Do you have private health insurance...??

[Edwina's Secretary]

Yes - that's true. But you do have the option to go out of network.

Another thing that I find rather ludicrous, is what doctors are "allowed" to charge. I'm now on Medicare and supplemental insurance, and I questioned a recent bill for a routine follow-up visit with my primary care doc. I was charged $122 for a simple office visit, yet a sign in the reception area stated that rates were now $70 for the same. When I called the billing dept to question it, she told me that he charges me what Medicare "allows", and that the $70 was for cash patients with no insurance. So the government is allowing doctors to cause rates to be high. What's wrong with that picture??? Fortunately my supplemental picks up what Medicare doesn't pay, or I couldn't afford to go to a doctor either!

In an HMO you cannot go out of network and have any insurance coverage.

The doctors will charge medicare whatever their rate is...but usually the negotiated (PPO or HMO) rate is lower than what the uninsured or government insured pay.

[Puckstop31]

We provide ourselves and our employees a high deductible and co-pay, but relativley low cost health plan. I say health plan, because it is more than insurance. I mean, your auto insurance does not pay for oil changes, does it?

I pray we never become a country where I am forced to use a "national" plan. I enjoy being able to shop around for the best care for the best dollar. When our daughter was born, we found a hospital who would do the delivery and ALL pre-natal care for $3600. This cost did NOT include tests or medication, but that was OK with us. $600 of that was Tanya's epidural. And you know what? We got amazing care. A small hospital, 5 delivery rooms, 9 post natal (PRIVATE) rooms. Now, if we chose to use the insurance? The insurance company would have paid well over $20,000 for the same basic care at the big, fancy hospital.

Now, Hannah required a NICU stay after birth due to her getting pneumonia. This we did submit to the insurance company, as it was not routine care. They paid about half of the $18,000 dolalr NICU bill. The balance we are making payments on, intrest free via the hospitals finance department.



I will ALWAYS prefer the system we now have. I work very, very hard to provide the life I do for my family. I would be ashamed to take a handout I did not require from my fellow taxpayer.


Nothing in life is "free". To let the government control something as important and intimate as your and your familes health care is akin to being enslaved. I see how it works in Canada, a country with 1/10th the population of the US. Its great when you are young. Then you get old and wait YEARS for life extending or life enhancing care that is routine in the US. Imagine how screwed up it will become WHEN we get it here?

"People who are willing to give up a little liberty for a little bit of 'security', shall have nor deserve, either."

[carole]

Hmm your point of view interests me, i however love the system we have in NZ, and by the way it is free to have a baby here in NZ, you can also opt to go privately, i like the choice of being able to do either, if you are not in a position to afford private care at least you have a back up system, most people have their babies here free, only go to a specialist if there are problems or there were with their last baby.

I had wonderful care for my second baby, i certainly could not complain about it.,My GP delivered her and i spent a week in hospital with excellent care.

The day you have to pay to have a baby in NZ will be a very sad day indeed .

Canada may well have a system like our's , i really don't know.

I would be scared if we changed to be like the US myself, i would be very worried about my health then.

I certainly don't profess to understand your system ,but i am happy with ours for now anyhow.

I don't think it was the people from Apalachia, i wish i had taken more notice, i didn't really just about how bad off these poor people were, my heart went out to them.

[Daisy and Delilah]

This is a huge thorn in the sides of many Americans, Carole. Some of us have insurance and some don't. Some of us have better coverage than others. Medical costs all over are through the roof. I long for the day that something is done about this mammoth problem.

I could go on and on about this. It really irks me to think about certain situations. Much of the care we get in my area is inadequate. I spend 2 hours in the waiting area and see the doctor for 5 minutes. Alot of the doctors act too busy to be bothered with patients. Alot of us leave doctor's offices shaking our heads, etc.

Not all doctors are this bad but in this area, good medical care can be hard to find with or without insurance. Sorry to get off the question but it makes my blood boil to see these doctors getting away with murder.

In response to what you heard, I think it would really surprise me to see how many people in this country have no insurance at all.

As soon as possible, something has to be done about this situation. People are going to be ill, no matter what happens. These people all need proper care. When will we ever see this tragic ordeal come to an end?

[Edwina's Secretary]

i like the choice of being able to do either, if you are not in a position to afford private care at least you have a back up system, I would be scared if we changed to be like the US myself, i would be very worried about my health then.

Choice...it is a wonderful thing and something sadly lacking in our system.

One out of every four people in the state of Texas do not have medical insurance. No medical insurance equals poor if any medical care. Which equates to a very high cost to society of treatment (vs. prevention.)

In the US we pay the greatest percent of gross domestic product in health care (17%) yet are a long way from best in healthcare (as measured in such things as life span, maternal and infant mortality.)

There was a thread in the DogHouse recently that spoke of the "horrors" of the Canadian system of healthcare, yet there were a number of Canadian PetTalkers who spoke quite highly of their system.

I think there are many different possible avenues to pursue. But the one we are on does not work. Can you imagine...one out of every four people in a state as populous as Texas not having access to adequate healthcare???

As you are to the least of my people so shall you be onto me....

[carole]

Yes people moan and groan about our system too, although it is not fail proof and does have its problems, i think we are lucky to have what we have for such a small country,yes the waiting lists will get longer and i am sure there are people who are not getting adequate care in my country too.

I think the figure of people who died because of lack of proper care in the US was horrendous, i won't quote it as i cannot remember the exact figure, but it sure astounded me.

[Edwina's Secretary]

There have been a few ghastly examples here in the last year or so of people dying in the waiting room of the emergency...waiting for care. Waiting for hours and hours and hours...while employees ignored them.

Paying the most does not promise the best care!

[blue]

For most of my working life I havent had insurance. I currently dont have insurance at all.

[Twisterdog]

I have insurance now, through my husband's work. He works for a large international company.

However, for the ten years prior to us marrying, I had no insurance. I am self-employed and the premiums for a plan that was actually useful were literally more than what I made. A plan I could barely afford was completely useless.

At the same time, I did not qualify for Medicaid, even though I had a young child, was a single mother, and made below the poverty level. I did not qualify because I owned assets ... namely my business and house. So, if I would have sold my house, moved into public housing rent-free and quit working ... I would have had great insurance. Hmmm ... ya think there is something wrong with the American medical system?

[krazyaboutkatz]

I currently have HMO insurance with Kaiser through my employer and I think that my boss also pays half of my premuim each month. We also have the option to have another insurance which is PPO but since I'm older now Kaiser costs me less and so far I've liked my doctors. The new Kaiser is only about 5 minutes away from my home so it's very convenient too.

I still have to pay $30 for an office visit and generic medication is $10 or $15 I think and lab work is $10. One time I was waiting in the waiting room at Kaiser and I noticed that most people there had very low co-payments. One only had to pay $5, another one $10, another one $15, and another one $20. I felt like I was paying way too much at $30. I know that my former roommate worked for the government and she only had a $5 co-payment. Must be nice.

Even though I work for a dental lab, my employer doesn't provide us with dental insurance. We used to have it when I first worked there but then it got taken away. Now we have to provide our own or we can also go with an Aflac plan. I chose to go with my own which is Smilecare. I only have to pay $65 or $70 a year but I have to go to only Smilecare dentists. I still have to pay some towards my cleaning, x-rays, fillings, crowns, etc. but it's at a reduced rate so it's much more affordable.

I don't have a vision plan either. I just go to Costco every 2 years for a check up which doesn't cost me too much money. Luckily my vision hasn't changed too much. I bought several pairs of glasses online last year and they were so much more affordable than those even at Costco or other optical stores or offices. My dad had detached retina's in both of his eyes and this is an inherited disease so I have to be sure to have my eyes dilated every 2 years to make sure that everything is okay.

Both of my parents are on the Kaiser senior medical plan and they really like it. Some of their premiums are still being paid my dad's former employer. I think that their co-payments have gone up though. For some reason they found that their lab work co-payments are less if they go to a Kaiser in Southern CA than in Northern CA. If they didn't have medical insurance, my mom wouldn't be alive today. She's a breast cancer survivor.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

I don't know how it all works over there, but here even if you don't have private medical insurance, you can see a doctor, we have a community services card which allows us to get cheaper doctors fees and prescriptions, you have to qualify for this, hubby and I do, your income has to be within certain limits.

And you can still get operations and seen to at our public hospitals, of course there is a waiting list, and that is why i choose to have surgery cover incase i need urgent surgery i can have it, as waiting for the public might endanger one's life or one may be in a lot of pain until you receive surgery.

I thought medical care in the states was only not affordable for those who were on very low incomes, the poor, but at $12,000 dollars a year, we certainly could not afford to pay that, it seems outrageous and yes in a country such as the United States, it is not good enough is it?

I think at one time they were trying to privatize all medical care here too,but i am so thankful it did not happen, as it stands now one does have a choice and one can get medical care, no matter what your financial status is.

Our system is very much like yours. Everybody has an insurance; lots of people also have a "hospital-insurance". This mostly through work. This insurance pays most of your bills for you! That was very interesting for me last years, since I was in hospital for at least 6 times...

[pomtzu]

I'm living in the Appalachia part of Kentucky, and I'm not at all to myself or isolated. Also, we do have medical facilities. In the smaller towns and cities here, pharmacies and doctors close early and such, and in the larger towns, they can stay open all night. If the Appalachians that live in the hollers and way up in the mountains don't know about medical coverage, they don't get it because they don't desire it.
I don't know, guess I don't like stereotypes. We don't all live without medical coverage or have low income and stuff.

No need to take offense, as I was not referring to all of Apalachia, nor stereotyping the people of that area. I was simply pointing out that this might have been about the t.v. coverage of a small group of people in that region - as you make reference to people in "the hollers".

[pomtzu]

The doctors will charge medicare whatever their rate is...but usually the negotiated (PPO or HMO) rate is lower than what the uninsured or government insured pay.

Yet my rate could be, and is, higher than another's, simply because Medicare has authorized x$ to be charged, and he is charging the max allowed by law. It isn't a set rate for a basic office visit for every patient, as it used to be "back in the good old days".

[Puckstop31]

Choice...it is a wonderful thing and something sadly lacking in our system.

One out of every four people in the state of Texas do not have medical insurance. No medical insurance equals poor if any medical care. Which equates to a very high cost to society of treatment (vs. prevention.)

In the US we pay the greatest percent of gross domestic product in health care (17%) yet are a long way from best in healthcare (as measured in such things as life span, maternal and infant mortality.)

There was a thread in the DogHouse recently that spoke of the "horrors" of the Canadian system of healthcare, yet there were a number of Canadian PetTalkers who spoke quite highly of their system.

I think there are many different possible avenues to pursue. But the one we are on does not work. Can you imagine...one out of every four people in a state as populous as Texas not having access to adequate healthcare???

As you are to the least of my people so shall you be onto me....

Please do not think that I am not compassionate to these peoples plight. But are there not already options for the uninsured? I thought that was what Medicade was for? Better yet, who are those one of every 4? How did they come to be in the situation they are in? As usual, there is more too it than just a passionate speech, tugging at heartstrings.

Further, in a world of sunshine and roses, government controlled healthcare would be swell. But government never stops intruding. Enough is never enough.

Like I said before.... I'd rather succeed or fail on my own.

[moosmom]

Because I like to eat, no.