Uninsured sick people...

...cost private insurers nothing, but since they often end up seeking expensive emergency-room treatment, they cost us tax payers quite a bit.

Of course the insurance industry wants to maintain control.
They have their risks socialized and profits privatized.

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when health insurance was nonprofit. Now that profit is being sucked out, the uninsured are often subsidizing the insured by paying 300%-500% what the insurance companies do for the same service.

BTW, we chronically uninsured sick people don't go to ERs if we can help it. I once hopped around on a broken ankle for a whole weekend so I could go to a much cheaper urgent care facility on Monday. Most of us end up paying through the nose, in debt in perpetuity and paying every week so the hospital doesn't garnish our wages, put a lien on our homes, or take our cars.

I injured my ankle the first Sunday in May by stepping off a curb the wrong way. I was in terrible pain Sunday night and Monday morning and was afraid that it was broken.

I really hesitated about going to the local urgent care clinic, because I knew it was going to set me back several hundred dollars. However, I also knew about the dangers of hopping around on a broken bone and having it heal improperly, so I bit the bullet.

My ankle was not broken, so at least I have that peace of mind.

The only good part about having insurance that the urgent care clinic accepts is that my cash payment will be insurance company rates instead of full-fare rates, 20%-50% less.

I don't know what the exact cost will be, but my insurance company will let me know for sure. It won't be pretty, but it will be less than a totally uninsured person would pay.

In contrast, a friend of mine was in a car accident in Costa Rica (Costa Rica!) a few years ago. Cost of emergency room treatment, even though she was a tourist? The equivalent of $15. Oh, and this was no jungle mission station. It was a fully equipped, modern hospital.

is more expensive than having insurance billed. Doesn't make sense to me.

The insurance companies pay "x% of customary charges," so in order to break even, the doctors have to have a list price that is x% higher than what they really need.

Say a doctor needs $200 per office visit to break even, given office rent, employees' wages, and malpractice insurance. If s/he lists $200, the insurance company will pay only $50 to 100. The doctor therefore has to list $600 and actually charge that to non-insured patients to guarantee getting $200, and if the insurance company finds out that uninsured patients are being charged only $200, then the insurance company will go after the doctor for "fraud."

It's a messed-up system originating in the corruption of the insurance companies.

No offense intended.

:evilgrin:

Yes, it's the insurance companies distorting the payment schedules.

even though my dad was an MD.

even though my dad was an MD.

And even though this is a dupe.

this year I finally refused to quit supporting for profit insurance companies