Send Your "Medical Bill" to Congress

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/917298954?z00m=19779018

The healthcare reform debate is heating up and Congress is preparing to go on summer recess. But the health problems many Americans face are not going on vacation. The ongoing burdens of our current healthcare system are not sustainable!

Help Congress see just how important it is for American workers to have affordable, quality healthcare. Tell your representatives how much our current system is really costing you by sending your "medical bill" to Capitol Hill >>
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/917298954?z00m=19779018

Even people with health insurance often must pay out-of-pocket. The high bills you see cover not only you doctor's services, but 29 percent of the total bill goes to administrative costs, eight percent covers the uninsured and over five percent is set aside for the price of medical errors.

Our Failing Healthcare System is Costly! Send Your "Medical Bill" to Congress
Target: U.S. Congress
Sponsored by: SEIU
The healthcare reform debate is heating up and Congress is preparing to go on summer recess. But the health problems many Americans face are not going on vacation. The ongoing burdens of our current healthcare system are not sustainable!

Even people with health insurance often must pay out-of-pocket. The high bills you see cover not only you doctor's services, but 29 percent of the total bill goes to administrative costs, eight percent covers the uninsured and over five percent is set aside for the price of medical errors.

Help Congress see just how important it is for American workers to have affordable, quality healthcare! Tell them how much our current system is really costing you by sending your "medical bill" to Capitol Hill.

You may have one particularly outrageous bill, or perhaps you spend an unacceptable amount every month on healthcare. Let Washington know!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/917298954?z00m=19779018

(now called "cost-sharing" in an attempt to fool us).

If you are a single person making more than $43,000 (gross) you would have up to $5,000 in annual co-pays & deductibles in addition to whatever your share of the premium is (and anything you have done that is not covered). A family of 4 making more that $88,000 would have up to $10,000 in out of pocekt expenses.

These out of pockets do include dental or eye expenses that are not covered for adults in this bill.

Part of the problem with country-wide legislation is that it assumes that cost-of-living is the same everywhere.

In SFO, $43K is living-with-room-mates, in Idaho it's owning-a-freestanding-house, in Portland it's renting-your-own-house.

no matter where you live. As of now, none of your other expenses (taxes, rent/mortgage, student loans) are factored in to what you can afford to pay.

Granted, most people won't hit the $5k limit but those with a chronic illness might think twice about getting routing maintenance and the older a person gets the more apt they'll be to forgo preventative tests because they can't afford the follow up care if something is wrong. And, if you have the misfortune of getting ill near the end of the benefit year you could be faced with just hitting your $5k out of pocket - then the new year starts and you're looking at paying other $5,000.

There is mounting evidence that plans with high out of pockets save money in the very short term, but in the long run cost everyone more and result in a population with more serious conditions. ER visits, hospital admits & bed days all go up with these plans while office visits and medication compliance go down. Employee productivity also drops as absentism rates go up with these plans.

And let's keep in mind, no one in any of the civilized countries that provide access to health care have expenses like these. It can hardly be called "reform" if we're still paying more and getting less.

Yep, trolls.

The only answer is to redouble our efforts and rec everything related to SPHC. :)


On edit: Because, really, fuck them.

insurance company for seniors who have to carry coverage for the 20% that medicare doesn't cover which must be paid out of social security or social security and a pension. A goodly share of older people don't have pensions, only social security as it can run upwards of 3500 per year for two people.
With the part D expense, the part of meds that part D won't cover and the ordinary cost of medicare to seniors, it sll amounts to a huge chunk of their money to live on.
I seriously doubt if any of the congresscritters have a clue...most are millionaires and up.

"Even people WITH EMPLOYER-PROVIDED health insurance often must pay out-of-pocket."

I "have" health insurance, for which I pay my former employer (a school district) over $500/month. I then pay $15/co-pay doctor visit, and then get most prescriptions for a minimal amount. Let's just say, though, that so far I've BEEN the bargain, rather than the other way around.
Knock on wood.

how high would the pile of medical bills be?