Let me explain how things work in the real world.
When you go to a doctor you shouldn’t be able to miss a sign like this :
That means that when you are done, you owe the entire bill in full right then and there. Why? They have to pay their employees and their doctors, their utility bills and so forth. Okay, so you don’t have the money, its not like they charge interest, right? Yeah. Sure. What do you think those rising costs are? I’ll tell you what they are : the doctor charging everyone more because YOU don’t think you have to pay in full when services are rendered, like the sign says.
“I’ll pay it off eventually.” Whoopteedoo! They can’t tell the electric company they will pay the bill eventually. Their employees won’t work there for long if they will only get paid “eventually.” They can’t buy all the white coats, tongue depressors, stethoscopes, blood pressure machines and all that with ‘eventual’ money.
When you don’t pay at the time services are rendered and you don’t have insurance, someone has got to take up your slack and get the business it’s money so that it can pay it’s bills. Guess who gets to make up the difference? Everyone, including you. You and everyone else are charged more because of the risk of people not paying on time. That is passed on to the insurance companies as the doctors demand higher and higher payment for services rendered. That is passed on to people like me, who have insurance in the form of higher insurance premiums. That usually means less people can afford insurance, meaning more people don’t pay on time, meaning higher costs…. its a horrible, endless loop.
Okay, some of the problem stems from Medical Billing being a total mess in many places. Insurance policies for timely filing go up against backlogs of bills and the insurance company processors stalling the paperwork as long as possible so they don’t have to pay, etc.
I am being responsible, getting the coverage I need or will need at some point and I am paying more than my fair share. Now, thanks to Obamacare, everyone will have to pay their fair share and I MIGHT get lower premiums. It is even likely that I will get a rebate on my premiums because now they have to use 80 or 85% for actual medical expenses instead of using most of the premiums to pay fat bonuses for NOT paying doctors.
Check out the following for more information :
http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/healthcare-overview
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ health-care-checklist
How the Affordable Care Act affects you! (ABC)
I may add to this later.. but.. here ya go!!