Eddie_Dean_NY: And he'll be immediately denied benefits because of his pre-existing condition.

Not anymore. Thank you 0Bamacare!

shanrick: First thing he plans to buy is health insurance two chicks at the same time.

Yeah, better to get the two chicks at the same time. Health care cost will easily eat into the $14 million. Probably leave him with a half-working kidney, but daily dialysis treatment and $25,000 in the bank.

So, he only has one kidney?

How the hell do we let veterans go without health insurance? We are a sick people.

/doesn't have to worry about pre-existing conditions anymore after being denied a few times
//thank you obamacare

Marcus Aurelius: jaylectricity: Why do you need insurance if you can afford the hospital bills?

The cost of a hospital room without insurance is charged at full retail. It can be an order of magnitude higher than someone with even crappy insurance.

Anyone can negotiate on those prices, and if you can prove you've got the cash you're in an especially good position to do so.

One small step we should take is to require hospitals to give their lowest price to people without insurance (equal or lower to the lowest rate they give insurance). The fact that insurance likes to negotiate a steep discount from a fictional price should not screw over the few people without insurance that actually do have the money to pay a reasonable bill.

Remember folks, supporting the troops means wearing flag lapel pins and affixing yellow ribbon stickers to the back of your car. It has nothing to do with giving them what they need.

Eddie_Dean_NY: And he'll be immediately denied benefits because of his pre-existing condition.

done ... in one :(

organizmx: How the hell do we let veterans go without health insurance? We are a sick people.

/doesn't have to worry about pre-existing conditions anymore after being denied a few times
//thank you obamacare

Without health insurance he can still get the kidney, but he has to be broke to apply for government assistance for the operation. Met a guy who fell ill and lost his job and benefits. He had to dump his savings in order to get Medicaid to cover surgery and treatments. The hard part was finding the kidney donor. The weird part was they had to make him a little sicker so they could get approval for the transplant.

Riffington: One small step we should take is to require hospitals to give their lowest price to people without insurance

Yes and then they will just adjust all their prices accordingly in order to make up the lost revenue.

On another note, why does the pre existing condition thing annoy people so much? Why should an insurance company pay for something that you already have. Try getting in a car wreck uninsured then going out and buying insurance and having them pay for your wreck you had prior to the insurance. Would you expect car insurance to cover an accident you had before you had the insurance? Then what is the annoyance with medical insurance acting in the same manner?

He should have enough left over for a cup of coffee afterwards.

organizmx: How the hell do we let veterans go without health insurance? We are a sick people.



He probably has never gone to a VA hospital to get himself into the system. A lot of vets I know, for whatever reason, never plan on taking advantage of any of the benefits they earned from their service. Some don't even know they can get care from the VA at all.

Missed the part where he didn't have health insurance. Lemme re-read it to be sure.

Don't vets get free, or at least inexpensive, treatment at the VA hospitals?

Well, if he's a veteran, doesn't he get Tricare?

downstairs: Marcus Aurelius: jaylectricity: Why do you need insurance if you can afford the hospital bills?

The cost of a hospital room without insurance is charged at full retail. It can be an order of magnitude higher than someone with even crappy insurance.

True, but what would a kidney transplant cost? Maybe its millions, but it isn't 6 million, which is what he got after taxes.

Kidney transplant is nowhere near
$6 million, no, not even retail. The problem is that you are still one of the "sick" and will be for the rest of your life. You might need another transplant later; the anti-rejection meds can give you lymphoma or diabetes; your bones can atrophy; etc. Due to all these risks you'll have a lot of followup visits, tests, MRIs at the slightest sign of anything odd, and it can get expensive quick.

He needs insurance.

organizmx: How the hell do we let veterans go without health insurance? We are a sick people.

Just playing devils advocate, but the question rises: How far do you extend that 'veterans healthcare' thing? A guy that did 18 months 40 years ago? He gets it 'free' for life?

/retired vet, so keep your snark over there somewhere
//just asking the question

The Free Market works!

/"Veteran without health insurance" should be like "Politician without a lobbyist"

And to further clarify, not speaking about 'VA benefits', which he could surely apply for.

Eddie_Dean_NY: And he'll be immediately denied benefits because of his pre-existing condition.
============================================================

Until 2014, anyway. Unless jackass republicans repeal it before then.

But yes, buying health insurance would accomplish nothing for him at this point as he has a preexisting condition.

JesseL: Marcus Aurelius: jaylectricity: Why do you need insurance if you can afford the hospital bills?

The cost of a hospital room without insurance is charged at full retail. It can be an order of magnitude higher than someone with even crappy insurance.

Anyone can negotiate on those prices, and if you can prove you've got the cash you're in an especially good position to do so.

"Your hospital room is $9000 per night."

"I can't afford that. How about $600?"

"LOL Have fun dying!"

(Background: Link (new window))

Kirkenhegelstein: Well, if he's a veteran, doesn't he get Tricare?

Ummmmm, NO!

Tri-Care is only for career armed forces members and their families. Tri-Care is the best med insurance available in the world...

srhp29: Riffington: One small step we should take is to require hospitals to give their lowest price to people without insurance

Yes and then they will just adjust all their prices accordingly in order to make up the lost revenue.

On another note, why does the pre existing condition thing annoy people so much? Why should an insurance company pay for something that you already have. Try getting in a car wreck uninsured then going out and buying insurance and having them pay for your wreck you had prior to the insurance. Would you expect car insurance to cover an accident you had before you had the insurance? Then what is the annoyance with medical insurance acting in the same manner?

Bad analogy. It's more like: "Would you expect your car insurance to deny an accident claim on the grounds that you once had an accident 10 years ago while uninsured?"

I wish I could find a screengrab from Idiocracy in the hospital lobby where they're playing video poker for the chance at free care.

Won the lottery?

Another life ruined.

The worst case of being denied for pre-existing condition that I heard of belongs to a coworker. The insurance company that her parents had long before she was born, dropped her at birth for pre-existing conditions that she was born with. I am somewhat skeptical of her story, yet insurance companies are ran by lawyers. I asked her if she knew her past life medical conditions. She is unsure, but did laugh pretty hard.

Tricare. Why he no has?

Sim Tree: Because they abuse the hell out of it to avoid paying legit claims. For example, if you get cáncer, they would claim it must have started decades ago and is thus preexisting. Now you need to prove it isn't preexisting in court, hire a lawyer, etc. (very hard to do when you're already fighting medical bills) and every. single. claim reqires a lawsuit.

I'm not going to defend the various shenagins health insurers have pulled, but what you are talking about is legal only in certain states. Most states require the the condition be diagnosed prior to the plan to qualify as pre-existing, and if the person goes without health insurance for the required time, they can purchase a rider. The vast majority of pre-existing condition cases you hear about are simply people who went without healthcare to save money. Then they develop a debilitating illness that may require hundreds of thousands of dollars in care in the immediate future, and are surprised nobody will insure them at $150 per month anymore?

That's why Obamacare required a mandate for everyone to purchase insurance, whether they want to or not. The system isn't sustainable otherwise.

3StratMan: organizmx: How the hell do we let veterans go without health insurance? We are a sick people.



He probably has never gone to a VA hospital to get himself into the system. A lot of vets I know, for whatever reason, never plan on taking advantage of any of the benefits they earned from their service. Some don't even know they can get care from the VA at all.

CSB:
I worked with an old [arsehole] guy who used to biatch about how our taxpayer dollars were supporting all the degenerate mentally ill people we were employed to take care of but he couldn't get a proper hearing aid for his hearing loss which happened in the military. Being a vet myself, I explained to him that's exactly what Comp & Pen is for. You're not milking the system, you came out of the military worse than you went in and health care and C&P are how they attempt to fix it. He said he didn't want to go through the trouble.

/then stfu about the autistic kid
//farking Texas