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Old 05-30-2003, 05:19 PM   #27
Azred
Drow Priestess
 

Join Date: March 13, 2001
Location: a hidden sanctorum high above the metroplex
Age: 55
Posts: 4,037
Question Mark

Quote:
Originally posted by Timber Loftis:
Finally, insurance. This is supposed to solve it in theory. I must admit, I go to the dentist and don't pay one red cent. Of course, I'm on my wife's very nice government employee insurance policy. The problem is that not all employers offer group insurance policies and that insurance companies treat you like s**t if you don't have a group policy. I think a lot of the USA's health care woes stem not from privatization of health care, but from the insurance companies holding so much power over employers, doctors, and the insured.

Unfortunately, this is not entirely true. There are plenty of places to find affordable insurance without being covered under a group policy. In fact, you and your family will be better off finding insurance on your own rather than trying to rely on some sort of group insurance.
Some of the insurance companies' problems stem from an increase in lawsuits brought by those who, although they are in you own estimable profession, are *ahem* "less than reputable" and from outright fraud. The rest comes from those in the insurance industry not properly investing the money collected through premium payments to cover future losses and keeping costs down.


For instance, and Attalus might be kind enough to confirm this, a doctor wanting to perform surgery on a patient typically has to make sure the operation is covered under insurance. It may be common knowledge that it will be, but in many instances, the Dr's staff must call up the insurer and ask if it is covered. So, the question as to whether or not a patient *needs* a surgery falls not to the Dr. but rather to some snotty-nosed 19-yr-old who works for a subcontractor fielding phone calls for the insurance company and cross-referencing Dr. requests with some matrix of "covered surgeries." [img]graemlins/dontknowaboutyou.gif[/img]

I don't doubt that this may occur, but usually everyone knows well before surgery what is and is not covered. In cases of emergency, these things are worked out at the earliest available opportunity.

...at which point the insurance company can tell the person "no way" [img]graemlins/firedevil.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]
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