America's Health System Will Likely Make the C****av***s Outbreak Worse
Mar 5, 2020 08:58:40 #
As government officials race to limit the spread of the new c****av***s, fundamental elements of the U.S. health care system—deductibles, networks, and a complicated insurance bureaucracy—that already make it tough for many Americans to afford medical care under normal conditions will likely make the outbreak worse.
More than 140 cases of the c****av***s have been confirmed in the United States so far, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker. But as the CDC makes the test for the v***s more widely available, the structure of the U.S. health care system is complicating the response.
For one, people must actually choose to get tested—a potentially expensive prospect for millions of Americans. While the government will cover the cost of testing for Medicaid and Medicare patients, and for tests administered at federal, state and local public health labs, it’s unclear how much patients will be charged for testing at academic or commercial facilities, or whether those facilities must be in patients’ insurance networks. Just recently, a Miami man received a $3,270.75 bill after going to the hospital feeling sick following a work trip to China. (He tested positive for the seasonal flu, so did not have the new c****av***s, and was sent home to recover.)
Trump Says the U.S. is 'Very, Very Ready' to Deal With C****av***s Outbreak
President Donald Trump is pushing back against criticism that his administration isn't doing enough to meet the c****av***s threat.
Play Video
Those who test positive for C****-** possibly face an even more financially harrowing path forward. Seeking out appropriate medical care or submitting to quarantines—critical in preventing the v***s from spreading further—both come with potentially astronomical price tags in the U.S. Last month, a Pennsylvania man received $3,918 in bills after being released from a mandatory U.S. government quarantine after he and his daughter were evacuated from China. (Both the Miami and Pennsylvania patients saw their bills decrease after journalists reported on them, but they still owe thousands.)
More than 27 million Americans currently do not have health insurance of any kind, and even more are underinsured. But those who do have adequate health insurance are hardly out of the woods. Many current health plans feature massive deductibles—the amount you have to spend each year before your insurance kicks in. In 2019, 82% of workers with health insurance through their employer had an annual deductible, up from 63% a decade ago, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average deductible for a single person with employer insurance has increased 162% in that time, from $533 in 2009 to $1,396 last year.
More than one quarter of employees, and nearly half of those at small companies, have an annual deductible of at least $2,000. Those who are covered by Obamacare marketplace plans face an even bigger hurdle: the average deductible for an individual bronze plan last year was $5,861, according to Health Pocket, a site that helps consumers shop for health insurance.
For many Americans, paying down an unexpected bill of that size is almost unthinkable. Nearly 40% of U.S. adults say they wouldn’t be able to cover a $400 emergency with cash, savings or a credit card they could easily pay off, according to the Federal Reserve.
Research has shown that even in non-outbreak situations, high deductibles lead people to reduce their spending on health care and delay treatment or prescription drugs, which can pose particularly tough problems for patients with chronic illness or diseases that need early detection. The timing of the new c****av***s at the beginning of the year makes the outlook even worse: because most deductibles reset each January, millions of Americans will be paying thousands out of pocket before their insurance companies pay a cent.
“Most likely most people haven’t started paying down their deductible,” explains Adrianna McIntyre, a health policy researcher at Harvard. “For care they seek, unless it’s covered as zero dollar coverage before the deductible, they could be on the hook for the full cost of their visit, the diagnostic testing and other costs related to seeking care or diagnosis of c****av***s.”
Half of Americans report that they or a family member have put off care in the past because they couldn’t afford it. Others have gone without care because they couldn’t find an in-network provider, or couldn’t determine how much care would cost in advance, so decided not to risk seeking medical attention.
For more go to.............................................
https://time.com/5794672/health-insurance-deductibles-c****av***s/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20200305&xid=newsletter-brief
More than 140 cases of the c****av***s have been confirmed in the United States so far, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker. But as the CDC makes the test for the v***s more widely available, the structure of the U.S. health care system is complicating the response.
For one, people must actually choose to get tested—a potentially expensive prospect for millions of Americans. While the government will cover the cost of testing for Medicaid and Medicare patients, and for tests administered at federal, state and local public health labs, it’s unclear how much patients will be charged for testing at academic or commercial facilities, or whether those facilities must be in patients’ insurance networks. Just recently, a Miami man received a $3,270.75 bill after going to the hospital feeling sick following a work trip to China. (He tested positive for the seasonal flu, so did not have the new c****av***s, and was sent home to recover.)
Trump Says the U.S. is 'Very, Very Ready' to Deal With C****av***s Outbreak
President Donald Trump is pushing back against criticism that his administration isn't doing enough to meet the c****av***s threat.
Play Video
Those who test positive for C****-** possibly face an even more financially harrowing path forward. Seeking out appropriate medical care or submitting to quarantines—critical in preventing the v***s from spreading further—both come with potentially astronomical price tags in the U.S. Last month, a Pennsylvania man received $3,918 in bills after being released from a mandatory U.S. government quarantine after he and his daughter were evacuated from China. (Both the Miami and Pennsylvania patients saw their bills decrease after journalists reported on them, but they still owe thousands.)
More than 27 million Americans currently do not have health insurance of any kind, and even more are underinsured. But those who do have adequate health insurance are hardly out of the woods. Many current health plans feature massive deductibles—the amount you have to spend each year before your insurance kicks in. In 2019, 82% of workers with health insurance through their employer had an annual deductible, up from 63% a decade ago, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average deductible for a single person with employer insurance has increased 162% in that time, from $533 in 2009 to $1,396 last year.
More than one quarter of employees, and nearly half of those at small companies, have an annual deductible of at least $2,000. Those who are covered by Obamacare marketplace plans face an even bigger hurdle: the average deductible for an individual bronze plan last year was $5,861, according to Health Pocket, a site that helps consumers shop for health insurance.
For many Americans, paying down an unexpected bill of that size is almost unthinkable. Nearly 40% of U.S. adults say they wouldn’t be able to cover a $400 emergency with cash, savings or a credit card they could easily pay off, according to the Federal Reserve.
Research has shown that even in non-outbreak situations, high deductibles lead people to reduce their spending on health care and delay treatment or prescription drugs, which can pose particularly tough problems for patients with chronic illness or diseases that need early detection. The timing of the new c****av***s at the beginning of the year makes the outlook even worse: because most deductibles reset each January, millions of Americans will be paying thousands out of pocket before their insurance companies pay a cent.
“Most likely most people haven’t started paying down their deductible,” explains Adrianna McIntyre, a health policy researcher at Harvard. “For care they seek, unless it’s covered as zero dollar coverage before the deductible, they could be on the hook for the full cost of their visit, the diagnostic testing and other costs related to seeking care or diagnosis of c****av***s.”
Half of Americans report that they or a family member have put off care in the past because they couldn’t afford it. Others have gone without care because they couldn’t find an in-network provider, or couldn’t determine how much care would cost in advance, so decided not to risk seeking medical attention.
For more go to.............................................
https://time.com/5794672/health-insurance-deductibles-c****av***s/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20200305&xid=newsletter-brief
Mar 5, 2020 09:15:00 #
The "regular" flu k**ls 10,000s of people every year in tn US. Will be Carona be worse? Nobody knows. But 1 thing that what we have in our favor is warmer weather. The flu deminishes as the weather warms up. Spring is about 3 weeks away and it starts warming up. It's just a guess, but we may have cought a break due to the time of year that Carona happened
Mar 5, 2020 09:55:08 #
Elaine2025
Loc: Seattle, Wa
Kraken wrote:
As government officials race to limit the spread o... (show quote)
Another leftie post Krackhead, how many is that today?
Mar 5, 2020 10:01:36 #
boberic wrote:
The "regular" flu k**ls 10,000s of people every year in tn US. Will be Carona be worse? Nobody knows. But 1 thing that what we have in our favor is warmer weather. The flu deminishes as the weather warms up. Spring is about 3 weeks away and it starts warming up. It's just a guess, but we may have cought a break due to the time of year that Carona happened
This is not the flu.
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