Strange but true... a Humboldt County resident diving for abalone a number of years ago near Fort Bragg experienced compression of the chest and sudden darkness when a shark bit over his head. Now talk about luck! For whatever reason, the shark released him and he survived after treatment for lacerations and chest injuries.
Lucky You! Chance may be better than 7 out 8 you will not get hospitalized in the next year
Health Care insurance: Nearly 1 out of 8 Humboldt County residents here on the rural north coast of California was hospitalized in 2008. The three largest hospitals (St. Joseph in Eureka, Mad River in Arcata and Redwood Memorial in Fortuna) discharged 10,169 patients in 2008 among the 129,000 Humboldt County residents served by those medical facilities.
Many people do not realize that the amount charged for medical care depends on who gets the bill. The three types of hospital and medical expense payment in order of cost are:
- Individual
- Government
- Insurance
Why are individual medical expense bills higher than bills charged to insurance or government agencies? Why is medical billing not uniform? Why does the cost of a broken leg depend on who gets the bill?
The answer involves "cost shifting". Lower payments allowed by Medicare tends to "shift cost" toward patients covered by insurance. What about people who cannot obtain affordable medical insurance?
If you do not have insurance, How does medical insurance reduce your cost of medical care? Individual billing (private pay) is not uniform because, "no pay" shifts cost toward those "who do pay". Assurance of medical expenses getting paid allows insurance companies to negotiate reduced costs.
What about the person with a $5000 deductible with only $5000 in medical expense? Always resent your medical insurance card. Why? It qualifies you for the lower charges negotiated by the insurance organization schedule of charges which is usually less than your billing for "private pay".