So I came across this post somewhere and the title was "25 Shocking Facts That Prove That The Entire U.S. Health Care Industry Has Become One Giant Money Making Scam"
... Uh Oh, looks like we just broke open the conspiracy. So anyways, my dad being a doctor and listening to him talk about this whole deal...a lot, I have a somewhat informed knowledge on health care plus I try to read about it as much as possible instead of just accepting the popular notion that Hospitals are robbing us blind. That said, this is article as more misleading than probably any I had ever before read. Even forgetting the tone and obvious lean of the writing, (You mean that title isn't bipartisan?) the facts, while true (and I'm trusting the writer on that) display absolutely nothing fascinating or "shocking" about health care or any institution for the most part... I'll take ya through some good ones. Let's kick it off with number one...
#1 The chairman of Aetna, the third largest health insurance company in the United States, brought in a staggering $68.7 million during 2010. Ron Williams exercised stock options that were worth approximately $50.3 million and he raked in an additional $18.4 million in wages and other forms of compensation. The funny thing is that he left the company and didn't even work the whole year.
-WAIT! you mean a chairman of an enormous company made a shitload of money! NO WAY...AND he didn't work for the entire year after he quit! you mean he got to keep the stock and some extra benefits after he quit?? I think I get to keep my 401k and some extra shit if I quit too...I'm not arguing that he doesnt get paid too much, but it's a business, they can pay the chairman whatever the profits allow....if this was about the CEO of a bank, car company, or oil company, this isn't even an interesting fact, let alone shocking.
#2 The top executives at the five largest for-profit health insurance companies in the United States combined to receive nearly $200 million in total compensation in 2009.
-See above answer...this is barely a separate fact at all. HOLY SHIT the top execs at the 5 largest FOR PROFIT health insurance companies average 40 mil a year....well the top guy at one of the largest for profit software companies makes 3.7 BILLION a year...where's the shocking facts on that guy and how software is a money grubbing scam. Computers are basically a necessity now also right?
#3 One study found that approximately 41 percent of working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.
-not that shocking...i bet the amount of people that are paying off credit card debt is a lot higher...credit card bastards...
#5,7,9 - we probably shouldn't rely on info that talks about rising rates that came during the worst economic recession at least since the 70s....rates rise when companies are losing money and people are faulting on loans...that might have skewed some numbers....
#11 Why are c-sections on the rise? It is because a vaginal delivery costs approximately $5,992 on average, while a c-section costs approximately $8,558 on average.
- and the person delivering has no control over which they get? While some c-sections are needed, and some doctors may always suggest the c-section, a mother does have a pretty big say in what they do.
#12 Since 2003, health insurance companies have shelled out more than $42 million in state-level campaign contributions.
-OH man....collectively health care companies give about 4mil a year to campaigns...Wait...that's not much at all. AT&T gave about half that BY ITSELF in 10 years, while the Laborers union, National Education Assc., Teamsters Union, Citigroup, the American Federaton of Teachers, and many other averaged about 15mil each over the same 10 yr span. Why aren't those shocking?
#14 There were more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies that made over a billion dollars in profits in 2008.
- Ummmmm...sure it would be great to get free meds and cure everyone, but it is a business...Sorry everyone, medicine is a business that has to go through trials, testing, licencing, patenting and support millions of employees every year. To think that they don't have gigantic profits means you aren't thinking about the companies logically, as companies...or you realize they are companies, but see medicine as a commodity that people have the right to obtain without someone making money of their creation...
#15 Each year, tens of billions of dollars is spent on pharmaceutical marketing in the United States alone.
- Same as chips, cigarettes, alcohol, cars and pretty much everything else that is popular.
#16 Nearly half of all Americans now use prescription drugs on a regular basis according to a CDC report that was just released. According to the report, approximately one-third of all Americans use two or more pharmaceutical drugs, and more than ten percent of all Americans use five or more prescription drugs on a regular basis.
- well we have more drugs to treat more problems than ever before. We have more old people than ever before. We have more people willing to try to cure something instead of letting it run it's course, and we have more and more parents who decide that drugs are better than therapy, time, or caring in general...
#17 According to the CDC, approximately three quarters of a million people a year are rushed to emergency rooms in the United States because of adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs.
-So its a conspiracy to put out drugs that cause reactions so we can make money from curing the reactions? Oh....and don't 1/2 of some...350 million americans take precription drugs? that's 750,000 out of 175 million, plus another couple tens of millions that have effects from over the counter....that's a pretty inefficient conspiracy.
#19 Lawyers are certainly doing their part to contribute to soaring health care costs. According to one recent study, the medical liability system in the United States added approximately $55.6 billion to the cost of health care in 2008.
- wait, so now it's not the medical communities fault? I thought this was about how the medical business is screwing us...this fact is shocking, sort of, but should be under the title 25 Shocking Facts That Prove That U.S. Lawyers Have Become One Giant Money Making Scam.
#22 It is estimated that hospitals overcharge Americans by about 10 billion dollars every single year.
#23 One trained medical billing advocate says that over 90 percent of the medical bills that she has audited contain "gross overcharges".
#24 It is not uncommon for insurance companies to get hospitals to knock their bills down by up to 95 percent, but if you are uninsured or you don't know how the system works then you are out of luck.
-These three go together since....you can completely wipe-out the first two by informing your yourself. according to the third, all you need to do is do some investigating into why you owe as much as you do. I get charged all the time by my bank for things that aren't legit and I call them, complain, and get my money back. Take responsibility for knowing what you are paying for...don't be lazy and assume ANY business is looking out for your financial well-being...they don't and they don't need to
Ok...so the rest of the facts in there I either don't know enough about to comment on or are actually valid facts. Before you get your panties in an uproar, The rest of the article is actually pretty fair. The system has become too easy to manipulate by a small group while affecting a gigantic group. Everyone sees the money on the table and a lot of people are swarming in to take it. However, it's nothing new...thats the whole idea of capitalism, make money off other people. The problem is that this product is necessary for everyone and needs to be affordable...it's become too distant from competition and medical companies can charge whatever they want. There's a lot wrong with medicine in this country, but that doesn't mean it's a giant scam. It's a huge industry with no real competition...simple as that.
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