Healthcare costs

[blue]

Paper or paperless....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xNnR...eature=related

Golf clap, nicely done.

[RICHARD]

Paper or paperless....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xNnR...eature=related

Paper.

You can hold it in your hand and in a pinch use it for TP.


Try THAT with a Blackberry.

[blue]

Try THAT with a Blackberry.

People have, it aint pretty.

[RICHARD]

People have, it aint pretty.

Another reason not to shake hands with people who use PDAs and cells.

---------------

Seriously, Why charge ahead with a problem that affects EVERYONE?

How do you fix something so terribly screwed up without tearing it down and starting over?

Fix the money and lawsuits, first!

[Edwina's Secretary]

Fix the money and lawsuits, first!

And screw the 50 million with no access to health care.... let them eat cake, right?

[Puckstop31]

And screw the 50 million with no access to health care.... let them eat cake, right?

The 50 million number is HIGHLY debateable. And, as most statistics, subject to a great deal of contextual explaination... How many of those people CHOOSE to not have insurance? I know I chose to not have any for a long time when I was younger. When I needed to go to the doctor, I paid for it. How many of those people are between jobs?

Those 50 million, DO have ACCESS to healthcare. Just not insurance. And isn't that what Medicare/Medicade is for?

[pomtzu]

The 50 million number is HIGHLY debateable. And, as most statistics, subject to a great deal of contextual explaination... How many of those people CHOOSE to not have insurance? I know I chose to not have any for a long time when I was younger. When I needed to go to the doctor, I paid for it. How many of those people are between jobs?

Those 50 million, DO have ACCESS to healthcare. Just not insurance. And isn't that what Medicare/Medicade is for?

But paying for a doctor visit is nothing compared to what you would have paid had you needed anything more than that. Something as simple as a broken bone can run into BIG bucks. When I broke my wrist last time, I had to have it surgically repaired and not just casted, and the external outrigger alone that was screwed into my hand and arm was $14,000. Then of course there was the E.R., the surgeon's fees the O.R. fees to have it placed, and then again 7 weeks later to have it removed, many x-rays, P.T. --- could you have paid all that on your own? And God forbid a catastrophic injury or illness....

And you practically have to be living in a tent to qualify for Medicade, so not everyone qualifies for Medicare/Medicade. Those that don't will go to the E.R, knowing that they won't be turned away, and the people that do have insurance are the ones that end up paying their bills in the form of high premiums. When I had to retire on disability, law required a 2 year wait before I could be on Medicare. In the meantime I continued my insurance thru COBRA, and those premiums took almost half of my Social Security disability check every month for those 2 years. Not all people are willing or able to do this. So for many, many people, being uninsured is the only choice that they have, but not necessarily what they want.


ETA: Correction - my employer paid my premiums for the first 6 months, and I paid the remaining 18 months.

[caseysmom]

I always gripe because my employer pays 1200.00 a month for my health care and I pay another couple hundred on top of that and we never use our health insurance.

Well I'm not griping now, I don't even want to know what my recent stunt would have cost me, I'm kaiser so I never see the bill.

[pomtzu]

Well I'm not griping now, I don't even want to know what my recent stunt would have cost me, I'm kaiser so I never see the bill.

You would probably need to be resuscitated..........

[Grace]

Have any of you ever gone through one of those statements with a fine tooth comb?

I had a large bill after my Laminectomy years ago. We had insurance, but I disputed a couple of charges, that I knew were incorrect. The hospital removed them from the bill.

What things cost these days is disgusting. Anyone else a diabetic? The cost of the strips for checking my glucose is insane. You can get a meter for nothing - because the money is in the strips. The place I get strips bills Medicare $100 for 100 strips. Medicare only pays about 55-60% of that amount - so my other insurance pays the rest. The worst part - I can go to Amazon.com and buy 100 strips for less than the 55% Medicare pays. What a rip-off!!

What is more egregious, in my mind, is that since I am a non-insulin diabetic I am only allowed one strip per day. I spent my life in the medical field, so I know how important it is to my future health to maintain tight control on my diabetes now. And that involves testing several times a day.

[Edwina's Secretary]

What things cost these days is disgusting. Anyone else a diabetic? The cost of the strips for checking my glucose is insane. You can get a meter for nothing - because the money is in the strips. The place I get strips bills Medicare $100 for 100 strips. Medicare only pays about 55-60% of that amount - so my other insurance pays the rest. The worst part - I can go to Amazon.com and buy 100 strips for less than the 55% Medicare pays. What a rip-off!!

And if you could buy those strips in one of those countries ...such as Canada...they would probably be even cheaper!

Insurance companies want to insure those who are healthy. That is how they make money. Every claim they must pay is an expense they don't want.

And so those who cannot afford health insurance wait until they are REALLY sick before making that trip to the emergency room -- costing those with insuarance (and medicaid/medicare) even more as more advance treatment is needed.

We ALL pay the price of medical care - directly or indirectly. To me the issue it to make it more equitable and less wasteful.

[Puckstop31]

We ALL pay the price of medical care - directly or indirectly. To me the issue it to make it more equitable and less wasteful.

I agree 100%. Which I was I find your advocacy of a government run, single payer system... odd.


Lets see... Income Tax system, neither equal or low waste... Medicare/cade, the healthcare systems curerntly run by Big Brother... DEFINATLEY not efficient and not equal. That one I know, I worked in the PA system for 2 LONG years.

ANYthing other than a health care plan run by the government. Regulate/subsidize the private system...

[pomtzu]

And if you could buy those strips in one of those countries ...such as Canada...they would probably be even cheaper!

Why can't you get them from Canada? I have gotten prescriptions from there in the past and saved a bundle.
This Spring my doctor prescribed a nasal spray for my pollen allergies. Cost at Sam's was $112 per month, but I could get it thru Canadian pharmacies at $62 for 3 months. What's wrong with that picture??? In the end I chose not to get either, since over the counter Benadryl works just as well for me.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Why can't you get them from Canada? I have gotten prescriptions from there in the past and saved a bundle.
This Spring my doctor prescribed a nasal spray for my pollen allergies. Cost at Sam's was $112 per month, but I could get it thru Canadian pharmacies at $62 for 3 months. What's wrong with that picture??? In the end I chose not to get either, since over the counter Benadryl works just as well for me.

My understanding is there are legal issues for US citizens to buy drugs from Canada.

[pomtzu]

My understanding is there are legal issues for US citizens to buy drugs from Canada.

I've heard that the government is, or was, trying to make it illegal, but so far they haven't been able to do it. If U.S. pricing was anywhere in line with the Canadian prices, then people wouldn't have to buy out of the country. If Canada can sell it so cheaply, then why can't the U.S. - or perhaps I should say why won't the U.S.