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how is it billed? Go ask the people who get jobs as billers - most hosptials have more billers than beds, they can sort it out. Before you go to surgery agree

how is it billed? Go ask the people who get jobs as billers - most hosptials have more billers than beds, they can sort it out. Before you go to surgery agree on the price of everything and ask for a video so you can verify the work was done as billed and there wasn't any padding. In an emergency situation, you're entitled to the price they advertise. IF you can't afford it, the government picks up the bill and maybe you pay for it, maybe you don't. If you want insurance, you can buy insurance but let the insurers use every actuarially relevant bit of information so the insurance works as insurance

not_kurt_godel 9y ago
That's not how it works. Have you ever had a major medical procedure? You're out of touch and talking about things you don't really know about.
- alexanderstears 9y ago
  Yeah. I was able to call around and save some money, imagine if I could shop for it without having to call around.
candiodari 9y ago
And what about patients who can't pay ? Whom, therefore the government can't make pay either ? Secondly, what about people who become destitute because of a medical procedure and do what they sometimes do in Holland ? (if you're fucked on bills and the state comes after you and you would become homeless, simply rob places until you get convicted for 10 years, and stay in prison for 10 years. Free tv and internet, and nobody garnishes any wages. Outside you wouldn't be able to pay rent).
- alexanderstears 9y ago
  Then they get healthcare at no cost to them - like they already do.
Frondo 9y ago
That is ridiculous on so many levels. Several years ago, I had my gallbladder out in an emergency surgery. I was in intense, intense pain. My friends worried I was having a heart attack. They drove me to the hospital, because I could barely stand, let alone drive. Such intense pain I was barely conscious. In the ER, I remember they did an ultrasound to determine it was my gallbladder, and then pumped me so full of morphine I was fully incoherent. Still in agonizing pain. Then, a few hours later, they cut me open and pulled it out. It was starting to go necrotic. They said, had I waited a week, I simply would have died of blood poisoning. At no point was I in any condition to agree to a price on anything--incoherent from pain, and the morphine. I was in no position to shop around. My friends didn't even know what was wrong with me, they just drove me to the ER because we all thought I was dying. Even if I had been able to agree to anything--which I couldn't, due to pain--having a video recording of the surgery would have done absolutely nothing for me. Oh, and while I was in the ER, I did see a couple of gunshot victims--fully unconscious--wheeled through from ambulances. What are they agreeing to?? Man, I don't think you've ever really experienced the health system, and I don't think you've thought about your plan. (Sadly, I also don't think people's real experiences are going to change your mind, either, but it'd be great if you did think about how nonsensical that fix you're proposing is.)
- alexanderstears 9y ago
  here's the rub - people who don't wait for catastrophe will shop around on price and healthcare providers will have to publish competitive prices for that business. You get to pay the advertised price which is going to be much lower than the myster price today. Regarding gun shots - I think people with gang tattoos shouldn't get healthcare for bullet / stab wounds. Let gang bangers quash their own beefs.
  - Frondo 9y ago
    Neither you nor I know who was shot or why. I didn't mention "gang bangers" and it's offensive and stupid of you to bring that up. And you obviously haven't thought one bit about the very common situation where someone without health problems is suddenly struck by them, and in a way that makes them unable to price-negotiate. You're ignoring the reality of the health care world, and hey, fine, it's a free country, but it doesn't make you look like a reasonable or thoughtful person. It makes you look like someone with a blind faith in an ideology.

not_kurt_godel 9y ago

That's not how it works. Have you ever had a major medical procedure? You're out of touch and talking about things you don't really know about.

alexanderstears 9y ago
Yeah. I was able to call around and save some money, imagine if I could shop for it without having to call around.

candiodari 9y ago

And what about patients who can't pay ? Whom, therefore the government can't make pay either ? Secondly, what about people who become destitute because of a medical procedure and do what they sometimes do in Holland ? (if you're fucked on bills and the state comes after you and you would become homeless, simply rob places until you get convicted for 10 years, and stay in prison for 10 years. Free tv and internet, and nobody garnishes any wages. Outside you wouldn't be able to pay rent).

alexanderstears 9y ago
Then they get healthcare at no cost to them - like they already do.

Frondo 9y ago

That is ridiculous on so many levels. Several years ago, I had my gallbladder out in an emergency surgery. I was in intense, intense pain. My friends worried I was having a heart attack. They drove me to the hospital, because I could barely stand, let alone drive. Such intense pain I was barely conscious. In the ER, I remember they did an ultrasound to determine it was my gallbladder, and then pumped me so full of morphine I was fully incoherent. Still in agonizing pain. Then, a few hours later, they cut me open and pulled it out. It was starting to go necrotic. They said, had I waited a week, I simply would have died of blood poisoning. At no point was I in any condition to agree to a price on anything--incoherent from pain, and the morphine. I was in no position to shop around. My friends didn't even know what was wrong with me, they just drove me to the ER because we all thought I was dying. Even if I had been able to agree to anything--which I couldn't, due to pain--having a video recording of the surgery would have done absolutely nothing for me. Oh, and while I was in the ER, I did see a couple of gunshot victims--fully unconscious--wheeled through from ambulances. What are they agreeing to?? Man, I don't think you've ever really experienced the health system, and I don't think you've thought about your plan. (Sadly, I also don't think people's real experiences are going to change your mind, either, but it'd be great if you did think about how nonsensical that fix you're proposing is.)

alexanderstears 9y ago
here's the rub - people who don't wait for catastrophe will shop around on price and healthcare providers will have to publish competitive prices for that business. You get to pay the advertised price which is going to be much lower than the myster price today. Regarding gun shots - I think people with gang tattoos shouldn't get healthcare for bullet / stab wounds. Let gang bangers quash their own beefs.
- Frondo 9y ago
  Neither you nor I know who was shot or why. I didn't mention "gang bangers" and it's offensive and stupid of you to bring that up. And you obviously haven't thought one bit about the very common situation where someone without health problems is suddenly struck by them, and in a way that makes them unable to price-negotiate. You're ignoring the reality of the health care world, and hey, fine, it's a free country, but it doesn't make you look like a reasonable or thoughtful person. It makes you look like someone with a blind faith in an ideology.