So someone who doesn't have insurance goes to a free clinic and has diabetes - do you treat them - who pays for it? Taxpayers? What happens when their disease progresses and they develop heart issues? Who will pay for putting the stents in their arteries? Will the gov't put that in the free clinic? Or do you wait until they have a heart attack and get rushed to the hospital? Then who pays for that? The tax payer is paying already for these people. They have a free clinic they use today - it's called the ER. It's the most expensive free clinic there is.
Do you treat them? If that is within the (legislatively determined) mandatory minimum level of care, yes. If not, no. Who pays for it? The taxpayers. Anything provided by the government is paid for by the taxpayers. If that is within the mandatory minimum level of care, yes. If not, no. Same answer for whatever ailment you choose to put in the hypothetical. You only go to the hospital if you are in the upper tier group that is insured or paying out of pocket. Otherwise, you go to the government clinic. Yes, under this plan the ER would turn away those who don't have insurance or the ability to pay. The ER is no longer a free clinic.
Um, if this/these are the alternative solutions, we'd be better off focusing the efforts on fixing/improving ACA... or catching up to the rest of the countries with single payer.
Here is a good question. If can't get insurance under Obamacare, do you still have to pay the fine? It appears that this is already the case in at least one county in Arizona, where no companies offer insurance on the Obamacare exchanges. So how does that work? Do these people have to pay fines for failure to purchase something that is not available to be purchased by them? Many more people are going to be put in this position as more and more insurance companies withdraw from the rapidly failing Obamacare program. I thought Obamacare was supposed to be all about increasing access to healthcare. It appears that it is starting to actually decrease access for many people.
Have a government clinic next to the ER. I guess Republicans are not the only one who stonewall ideas.
How do you propose to fix Obamacare? Force insurance companies to stay in the exchanges until they bankrupt and go out of business?
The case for a single-payer health plan: Aetna shows how insurers are avoiding the sick ROBERT REICH http://www.salon.com/2016/08/20/the...ner/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
"Until bankrupt and go out of business". Can you show me an insurance company that is at risk of bankruptcy? http://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/features/2015/12/07/390548.htm Aetna, one of the companies we are talking about, reported net income increased 38% in Q4, and 19% for the entire year.
Well the easiest to fix it would be to allow the Aetna- Humana merger, but it wouldn't be a great fix. However, the American Medical Association (among other medical associations) have pushed the DOJ to block it because they are afraid it would reduce their ability to negotiate contract terms. Not surprisingly, in states and areas (more rural) where there is less competition the rates have been rising.
btw, according to some here, republicanss have known ACA would fail from the beginning. So that says they have had what, six years to come up with fixes? Oh wait... they didn't want to fix it, but replace it. So in six years that republicans have had majorities in both the House and Senate, what ave they come up to replace it? Same answer for both... zip.
A lot more people would have healthcare in Texas if they would decide to expand its Medicaid and stop being the state with the highest uninsured. Perhaps Mr Abbott needs to ask Mr. Pence (vice presidential nominee) about how he expanded Medicaid in Indiana crafting his own plan.
Just give me a minute. I have all of their internal confidential financials in my email somewhere. Why would they pull out of the market if they were making a profit? That makes absolutely no sense. If Obamacare folds, insurance companies are in big trouble. This only proves we need to socialize the health industry. Why do I need to explain this to you? Insurance on the exchanges are not their only source of income. I can already hear the r****ded mice spinning in your head. "Thy should offset the losses with their other business models".
We are back to passing the buck and blaming Republicans. You still have yet to explain how Obamacare should be fixed.
Nice dodge. I was able to find "top secret" financials easily enough You are the one saying the insurance companies are going bankrupt. I showed they aren't. Why would Aetna pull out? Possibly in a temper tantrum over having the merger blocked? Since the insurance companies are making profits... I guess the broader answer is... the insurance companies think they are not making enough profit. Correct... all businesses have some lines of businesses that make more profit, and some lines of businesses that may less profit. Overall, Aetna profits were up 19%. Seems that any "losses" (that haven't been proven, btw) have been pretty well offset, no?
There is no way to "fix it", Obamacare is fundamentally flawed and it needs to be replaced with something better.....but given that it's essentially the only "accomplishment" of his tenure in office, Obama won't allow it to be replaced with a better system for the good of the people because then he's got nothing by way of "legacy" other than taking credit for what other people have done. The Republicans have attempted to fix the healthcare problems many times since taking back control of congress but the first step is always to get rid of the garbage known as Obamacare and every time that legislation gets on his desk, Obama vetoes it.
Passing the buck? I am simply asking what fixes and even alternatives you and republicans have offered. So far... nada. Here are a few articles from a range of sources with recommended fixes (below). The common corrections focus on elimination of the "family glitch", increasing the number of insured, increasing/improving Medicaid, and making health care more affordable by by reducing cost-sharing and out-of-pocket limits as well as improving minimum employer coverage requirement. 'Course, these are all fixes, and the politics being what they are, fixes don't appear to be what republicans and insurance companies want. http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-yes-obamacare-is-in-desperate-need-of-fixing-here-s-a-guide-20160104-column.html http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payer/how-to-fix-affordable-care-act-s-major-flaws http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/30/how-to-fix-obamacare_n_7691802.html
