Perhaps this should be applied to groceries, utility bills, clothing, and, of course, housing…
Oh, wait, that is what the mortgage lending industry was doing for several years.
By Eric Novack
Perhaps this should be applied to groceries, utility bills, clothing, and, of course, housing…
Oh, wait, that is what the mortgage lending industry was doing for several years.
By Joe Flower
By D. Brad Wright
By John Goodman
By John Halamka, MD
By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
By Merrill Goozner
By Robert Wachter, MD
By John Moore
By Matthew Holt & Austin Cohen
By Jaan Sidorov, MD
More posts: The Insider's Guide To Health Care
More posts: 2012 Election
More posts: IPad
More posts: startups
More posts: Individual mandate


I would make a suggestion to the hospitals in Maine..look at what Rhode Island is doing..if a patient doesn’t pay their copay or deductible after billing them for 120 days,the claim is sent to the primary insurance company who must pay and then they can collect from the patient..Rhode Island has used a threshold of $1000 and greater..I would suggest that the full liability go to the state who can recoup through the individuals taxes..we could share the proceeds and maybe even assist the uninsured..this is the hidden cost of heathcare ..patients who can pay but know it is difficult for a provider to chase down small amounts where collection agencies have a poor success rate and who wants the publicity..As we move to some form of universal(universe defined as a state) healthcare, providers need to have some leverage to collect from those that can pay..
Here’s a better idea. Get rid of insurance companies, and hospitals who need to collect from uninsured individuals, and have a truly universal insurance system where each individual in the country pays for healthcare through their income tax. No pre-existing conditions or unpaid bills, no collections or collection companies. And the pay-off – half what we’re paying now! Dream America, it’s what the rest of the industrialized world is doing.