Anyone have a Christian Medshare policy?

[two_bit_score]

And before anyone spouts the spoon fed response of "but people come to the US for the best care", take a look at the actual statistics. In fact, we'd probably be surprised at how many folks go to Mexico and other countries, because it's the only care they can afford. Heck, even Steve Jobs went to Switzerland because they had a more advanced hormonal cancer treatment.

And how many of our MD’s are trained in Mexico. I know a prof at Texas A&M School of Medicine who went to Med School in Mexico as did another friend of mine. We were just talking recently about how many US Docs are trained there.

 

[two_bit_score]

Doc would accept installment payments for all services.

How many Docs do you know who are setting up practices that don’t take insurance at all? Just pay a flat rate per year and all visits are included as well as most tests and some other things. I’ve thought about doing something like that but I’m afraid I would wind up getting sick.

I havent seen an MD for any professional reason in years. I take no meds. I even cut out Tylenol/Advil and only take Asprin occasionally. I see a Dentist but have never had a cavity. I also get my eyes checked every year.

 

[Torvy]

We will never see affordable health care until contingency attorneys are banned.

This!

Most people don't understand this important difference between the US and most other countries. Here, juries award millions for effectively unavoidable injury or death and the lawyers take huge cuts. This drives up the amount they sue for, which drives up the cost of whatever is in question. Those high jury awards also lead to companies settling before court to avoid this sort of thing. The average juror sees any company as a bottomless pit of cash.

Overall, the biggest reason our Healthcare is more expensive is our civil suit process. (The trial lawyers also have one of the strongest lobbying groups)

 

[gsganzer]

Obviously, I've been diving down this whole healthcare rabbit hole with some idle time, but some of the stats and trends I've come across are truly eye opening and frightening. We're obviously on a trend that's unsustainable with the costs still significantly outpacing inflation. One statistic I found was healthcare increase projections for Europe, out to 2050, are expected to be 0.8%/year. While the United States is projected to increase by 7.9% to 2028.

As many on here have pointed out, there's a myriad of issues that have created the problems. From lifestyle issues (obesity, diabetes), tort reform, direct marketing of drugs, admin costs, patent reform, regulatory requirements etc. etc. But one thing is becoming crystal clear, it's unsustainable and is on-track to bankrupt the US government.

I truly believe that any reform is going to require an effort on a scale unlike any other this country has ever undertaken. Or, maybe with these medshare and medical group plans, there might be a slow groundswell shift in how our healthcare is administered and paid, but it's doubtful.

 

[MattB4]

This!

Most people don't understand this important difference between the US and most other countries. Here, juries award millions for effectively unavoidable injury or death and the lawyers take huge cuts. This drives up the amount they sue for, which drives up the cost of whatever is in question. Those high jury awards also lead to companies settling before court to avoid this sort of thing. The average juror sees any company as a bottomless pit of cash.

Overall, the biggest reason our Healthcare is more expensive is our civil suit process. (The trial lawyers also have one of the strongest lobbying groups)

The average juror sees Insurance companies as bottomless pits of money. The whole problem we have is the Insurance industry. While the idea of insuring against catastrophic situations has some practical sense the practice of using insurance as the method to pay for most healthcare simply creates unbridled expense.

The stupidity of the issue is now such that people think Insurance is healthcare.

 

[gsganzer]

This!

Most people don't understand this important difference between the US and most other countries. Here, juries award millions for effectively unavoidable injury or death and the lawyers take huge cuts. This drives up the amount they sue for, which drives up the cost of whatever is in question. Those high jury awards also lead to companies settling before court to avoid this sort of thing. The average juror sees any company as a bottomless pit of cash.

Overall, the biggest reason our Healthcare is more expensive is our civil suit process. (The trial lawyers also have one of the strongest lobbying groups)

According to this Harvard study, medical liability costs account for 2.4%, or $55.6B. A large number, but not as large of a contributor as I might have thought.

Medical Liability Costs in US

 

[Torvy]

According to this Harvard study, medical liability costs account for 2.4%, or $55.6B. A large number, but not as large of a contributor as I might have thought.

Medical Liability Costs in US

Harvard 'study'. Where do the most powerful lawyers go to school? Oh, right, Harvard. Where do many of them end up? Government.

They discount a lot of the costs, not the least of which is a lower supply of doctors and other medical professionals due to the high costs.

 

[gsganzer]

Harvard 'study'. Where do the most powerful lawyers go to school? Oh, right, Harvard. Where do many of them end up? Government.

They discount a lot of the costs, not the least of which is a lower supply of doctors and other medical professionals due to the high costs.

Harvard has many schools, law, business, medical etc., but I understand your cynicism on published studies. They always have a bias. I try to look for trends among research from multiple outlets.

Here's a good article on how medical liability is handled in different countries. There's a section at the end that compares medical liability insurance costs in some Canadian and US cities. I was surprised by some of the differences in cost, even within the same country. But obviously the costs in the US are significantly higher and those costs are passed on to the patient. And it's another one of the "thousand papercuts" that impacts the US healthcare costs. In some of my other research, administration costs is one of the largest contributors, mainly due to our multi-payer system.

Medical Liability Insurance Differences

 

[shooterdon]

Obviously, I've been diving down this whole healthcare rabbit hole with some idle time, but some of the stats and trends I've come across are truly eye opening and frightening. We're obviously on a trend that's unsustainable with the costs still significantly outpacing inflation. One statistic I found was healthcare increase projections for Europe, out to 2050, are expected to be 0.8%/year. While the United States is projected to increase by 7.9% to 2028.

As many on here have pointed out, there's a myriad of issues that have created the problems. From lifestyle issues (obesity, diabetes), tort reform, direct marketing of drugs, admin costs, patent reform, regulatory requirements etc. etc. But one thing is becoming crystal clear, it's unsustainable and is on-track to bankrupt the US government.

I truly believe that any reform is going to require an effort on a scale unlike any other this country has ever undertaken. Or, maybe with these medshare and medical group plans, there might be a slow groundswell shift in how our healthcare is administered and paid, but it's doubtful.

There is almost no hope for our country. Too many lawyers, too much debt, too many people who do not want to work, too many government handouts, too complex a tax system, too many corrupt politicians, too much media collusion, a continued dumbing down of our "educational" system, weaponization of the alphabet agencies, massive numbers of illegal immigrants, and constant race baiting.

We will be a defeated by our enemies without them firing a shot.

 

[EddieWalker]

When my wife worked at the Hospital, she made good money, but when Obama Care changed everything, she realized that she needed to rethink things. The University didn't pay as well, but the hours where a lot better and their health insurance was a lot better then what she could get at the Hospital.

From what I understand, Blue Cross Blue Shield has a different plan that is only available for employees of the State of Texas. It is considered the best plan out there. It costs us $450 a month and includes Eye and Dental.

After changing careers and working at the University for a few years, my wife got Colon Cancer. She spent a total of 30 days in the hospital, did 3 rounds of Chemo that lasted for 48 hours each time, and did a total of 30 days of Radiation that got so bad that they had to take her there in an ambulance, then bring her back to the hospital after treatment. When it was all said and done, our out of pocket cost was $5,000 that we paid in small monthly payments.

Our meds have a $100 deductible at the beginning of the year, then they are covered with a small copay that varies depending on the medication. I only take one medication for high blood pressure that used to cost me $8.50 a month. I switched to Amazon for my meds and buying it from them with Prime, it's $8 a month instead of through my insurance.

I know that most people can't switch jobs, or get hired full time at a University, but if you can, it might be worthwhile just for the Insurance that you get that isn't available for everyone else. One of my clients went to work there in a part time position and has worked her way up to a full time position. She now gets the same Insurance, which is why she went to work there.

Since then, my wife has been asked to come back to the hospital several times. The pay would be a lot more, but so would the work load. But the money isn't worth the stress, or working yourself to death, which is why those positions constantly become available. Very few people last for very long doing those types of jobs. They also don't have as good of Insurance there, which is our priority in our late 50's.

I'm not saying that anybody should quit their job for better health care, but it should be something to think about if that option is available.