As mentioned before....the insurance companies are making these decisions everyday and since they are a for profit organization, that is a factor in
their decision. It is their right...they are a business. But some things in life (such as life itself) should not be about profit. Call me
naive......
"Death Panels"
"Keep your nose outta my hospital room"
"I don't want some bureaucrat deciding for me"
This is what I keep reading from anti-health reformers. None of these things are in the bill. It is to provide funding ( thus incentive) for people
to make living wills instead of paying lawyers, which because of cost, stops people from doing so. There is no bureaucrat/government official
involved. It is a doctor/patient/counselor relationship. Do it now, while your healthy and young...I'm 37 and have had one since I turned 30. I
convinced my parents to do the same, so I don't have that added pressure when something does happen. I KNOW I couldn't make compendant decisions in
that situation. Every responsible person should do so and most civilized countries provide some sort of funding or service.
I cannot believe people are scared of this...if anything it is reassuring.
Medical Tourism Wiki
It works both ways......quoted from source:
A forecast by Deloitte Consulting published in August 2008 projected that medical tourism originating in the US could jump by a factor of ten over the
next decade. An estimated 750,000 Americans went abroad for health care in 2007, and the report estimated that a million and a half would seek health
care outside the US in 2008. The growth in medical tourism has the potential to cost US health care providers billions of dollars in lost
revenue.[10]
I'm one of those pinko Canucks with socialized medical care. No one I know, family or friends, has anything bad to say about our system. I have
never come across the horror stories that anti socialized medical care peeps talk about. There are some problems and I'm sure bad stories, but the
good by far outweighs the bad. And it's not free.....I'm taxed. I'm not getting a "handout".
Here's a quick personal story for you. One evening I got a really bad tooth ache. In the middle of the night I awoke to the excruciating pain of an
abscess. In the morning I phoned my dental office( non government entity...a private PROFIT seeking company....my "employee" in essence), told the
scene and stressed it was an emergency. I have no dental insurance and pay out of pocket ( not so lucrative for them as they can't inflate the bill
and screw an insurer)
"Sorry we're booked full today."
"It's an emergency...my face is swollen up like a pumpkin, I'm in great pain...you don't even have to sit me in the chair...just prescribe some
anti biotics and pain killers!!!!"
"Sorry sir, you'll have to go to the emergency room, we can't fit you in today..."
"Please.....it will only take 2 mins! I'm In pain here and the swelling is so bad my eye is almost closed!"
"Sorry sir...we can't...bye"
OK, I wasn't about to go to the emergency room for this, like the morons that go for a common cold and overload the system. I phone my general
practitioner's office. Told them the scoop...
"We're booked full today....hmmmm.....How quickly could you get here?"
"15-20 mins"
"Great come on over"
One hour later I was walking outta the pharmacy with my antibiotics and Tylenol 3's. Doctor visit cost nothing(I can hear the.....but you paid taxes
for it....yes I did
) and both pill sets cost me $23.95 total.
That's the difference when you take out the profit and just try and care for people.
A tidbit for ya'll....
Business Week
Quote from source:
Study Links Medical Costs and Personal Bankruptcy Harvard researchers say 62% of all personal bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2007 were caused by health
problems—and 78% of those filers had insurance
What does that tell ya about the current American system/setup? Don't let the lobbyists and self serving politicians distract you with scary sound
bites like ( cue the Darth Vader entering a room music)"DEATH PANELS"
I sincerely hope you guys can get it sorted out. You have to start somewhere and then fine tune the system...that's what we try to do