American Health Care

paul_valaru

paul_valaru

100% Pure Canadian Beef
So, someone said it is the best in the world.

I laughed

sorry.

I just find that any tiered health care system cannot be the best.


I will admit it is the best if you are a rich american, but with cost saving HMOs etc, anyone in the lower classes is not receiveing the proper care.

the best doctors go to the states, because of the money, but they treat the people who can pay, if you can't afford great insurance, you are doomed to second rate care (a lot better than most of the world, but second rate by 1st world standards).
 
paul_valaru said:
So, someone said it is the best in the world.

I laughed

sorry.

I just find that any tiered health care system cannot be the best.


I will admit it is the best if you are a rich american, but with cost saving HMOs etc, anyone in the lower classes is not receiveing the proper care.

the best doctors go to the states, because of the money, but they treat the people who can pay, if you can't afford great insurance, you are doomed to second rate care (a lot better than most of the world, but second rate by 1st world standards).
Click to expand...

Not just second rate care, paul, more like "no care." I'm one of the 40 million Americans with no health insurance. I just made my first visit to a dentist in over 10 years because of persistent pain. That's the only time I will go see a doctor. Haven't been to any other medical professional in over 15 years. I am in fear of getting seriously ill, and have no doubt that should I need extended medical care for any reason, I would lose my savings and my home. I WOULD BECOME HOMELESS. Yep, a fine medical system we have. :disgust:
 
Ms Ann Thrope said:
Not just second rate care, paul, more like "no care." I'm one of the 40 million Americans with no health insurance. I just made my first visit to a dentist in over 10 years because of persistent pain. That's the only time I will go see a doctor. Haven't been to any other medical professional in over 15 years. I am in fear of getting seriously ill, and have no doubt that should I need extended medical care for any reason, I would lose my savings and my home. I WOULD BECOME HOMELESS. Yep, a fine medical system we have. :disgust:
Click to expand...


I thought there were legal miminums of care you have to receive....it's worse than I thought.

Canadian health care is not the best, but at least most things are free, we have good doctores, and an drug plan, well the drug plan sorta sucks, but if you need drugs to live and you can't afford then, you still get them.
 
If I have a medical emergency, no emergency room will turn me away. However, they WILL be sending me a bill. And the problem is that for many people the emergency room is where they go since they don't have a regular doctor.
 
Paul, put down teh remote & back away from CNN, very slowly. Don't believe the hype. One needn't be rich to get adequate healthcare.

Missy-you just can't catch a break anywhere can you? If you can aford a home you can afford healthcare. It's not the healthcare systems place to make sure you have sufficient coverage nor is it the overnments. It's yours. A large point of homeownership; a liquid asset.

My son was born with a mild birth defect that 10 years earlier would have cost him his life. Through advance planning, my wife & I avoided getting destroyed by (collectively) $250,000.+ hospital/Doctor bills.

We made a conscious choice to be protected. You can too.
 
Gonz said:
Paul, put down teh remote & back away from CNN, very slowly. Don't believe the hype. One needn't be rich to get adequate healthcare.

Missy-you just can't catch a break anywhere can you? If you can aford a home you can afford healthcare. It's not the healthcare systems place to make sure you have sufficient coverage nor is it the overnments. It's yours. A large point of homeownership; a liquid asset.

My son was born with a mild birth defect that 10 years earlier would have cost him his life. Through advance planning, my wife & I avoided getting destroyed by (collectively) $250,000.+ hospital/Doctor bills.

We made a conscious choice to be protected. You can too.
Click to expand...


I hear it from friends and family in the states, i hate cnn

If you have a good job, with good benefits, you get treated well, if you are poor, your screwed, wouldn't a social health care plan be a better alternative?
 
I didn't buy my home, could never afford to, I inherited it. Your suggestion is that I should sell it so that I can pay 300+ a month for insurance? :rofl:
 
paul_valaru said:
I just find that any tiered health care system cannot be the best.
Click to expand...

Canada is well on its way to a two tiered healtcare system. Federal funding is plummeting, and more and more services are being removed from the list covered by medicare. And as soon as they drop from medicare's list, they are added to the list of services offered by the growing private healthcare companies springing up all over the country.

It's only a matter of time.
 
Camelyn said:
Canada is well on its way to a two tiered healtcare system. Federal funding is plummeting, and more and more services are being removed from the list covered by medicare. And as soon as they drop from medicare's list, they are added to the list of services offered by the growing private healthcare companies springing up all over the country.

It's only a matter of time.
Click to expand...


well, unless the next election stops that movment, which I hope it will
 
paul_valaru said:
well, unless the next election stops that movment, which I hope it will
Click to expand...

Federal funding has been dropping over the last 25 years under every administration. A new administration isn't likely to get it back to the 50/50 it was originally:


Under Trudeau: dropped to 42%
Under Mulroony: dropped to 33%
Under Chretien: dropped to 23.5%

And it has gone as low as 10.5 percent.

See a pattern?
 
paul_valaru said:
If you have a good job, with good benefits, you get treated well, if you are poor, your screwed, wouldn't a social health care plan be a better alternative?
Click to expand...

It doesn't take a "good job". It takes making a choice. I AM the working poor. I also have everything I "need" and most of what I reasonably want. I have made choices to care for my family. Everybody can. They prefer to whine & carry on about how unfair life is & ponder why their parents could do it. Maybe it's because their parents didn't have outlandish expectations. It's definately because their parents were adult enough to take care of themselves without assistance.

Follow Nike's advice Just Do It

In short, Paul, no, governmentally controlled healthcare would be an abomination & would destroy the best healthcare system in the world.

Missy, why yes, that would be a good idea. Sell it, get a smaller place & take care of yourself. Use the proceeds to pay for what you need to get ahead. Education, transportation, healthcare, food, water, clothing...it's all up to you.
 
I'm very fortunate when it comes to healthcare, in that the company pays 100% of all 'sr. staff' health insurance and spouses, too. The staff who do pay for their insurance pay a percentage (compared to industry standards, a very low percentage) and the company pays the rest. I don't know what this amounts to exactly, but I can find out soon as the controller gets here. I know that for an employee and family (spouse, two kids), it can be quite expensive.

The Club has researched health insurance to find a decent rate because of recent rises (more than 40% in one case when we renewed with a company we'd been with for a while :disgust: ).

I was not directly involved with the Insurance Committee, but I know enough to know that health costs are outrageous. Employees here have been very fortunate that the Club has been absorbing most of the increases, but that will change soon.

What I'm getting at is ... health insurance is expensive, even when you only pay partial cost on a company plan. I couldn't imagine not having health insurance (especially if children are involved). Likewise, I can't imagine what will happen when more and more employees are forced to pay higher percentages of insurance because companies won't absorb the increases anymore - I know several here at the Club alone that will likely need a second job.

That's not to say they can't work and fend for themselves, I suppose.

There are plans such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Cobra out there that are supposedly reasonable for people who aren't on a company plan - which I imagine is quite more than those who are.

Why are costs so expensive? What determines insurance costs? Is it lawsuits? Expensive technology? Overpaid doctors? Those fuckers who make it illegal to buy drugs cheaper from Canadia?

BTW - - having paid-for health insurance is one of the only reasons I stay at [the club].

[sorry, just ... vented]
 
American Health Care is by no means perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it for the most part. As Gonz and Rose have both pointed out, insurance is a must, but if you plan ahead it's not a problem. The insurance and other benefits are a big reason I work for the State, if I worked elsewhere I might get more money, but the insurance wouldn't be what I have now, and that is vitally important to me.

As for the problems in the Healthcare system, it's not the system that is to blame, most of the problem and expenses are the fault of lawyers and insurance companies. Lawyers that sue every possible chance they get forcing Drs to carry expensive malpractice insurance which ultimately has to be paid for by their patients. Then you have insurance companies that have taken it upon themselves to diagnose and declare treatment strategies for thier customers.

If Dr's had some protection against being sued whenever they screw up, and insurance companies really did what they say they are going to do when you sign up, then healthcare would be available to everyone at a reasonable price.
 
To me, the American system is the best in terms of quality of care, flexibility of care, and speed of care. Its the costs that are insane because they all are applied to the one that needed the service. The socialized system is no good in my eyes because the costs are still there... they are just distributed to everyone in the form of blanket taxes. The costs are essentially the same. That which suffers is the quality. If I had a broken limb... then the socialized method is wonderful. It can patch you up and send you on your way quickly and at the cost of a mere pittance. But the more vicious wasting diseases and organ transplants and major surgeries... my god... People suffer endless and agonizing waits of months and months. That to me is just plain cruel.
 
On the contrary...Insurance is the largest scam in our society. Not likely to change though. its state sponsored now...:mad3:

PT, just for example, why should tax payers have to suopport better healthcare for you than they can afford for themselves? Having had to deal with the legal side of getting an insurance company to deliver the service I paid them for, I can tell you that its all a money game and we, the people, are not being given a fair chance....Even after undue suffering due to insurance companies denying and hoping you'll drop the claim, You have little to no recourse. They risk almost nothing by letting you live in agony for a year while your case makes its way through the system. And then a third of your settlement goes to the lawyer you had to hire to get it in the first place. The lawyer, on the other hand, HAS the right to collect extra pay for him/herself if the insurance company makes you suffer longer than needed....My lawyer earned an extra $15,000 because the insurance company didn't act in a timely fashion in my case. I got NOTHING for having to deal with the pain for the extra time. Its all a scam. Insurance should be illegal. And that in itself would bring healthcare costs in line.
 
Well, that's what I'm talking about Squiggy. I've dealt with my insurance company time and again, and their supposed "Expert" who says that just cause my 8 year old is hearing voices and exhibits other signs of mental illness doesn't mean there should be any testing done to determine what the problem is. We should just take the kid for his six visits at the therapist and everything will be fine. They won't pay for a psychiatrist, and they won't pay for any addtional testing to determine what the problem is, becuase their expert says it's not necessary.
 
In California, we have something called Medi-Cal, which is state-subsidized insurance. It's the same idea as Canada's state insurance, although in practice there are differences. For one thing, when Brandi signed up, I asked if I could get on the plan too and they told me no because we had no kids and Brandi wasn't pregnant. The woman could get it but the man couldn't unless we added a kid to the world for the state to help support.

Now, once you're on Medi-Cal, you have to choose a plan that goes through Blue Cross. But there are a few problems with Medi-Cal, namely that their reimbursement rates are so low that a lot of places no longer accept it and the places that do aren't happy to see you. The care is horrible.

And it doesn't help that Governator Ah-nold's proposed budget includes a cut of about $900 million for Medi-Cal. Things will only get worse that way.

If California's Medi-Cal plan is about how it would be if the federal government had a state-run insurance plan, then God help us all.
 
I took a bit of a hit on my insurance benefits yesterday. BCBS benefits are going up annually. I have a single plan which is 100% company paid but my prescription rate went from 10/25/35 to 10/35/50. On the other hand, employees who have a family plan got a $17/month increase (they are now paying $142/month for the family plan) on top of the prescription increase.
 
Personally, I thank God we have a public health care here. My other uses it often and while it's not the 7th wonder(far from it) private health care would for her and me would cost half of my income. If all public health was cut and I was paid the cut in taxes, would my earnings rise enough to pay for a private medical plan? No it wouldn't. Such a service costs 3times all the taxes I pay monthly.
 
I've always felt that Insurance is one of the truest evils in the world. I hate that it gains a more mandatory status every year. Its not too hard to figure out that its NOT needed. A commodity for the wealthy that has been forced on the masses.....:disgust2:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top