Political Crossfire Forums

Catastrophic medical insurance:

Government single payer would be THE superior method for delivering universal basic medical insurance to USA’s population. Unfortunately, this concept has not yet been entirely adopted in the USA.

[Medicare, Medicare advantage, and Medicare Supplemental insurances are an example of government provided basic insurance that individuals may choose to augment by purchasing additional insurance provided by nongovernment insurers. Commercial insurers did not and cannot provide basic medical insurance superior to Medicare insurance].

Catastrophic expenditures on behalf of individual patients are drastic costs to their payers.
To the extent that commercial or non-profit insurers or uninsured patients are bankrupt or otherwise do not pay individuals’ medical expenditures, (e.g. hospitals and doctors are not paid), those costs to a significant extent become more public expenses and both indirectly and directly often become federal expenses.
Catastrophic medical expenditures on behalf of individual patients are drastic costs to their payers. They are of extremely drastic expenditures to direct individual payers and of increased prices to purchasers of medical insurance. Due to those less affordable insurance prices, more people are uninsured (and thus increase publics’ medical costs).

To the extent providers of individuals’ catastrophic medical goods and services are paid, they’re
extremely catastrophic to direct individual payers but usually they contributed to the increased costs and prices of insured individuals’ insurance. Due to those less affordable insurance prices, more people are uninsured (and thus increase publics’ medical costs).

I’m among the proponent for federal universal individual patients’ catastrophic medical insurance. When a patient’s annual medical expenditures reach the “catastrophic amount”, the federal government should assume the medical insurance of that patient for no less than 365 days and each following year until the medical expenditures on behalf of the patient do not exceed 15% of the catastrophic amount.
Catastrophic medical insurance should be patient’s entitlement regardless if the patient was or was not otherwise previously insured.
The legally defined “catastrophic amount” should be annually adjusted. Medicare is an example of government price schedules for authorized medical goods and services.

Respectfully, Supposn

Participating insurers within Affordable Care Act market places are required to accept high-risk client’s, (i.e. previous [unfortunate] medical conditions). I suppose that many such undesirable insurance risks will eventually be catastrophic costs to their insurers.
Federal assumption of individual patient’s catastrophic medical expenses would to some extent reduce the cost of all medical insurance plans and thus enable them to be more affordable.

Respectfully, Supposn

It all depends on how greedy the companies and shareholders get. As it is now, greed has no imposed limits.

catastrophic health insurance is high-deductible. in fact, it's how all insurance should be.

that said, there should be some level of care that is for all. if i break my arm it shouldn't cost the arm to fix it. that's a pretty simple problem with a simple remedy. a long list of simple problems and simple remedies should be the things that government covers. this means single payer for many things, stuff that impacts just about everyone or could impact everyone. the things like you need quadruple bipass because you chose to be a fat f**k? well that's your problem. catastrophic insurance is there for that. if you don't have any i don't care; you should have read the fable of the grasshopper and the ant and winter is coming for us all