a little history

[Wolfman]

This is the hospital bill from the Stamford NY hospital for the birth of our older daughter in January 1968. I was actually thinking it was around $500, but probably had the doctor's bills added in my mind too. I paid with a personal check and if memory serves me was reimbursed by the insurance policy I had through the school district. My older son was born in 1964 and I had just changed jobs and had no insurance. Paid that right out of pocket. I have not run across any bills for that. Note how long MrsO stayed there. There days I think they kick the mother to the curb after one night. Besides inflation (I was making about $6K then) and advances in technology, what could possibly have driven health care costs so high? Ok, I apologize for the rhetorical question. Anyways, facts are facts.

[M2]

[Screw_Michigan]

WAR CNY, I guess.

[smackaholic]

More like War America before the government stuck its nose in healthcare.

[poptart]

Leave it to Beaver was good times.

[BSmack]

I raise you. 19 years ago I was in Highland Hospital for surgery and 9 days of aftercare. Total bill was just over 10 grand. My out of pocket was 10 dollars. That was 20 years after the introduction of HMOs. Last year I went to Rochester General for 6 hours to have my gall bladder removed. My out of pocket was 1600 dollars. The total bill was in the neighborhood of 20k. FOR SIX HOURS IN THE HOSPITAL.

Wolfie, you might also note that quaint little things like "community hospitals" no longer exist. You can thank Bill Frist.

[Python]

Leave it to Beaver was good times.

Andy Griffith was better. "Call the man, Aunt Bea."

[Dinsdale]

Nailed it, whether intentionl or not.

The man who destroyed the American insurance system.

[Wolfman]

Nixon may have been one of the first "Republicans" to propose drastic changes to the health insurance industry, but I don't easily see where he had all that much to do with our current situation.

http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Richar ... h_Care.htm

I'm still trying to find out what Bill Frist had to do with the demise of Stamford Community Hospital. BTW, the last time I knew, it is the site of a nursing home.

For granted, modern technology can be costly and has saved many lives. My own identical twin granddaughters are alive and healthy for that reason. They were monoamniotic, sharing one source of nutrition in the womb. My daughter went to Children's Hospital in Philadelphia where a specialist was able to fix the uneven blood flow by an in virto laser procedure so that both twins received optimum nutrition. I have no issue with paying a little extra in premiums to help out other people with similar problems.

[Diego in Seattle]

I have no issue with paying a little extra in premiums to help out other people with similar problems.

I always knew you were a closet socialist.

[Wolfman]

What folks need is help if they have a catastrophic illness or accident. We do not need insurance to pay for routine doctor visits and exams, or birth control for that matter. Imagine what a mess it would be if car insurance had to cover oil changes. Remember when it comes to car insurance, we all pay extra so that assigned risk pools exist for drivers under the age of 25. No insurance company would issue a standard policy to anyone not 25 if states did not issue licenses till then. Young drivers are in assigned risk pools or tagged onto their parent's policies. Also with car insurance you can shop out of state. What's with not being able to do that for your health?

[poptart]

What folks need is help if they have a catastrophic illness or accident. We do not need insurance to pay for routine doctor visits and exams, or birth control for that matter.

Yep.

[Diego in Seattle]

What folks need is help if they have a catastrophic illness or accident. We do not need insurance to pay for routine doctor visits and exams, or birth control for that matter.

Yep.

The highlighted text is a great example of how you conservatives are clueless. Did you two ever make it past grade school math?

What is the cost of 10 boxes of condoms?

What is the cost of a child being born in the hospital? Or the cost of raising them on welfare?

It's a hell of a lot cheaper to deal with small problems than to try to pay for them later when they're big problems.

If a lot more people had healthcare where they could see doctors for small stuff (especially somewhere other than an ER) then we taxpayers wouldn't have to pay for remedying the later big problems.