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Originally Posted by TheMercenary
It has been my experience that many people in this group also fails to seek care until the last minute, over uses care that they know they don't have to pay for, and is often less compliant with their care when they do receive it.
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Well, my experience has been the opposite. I think one reason the uninsured don't seek help until the last minute is probably about fear of having yet another bill that they can't pay. Plus, a visit to the ER frankly sucks. Its often over-crowded, you get to see a doc for about 5 minutes after a 3 hour wait, there is no continuity of care, etc., etc. Its also hard to be compliant when you have little or no money. It costs a fortune to fill many prescriptions. But we are both speaking anectdotally here. I would like to see some actual numbers/studies.
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I think the reason that they may receive less theraputic care because the hospitals know they are not reimbursed for much of it, so they get just what they need when the hospital has to eat all the costs.
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It is my understanding that the Federal Government actually makes payments to hospitals to cover care for the uninsured. This is one reason hospitals are not as interested in universal coverage.
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You only need to look at the state of Mass and see how their experiment in healthcare reform to see many of the same failures in this new plan. There is absolutely no promise that people are going to go out and get insurance, mandatory or not. That is exactly what happened in Mass. People still waited to the last minute to seek care, they still did not go out and get the mandatory insurance, and the costs were shifted to the state and individually insured to pay the bills. It is breaking their bank.
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I would be interested in seeing a source for this.
P.S. Thanks for the cites. I'll take a look at them.