Rising insurance costs

[yella_dawg]

When I was in graduate school, with no insurance and very limited income, my stepson broke his arm. $400 to get it set and cast at a local trauma clinic. A year later, my son broke his arm. The breaks, the boy's ages, everything, was similar. Except that I had good insurance through my employer. My part of the bill was $400 at a local trauma clinic. I asked what the deal was. The nurse told me they pad the bill of insured patients so that they can cut rates for the uninsured.

So how much of rising medical / insurance costs are really just people falling off the rolls of insurers??

[MindPilot]

1. This is true with all insurance

Doesn't matter if it's homeowner's, auto, medical or whatever. You have to pad the loss--sometimes substantially--in order to get compensated fairly.

Insurance companies are some of most greedy, money-grubbing, anti-consumer corporations there are.

[physioex]

2. Not that they are off the hook...

But you can't blame hospitals for doing this. After all they have to get paid for their services. I say start a national insurance that gives minimal coverage to everyone, then purchase your insurance from there...