Double post.

[edit on 13-5-2008 by jedimiller]

I'm presently in the UK, so I don't pay for going to the doctor.

Before the UK, I lived in Switzerland, where you are required by law to have insurance, but if you can't afford it then it is subsidized by the government. ( Not Medicade...basically the government makes your insurance payments for you until you get on your feet)

Before Switzerland, I lived in America, where I couldn't afford health insurance. I had to count on the local emergency room for anything that just wouldn't go away. I now have a couple of thousands of dollars worth of open bills which I have no intention of paying.

Originally posted by Merigold
Before Switzerland, I lived in America, where I couldn't afford health insurance. I had to count on the local emergency room for anything that just wouldn't go away. I now have a couple of thousands of dollars worth of open bills which I have no intention of paying.

Well, that's awfully nice of you...leave your bills unpaid so that someone else has to foot the bill...wow, that's just special of you.


...and that, in a nut shell, is one of the reasons why medical care in America is so expensive...people who won't pay, who run off, leaving the hospitals with no choice but to raise rates, which forces insurance carriers to do the same, which in turn raises the rates for the rest of us.

I most likely don't have a right to interject my comment as I am a Canadian and thus...yes Universal Health Care....sure we're taxed up the hoop here.
Yes I do have to wait a month to see my family doctor which I was on a waiting list for six months to get...yes there are wait times of 6 hours or longer in the ER for non-life threatening ailments (ear aches - strep throat).
Sure, walk in clinics take hours of wait time to see a doc - and it doesn't matter how rich you are - you can't jump line.

This being said - wealthy Canadian's frequently go to the US and pay out of their pockets to visit see specialists immediately. That's their prerogative but they are always the first to complain about our Universal Health Care. Can't blame them - but I haven't a clue what that would be like either.

Ok - so all the negative aspects of Universal Health Care aside, when push comes to shove - I support our health system. I've had a couple surgeries, given birth a couple of times, had my kids immunized and brought them for regular check ups - you know - all the regular health visits - BUT I've also had CT and MRI scans and many specialists visits over the past two years which possibly have saved my life. I have no idea how much these scans and appointments would have cost me if they weren't covered by my taxes...but I do know that in my 20 years of paying for health care I think I've got my monies worth.

Or is this totally off topic?

I have health insurance for me and my family. My question is this:

WHAT DAMN GOOD IS IT?!

Everytime I've gone to the doctor in the last 10 years they can never find anything wrong, so I go away with less money and no more knowledge on my ache or pain. My wife is having the same problem here go get this test and that test (each time with the copay of course) and to this day its "we can run more tests but we cant find anything wrong".



I'm sorry the government just cant be trusted at this point to have our Health in thier best intrest.

In the US people with little or no assets don't worry so much about health insurance because they figure if they can't pay, so what. On the other hand, families like mine who do have assets and actually care about our credit rating must have health insurance. We own a small business and carry 3 employees on our policy. Each year, even though none of us have had serious medical issues, our premiums have increased by several hundred dollars. We currently pay more per month for our health care than we do for our mortgage. Ridiculous!

Here's a way to have free healthcare and what the hell, clear US National debt. Take back your National reserver from the Elite families and you call the shots on printing money and loans. Also, every country could try this one. Stop killing and funding killing all over the world. There easy isn't it?

I've had health insurance since 1998. its a personal plan not related to my job. I could get insurance from my job, but then Id have to change doctors and that's just not happening since I see a specialist and it took 13 different doctor visits to find the right one.

Tela

Living in the UK, I contribute to the NHS system through my Income Tax / National Insurance. I also have private medical insurance through my employer. Much as the government seems to want us all to have private medical insurance these days, they never offer any decrease in Income Tax or NI contributions to offset paying into a private scheme.

A few years ago I was unfortunate enough to end up in hospital requiring surgery. They wouldn't let me go home, telling me I needed immediate attention, but there were no beds available at the hospital.
after several hours of waiting I rang a colleague at the office. she informed me she had just been given our BUPA membership numbers just before I called - we'd both just been taken on full time from contract positions.
I went to the receptionists desk and informed them of this and within 30 minutes I was in a gown on a trolley being wheeled up and prepped for surgery
The hospital actually had an almost empty wing full of beds but reserved for private patients. I was seen by the same doctors and operated on by the same crew and surgeon who had previously been prodding and poking me as an NHS patient. I was in hospital 3 days and and 2 days after I went home I received the invoices for payment.
Needless to say I was quite shocked by this ridiculous situation.

I am personally all for a national health system, if administered properly and not run as a for profit organisation or massive money pit as it has become over the last couple of decades. The private medical insurance system is a scam from the pharmaceutical companies supplying the drugs and equipment down to the private companies running the various functions - cooking, cleaning, admin etc. It never used to be this way.

i have health insurance ,but i am not happy with it.i had this insurance-blue cross with another company i worked for also and after i got sick they canceled me after i all ready went to the doctor.On top of that i believe it was my job making me sick.I am not happy that i am not offered other options.I am also not happy that if i take off 3 sick days in a row ,i need a doctors excuse.i am not the type to run to a doctor if i don't feel it necessary.if i have the flu it will probably run its course after 3- 5 days just like it always has.I am required to make co-payments for a doctors visit and for any prescriptions so the insurance would be likely to be useless for me.it however is great for blue cross if i they can make money off someone like me.

I live in Canada so yes, I have health care (not insurance) plus my work gives me a great extended health plan including the best coverage when out of the country.

I have governmental health care (OHIP) and I am ensured (EDIT: insured) through my company as well.

I'm pretty much fully covered. I just went for an afternoon long battery of tests and x-rays a few months ago and never took out my wallet once. Also, 6 months ago I got new glasses that cost me $30 and had a dentist appointment that cost me nothing.

[edit on 13-5-2008 by Enrikez]

I pay $15 dollars a week for it. I still have to pay the doctors lots of money. The money I pay for insurance just covers the cost of administering the insurance. Very stupid system.

No I do not have healthcare. Recently had an accident and it is costing me 7000 That I will not have in the forseeable future.... If everyone were willing to pay 20 a month it would deffinately be worth it.

I have health care. It's expensive but necessary. I'd rather not pay for the rest of the 70% of you who don't have it through my taxes, but thanks anyway.

This topic is near and dear to my heart...

As a Canadian I am covered by our universal Health Care program
called Medicare which covers EVERYONE from Birth onwards without
regard to pre-existing conditions.

Every three months I pay $160 Canadian ($170 US) or about $55 a month.

Each Province in Canada (Equivalent to a State) has it's own separately
run and administered program but every year our Federal Government
gives out Health Transfer Payments that covers about 75% of the total
cost of care while the provincial governments pay about 25% out
of annual budgets. This coverage includes BOTH care and Proescription
Drugs.

You are allowed to make monthgly payments, quarterly or yearly payments.
I pay every 3 months of about $160

The medical system is very similar to the US and the only real difference
is that for specialist services I MUST be referred by my family doctor or
the walk-in clinic doctor. I can't just walk into an MRI or XRAY lab and
demand to get that procedure done...I need to be referred by the GP
or clinic ... The referall is FREE but it must be MEDICALLY necessary
otherwise I must PAY for the procedure/specialist out of my own pocket
it the procedure is NOT considered medically necessary.

Our emergency departments are NOT as overloaded as most US hospitals
because we have NUMEROUS walk-in clinics (some of them open 24 hours)
which takes care of the small stuff such as aches, sniffles and colds.

For certain procedures, there IS a waiting period/lineup but this is only
due to a shortage of certain specialists such as Obstetrics or Geriatrics
specialists or Hip surgeons.

My British Columbia Medicare coverage is NOT tied to my job
and is portable to any province in Canada that I may visit or move to
although I must REGISTER myself with the provincial health care plan of
the province I move to within 30 days.

I cannot imagine paying $400 to $600 a month in U.S. Based Health
Insurance and what about people with pre-existing conditions who are
ALLOWED to be DENIED coverage by the private US insurance system.
How does that work if you are young and get hit by an uninsured car
and you are uninsured or underinsured?

In Canada the province takes care of my bills no matter who is at fault.

Although there are SOME horror stories about long waits for certain
specialists, it is NOWHERE NEAR the problem that it's made out to be
by the US media or US health industry.

I think the US system is DEFINITELY BROKEN and needs a Canadian Style
effort. To keep some privatization, I say move to a two-tier system
where the BASIC checkups, doctor visits, prescription drugs
and referred specialists for ALL citizens are covered but that
non-emergency or highly specialized EXTRA services such as full-body
scans or unusual treatments would be charged EXTRA by third-party
insurance providers. To also fix the system, ALL patient records and
medical imaging MUST be fully computerized on a country-wide basis
so that your records are SAFELY encrypted and backed up but are
still available for access and use in any state you move to by
authorized medical personnel.

In no way should the government get into the healthcare business. For one thing, where in the Constitution does it say the government will provide healthcare. Another point is that why should I pay for your healthcare? Taxes are already too high. If government nationalizes healthcare, the costs will be extreme and guess what......I will have to pay higher taxes. Plus the care of patients will drop, you will have to wait 4 months to get major surgery, like in other nationalized healthcare countries, and the government will just make a huge mess out of it.

If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it's free.

If you are sick, then pay for it yourself. If you can't, that is no ones fault but yours. Why should we pay so thousands of people who should be dead can sit around and breed and waste others money? This is a constitutional republic, NOT a democracy. Go fend for yourself or move to europe, THATS how america works.

While I have insurance and had always had insurance, I definitely feels that in American the land of the plenty or as we have been drilled all the time, something is wrong when people can not afford basic health care.

Like everything, is all about big multibillion dollar empires taking advantage and feeding from those that can afford the big pharma pushing pills and outrageous cost of medical care in this nation, but if you are an illegal immigrant you get to have all the free care.