Many Americans have been led to believe that health insurance is important, and without it, you’re risking taking on massive debt. While that may be true for some people who can actually get their medical needs covered by insurance, the majority of Americans are throwing away their money, month after month, by paying for overpriced healthcare insurance that doesn’t cover much of anything.
You would think that insurance companies would cover more, considering millions of people pay them hundreds of dollars every month, but many people are left without any coverage and have to fight tooth and nail to get charges reversed for things that should clearly be covered.
Insurance has never covered much of anything for the majority of Americans, and that’s why many people sue when they’re injured. They have no choice. Insurance companies simply don’t offer adequate compensation.
When people have more than medical bills to pay, like lost wages or household bills, they can only get compensated through a lawsuit.
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Healthcare insurance was created for profit
Source: opic.texas.gov
There was a time when basic healthcare didn’t cost much, and when insurance helped, it was actually worth the cost. When HMOs began to emerge in the 1970s, they claimed their goal was to make healthcare more affordable through preventive care and efficiency, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the cost of healthcare has risen exponentially, and is now out of control.
The average American spends $477 per month on healthcare insurance, which amounts to $5,724 per year or more than $11,000 per couple. That’s a lot of money, especially for people who only use their insurance to cover general visits and a small number of medical needs. Many people get cheaper monthly rates, but they barely cover their deductible throughout the year, and their insurance sometimes never kicks in.
Deductibles are like the “catch-22” of healthcare insurance. Sure, you can get more health coverage, but you have to pay a higher monthly premium. You’ll still have a deductible, but it will be low. Or, you can pay less per month, but your deductible will be much higher.
In the end, deductibles can make carrying health insurance not worth the cost, depending on the person. You have to need some serious, regular medical care for it to make sense. Or, be living in fear of a catastrophe that might happen at any moment. But even then, time has shown that serious medical issues are rarely covered and are routinely denied.
Privatized healthcare makes services expensive
Source: aihms.in
Among the many issues with the American healthcare system is the price of healthcare services. Many cultures are living proof that universal healthcare works and keeps costs low, but the American system just isn’t built for that.
There is a direct connection between the high costs of healthcare services and the existence of privatized healthcare. When healthcare is privatized, services are owned by for-profit corporations, and since they know insurance companies will compensate them generously, they artificially inflate the cost of everything, from Tylenol and cotton swabs to surgical procedures. On the back end, the insurance companies make their profits from all the people who buy healthcare insurance policies, so reimbursement is no big deal.
It’s basically no different than a department store placing a high markup on all the items they sell in the store. They buy something directly from the manufacturer for $5, sell it for $50, and make $45 profit. That’s exactly how it works with healthcare. A hospital will charge patients $15 for a single Tylenol capsule when it costs them around 3 cents.
If the person’s insurance covers Tylenol, the hospital won’t necessarily bill the insurance company for the full $15 per pill, but they’ll charge more than enough to make a profit. Sometimes, they bill insurance companies at discounted rates, but the charge usually differs based on who pays the bill.
The system is designed to reject claims
Source: curtislegalgroup.com
Another problem with healthcare insurance is that the system is now automatically rigged to reject claims. Pro Publica not only proved that Cigna employees were pressured to deny claims without thinking to keep up with quotas, but the company created an automated system that instantly rejects thousands of claims without ever opening the patient’s file.
This is illegal since doctors are required to review claims. However, Cigna, along with other companies, uses automated systems to flag certain factors that create automated rejections. After a rejected claim, most people give up because filing an appeal is not easy. Insurance companies know this, so they don’t have a problem dealing with the small number of appeals they receive.
Will universal healthcare fix this broken system?
It’s hard to say whether or not universal healthcare will work in the United States, but many people seem to think that’s the case. It couldn’t be any worse than the current situation, so, why not? Maybe it’s worth trying something new.
