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interesting Spin to support COVID Vaccines


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So this is an interesting "free market" solution to antivaxers....  thoughts and comments???

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccination-health-insurance-cost-treatment/

 

The financial cost of remaining unvaccinated ⁠against COVID-19 is rising. Health insurance providers are now asking people who contract the disease to share the cost of treatment, which can get expensive if it requires a lengthy hospital stay.

Early in the pandemic, most private insurers waived cost-sharing for patients under their plans or even covered the full cost of treatment. In November 2020, nearly 90% of insured individuals would have had their out-of-pocket costs — including copays, coinsurance or payments toward a deductible — waived if they had been hospitalized for COVID-19, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).  

But with effective coronavirus vaccines widely available, most insurers are no longer waiving those costs, according to KFF. The change reflects a broader push by U.S. companies to nudge workers into getting inoculated in hopes of holding down medical expenses. To that end, Delta Air Lines this week said that it would charge unvaccinated employees an extra $200 a month for health coverage.

 

Insurer profits soared during the pandemic, as consumers skipped routine care and delayed elective procedures.

 

"Health insurance companies were spending so much less than expected because during pandemic. No one went to the hospital, elective procedures were delayed and insurers had more money than they were supposed to," said Matthew Rae, director for the Program on the Health Care Marketplace at KFF. 

Today, by contrast, more than 70% of the nation's largest insurers are no longer waiving COVID-19 treatment costs, according to Kaiser, which surveyed the two largest insurers in each state and Washington, D.C.. Another 10% of plans plan to phase out cost-sharing by the end of October.

Vaccines are preventive medicine

The rationale is simple: Subsidizing COVID-19 patients' treatment runs counter to efforts to encourage Americans to get preventive care for the disease. The hospitalization rate of unvaccinated COVID patients is 29 times that of vaccinated patients, according to a report by the Centers for Disease and Prevention.

"Now that COVID-19 is largely preventable for most adults and employers are pushing people really hard to get vaccinated, it makes a lot less sense for those employers to be giving people who do get infected a break," Rae told CBS MoneyWatch.

 

Still, patients won't be responsible for the full cost of treatment, which can reach up to $50,000 for a severe case. Fully insured patients hospitalized with pneumonia — which involves similar treatment as for people with COVID-19 — typically end up owing around $1,300, for example.

"The cost of hospitalization for COVID-19 is tens of thousands of dollars, but most people admitted to hospital, even if they're paying cost-sharing, are only responsible for a fraction of that. It's not like they're hit with a big bill," Rae said.

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I don't think insurance companies should make that money. Nor their bloated CEOs.

The extra money should pay for the monoclonal antibodies and then go into a fund for children orphaned by COVID 19 or UNinsured patients - the money can go to hospitals who had to eat their care or pay out bonuses to the frontline workers who are ready to quit.

BUT NOT A DIME to insurance companies or CEOs. 

A girl can dream.......................

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48 minutes ago, sas5814 said:

what are you... some sorta commie? 🙂

 

Boooo Boooo Boooo on Scott!

 

LOL I know you were joking.  Having said that, I am waiting for the "it's my personal choice to Vax and be a super-spreader!!!" people to come in and say...but but but that's prejudiced! 

 

Certain groups LOOOOOVE the free market....right up to the point where it doesn't benefit them or their business.  Then they loose their minds.

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I'm still trying to figure out how healthcare providers are suddenly happy with getting on board with ... insurance providers? There's all kinds of threads around about how these folks are basically scum. I've had my share of fun fighting with them on the phone. 

If you think coercing people to do something is just dandy, that's your right. You won't feel that way when the coercion is pointed at you.

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2 hours ago, CAAdmission said:

I'm still trying to figure out how healthcare providers are suddenly happy with getting on board with ... insurance providers? There's all kinds of threads around about how these folks are basically scum. I've had my share of fun fighting with them on the phone. 

If you think coercing people to do something is just dandy, that's your right. You won't feel that way when the coercion is pointed at you.

Because the world isn't black and white? Even insurance folks can have a good idea now and then, just like you! 😉

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1 hour ago, CAAdmission said:

I'm still trying to figure out how healthcare providers are suddenly happy with getting on board with ... insurance providers? There's all kinds of threads around about how these folks are basically scum. I've had my share of fun fighting with them on the phone. 

If you think coercing people to do something is just dandy, that's your right. You won't feel that way when the coercion is pointed at you.

I would sign a deal with the devil himself if I could go a shift without spending hours straightening out multiple COVID patients, arguing with them about ivermectin, and a line out the door of people “just wanting a test” at the ED. Do I think this proposal is the method needed to fix the problem? No. There would be many unintended consequences that would affect not just those refusing the vaccine. I could elaborate, but it would be pretty long and boring.

 I’m fine with coercion in the name of public safety. Just like I’m okay with forcing people to get TB treatment, arresting people knowingly transmitting HIV, wearing seat belts, wearing helmets, not using cell phones when driving, not allowing them to shit in the street, making restaurant employees wash their hands, AND our history of mandating vaccines.

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On 9/24/2021 at 4:14 PM, CAdamsPAC said:

It's time to go after obesity, smoking , no seatbelt use, crossing against lights, alcohol drinking, not using the stairs, not cutting meat smaller or not chewing well, not using bathtub/shower anti-slip pads, eating undercooked meat, not wearing PFDs, not using sunscreen and on and on!!!

Dont forget to include folks that are sexually active and of child-bearing age.  On second thought, DON’T include them.  i need to have someone work to cover my Social Security income.

Edited by GetMeOuttaThisMess
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5 hours ago, CAAdmission said:

I'm sad for you, but different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Everyone is for coercion in the name of public safety to one extent or another.

I mean, unless you don't believe in pulling people over for driving the wrong way on the Interstate... reductio ad absurdum applies.

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4 hours ago, rev ronin said:

Everyone is for coercion in the name of public safety to one extent or another.

I guess the extent is the issue, then. 

We seem to have demonstrated that a governor can now declare, at their own discretion, a "State of Emergency" and do essentially anything they want. This ranges from confining people to their home to completely subverting election laws outside of the legislative process. 

If a government can ignore the law during an emergency, we are going to start seeing a lot more emergencies. It's only an matter of time before gun violence is an "emergency" requiring emergency suspension of the second amendment. You'll call me an alarmist, but the government always grows and takes.

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On 9/26/2021 at 11:35 AM, LT_Oneal_PAC said:

I would sign a deal with the devil himself if I could go a shift without spending hours straightening out multiple COVID patients, arguing with them about ivermectin, and a line out the door of people “just wanting a test” at the ED. Do I think this proposal is the method needed to fix the problem? No. There would be many unintended consequences that would affect not just those refusing the vaccine. I could elaborate, but it would be pretty long and boring.

 I’m fine with coercion in the name of public safety. Just like I’m okay with forcing people to get TB treatment, arresting people knowingly transmitting HIV, wearing seat belts, wearing helmets, not using cell phones when driving, not allowing them to shit in the street, making restaurant employees wash their hands, AND our history of mandating vaccines.

I doubt that most people who are engaging in the highlighted behavior are doing so because that is what they prefer.  I don't think that being punitive to people engaging in public defecation is the answer.  A better solution is more public restrooms that can be used by everyone, regardless of how they look or smell or if they have money to spend at an establishment before being allowed to use the bathroom.

Other than that, I agree with your list.  

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Governors can also DO NOTHING and worsen public health, erode belief in science and kill a lot of people.

Florida and Texas are poster children for stupidity, hubris, and politicization of public health.

My own city has a public health "administrator" who somehow single handedly got our health board doctor fired for saying things that weren't "economically sensitive" about COVID needs and he outranks this admin person by actually having a medical degree and public health knowledge.

So, the US response to the pandemic has been fairly pathetic. We don't have a robust public health system nor do we given public health the authority or credibility it deserves. 

WHEN another pandemic comes - more will die unless public health becomes a real thing and authorities believe in it. 

I wouldn't ask a plumber to wire my house nor will I let a politician direct public needs when it comes to science and disease. 

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22 minutes ago, Photograph51 said:

 A better solution is more public restrooms that can be used by everyone, regardless of how they look or smell or if they have money to spend at an establishment before being allowed to use the bathroom.

How about actually funding mental health and substance abuse treatment that works, and then backing that up with effective law enforcement that incarcerates any remaining people who feel the need to defecate in such a manner?

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47 minutes ago, Photograph51 said:

I doubt that most people who are engaging in the highlighted behavior are doing so because that is what they prefer.

I've heard this argument applied to poor people, people living on government subsidies, and now the unvaccinated.

It isn't a simple subject but I'm often frustrated by this argument because I always want to know what the people are doing about these circumstances they don't like? Again I know its a very complicated issue but in the case of COVID they could get their free vaccine and then conduct themselves like they have a brain in their head. People's right to choose, even if it is a bad choice, ends at public health and greater good. 

 

Refusing to get vaccinated and then wandering around asking to be tested every few days is just madness. Filling ERs and ICUs with people who could be kept out with a simple vaccine is just idiocy.

Edited by sas5814
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3 hours ago, Reality Check 2 said:

Florida and Texas are poster children for stupidity, hubris, and politicization of public health.

To what effect?

If you go to the Hopkins Covid tracker, who should we compare Florida to? Cuomo was lauded as a hero for his work in NY (when he wasn't busy with his other proclivities):

-NY 2.4 million cases, 56,000 deaths, 25 million vaccinated, draconian shut downs

-FLA 3.5 million cases, 55,000 deaths, 25 million vaccinated, mostly stayed open

 

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https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/feb/26/instagram-posts/chart-comparing-new-york-and-florida-covid-19-flaw/

Flawed data, wrong timing............. comparing green apples to red apples in different seasons.

Florida should have LEARNED from New York.................... and done better.

DONE with this right now though - DONE.

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