My dad got a very aggresive cancer and had to go directly to begin radiation the same week for him to have a prayer in hell that he would survive.You amend your application, of course!
You do that now for other forms of assistance, if you suddenly need help in the middle of the year.
Do you see that the plan provides for help? Where do you see an obstacle to updating requests for help?Do you see any problems with your plan in this situation? Assume the situation of the person making much less money than last year (just enough to make frugal living expenses) at the time of their diagnosis.
Is there going to be a 24/7 storefront on every block for people to refile and get an answer within 20 minutes? A phone line with no wait time that will give an answer in 20 minutes? What if the answer is still “no”?Do you see that the plan provides for help? Where do you see an obstacle to updating requests for help?
My mother died of beast cancer in 1967 and my father of heart and kidney failure in 1969 – both before Medicare. As a result, everything they has was gobbled up by medical expenses.Again…. Sounds like you don’t have first hand experience of being in that type of situation where time is of the essence and the individual has no resources.
Make Medicare universal. Increase the medicare tax and apply it to all forms of income. Establish what is essential medical care. Have Medicare cover that. Prohibit Medicare from paying for abortions or birth control or sterilizations (not included in the abortion/contraception ban would be hormone pills that treat a medical condition like endometriosis or a sterilization like a hysterectomy that is done for a medical reason, or even a pregnancy termination done for a grave medical reason like an ectopic pregnancy). Every citizen will have medicare from birth to death. Every citizen will have their Medicare delivered through a non-profit program run by an insurance company that is regulated by the government. People will also have the option to purchase supplemental coverage (even for profit) from their insurance company, but emergencies, chronic illnesses, regular checkups, and catastrophic medical problems like organ failure, cancer treatment, or getting hit by a bus will be covered at no out of pocket cost or a very small out of pocket cost.Then how DO you propose to pay? Are you not responsible for yourself and family? Shouldn’t you pay for your own needs, if you can?
How is that different from “those who can pay should pay” except that a large and expensive bureaucracy is injected into the system?Make Medicare universal. Increase the medicare tax and apply it to all forms of income.
Nope. Medicare was introduced in 1965. Harry and Bess Truman were the first two people enrolled.My mother died of beast cancer in 1967 and my father of heart and kidney failure in 1969 – both before Medicare. As a result, everything they has was gobbled up by medical expenses.
My parents didn’t get a penny and had to sell the ranch.Nope. Medicare was introduced in 1965. Harry and Bess Truman were the first two people enrolled.
The 60’s were a much different time. My mother delivered my brother at a large hospital in 1968 and was hospitalized for four days. There were some complications. The bill was $835. Even when adjusted for inflation and today’s dollar, you wouldn’t even get a half day hospital stay for that , let alone a birth.My mother died of beast cancer in 1967 and my father of heart and kidney failure in 1969 – both before Medicare. As a result, everything they has was gobbled up by medical expenses.
When you assume what another person’s experiences and thoughts are, you aren’t talking to that person any more, you’re talking to an imaginary person who lives only in you own mind.
It is a bureaucracy that already exists, and it would eliminate every other government insurance program and it would standardize every health insurance company’s basic benefits plan, which will make a huge cut in administrative costs. The Federal government already pays around 50% of the US bill for medical care. Add states and local governments, you have about 60%. In Canada, the government pays for everyone, and only pays 70%-75% of the bill (the rest is private supplemental coverage).How is that different from “those who can pay should pay” except that a large and expensive bureaucracy is injected into the system?
They could have if they were over 65. The whole point of medicare was so that elderly people weren’t bankrupted by medical costs, which was a major problem in the pre-medicare era.My parents didn’t get a penny and had to sell the ranch.
No, not evil. Wasteful and inefficient. But you do understand what advertising is, don’t you? Think about what is advertised most : cars, beer, makeup, drugs… How many ads have you seen for Honda Accords or Toyota Camrys lately? None, right? And how many for Lincoln, Cadillac, Ford pickups, etc.? Every other commercial. Ever wonder why? Advertising 101: You advertise goods that are nearly identical in order to create a fiction in the customers’ minds that the goods are somehow classy, effective, or popular. It’s all about perception. Nothing to do with the actual worth of the products. And that’s why drug companies advertise directly to the consumer–to create an impression: “Ask you doctor if hardened beeswax is right for you!” Please. Don’t fall for it.Lawyers also advertise. And automobile makers. Does that make them evil?
I think that one answers itself. Are you kidding me? These are the same companies who are sending me bills almost two years after a procedure, and somehow they are going to be lightning fast to update my file? Please.Do you see that the plan provides for help? Where do you see an obstacle to updating requests for help?
How is that different from “those who can pay should pay” except that a large and expensive bureaucracy is injected into the system?
Yup. And worse. Haven’t you read about all those common drugs that are no longer common simply because the drug companies refuse to make them? They’re not very profitable. And their criterion for manufacturing is like any other corporation: what product brings in the most contribution (to use MBA language) or profit (to use a common term)? Can you see the boardroom where some VP raises his hand and says “You know, drug xyz isn’t very profitable, but it will help 20 million people.” You know what that guy is called, right? Two things: Not a team player and unemployed.The problem is that Pharma won’t develop non profitable drugs, especially for those rare diseases.
There are a lot of articles, but https://www.researchamerica.org/sites/default/files/2016US_Invest_R&D_report.pdf gives you the breakdown for 2015: industry, 64.7%; federal gov., 22.62%; universities 5.45%; then misc. organizations.Does anyone know how much drug research is by Pharma vs government money vs university research?
You’re talking apples and oranges. The VA owns its own hospitals, and the doctors are employees of the VA. The VA is chronically under-funded, we all know that.Just look at the VA hospitals and tell me it’s a good idea to involve the government.
Correct on #1. Each company can set its own accounting policies. There is no standard, except that you can’t do it one way one year and another way the next year. You have to be consistent. And you have to follow FASB rules, which are pretty loose.Because there is no standard accepted way to account for the cost. How do you charge R&D for a drug that didn’t pan out?
Absolutely. The bottom line is sacred!The method used is to see how it affects the bottom line.
Let’s check that one out…let’s look at statistics from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations ( Pharmaceutical R&D expenditure in Europe, USA and Japan )Nevertheless, R&D in Europe has dropped dramatically, and THAT is the point.