[ucodegen]

I think that anyone should be allowed to buy insurance. But if the bill allowed unauthorized* immigrants to purchase insurance, then the Republicans would all be up in arms.

Weak statement.. the Republicans are already up at arms about the bill. Not explicitly blocking illegals from buying insurance despite their cost on the system will not change that..

I don’t understand why we want to exclude people who could contribute to the system.

Simple, and I said before. This bill is not about reducing costs.. it is about increasing insurance company profits by increasing the number of people paying in. It is an insurance company gimme.

* I prefer the word unauthorized immigrant rather than illegal or undocumented. It’s a more precise term, I believe.

Actually it isn’t many of them have no intent of becoming naturalized (they are supporting the rest of their family back home and would not go to the US if they could get a paying job in Mexico). I would say unauthorized non-citizen, or unauthorized alien would be more accurate if you are trying to ‘slant’ the statement while trying to be accurate. They are in the country illegally though, so by being unauthorized, they are also here illegally..

No brian – I mean under the bill, citizens are required to buy health insurance and immigrants are not required.

Actually, what I saw had them explicitly banned from buying health insurance.

[ucodegen]

I think that anyone should be allowed to buy insurance. But if the bill allowed unauthorized* immigrants to purchase insurance, then the Republicans would all be up in arms.

Weak statement.. the Republicans are already up at arms about the bill. Not explicitly blocking illegals from buying insurance despite their cost on the system will not change that..

I don’t understand why we want to exclude people who could contribute to the system.

Simple, and I said before. This bill is not about reducing costs.. it is about increasing insurance company profits by increasing the number of people paying in. It is an insurance company gimme.

* I prefer the word unauthorized immigrant rather than illegal or undocumented. It’s a more precise term, I believe.

Actually it isn’t many of them have no intent of becoming naturalized (they are supporting the rest of their family back home and would not go to the US if they could get a paying job in Mexico). I would say unauthorized non-citizen, or unauthorized alien would be more accurate if you are trying to ‘slant’ the statement while trying to be accurate. They are in the country illegally though, so by being unauthorized, they are also here illegally..

No brian – I mean under the bill, citizens are required to buy health insurance and immigrants are not required.

Actually, what I saw had them explicitly banned from buying health insurance.

[ucodegen]

I think that anyone should be allowed to buy insurance. But if the bill allowed unauthorized* immigrants to purchase insurance, then the Republicans would all be up in arms.

Weak statement.. the Republicans are already up at arms about the bill. Not explicitly blocking illegals from buying insurance despite their cost on the system will not change that..

I don’t understand why we want to exclude people who could contribute to the system.

Simple, and I said before. This bill is not about reducing costs.. it is about increasing insurance company profits by increasing the number of people paying in. It is an insurance company gimme.

* I prefer the word unauthorized immigrant rather than illegal or undocumented. It’s a more precise term, I believe.

Actually it isn’t many of them have no intent of becoming naturalized (they are supporting the rest of their family back home and would not go to the US if they could get a paying job in Mexico). I would say unauthorized non-citizen, or unauthorized alien would be more accurate if you are trying to ‘slant’ the statement while trying to be accurate. They are in the country illegally though, so by being unauthorized, they are also here illegally..

No brian – I mean under the bill, citizens are required to buy health insurance and immigrants are not required.

Actually, what I saw had them explicitly banned from buying health insurance.

[ucodegen]

And like most stuff on zerohedge, this looks fishy.

I don’t know about that. The image looks like a scan of a letter. The rows of text are not exactly level. There are too many parts of that letter that can be ‘checked’ to verify authenticity.

The statement:

How many people are getting letters like this? Not many. 4-5 million is my guess. More every day is the certain answer.

May be an overstatement or exaggeration, though given that the law now mandates insurance by 2014, you can expect the insurance companies to try to gouge. They now have captive victims, er customers.

One of the commenters made the following comment:

Live in MA where healthcare is mandatory and private insurance premiums are the highest in the country. Mine went up again this year. State can’t afford the system. In MA, access to care is difficult.

It would be interesting to check if the statement that MA has the highest rates in the country. Do they have a limit on dollar amount for malpractice suits?

[ucodegen]

And like most stuff on zerohedge, this looks fishy.

I don’t know about that. The image looks like a scan of a letter. The rows of text are not exactly level. There are too many parts of that letter that can be ‘checked’ to verify authenticity.

The statement:

How many people are getting letters like this? Not many. 4-5 million is my guess. More every day is the certain answer.

May be an overstatement or exaggeration, though given that the law now mandates insurance by 2014, you can expect the insurance companies to try to gouge. They now have captive victims, er customers.

One of the commenters made the following comment:

Live in MA where healthcare is mandatory and private insurance premiums are the highest in the country. Mine went up again this year. State can’t afford the system. In MA, access to care is difficult.

It would be interesting to check if the statement that MA has the highest rates in the country. Do they have a limit on dollar amount for malpractice suits?

[ucodegen]

And like most stuff on zerohedge, this looks fishy.

I don’t know about that. The image looks like a scan of a letter. The rows of text are not exactly level. There are too many parts of that letter that can be ‘checked’ to verify authenticity.

The statement:

How many people are getting letters like this? Not many. 4-5 million is my guess. More every day is the certain answer.

May be an overstatement or exaggeration, though given that the law now mandates insurance by 2014, you can expect the insurance companies to try to gouge. They now have captive victims, er customers.

One of the commenters made the following comment:

Live in MA where healthcare is mandatory and private insurance premiums are the highest in the country. Mine went up again this year. State can’t afford the system. In MA, access to care is difficult.

It would be interesting to check if the statement that MA has the highest rates in the country. Do they have a limit on dollar amount for malpractice suits?

[ucodegen]

And like most stuff on zerohedge, this looks fishy.

I don’t know about that. The image looks like a scan of a letter. The rows of text are not exactly level. There are too many parts of that letter that can be ‘checked’ to verify authenticity.

The statement:

How many people are getting letters like this? Not many. 4-5 million is my guess. More every day is the certain answer.

May be an overstatement or exaggeration, though given that the law now mandates insurance by 2014, you can expect the insurance companies to try to gouge. They now have captive victims, er customers.

One of the commenters made the following comment:

Live in MA where healthcare is mandatory and private insurance premiums are the highest in the country. Mine went up again this year. State can’t afford the system. In MA, access to care is difficult.

It would be interesting to check if the statement that MA has the highest rates in the country. Do they have a limit on dollar amount for malpractice suits?

[ucodegen]

And like most stuff on zerohedge, this looks fishy.

I don’t know about that. The image looks like a scan of a letter. The rows of text are not exactly level. There are too many parts of that letter that can be ‘checked’ to verify authenticity.

The statement:

How many people are getting letters like this? Not many. 4-5 million is my guess. More every day is the certain answer.

May be an overstatement or exaggeration, though given that the law now mandates insurance by 2014, you can expect the insurance companies to try to gouge. They now have captive victims, er customers.

One of the commenters made the following comment:

Live in MA where healthcare is mandatory and private insurance premiums are the highest in the country. Mine went up again this year. State can’t afford the system. In MA, access to care is difficult.

It would be interesting to check if the statement that MA has the highest rates in the country. Do they have a limit on dollar amount for malpractice suits?

[ucodegen]

Exactly. It closes a loophole. It’s not a new tax.

Really? Can you name an over-the-counter equivalent to a prescribed drug used to prevent blood clots. The over-the-counter drug is both safer and keeps the clotting factor of the blood more stable.

The prescribed drug is Coumadin or Warfarin… what is the OTC equiv? NOTE: Nursing homes prefer to use the OTC drug because it is more stable and has fewer side effects. Coumadin/Warfarin has an efficacy of about 3 days, the OTC drug has an efficacy of 11 days.

Here is info on Coumadin/Warfarin.. take a look at all the warnings/side effects. The OTC drug has far fewer side effects/warnings.
http://www.drugs.com/coumadin.html

[ucodegen]

Exactly. It closes a loophole. It’s not a new tax.

Really? Can you name an over-the-counter equivalent to a prescribed drug used to prevent blood clots. The over-the-counter drug is both safer and keeps the clotting factor of the blood more stable.

The prescribed drug is Coumadin or Warfarin… what is the OTC equiv? NOTE: Nursing homes prefer to use the OTC drug because it is more stable and has fewer side effects. Coumadin/Warfarin has an efficacy of about 3 days, the OTC drug has an efficacy of 11 days.

Here is info on Coumadin/Warfarin.. take a look at all the warnings/side effects. The OTC drug has far fewer side effects/warnings.
http://www.drugs.com/coumadin.html

[ucodegen]

Exactly. It closes a loophole. It’s not a new tax.

Really? Can you name an over-the-counter equivalent to a prescribed drug used to prevent blood clots. The over-the-counter drug is both safer and keeps the clotting factor of the blood more stable.

The prescribed drug is Coumadin or Warfarin… what is the OTC equiv? NOTE: Nursing homes prefer to use the OTC drug because it is more stable and has fewer side effects. Coumadin/Warfarin has an efficacy of about 3 days, the OTC drug has an efficacy of 11 days.

Here is info on Coumadin/Warfarin.. take a look at all the warnings/side effects. The OTC drug has far fewer side effects/warnings.
http://www.drugs.com/coumadin.html

[ucodegen]

Exactly. It closes a loophole. It’s not a new tax.

Really? Can you name an over-the-counter equivalent to a prescribed drug used to prevent blood clots. The over-the-counter drug is both safer and keeps the clotting factor of the blood more stable.

The prescribed drug is Coumadin or Warfarin… what is the OTC equiv? NOTE: Nursing homes prefer to use the OTC drug because it is more stable and has fewer side effects. Coumadin/Warfarin has an efficacy of about 3 days, the OTC drug has an efficacy of 11 days.

Here is info on Coumadin/Warfarin.. take a look at all the warnings/side effects. The OTC drug has far fewer side effects/warnings.
http://www.drugs.com/coumadin.html

[ucodegen]

Exactly. It closes a loophole. It’s not a new tax.

Really? Can you name an over-the-counter equivalent to a prescribed drug used to prevent blood clots. The over-the-counter drug is both safer and keeps the clotting factor of the blood more stable.

The prescribed drug is Coumadin or Warfarin… what is the OTC equiv? NOTE: Nursing homes prefer to use the OTC drug because it is more stable and has fewer side effects. Coumadin/Warfarin has an efficacy of about 3 days, the OTC drug has an efficacy of 11 days.

Here is info on Coumadin/Warfarin.. take a look at all the warnings/side effects. The OTC drug has far fewer side effects/warnings.
http://www.drugs.com/coumadin.html

[ucodegen]

I have no data for 1990-1996 and 2004-2010, but let’s assume the same 9% annual increase.

I think this is a shaky way to extrapolate. Also, why don’t you have data for 2004-2010 since you are using your own insurance for an example?

I know that premiums on health insurance have increased faster than CPI, but has the actual cost of health care for cash payers? I’m starting to see greater and greater gaps from my experience. When I got very ill, I was expecting that the costs would put a very serious dent in the money I set aside, but I found that I could quickly negotiate cash discounts and the damage to the savings was not that great. My personal experience with dental experience also agrees with this. I found that only if I maxed out my dental ‘work’/charges, would insurance be less expensive than pay-as-you-go. I also found that I would have nearly hit the cap (I have a lot of crowns).

Americans also tend to be ‘over medicated’. Start with one drug to counter something simple and follow with a lot more to counter the side effects of the first drug and each following drug. This may have some bearing on the costs we are seeing.

I don’t see the justification for the increases in the premiums, and making insurance mandatory will not decrease the premiums. By making insurance mandatory, you have created a limited monopoly that favors insurance companies. Insurance companies were starting to hit a limit with any increases in profits. As the premium rates started to rise, people were dropping off insurance. Solution, in the insurance company eyes, is to make insurance mandatory. By the way, in the period you referenced, the profits of insurance companies increased 2.5 times from 2000 to 2009.

[ucodegen]

I have no data for 1990-1996 and 2004-2010, but let’s assume the same 9% annual increase.

I think this is a shaky way to extrapolate. Also, why don’t you have data for 2004-2010 since you are using your own insurance for an example?

I know that premiums on health insurance have increased faster than CPI, but has the actual cost of health care for cash payers? I’m starting to see greater and greater gaps from my experience. When I got very ill, I was expecting that the costs would put a very serious dent in the money I set aside, but I found that I could quickly negotiate cash discounts and the damage to the savings was not that great. My personal experience with dental experience also agrees with this. I found that only if I maxed out my dental ‘work’/charges, would insurance be less expensive than pay-as-you-go. I also found that I would have nearly hit the cap (I have a lot of crowns).

Americans also tend to be ‘over medicated’. Start with one drug to counter something simple and follow with a lot more to counter the side effects of the first drug and each following drug. This may have some bearing on the costs we are seeing.

I don’t see the justification for the increases in the premiums, and making insurance mandatory will not decrease the premiums. By making insurance mandatory, you have created a limited monopoly that favors insurance companies. Insurance companies were starting to hit a limit with any increases in profits. As the premium rates started to rise, people were dropping off insurance. Solution, in the insurance company eyes, is to make insurance mandatory. By the way, in the period you referenced, the profits of insurance companies increased 2.5 times from 2000 to 2009.

[Author]

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