Он работал всю жизнь на кэш, ничего не показывал. Если существующая система так позаботилась об этом человеке, чем она плоха?
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Тем что тому кто работал бы всю жизнь на чек, не скрывая ничего, но не смог себе позволить купить страховку, она (система) бы не помогла... И нам (taxpayers), все таки, будет дешевле оплачивать или субсидировать страховку малоимущим, чем потом платить за их медицинские расходы.

Right, Oleg... this guy was poor on paper. When you are poor in this country ( legally poor or like this guy) - you are taken care of. And then there are working poor. People who work honestly, and even make more or less reasonable living, but , as Lina said, medical expenses are prohibitive for them. I see this every day. Somebody's employer changes polity to a "high deductible" and people think twice about going to see a doctor. Just today I saw a kid who was walking with fractured arm for 4 days while his mom was thinking whether his pain was severe enough to see a doctor. They have this high deductible account, pay $600 per month for a family of 4, and now she has to pay about $ 300 for this fracture....Ridiculous, don't you think?

Ему-то как раз эта система помогла, так как он всю жизнь работал на кеш, ничего не показывал, даже имел официальное банкротство. То есть, за ним ничего не числилось, официально конечно. Он не платил и поимел. Так почти половина нашиx имигрантов живет, ничего не платя, ничего не показывая, работая на кеш, получая велфер. Тогда им дают Медик Эйд, лечат, и оформляют на тот свет за деньги теx, кто платит. Дети иx учатся в коледже за государственные гранты. А вы попробуйте получить эти гранты когда у вас доxод $50К в год или выше. Только заем. Мое мнение, теперешняя система не лучше, трутней которые её доят - полно. Беда с Обамовским законом в том, что на него просто нет денег. И не будет в обозримом будушем. И работы надо вернуть в страну, а то одной работой денежнопечатного станка "дырку" можно селать еще больше. А так мы щедро поделились своим богатством с арабами и китайцами. А на ниx все мы не заработали. И не заработаем уже.

They have this high deductible account, pay $600 per month for a familyof 4, and now she has to pay about $ 300 for thisfracture....Ridiculous, don't you think?
Why is it ridiculous? People would pay $300 without even blinking to take a pet to a doctor.

Maria, people don't pay $6-10K /yr for pet insurance. In fact, my pet insurance costs me $80/yr:-) . And I only got it once, when anticipated some pet related expense.:-) It saved me $160. You can't do this with "human" insurance. And, I'm sure those folks wouldn't mind paying $300 if they didn't already pay $600X 7 months. Their insurance only will save them money if they will get some devastating disease, G-d forbid.

have no idea how many times it has to b repeated - that the ins. co's profit is ~3.5%.. if the policy costs that much, it's because it covers a lot of expensive treatments (and $300 is a fraction of the cost).. we are over-insured, we don't policy that covers "oil-change" and every scratch (we should pay it out of our pockets, and use ins. for really expensive stuff).. yes, medicine is expensive, but so is everything else.. and people who make a living in healthcare should not be surprised..

have no idea how many times it has to b repeated - that the ins. co'sprofit is ~3.5%.. if the policy costs that much, it's because it coversa lot of expensive treatments (and $300 is a fraction of the cost)..
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you can repeat till you're blue in the face (even draw pictures, if you so please), but if the informationpresented fails to make sense (all insurance companies' profit iscoincidentally 3%?), or is not perceived as credible, nobody willlisten. what some here fail to comprehend, is that numbers in thefinancial statements are easily manipulated, and insurance companies (and other corporations)will under-report their profits when doing so is fiscally advantageous.the policy might cover a lot of expensive treatments, but if youcompare what the patients paid in premiums against the benefitsreceived, the insurance company comes out as the obvious winner in this situation.

unless you're one of the accountants responsible for compling their financial statements, you couldn't say with any kind of cetrainty that that the numbers they report is an accurate representation of their annual profits. even independent auditors can be deceived.

what I'm trying to say - is when you are a family on the fixed budget, with a bunch of kids and lots of expenses, like most of the working class , as well as middle class, any rhetoric is just that - rhetoric. You don't care about what portion of what you need to pay is anybody's profit, and whatever, you care about thousands of dollars you have to pay upfront, even before your insurance kicks in. That's about it. To insurance Co. your $300 is whatever idiotic term they use on paper to call it, to you - it's your $300 out of pocket, now. I simply find it embarrasing that in this country when you come to the hospital, the first question is: what is your insurance? - not "what can we do to help you" ( unless you are unconscious or bleeding all over the floor:-D )

Why is it embarassing? When you come to an hotel, one of the first things they say is ask you for your credit card. Same at a car rental counter or an airline counter. You won't get any service at any of those places unless you present means of payment upfront (and mind you, full payment, directly from you to them, without any delay - not a promise that after weeks or months after doing a lot of paperwork they will finally get a reduced payment and then will have to send you bills for your part, which you may or may not pay promptly). The difference is the hospital will treat you anyway if you are in a threatening condition, and other places won't provide their services without payment no matter how desperately you need them.