive. i am not sure if what i've given to the government as my retirement benefit will be given back to me when i am old, considering how the government here treat the money of the people. that is my primary issue... when we are old, we need money to help us get through sickness and health problems expected by the age... what is why.

There a 2 major problems. The first the pre-existing condition issue a lot of insurance company have and the second rates.

Private health insurance companies I never had a problem with. But with Tricare I sure have. For one with tricare I would love it if I could get a person when I call who can speak english clear enough that I can get the help I need. Two I wish Tricare didn't rip off my doctors who are so gracious when they are ripped off but admit they couldn't accept tricare if they had too many patients with it. I wish Tricare also wouldn't fight so much on allowing me care. I've had to fight to get prescriptions filled and tests done far more with them then when I had private health insurance company.

I dont have those big problems but i have some small allergies like allergy from dust and other paricles. So it does not mattter much to me but i know that i have to take care of my health very much.

I agree totally with the points you made here. I think insurance company execs are the biggest crooks on the planet and I really wouldn't mind if all the health insurance companies were put out of business! I have nothing against business or profits but health care should not be a "for profit industry". What I'd like to see is for ALL health care decisions to be made by the doctor and the patient. PERIOD. I realize there may be a need for some regulation and oversight to ensure some doctors don't, for example, prescribe too many pain killers or perform unnecessary surgery, but for the most part the doctor knows best what tests, treatment and medications his or patients need. In my opinion, ideally we'd have a single payer system. There would be no co-pays for any of the routine diagnostic tests and it would be strictly up to the doctor when someone should get, for instance, a mammogram, and a patient would have the right to seek a second opinion if she felt it was warranted. There would be more emphasis o n HEALTH care rather than "sick care", meaning there would be strong incentives for people to eat healthy and live healthy lifestyles. I think alternate treatments such as chiropractic should be covered as well as some way of helping people pay for over-the-counter medications and supplements and the like. Annie

My main issue with private health insurance, aside from not covering folks who have pre-existing conditions, is that consumers don't get much for the monthly premiums they pay. They do not offer preventive health screenings that can identify medical problems before they become serious, the yearly deductables are too high (in the thousands) and many of them charge extra for prescription coverage...after that deductable is met. The only benefit I see for having private health insurance is that they will help with the cost of dealing with a catastrophic event such as a heart attack or stroke. It does nothing to help everyday families meet the expenses of medical care. As for Walmart, my daughter works for them and they do have a couple of health insurance options available, even for the part-time staff. It's limited for part-timers but not extremely expensive so it's better than nothing. The problem is that working class Americans shouldn't have to settle for "nothing" or "better than nothing".

I want to live a normal life with nothing that will hold me back. I have a facility that takes care of all my medical expenses upto a certain life time limit which hopefully will take care of my needs. There is no exclusion except tonics which are not reimbursed.