After ABC documentary on health ins., millions of repubs are scratching

their heads thinking:
"duh, ya mean frivolous lawsuits don't take up 50% of my healthcare costs like rushy, sean, and Dr. Frist tell me??"
"ya mean when I gripe about the 20 dollar copay on nexium, it costs my health insurer $100 more, and its me-too agent omeprazole only costs $20 total???"
"ya mean that when uninsured or underinsured go to the hospital, the money that goes to pay for their care doesn't come from the magical money tree, but from my own premiums and taxes??? That doesn't sound like private health insurance, that sounds like that wealth redistribution socialist commie pinko stuff that rushy keeps warning me about!!"
"Since when do we have to expect to pay for all of the stuff we want!!!"

-that people in other countries wait 10 months for health care
-that heart surgeons deserve $1million/year

Can anyone recommend a website/book/something on European health care systems?

But what they're REALLY thinking is "Damn liberal media again with the lies and fabrications!"

Don't kid yourself into thinking they got any kind of "message" from it, because they're INCAPABLE of that kind of thought.

(uninsured healthcare costs have to be payed by SOMEBODY -- guess who that might be????) got into them at some point

(middleman) to run their insurance? Isn't cutting out the middleman one of the first things you do when you want to cut your costs?

to negotiate with and manage the health insurance companies that are trying to get as much out of the 1.1 million beneficiaries of GM. This step was probably necessary to try to rein in the ridiculous 10-20% annual increases in healthcare costs associated with direct medical care and pharmaceuticals.

That means GM pays the doctor and hospital costs. They have an insurance company do the paper work.
Our company was self insured until 2 years ago when we got a PPO.

talking about how the health consumer needed to be aware of costs and connected to the process of reducing them made me want to smite him with a hot appendix and then time his phone calls to all the surgeons and hospitals in his area, looking for the cheapest ones.

Illness is NOT a consumer decision.

I know when I'm faced with a serious health crisis, my first step is to compare prices among all the surgeons and hospitals in my area to make sure I'm getting the best value for my dollar, right?

Oh, you mean health care isn't like buying a new refrigerator? :eyes: