Hmmm...

One of our London underwriters came into town a couple of weeks ago and my brother and I took him out for a night of Seattle drinking. *Note to self... next time drink much, MUCH slower* I'll refer to him as "Bloke" from here on out.

After a few beers Bloke said: "Alright boys, I've just come from New York where everyone I talked to told me how evil Obama is and how he's trying to set up Death Panels in America. What's your take?"

Here was my summarized response.

"Lets leave the whole Democrat/Republican thing off the table and let me ask you a question. Bloke, if you managed to cut the back of your hand and need 4-5 stitches, would you go to the hospital?"

"Of course I would!"

"How much would it cost to get your hand stitched up, Bloke?"

"Nothing."

"Well, here (if you can't afford insurance) it would cost between $1,000 and $1,500."

"What the fuck? Are you serious?"

"Yep. Now I HAVE insurance which costs my company $270 a month for just me. If I went to get my hand stitched up, it would only cost me about $500-$600."


Needless to say, Bloke was a bit flabbergasted as he's used to paying fuck all for the same procedure. I then gave him some more numbers.

I told him that, without insurance, a MRI would cost him about $2,500.

A trip to the ER to find out if your wife has pneumonia would be about $700 and about a 6 hour ordeal.

A childbirth? That's about 10 grand.

Are you real sick and need an ambulance? Woah now, how sick are you? Because that ambulance ride is gonna cost between $500 and $1,000.

If they try to give you an asprin? Tell them to go fuck themselves as they will charge you between $20 and $40 for that single pill.

What if you're in some remote area and get hurt? Should you let them rescue you in a helicopter? Why not, it's only about $30,000. You might try to hike down the mountain with the broken leg before you pick up that phone.

Oh, unless you have money. If you make $250,000+ a year, then it probably won't matter to you as much. Or if you're poor. If you don't have any money then go ahead and pick up the phone, you won't be paying for shit anyway. If you're middle class though or are slightly above the poverty line? Welcome to Fucksville.

Don't be depressed though, Bloke. There's a good chance that you'll get a job for a company that offers cheap medical coverage, cheap being about $100-$200 a month. Although, there's also a good chance that you work for a very small company or are self-employed. In that case, than I suggest you get a second job at Starbucks. You have to hit 20 hours a week to be eligible for their benefit plan. 3 shots, extra caramel in mine please.

You can buy health insurance on your own of course. I'm 27 years old and in good health, no smoking, etc. Three years ago I was paying about $150 a month for my insurance, oh plus another $150 for my wife. Today? I'm paying $270 a month for the same fucking insurance plan. My wife, that's another $270.

My friend is 28, married with 2 children. I think their 3rd child will be free but they pay $270 for the first and second. That's $1080 a month. Their mortgage is about $1,300 a month.

Oh, and they still gotta pay the first $500 per person for anything not "preventive". That means that they will basically be paying another $500 per person by the end of the year, at least.

Total medical costs for the family for the year? About $15,000. If nothing really major comes up, like a broken leg or cancer. Oh, plus whatever their prescriptions cost.

I told him to make of that what he will.

Bloke thought that the whole situation seemed a "little" messed up and mentioned that his socialized health care didn't seem so bad. I wholeheartedly agreed. We went back to drinking.


So what's the problem with health care in this country?

I think the answer is pretty simple. It's too damned expensive! $1,500 to have some fool in tiger-striped scrubs clean out a cut and put in 5 stitches. It doesn't matter who picks up the tab, whether its you or all of your countrymen put together. It's too much fucking money!


Why is it too expensive? Is the medical system corrupt or just fucked up? I don't know the answer to that but here's a little story for you:

A guy gets hurt on a fishing boat. Claims he hurt his back while pulling up some line. No worries, P&I coverage will take care of that. The hospitals in Alaska say that it's better to go to San Fransisco to get this operation done. Off to San Fransisco! Blah blah blah, his back eventually gets fixed.

The bill arrives at my office. It's slightly over $700,000. Oh. That's kind of a lot of money. Especially since my client's coverage limits were $500,000. So now he's probably gonna lose his boat, and maybe his house.

We can't have that happening! Lets turn the bill over to our adjuster who, in turn, hands it over to a medical bill review company. They examine the bill, call the hospital and start negotiating. A couple of days later we get the revised bill in the mail. New total? About $200,000.

...

Anyone manage to catch the potential issue that I have with our current medical system?

Where the fuck did that $500,000 go? And why the fuck was the hospital charging it in the first place? I don't know. I'm not a medical bill review company. What I DO KNOW, is if that had been you or me who called protesting OUR $700,000 bill? The hospital would have kindly offered a payment plan and said, "We know it's hard; we're sorry."


Well, there's the problem. How do you fix it? Hell if I know. I'll let the smart people figure that one out.


Can't have the government step in though. That's Socialist! That's Communist! The Reds are gonna eat out children and then sit on Death Panels!!!"


***NEWSFLASH***

We're basically Socialist as is.


My buddy cut the back of his hand a few weeks ago. 5 Stitches. $1,500. He didn't pay shit. Know why? Because he's poor, so the government paid for it.

I knew a girl who managed to get knocked up by a felon. What did it cost to bring her little felon into the world? Nothing. Because she's poor, so the government paid for it.

Why don't we at least make it official so we can tax their asses for it?


That's it, I'm done for the day. I need caffeine.



Oh, by the way. If you wanna bitch at me about the numbers I'm throwing out, go ahead. I see more medical bills pass through my office each month than most people see in a lifetime. I assign adjusters,on a weekly basis, to handle the weirdest shit you've ever seen. My office SELLS medical insurance to individuals and to groups, such as the friggin police departments and fire fighters. So go swivel.

Magic Apathy Ball