jumping doris

The "in network" thing catches me a lot. I am just not used to asking if a Dr is part of our health plan.
We have just had GC medicals done...a horror story in itself, and for reasons too long to post we have all ended up seeing different civil surgeons.
Our insurance company said they would cover the cost of the exams but we had a job to find civil surgeons who took our plan.
Yesterday the one my youngest saw was in our plan but wouldn't sign off on the medical papers until the insurance company had paid. We couldn't wait that long and so I ended up paying.:curse::curse:
We may be able to claim it back and in the long run it doesn't matter because the company are paying but ...argggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

snowbunny

She owed $3,000 of an *$8,000* bill. We're not clear as to why she was tested
that night, since there's no way any viral load would have instanteously shown up that soon after exposure. But the bulk of the bill was for the prophylactic HIV antivirals.

If you read the article, it quotes Williamson County, in whose jurisdiction the man was struck, as saying that they cannot "afford" to pay $2,000 for disease testing "every time there's a fatality." Uh-huh. So it costs *them* $2,000 to test?! THEY obviously think that's a high figure (and they are a rich county) but it's okay to let a good samaritan stand a higher bill? And what person who's just given CPR to a dying man and is covered in blood is going to ask "how much does this cost" before being treated?

I hear you on saying you don't like the current system, but I believe the only way to save enough money to make universal care workable is to severely limit insurance company profit (in Germany, the private insurers are non-profit, sorta like electric coops or credit unions).

Silly Sod

No harm done mate and I agree, if somebody chosses to eat like a kind for a day and then suffer the rest of the week it is their choice, their food card.

But, back to the topic. I watched the movie right after this thread started and thought it was great. The part where they went to cuba had me thinking - so, this is why it is so difficult to visit cuba if you are a USC. That led me to further think that they don't want to build a fence on the mex border to keep out the illegals that they so deperatly need for so many industries, but rather to keep americans in and away from the cheap medicine that is available in a third world country. I think they know that the more americans become aware of how badly they are being abused by this system the more chance that they will demand change one day.


One more thing for ABY - in the Uk there is a two tier health system. If you choose you can go private and, though I have never done it, I believe it is still cheap as chips, just a few pounds a month. Very affordable even for low income families. More on here will know more than me though regarding BUPA and such like.

The NHS is far from perfect, I have waited 4 hours in A an E with a badly sprained ankle and was reduced to tears of pain. Another time I was rushed there with my left hand totally crushed and needing my middle digit removed from the middle knuckle. I was a kid. I vagely remember the surgeon saying - I'm not removing his finger, he's a child for god sake. My mother told me nobody thought he could operate and save my finger. He did and now you would hardly notice. It didn't cost a bean and I have been grateful for the last 30 years to that man.

jumping doris

My OH had BUPA as part of his job package. Our local BUPA hospital was so luxurious. You ordered from a menu and you could have wine if your condition allowed it!
Myself and the 3 children could have paid a reduced premium to join the plan but it was more than we could afford.
He had his varicose veins done there and lived like a king. I expected US hospitals to be like that as they are all privately funded. Not so near here

My mum needed a bone density scan and was in a lot of pain...on the NHS she faced an 8 month wait. I took her to the BUPA hospital, appointment whenever we wanted it. Cost 80 GBP.
They came and got her from the car and while she was being scanned they brought me a tray with a coffee press and biscuits.
Results sent there and then to her GP who was "too busy" to read them for a week!

Anyone can use a BUPA hospital but if they don't have insurance they pay full price but somethings still seem cheaper than here.

But I too have more good stories about the NHS than bad ones and I would take it anyday over this.

TouristTrap

My husband has waited with a friend for hours in the ER with him bleeding profusely from a circular saw cut to his arm, with not even a bandage being given him. My dh had to go and harass the nurses to give him some, which he kept changing. This in one of our better hospitals in town and with the best insurance money can buy

Lycanthrop

Its a hang-over from the Missile Crisis..........
Naughty little Communist Island too close to Florida........500 lines

.....had two bouts of surgery here in the US myself. In the first case, the whole thing was streamlined because it was a nasty workman's comp accident requiring reconstructive surgery..........no bills at all.........nada.
Second was I lost part of my left hand.........laid in the ER with nothing but aspirin 2 hours after the accident with a blood soaked hand and it going everywhere. Nurse pulled the screen because the sight was distressing other patients.......seemed to take forever and really needed morphine.

Point is......unless you live in a rich part of America and have good Insurance, make sure you get injured at work as there are no costs associated.......

Lycanthrop

I think herein lies the disconnect which America really needs to resolve.......

Its understood that Americans pride themselves on their individual rights and the ability to chart your own course.......that any Govt involvement in any aspect of life is seen as "Un-American" and therefore, a loss of individual freedom.

There is one view of Government which America cannot look at and keep its lunch down.........and that is, it being an administrator of benefits which are basic to the everyday existance of the citizenry........entrusted by the public.

Think about it.......(you are an American) How much simpler would your life be, if you didn't have to worry and plan for the things which constitute a safety net for your life - and that of your family?

........the plant is closing - no prob's I can claim unemployment and wont lose health care (right to work states and Cobra being cases in point)
.......the neighbour has a disease.......but he's not going to lose the house......our kids can still grow up together.
.......Grandad can actually bequeath something to his Grandkids.....

Best one of all........think of how much more level the playing field would be in an interview......

another bloody yank

I've thought about this issue a lot over the past few days, trying to figure out why I'm more or less opposed, over and above my belief that our Govt isn't capable of running such a system.

I'm really sort of torn in two over it. One voice is telling me what you say in the post I quoted above, and the other voice is whispering that it's too easy, nothing easy is good. Unless you've bled for it you don't deserve it. The govt. is not and shouldn't be responsible for me, I'm responsible for myself.

It's tempting, I'll give you that.

wtkp0u

Not really a film critique this thread is it?

jumping doris

I'm not that young which means my parents and grandparents remembered a time with no NHS.
A doctor would come to their village once a month and set up a surgery in a room above a pub. If you were ill and could afford to go and see him, then you did. If not you used old fashioned remedies and hoped you would be OK.

My maternal grandma was very poor and worked her fingers to the bone. Her first husband was killed in the pit (coal mine) and she was left with 5 young children. She did marry again and had 2 more children but for a while she was on her own. She did several jobs to make ends meet. In those days there were no other social benefits.
She was no different to masses of others.
To the end of her days (age 91) she remained in awe of the NHS and constantly reminded everyone of what it was like before. She used to say that it was something she could never have imagined as a younger woman.

The other thing that always amazed her was the moon landing and I now wonder why the US can put people into space but not create an NHS.

another bloody yank

I used to love talking to my grandparents and Great Grandmother about what it was like. My GG would tell us about what it was like in the "Old Country" (Sicily) and stories of how my Great Grandfather moved here first and got a job as a coal miner. When he had saved enough, he sent for her. We recorded her telling us a lot of these stories on audio cassettes (no video, she died in 1983 at 93).



We haven't had much luck with the space program lately, have we? Parts fall off the space shuttle every time it goes up. They sent that little buggy thing way the hell out to Mars, landed it, and promptly lost contact.

The people who built this country up until the 1950's and 60's were of a quality which is no longer available.

Lycanthrop

First point: Uninsured people who amount to the population of a European country in America is enough "bleeding" and humiliation on the world's stage to warrant Universal Healthcare as a right......as a sidebar, do you think the Founding Fathers would include it as a right if they re-wrote "that certain Bill" today?

Secondly: True, the Govt. isn't responsible for you, but if there is something which is life-affecting over which you have potentially no control or is a threat to the health and well being of the general public, it is the Govt's job to assist. Thats what a Government is for isn't it? It takes care of things on behalf of the population so that there isn't anarchy or opression by a few.

PS: Socialism really isn't a bad word ........Sen. McCarthy did a lot of bad for this country........there is no distinction between Socialism and Communism in the US.

jumping doris

I think they'll do fine then with an NHS.

southern comfort

Those who work hard pay for the ones who dont or wont. something like that

another bloody yank

I'm not sure I follow your reasoning here. Are you saying we should have NHS because other nations look down on us for not having it? Do you realize what you are asking me to do?




I thought about that on the way into work today. I don't know. I do know that just because we have the "right" to bear arms doesn't mean the govt. provides us all with guns. Unfortunately.




I must be pretty thick today, that second part just isn't clicking.