Stephan: I have been waiting for this kind of story because I knew that the U.S. illness profit system with its outrageous charges was going to leave thousands of Americans in a financial crisis as a result of Covid-19. And now, as this report describes it is happening.
The U.S. is the only developed democracy that has this miserable kind of healthcare. To quote the Public Citizen Foundation that tracks healthcare, "The U.S. spends more on health care per person than other major industrialized nations — a lot more. In 2011, expenditures for health care totaled $8,500 per person in the U.S. The country next closest in spending, among 10 other major industrialized nations, was Norway, which spent $5,700 per person. New Zealand spent the least on health care, at $3,200 per person."
And how does that work out? The report, “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: How the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally, ” ranked the U.S. last overall among 11 major industrialized countries."
The truth is so many special interest corporations, insurance companies particularly, are making so much money out of this lousy system that they spend millions to buy the whores in Congress to make sure nothing changes. Anyone who votes for a Republican, or certain Democrats, is voting to continue this system. We get what we vote for.
Irena Schulz, who became ill with the coronavirus last summer, has eschewed trips to the emergency room when feeling ill because she worries about the costs. Credit: Jacob Biba/The New York Times
One coronavirus survivor manages her medical bills in color-coded folders: green, red and tan for different types of documents. A man whose father died of the virus last fall uses an Excel spreadsheet to organize the outstanding debts. It has 457 rows, one for each of his father’s bills, totaling over $1 million.
These are people who are facing the financial version of long-haul Covid: They’ve found their lives and finances upended by medical bills resulting from a bout with the virus.
Their desks and coffee tables have stacks of billing documents. They are fluent in the jargon of coronavirus medical coding, after hundreds of hours of phone calls discussing the charges with hospitals, doctors and insurers.
“People think there is some relief program for medical bills for coronavirus patients,” said Jennifer Miller, a psychologist near Milwaukee who is working with a lawyer to challengethousands in outstanding debt from two emergency room […]
Melodi Grundy
on Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 5:31 am
Sadly subscriber access only for the full article.
Karen Gates
on Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 9:50 am
From my experience, and research I have found that nebulizing a hydrogen peroxide and saline solution (anywhere from 3% to 0.1% H2O2) for 15-30 minutes 1-3 times/day knocks Covid out almost instantly. (Use the upper end of the range for bad case and lower end for mild case.) I did get Covid (not confirmed by a test) and this worked well for me. Nebulizing once a day for a few months also knocks out other viruses still hanging out in your system. There’s really no need to be totally dependent on our so-called medical health system, but you have to take responsibility for yourself. This H2O2 protocol is ideal for a country whose medical system is overwhelmed. It is cheap, easy to self-administer, etc.
Rev. Dean
on Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 11:19 am
I would rather die than go to our monopolized hospital. That is why my wife died when she thought she was going to have to go to the hospital because she was feeling something wrong with her heart. She did not tell me, but I know that was what happened. We both decided a long time ago we would never go back to that greedy hospital after the last time when my wife had to go in for a heart problem for 2 days and even though Social Security paid them, we had a co-payment that was $1,000 per day, and it took us ten years to pay it off (if it is paid off which I am not sure of; I just quit paying after 10 years. UPMC is a total illness-profit center, not a health provider.
Rev. Dean
on Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 11:20 am
P.S.: whoops, I meant $1,500 per day!
Rev. Dean
on Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 11:23 am
What we need are hospitals like St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital with their social-democracy type of system!
Sadly subscriber access only for the full article.
From my experience, and research I have found that nebulizing a hydrogen peroxide and saline solution (anywhere from 3% to 0.1% H2O2) for 15-30 minutes 1-3 times/day knocks Covid out almost instantly. (Use the upper end of the range for bad case and lower end for mild case.) I did get Covid (not confirmed by a test) and this worked well for me. Nebulizing once a day for a few months also knocks out other viruses still hanging out in your system. There’s really no need to be totally dependent on our so-called medical health system, but you have to take responsibility for yourself. This H2O2 protocol is ideal for a country whose medical system is overwhelmed. It is cheap, easy to self-administer, etc.
I would rather die than go to our monopolized hospital. That is why my wife died when she thought she was going to have to go to the hospital because she was feeling something wrong with her heart. She did not tell me, but I know that was what happened. We both decided a long time ago we would never go back to that greedy hospital after the last time when my wife had to go in for a heart problem for 2 days and even though Social Security paid them, we had a co-payment that was $1,000 per day, and it took us ten years to pay it off (if it is paid off which I am not sure of; I just quit paying after 10 years. UPMC is a total illness-profit center, not a health provider.
P.S.: whoops, I meant $1,500 per day!
What we need are hospitals like St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital with their social-democracy type of system!