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What could you buy with $700,000 dollars?
Arthroscopy - $17,700
Hip replacement - $41,400
Coronary bypass - $94,500
All numbers are *list* prices for each procedure. I intentionally chose those very high prices instead of the negotiated prices that typically come with an insurance policy.
At the highest price for each of these common, invasive procedures, $700,000 would buy:
* Approximately 60 arthroscopic procedures
* Approximately 15 hip replacements
* Approximately 10 coronary bypasses
By now, you're probably wondering what I'm talking about. Why medical procedures? Why $700,000? Well, I'll tell you.
That's how much the insurance companies and HMOs are spending - from the money *you* gave them - to prevent health insurance reform.
Per day.
In a month, that money could buy 1800 arthroscopic procedures, 450 hip replacements, or 300 coronary bypasses. That is the money you earmarked for medical purposes being spent for political purposes. How many canceled policies and how much in denied benefits could $700,000 per day pay for?
Insurance is a shared value pool. Few individuals can pay list price for a coronary bypass. You aren't *buying* anything when you pay into insurance, except the peace of mind of knowing - incorrectly, as the case may be - that should you be in medical dire straits, the cost will not be an additional burden.
$700,000 per day. Try to absorb that number. It's unlikely you'll even pay that much into insurance in your entire life. So that's at least one person's worth of payment for medical care spent instead on political advertisements.
Left, right, middle... It doesn't matter. This is an outrage, and it's an outrage to anyone who pays the ever-increasing costs of insurance for less and less coverage.