Insurance etc in the US

[annekat]

Under the new health care reform, I've heard there is a provision whereby companies must refund part of the money you spent on premiums if more than a certain percentage would have gone for profits vs. the actual care you got. Or something like that.

I can imagine care of Weggies getting very expensive. I have been lucky so far; it hasn't been expensive, though I have had trouble with some copays because I'm low income. But right now, month to month, I'm not having to put a lot out for treatment or drugs. I know that could change.

[mishb]

For us Aussies, everyone gets access to Medicare and we pay 1.5% of our salary (part of our tax) for this pleasure.
Low income earners get it for nothing and receive a health care card which enables them to low cost medications etc.
For high income earners it is compulsory for them to take out Health Insurance.

Medicare means that everyone has access to the Public Hospitals and Public Doctors/Specialists - you don't get to choose your doctor and the waiting periods are through the roof, especially for elective surgeries.
With Health Insurance you then have access to Private Hospitals, your choice of doctor and/or specialist and basically no waiting periods.......you do have to pay a deductible in most cases (on top of your health premiums).

I feel really ill and so sad/sorry that Americans have to put up with the lot they have.

[annekat]

Michelle, the negatives you mention in your system, such as long waiting periods, are some of the reasons people here give for not wanting nationalized health care. But it would be so much better than so many people having no coverage at all and wondering what they will do if they get sick. Those that have good coverage and want to keep it private seem to conveniently disregard all those people.

[Girly3800]

It is true - there is a provision to refund some premiums if the payouts weren't as great as estimated which then resulted in higher profits for the insurance company. My company received a refund earlier this year for somewhere around $850.00. Mind you our premiums were almost $200,000.00 a year (for 11 employees and some families). Company pays all premiums so there was nothing to refund employees - the company was entitled to the refund.

[Tim Roberts]

The whole issue of health insurance and how we in the US deal with our health care system is not only a political issue but also VERY profitable for the insurance industry. I have a son living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and because of that I have learned a great deal about the Canadian health care system. To be honest, I was completely ignorant until he resided there even though I have been there countless times to fish in Ontario. As I travel up to Calgary, I always talk to the folks who live there about their health care system especially now that I have wegener's and am more aware of the need for quality health care. I have not talked to one of the Canadian folks that was distraught with their system and it is pretty hard to argue that everyone has health care there AND everyone has access to physicals and preventative health care which is far from what we have in the US. I have also heard about the horror stories about people waiting for months and months for surgeries and coming to the US and paying for the cost themselves. To be honest, I have never met any of these people and I just wonder if this is strictly propoganda put out by our own health insurance industry to scare people in the US. In the end, the best quote I ever heard from one of the Canadian folks made absolute sense to me and everyone in the US should hear this. They indicated that in Canada their money is spent on health care and in the US we spend our money on health insurance. Think of the billions of dollars that we spend on huge profits for the health insurers and if that money was used to benefit health care directly, where would we be then? Interesting thought.

[crackers]

i realise that in the US healthcare is political and here in the UK also but not to the same extent.about a week before a tumour was found in my bowel, which then perforated needing life saving surgery, i watched Michael Moore's film "Sicko". i know Mr Moore is not everyones cup of tea in the US but parts of that film brought tears to my eyes especially the 9/11 emergency workers.i believe healthcare should transcend politics as healthcare is necessary for every human being to live a full and productive life.keep politics out of healthcare? i'm not holding my breath.
john.

[Palmyra]

"I have also heard about the horror stories about people waiting for months and months for surgeries and coming to the US and paying for the cost themselves. To be honest, I have never met any of these people and I just wonder if this is strictly propoganda put out by our own health insurance industry to scare people in the US. In the end, the best quote I ever heard from one of the Canadian folks made absolute sense to me and everyone in the US should hear this. They indicated that in Canada their money is spent on health care and in the US we spend our money on health insurance."


Isn't it funny...all of the horror stories are of a gossip nature. "I did not actually know this person, but I heard of someone outside of the US that had to wait months or years to receive care for this or that...if we pay for it directly, we can chose our own price and fate and get immediate care."

Well, if you have a chronic disorder, your fate has already been determined. We have lots to learn.

JTF

[pberggren1]

Next time yo go to Calgary Tim look me up. You have to pass my house on the way. And we do have good healthcare here.

[Barry]

The one thing 90% + of us in the US will agree on is our health system needs fixed. However we are so polorized and most people don't believe our government can handle health care.

[Tim Roberts]

Phil: I will gladly stop and I agree, you folks in Canada do have great health care. We in the US need to think in terms of not what we have always done but what we could do. Barry, I think you are absolutely right and I understand completely because I have worked for the government for over 30 years and to be honest, there are times I don't have much faith in it either. Yes, we have become so polarized that very often people in positions of authority who could change things simply won't. We all need to set aside our political differences and realize that healthcare is far, far to important an issue to be driven by politics and we need to consider what other counties have done very successfully. No reason it couldn't work here in the US either if we could only get past what we have always done.