State Opt-Out Movement, Legalizing Marijuana, a Family’s Struggle with a $70,000 Medical Bill, and the New Media Generation
There is no good scientific evidence that legalizing marijuana’s use provides any benefits over current therapies. The reason: Government won’t fund the research.
Virginia couple gets permission to go out-of-network: faces $70,000 bill.
The marijuana post is telling. The government pours research money into every nook and cranny. Why won’t they study a drug that thousands of people swear by.
I’m not an expert on constitutional law but if there is a conflict bewteen federal law and state law, doesn’t federal law win?
Of course, the case for legaliization o marijuana is so strong, that studies are quite unnecessary.
The experience of the Virginia couple shows how screwed up the third party payment system is.
On young people, it would be nice if the kids were learning something from all this time devoted to digital toys. I fear they are not.
I think Joe is asking the right question on health insurance mandates. How can states protect people from the federal government?
Another problem with the Virginia couple’s case is that there was no way for them to get one price for the complex of procedures, which their son undertook. They got bills from every physician who saw their son, as well as the hospital.
It’s as if, when you took your car to the shop, you paid each employee separately. There are many culprits in this villainy: The whole business of negotiating “networks”, organized medicine (which lobbies against the so-called corporate practice of medicine), and laws that restrict innovative delivery of medical services.
We don’t see this in other areas of life: Providers are free to collaborate in re-packaging services into a comprehensive whole. Interestingly, if the Virginia couple were a Canadian couple who offered to pay cash for the procedure in the U.S., they would likely have received a comprehensive price quote!