As recently as 1981, only 8 percent of families filing for bankruptcy cited medical reasons. By 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was passed, medical bankruptcy was all-to-common. A 2009 study by Himmelstein et al, published in The American Journal of Medicine, revealed that 62.1% of all bankruptcies had a medical cause.Hospital bills were the largest single out-of-pocket expense for 48.0% of patients, prescription drugs for 18.6%, doctors’ bills for 15.1%, and premiums for 4.1%. The remainder cited expenses such as medical equipment and nursing homes. While hospital costs loomed largest for all diagnostic groups, for about one third of patients with pulmonary, cardiac, or psychiatric illnesses, prescription drugs were the largest expense.The New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation recently did a survey and found:

… roughly 20 percent of people under 65 with health insurance nonetheless reported having problems paying their medical bills over the last year. By comparison 53 percent of people without health insurance said the same.
A study last year by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that companies are shifting health care costs to their employees. Workers' share of health insurance premiums for their families rose 83 percent from 2005 to 2015, the survey shows. The amount employees had to pay for deductibles for individual insurance increased 255 percent from 2006 to 2015. The increases are far higher than growth in workers' wages.Medicare, like more and more health plans, leaves lot of expenses for patients to cover, says Drew Altman, CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

"The public perception may be that, because Medicare is so popular, it is gold-plated Cadillac coverage," Altman says. "But people who are on Medicare know that those costs can really bite."

Altman says Obamacare has given nearly everyone in the U.S. access to health care. About 89 percent of people now have insurance in some form, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The financial vulnerabilities reflect the high cost of health care in the United States, the most expensive place in the world to get sick.BreakDownMedicalCosts.jpg

Originally Posted by Guest

As recently as 1981, only 8 percent of families filing for bankruptcy cited medical reasons. By 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was passed, medical bankruptcy was all-to-common. A 2009 study by Himmelstein et al, published in The American Journal of Medicine, revealed that 62.1% of all bankruptcies had a medical cause.Hospital bills were the largest single out-of-pocket expense for 48.0% of patients, prescription drugs for 18.6%, doctors’ bills for 15.1%, and premiums for 4.1%. The remainder cited expenses such as medical equipment and nursing homes. While hospital costs loomed largest for all diagnostic groups, for about one third of patients with pulmonary, cardiac, or psychiatric illnesses, prescription drugs were the largest expense.The New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation recently did a survey and found:

… roughly 20 percent of people under 65 with health insurance nonetheless reported having problems paying their medical bills over the last year. By comparison 53 percent of people without health insurance said the same.
A study last year by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that companies are shifting health care costs to their employees. Workers' share of health insurance premiums for their families rose 83 percent from 2005 to 2015, the survey shows. The amount employees had to pay for deductibles for individual insurance increased 255 percent from 2006 to 2015. The increases are far higher than growth in workers' wages.Medicare, like more and more health plans, leaves lot of expenses for patients to cover, says Drew Altman, CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

"The public perception may be that, because Medicare is so popular, it is gold-plated Cadillac coverage," Altman says. "But people who are on Medicare know that those costs can really bite."

Altman says Obamacare has given nearly everyone in the U.S. access to health care. About 89 percent of people now have insurance in some form, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The financial vulnerabilities reflect the high cost of health care in the United States, the most expensive place in the world to get sick.Attachment 66551

Bye Bye Obammacare, Good riddance!! My healthcare went from $750 a month to $1300 a month...I don't want to provide healthcare for the lazy!!

Originally Posted by dirtbanker

Bye Bye Obammacare, Good riddance!! My healthcare went from $750 a month to $1300 a month...I don't want to provide healthcare for the lazy!!

Want free Medicaid.... work... build a wall. ... lol

Originally Posted by Guest

Bye Bye Obammacare, Good riddance!! My healthcare went from $750 a month to $1300 a month...I don't want to provide healthcare for the lazy!!

looks like you will pay even more.....and laziness has nothing to do with it...we all get sick or injured

1. Sicker sign-ups

In Tennessee, marketplace enrollees were a lot less healthy than insurers expected when they set their original rates in 2013. Covering their claims costs insurers a lot — so much that companies like BlueCross BlueShield lost millions of dollars in the first few years of the exchange. Raising the price of insurance is part of balancing how much it costs to insure these individuals.

Many people who use the marketplace to find coverage were previously uninsured. Before the Affordable Care Act, insurers were able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, which means if they didn’t have insurance at work, they weren’t able to find coverage at all. For example, an independent contractor with diabetes, or a part-time retail worker with pulmonary disease, might be denied coverage before the ACA.

A lot of people in that situation went without health insurance for many years, and their current state of health is not good. Many of these people are very expensive to cover now that they can get health insurance on the exchange.

2. Inflation of medical claims

Health insurance is used to pay for medical claims. Doctors and other providers submit claims to your insurer every time they perform a service for you, whether it’s a check-up, MRI or surgery. As the cost of performing those services gets more expensive, insurance has to get more expensive to cover it.

The prices of goods always rise as the economy grows, and health care is no exception. In fact, health care costs generally rise much faster than inflation. Specifically, health insurance costs in 2015 rose nearly 5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the economy as a whole grew just 2.4 percent.

3. Consumers are still learning

So why are health care costs rising so fast? That’s a tough question to answer succinctly. One reason is that patients are still learning how to act like consumers. Some people do not use healthcare responsibly or cost-effectively, and this raises prices for the whole system. These are people who go to the emergency room for non-emergencies, or people who do not receive preventive care in a timely manner.

The uninsured rate has an impact on this, too. Many people who do not have insurance cannot afford to manage their conditions, like asthma or diabetes. They might not visit the doctor for check-ups or be able to afford to buy their insulin. Then they wind up in the ER in a diabetic coma, which costs a lot more to treat. These are just individual examples, but they happen every day, and it adds up.

All of this culminates in pricey premiums for consumers. Without drastic change to how people use insurance and health care, prices are likely to keep rising.

- See more at: Three reasons for rising health insurance premiums

More info about the actual cost to citizens of the proposed GOP replacement for the Affordable Care Act:

Analysis: GOP plan to cost Obamacare enrollees $1,542 more a year - Vox

Originally Posted by Guest

Bye Bye Obammacare, Good riddance!! My healthcare went from $750 a month to $1300 a month...I don't want to provide healthcare for the lazy!!

Here's a little nugget from the Bible for all you good Christian right wingers to ponder:

Matthew 25:35-40English Standard Version (ESV)

"35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’"

Need more? Here are some more:

What Does the Bible Say About Helping Those In Need?

No, I don't expect this to change your mind about helping each other, because your money and your political party are far more important to you than Christianity or humanity.

Originally Posted by Guest

Here's a little nugget from the Bible for all you good Christian right wingers to ponder:

Matthew 25:35-40English Standard Version (ESV)

"35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’"

Need more? Here are some more:

What Does the Bible Say About Helping Those In Need?

No, I don't expect this to change your mind about helping each other, because your money and your political party are far more important to you than Christianity or humanity.

Of course you take it out of context. It's NOT saying you HAVE to support the perpetually poor. The fakers who are ripping you off. An entire "race" who can never, anywhere get with the program...and support themselves. HALF the country gets something from the government, HALF the black population collects some form of welfare. It's too much, it's unsustainable.

Originally Posted by Guest

Of course you take it out of context. It's NOT saying you HAVE to support the perpetually poor. The fakers who are ripping you off. An entire "race" who can never, anywhere get with the program...and support themselves. HALF the country gets something from the government, HALF the black population collects some form of welfare. It's too much, it's unsustainable.

Everyone benefits from the government in some way....it cannot be segregated as you put it....but the "fakers" are but a small minority of those in need. Most of those "fakers" are wealthy business owners that bilk the government for $millions, and you complain about a few people who may, from time to time, get something with which you don't agree, and say that they are the problem. Most welfare recipients are children, then the elderly, and then the disabled. You are willing to sacrifice them for what? Evidently YOUR Christianity is different from mine, because mine says that you should love one another, not put a price tag on them.

I have one of those cool, Cadillac health insurance plans as a result of working for the State of NY.
My heart attack and stent 5 years ago was paid by insurance ($20,000).
Since then, I've paid that amount back in premiums...
I suppose I would be bankrupt if I didn't have that insurance.

Originally Posted by Guest

I have one of those cool, Cadillac health insurance plans as a result of working for the State of NY.
My heart attack and stent 5 years ago was paid by insurance ($20,000).
Since then, I've paid that amount back in premiums...
I suppose I would be bankrupt if I didn't have that insurance.

Many/most people will use close to $1 million worth of healthcare in their lives...the majority at the end...the last year of their life. To "pay" for $1 million...you would have to pay over $1000 a month EVERY month for 80 years.

Healthcare simply costs TOO MUCH. We CAN'T afford it as it stands now.

Not for a minute do I believe it will, but if the Republican's plan results in just as many American citizens being covered and slows the rise of healthcare costs that have been rising for three decades now...then I'm all for it.

What I predict will happen though, is that premiums will actually increase at a greater rate than they have, given that preexisting conditions still have to be covered...but there is now no mandate that everyone has to participate to offset the higher risk pools.

How can they not?

I also predict that the bigger mess this creates compared to the ACA, will come back to haunt the Repub's...since they now own it.

It should be interesting to watch.

Originally Posted by Guest

I have one of those cool, Cadillac health insurance plans as a result of working for the State of NY.
My heart attack and stent 5 years ago was paid by insurance ($20,000).
Since then, I've paid that amount back in premiums...
I suppose I would be bankrupt if I didn't have that insurance.

That $20,00 actually sounds very cheap (by a factor of 3 or 4)...given what you had done.

Originally Posted by Wboy1

looks like you will pay even more.....and laziness has nothing to do with it...we all get sick or injured

1. Sicker sign-ups

Blah, blah, blah

2. Inflation of medical claims

blah, blah, blah

3. Consumers are still learning

blah, blah, blah

- See more at: Three reasons for rising health insurance premiums

I am 53 years old, healthy (no prescriptions, no doctor visits, no health issues), I go for preventive testing every 3 years (at a local hospital and pay out of pocket for testing of PSA, cholesterol, etc), I have had health insurance since I was 18.

Does it sound like I am the type of person that does not understand what drives prices in the health insurance market? My premiums went from $750 a month to $1300 since Obammacare was enacted. Of course my premiums had gone up from when I was 18 over the years but never had it gone up 80% in 3 years!!

I am not the only one that has this complaint, I have had many conversations with people that have experienced a similar rise in premiums and none were happy about that.

You must be a person that never had healthcare, you must be paying less than me for healthcare due to Obammacare??

Originally Posted by Guest

Many/most people will use close to $1 million worth of healthcare in their lives...the majority at the end...the last year of their life. To "pay" for $1 million...you would have to pay over $1000 a month EVERY month for 80 years.

Healthcare simply costs TOO MUCH. We CAN'T afford it as it stands now.

Your answwer is let them die, maybe if it was someone you loved it would be different.

Originally Posted by Guest

Of course you take it out of context. It's NOT saying you HAVE to support the perpetually poor. The fakers who are ripping you off. An entire "race" who can never, anywhere get with the program...and support themselves. HALF the country gets something from the government, HALF the black population collects some form of welfare. It's too much, it's unsustainable.

OK, then you enlighten me and tell me about what you think is the Biblical context. Show me where the Bible says anything about not helping the "perpetually poor" or "fakers who are ripping you off." Point out to me in your context where the Bible says that we don't need to help the poor and sick of a particular "race" as you suggest. The Bible says we should help the poor and sick to be Christian, and your imagined and made up "context" does not exist. You don't get to twist the teachings of Jesus into something that fits your distorted political philosophy.