AztecAlien

Oh, I'm aware. I had surgery some years ago that cost me 20K out of pocket because it was cheaper than using my insurance, which was Blue Cross Blue Shield at the time. How does that happen? This was a necessary surgery. It took months and letters from the surgeon just trying to get information on what my insurance provider was going to cover because of all the codes they installed and the appeals process after they denied the original claim. The surgeon that performed the surgery hated insurance companies. I made a deal with him, the hospital, and the anesthesiologist and saved about 5K. However, other bills came from everywhere, including companies I had never heard of. Just an overnight stay in the hospital for precautionary reasons was going to be 10K. I got it down to 6K. I would have risked it and just had my wife take me home if I had known what that 6K actually included. It included nothing really, except some pain relief, applesauce and 7-Up. Not to mention, the added cost of physical therapy. How are the Americans caught up in this at fault?

The numbers do seem strange. However, the numbers are all over the place depending what is being scaned and where the patient is having the scans. https://www.goodrx.com/health-topic/procedures/ct-scan-cost "On average, the price of CT scans in the U.S. can range anywhere from $300 to $6,750, with some as high as $20,000. The exact cost you’ll pay for a CT scan depends on many factors, such as insurance coverage, place of service, and body part being scanned."

This seems to be a different take than your first one in the other thread. So, who's at fault when it costs about $600 for a CT scan in a developed country but costs 12-13K in the U.S.? Is that Americans fault? Are they also responsible for our healthcare system being insufficient? And could this be the possible reason why so many Americans are unappreciative towards the people running or are involved in our healthcare system, including the insurance providers that go out of their way to deny claims? A lot of Americans, especially the elderly, are afraid to go to a hospital or see a doctor because the U.S. healthcare system is bankrupting people while the entities that run it rake in billions.

Well, just in case, this Aztecs fan doesn't like what's happening at all.

Why did you use the word all?

And yet there are Aztecs fans that still think SDSU trying to move to the Big East was a good idea because they deserved it. SMH.

Punt?

That's right, just 12 people living in the U.S. are worth over 2 trillion dollars. https://www.commondreams.org/news/billionaires-2-trillion-wealth The $2 trillion number is also twice the amount of wealth that the top 12 US billionaires held in 2020, according to researchers at IPS, a progressive organization. https://www.newsweek.com/americas-12-richest-men-worth-combined-2-trillion-1995950 "This sum is only $1.8 trillion off the total net worth of the nation's bottom 50 percent, which, as of the second quartile of this year, hit $3.82 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis data, showing the extent of the economic inequality in the U.S."

Oh, don't get me wrong, the entire system is flawed. But in the case of UnitedHealthCare, and regardless of their profit margins, the executives were taking too much of the profits while finding ways to deny claims and take care of the people they are supposed to. UHC had a 15% increase in profit in 2023 from the previous year. The company and the top executives were also under investigation for breaking antitrust laws and are facing a civil lawsuit for using AI to deny claims. They dumped over 100 million in stock, including over 15 million to CEO Brian Thompson who was also under investigation for insider trading. I don't think a 10.2 million dollar salary that comes mostly from bonuses and stock options is justifiable when the company was finding ways to deny 32% of claims that's far more than industry average. And I totally agree with your take regarding hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry. I just think your comparison to McDonald’s was a little off. A little off-topic, but you can add many large corporations, including energy and oil companies to the list as well. Americans are not being protected by our lawmakers who are supposed to be doing just that. They are bought and paid for. The question is, how do we stop that, civilly? Good luck. Voting and our voices do not seem to matter, either. We are being fleeced. It's just rinse and repeat and Americans are getting lathered up.

I don't totally disagree, but kind of apples to oranges. No one forces anybody to eat at McDonald’s. But up until 2019, people in the U.S. were forced to have healthcare insurance. There are still several states that force people to buy insurance. You definitely should have insurance, especially families, but it's become unaffordable for most middle-class Americans and the companies go out of their way to not pay claims. Big difference.

I was able to read it, but it was microscopic, and I agree with you on some of the opinions. We should always take the side of doing more for our veterans.

You're just making stuff up now. You're better than that. And I added that none of the links in HMHB first post were from social media.

Why? I don't rely on social media that the vast majority here do. And I don't think halfmanhalfbronco is relying on it here as well. None of the links he used are from social media.

Did you think of that all by yourself? Nah, I don't think so. It's getting kinda creepy regarding your infatuation with me, though.