'in my parents day'

[Guest guest]

re: " Why is it that in my parent's day health insurance was paid for by

the employer? This is indeed rare today. "

perhaps it is....in my own father's day, his union benefits included

some insurance which was mandated by the agreement between the local and

the employer.

Later OSHA replaced some of those with legislative imprimatur and

mandated such as SAIF coverage. And the insurance cartel found more

efficient ways to gain a portion of more pocketbooks than relying on

just union members....make the entire population employed state, federal

or private jobs, seek the vaporous benefits....and package them as

'rights'....sure....lets get the government to buy the idea too...what

an idea! Everyone will be 'covered'....

This is not meant to be argumentative.

I noticed the last 2 office visits I personally have had were incredibly

expensive. One 45 minute consult was $266 for little more than a

perfunctory recap of recent history, an extremely shallow exam of less

than 4 minutes, and a large bill to the carrier....who decreased the

bill by $55....

A previous brief procedure (ok, there was superficial surgery with a

couple of stitches) billed at at close to $500...ever attentive carrier

decreased that to $361....whole thing took about 15 minute maximum....I

wonder what the government mandate would have amounted to....

In both cases, my fee paid for an assistant, a receptionist, some kind

of overhead for the large clinic, an untold cadre of attorneys, claims

writer-downers, phone people....the squirt of novocaine and a sharp

blade...at least it didn't require 4 months preauthorization....so I'm

contributing to the economic well being of those folks who now can buy

their own insurance....

If junior got hit by the bus....there's another separate insurance

bucket the family isn't paying for (directly) that will cover his

expenses in such a circumstance.

re: " People need assistance now. " People have always needed

assistance. My own grandfather had steam traction engines and before

that live horse teams. Injury and accident abounded there too. Blue

cross hadn't been around to take a piece of his paycheck.....but then,

he didn't have a paycheck, wonder if there's a correlation?

I tried to read the report Dr. Sears posted. Something was haywire with

the link and all I got was computer symbol gibberish.

We support a lot of collateral jobs in our system as it exists now. And

there must be a good profit in it, to hire all those folks to call us

and send email and faxes and letters telling us they can give us a lower

rate on our insurance.

In my area, the grass seed farmers bewail each legislative session that

might portend some change in their application of the farming art. They

bemoan the expense and the high overhead. Still, one and all, they

all resist changing what they. They are paying high insurance rates

too, especially after the smoke on the freeway killed a dozen motorists

a few years back.

Insurance seems to own downtown anywhere. How likely is it they will

cooperate in changing their largess to feed the beast of governmental

expansion?

I'd like to believe 'change is happening'. Show it to me.

J. Pedersen DC