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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
More than 45% of non-elderly adults with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) report financial hardship due to the associated medical bills, according to a Yale research team. Worse still, about one in five report being unable to pay those medical bills at all, said the researchers.
This study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
According to the study, which was scaled up from the data sample provided by the 2013-2017 National Health Interview Survey, the non-elderly American adults with ASCVD experiencing medical bill-related financial hardship represents an estimated 3.9 million individuals.
"It is remarkably disheartening to see how many people suffer severe financial adverse effects of having atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease," said Harlan Krumholz, M.D., Yale cardiologist and director of the Yale Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE). "We have much work to do to ensure that people are spared the financial toxicity of disease that is imposed by our current healthcare system."
Of the group who indicated financial hardship, more than one in three reported that they have also experienced significant financial distress, cut back on purchasing basic necessities like food, and/or skimped on taking essential but costly medications in response to the burden of their medical bills.
Materials provided by Yale University.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 17 2019, @07:03AM (1 child)
That borders on preposterous.
I'm somewhat of a cheapskate, and I understand that paying for a new car is anything other than cheap. It depreciates immediately after driving it off the new car lot. The shine doesn't make it ride any more comfortably, doesn't make it go any faster. If I want to maintain that new car warranty, I'm obliged to take it back to the dealer for routine, regular maintenance. I have a lot of money invested in that new car, so I pay for the best insurance. Unless I've financed the new car, in which case the bank demands that I pay for the best insurance. New cars and cheapskates don't go together.
In the case of health insurance and medical care, we in the US pay for the best - but we get second or third hand goods. That really offends the cheapskate in me.
Until Obama-care was passed, I payed exorbitant prices for health care. When Obama-care passed, I paid exorbitant +15% prices. In the years since Obama-care passed, it has gone up to exorbitant +25% prices. And, I've gained NOTHING in service. If anything, I've lost services. Doctors have refused my insurance card, so I must drive further to see doctors who do accept my insurance card. Copay has increased, and the annual max on copay has increased.
Overall, I've been raped by our existing system, and it only promises to get worse.
Canadians seem to be content, even happy with their system. Going back to the car analogy, they appear to pay for a second-hand car, and get a second-hand car. They don't pay for new, and get a third-hand car.
Of course, the insurance isn't the whole story. We have to take that dishonest insurance industry, factor in a crooked pharmaceuticals industry, multiply by less-than-honest hospital administrations, add the medical professionals, and last but not least, add some fudge factor for crooked politicians who profit off the whole damned thing.
We're being fucked, plain and simple. We pay higher prices than anyone in the WORLD, for mediocre care.
Oh, if you're a congress critter, or you're filthy rich, or you have connections, you can get the best care in the world, right here in the states. But, all the rest of us, who are paying new-car prices, are still riding ragged out jalopies.
You want to talk about justice? Really? Where's the justice in our present set-up?
Everyone on this site knows that I'm generally opposed to socialism. I'm most definitely opposed to communism. But, when the entire world has more equitable health care than we have, it's time to admit that our capitalism is just plain broken. (Note that I said "equitable", not "better" health care. Tribes in the rainforests may have shitty healthcare, but they aren't charged for Cadillac care.)
Another note on health care. Those poorest among us are the worst burden on health care. They don't pay anything for it, but when they are sick or injured, they go the Emergency Room. They can't be turned away, but they are utilizing the most expensive portion of our health care system. Given single payer, the poorest would pay nothing or close to nothing, but they would have access to *REAL* health care. Doctor's office visits are far, far, FAR cheaper than emergency room visits. Actual care and prevention is cheaper than crisis intervention by orders of magnitude.
It would save money for YOU, as well as me, and every other taxpayer and insurance buyer in this country. Think about it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 17 2019, @06:26PM
Yea, the US health care system is capitalistic, not riddled with government intervention at all...