Caps on health care

[dimetime]

A rather small number of U.S residents who have chronic illnesses which are reaching the lifetime benefits cap which is one million dollars (standard for many insurance policies). Those who reach these limits are now facing medical bills which are in the hundreds of thousands or more.
This forces the families to turn to the goverment for help, search for better paying jobs, or some have even gotten divorces just to make it possible to qualify for new health insurance.
For those who have gone above the lifetime cap of insurance has been ignored in debates over overhauling the health care system in the U.S. Overhauling the health care system would focus on the expansion of the uninsured. Certain advocates for chronically ill patients plan to lauch a lobby to get lawmakers to increase the benefits limit of the lifetime benefits cap.They are hoping to get the caps increased to as much as ten million dollars. Advocates say the amount of most caps has not been increased in decades and has not kept up health care inflation. With the high costs of new therapies and treatments people will be reaching their benefits limits alot faster and that means very high health care bills.
For those who have a private insurance dont have this low cap to deal with, but there are enough people who do have these low caps to make it a large problem.
Though some say that increasing the caps wont address the real problem of people getting the value of every dollar spent on health care. There must be a way for private sectors and the public to work together to shore up mechanisms which are used to pay for the high cost of treatments, in other words there has to be a way to help the people with high costs of health care. The need for addressing the costs for health care directly are a must.

[moneysense]

With the cost of medical care, and especially the cost of having to be in the hospital, it doesnt take long for the costs to go up.

Once again, it is all about the type of coverage you can afford. Which is very unfair to the people that cant obtain private health insurance.

If someone is in a car accident, and critically injured and has to have surgery, then spend any amount of time in the Intensive Care Unit, then on a regular hospital floor, and later have physical therapy and special care, the amounts can reach the upper limits in a hurry.

I believe that the whole health care system needs to be reevaluated and especially the health care insurance that is available. And yes, the limits should be higher as those were probably set back during a time when things were not as expensive as they are now.

[dollardaze]

I agree that our healthcare system needs a complete overhaul. No longer are our doctors the judge of whether we need to be admitted to a hospital, or whether we need to stay in a hospital room for another day or two. Now our insurance company tells us if we need surgery, hospital care and when we must be discharged.........whether our doctor agrees or not.

I think our present way of dealing with healthcare in this country is very unjust. Too many people have no healthcare coverage at all, and others have way too little. This issue really upsets me. It's time for all Americans to have healthcare, not just the rich and the very poor.

[moneysense]

Yes, I agree with you. Plus the fact that they now do more outpatient surgeries than ever before and still the costs are overwhelming and thats without a stay in the hospital.

Then you have hospital charges, charges for pre-anesthetic visits, doctor charges, then the actual anestheologist, and the operating room itself. And these charges really add up.

It is unfair for the middle class to not have any health insurance at all. It is unaffordable to us and what insurance we can get may be a cut above what the very poor get but a lot less than the insurance that the wealthy can afford.

[pennypinch]

I am sure these caps get reached very quickly for many patients. Think about what it costs you just to have a normal physical at the doctors office. Can you imagine what it would cost to have multiple surgeries, many hospital stays, continuous medicine and so on? The bills would be enormous and $ 1 mil would only be a drop in a bucket. Not only does insurance need a major overhauling but the actual costs need to be brought down. Why does it cost $120 for a doctor to look at a child's throat and then write out a script for anti-biotics? The actual visit with the doctor takes about 3 minutes! The costs are crazy in my opinion!

[dimetime]

I would love it if we could get to the point where health care is free. I believe that if Canada can do it, why cant we? It is aweful that many people, especially the elderly take a bus trip to Canada every month just to fill their perscriptions because it saves them so much money. This even includes the cost of going to Canada. I mean it should not be this way, it should not cost $150 or more just for a few minutes of time visiting a doctor. Something needs to be done and done soon. Millions of people have no insurance at all or have so little that they suffer out of fear of what it will cost them.