My father is a free-market capitalist. He voted for Bush twice. He is pro-business and believes that private industry can handle most things better than the government.
Except health care. He grew up under a single-payer system for 30 years, and then moved to the U.S. and has lived under the American system for 45. And he believes in universal health care, as a businessman and a human being. He may believe in the free market, but thinks health care should not be a for-profit industry. Because that's just an incentive for health care companies to try to screw every last penny out of your coverage while at the same time cutting costs by denying you the care you paid for.
I just do not comprehend why people would be against socialized medicine. All it is is a basic option. You can still go to your fancy private doctors and get private insurance.
In Israel, I have the basic public option, UPGRADED to fancy public option, AND I have extra-fancy private insurance. It's really not a big deal.
@HereComesMyBaby: I have friends who are totally against it. They seem to think that health care is all about "choices" and the only people who need it have made bad choices like smoking and being fat.
Not realizing, of course, that people get strep throat, urinary tract infections, hit by cars, etc.
They also don't seem to understand that they could get basic health care for a tax increase of LESS THAN THEY PAY for health care now.
@veronykah: Okay, rephrasing: I do understand people's arguments against it, but I just think they're the stupidest arguments ever. Paying barely ANYTHING so that you always have health insurance, even when you're out of a job, and antibiotics cost $200 or some shit, is not A PROBLEM. Gah!
I mean, if I would've stayed in the US after I graduated from college with an English major (instead of moving to Israel), I would've been fucked. If I wouldn't have found a good job, how would I have dealt with all my health issues?
This is actually one of the main reasons I moved out of the US. I don't want to be forced into some yuppie job so that I can get antibiotics when I have a cold. Geez!
When Israel seems rational in comparison to you, you know you're in trouble, AMERICA.
A family member posted the Reagan speech on Facebook, and my attitude was basically "so what?" In 1961, Reagan was an actor. Well, I don't care what an actor thinks. I don't even care what an actor today who I agree with thinks. Fortunately, Alec Baldwin has been working and I haven't heard much from him.
ill preface this by saying that im ALL for healthcare reform in the states.
BUT, nationalized healthcare has its pitfalls, too. I'v recently had to pay 58pounds per visit to the GP because my NHS number/files have not been moved to my new GP (I registered with the new GP now 7 weeks ago) and as such have to pay to see the doctor as an 'unregistered patient'.
I'v also had to pay 485 pounds for a second ECG and 827pounds for a second echo cardiogram because the results of the first one were lost somewhere between hospital and GP, and the NHS won't cover costs for multiple ECG's unless there is a 'pertinent medical reason'.
Furthermore, my GP referred me to a cardiologist, with whom I was able to make an appointment for 11 weeks after the referral, who has then referred me to another cardiologist for a second opinion for 9 weeks after I saw him (NHS won't allow for costly procedures without second opinions). I have since had the second opinion (just last week) and the prodecure has been scheduled for FEBRUARY 2010, unless I want to have it done at a private hospital where it can be done as soon as next week.
Let me also add that this is for a genetic heart condition that basically calls for a defibrillator to be put in and im at the low end of the totem pole for procedures because i am 25 and otherwise 'healthy'.
All in all, its taken over 1500pounds and and 5 months to get to THIS point - and now its going to be another 5 months before anything is done about it UNLESS I choose to pay out of pocket OR use my supplementary insurance from work which fucks with my premiums.
Not saying im not grateful that i have the option to have this sorted by spending 2000 instead 15000 pounds - my point is, nationalized healthcare has its fuckups, too.
(also im an american living in the uk, and if i chose to do this in the states, my parents health insurance would pretty much cover all of it with minimum additions to premiums - they have uni jobs and their healthcare extends to family)
@rd2uk: Your story is the reason why Obama is pushing electronic health records. It makes it easier to share health records and would reduce the need for duplicate testing.
Also, if you are 25, I doubt you could still be on your parents insurance. If you can, this is probably the last year. 25 is the highest year I know of in which employer provided insurance covers children who are not on disability.
@rd2uk: That's utterly rubbish--I'm so sorry that happened to you! The news today said that some people had to wait ages for procedures as well because their info got lost during the Great Big Drive to implement electronic records. I really wish Labour had managed to make that happen in a timely way.
I have to say though, having lived in the US as well with good insurance, I still think the NHS is better as a concept. It needs reform, and a lot more money spent in more intelligent ways (if we stopped wasting billions on Eurofighter jets that no one will EVER USE because we don't have pilots who can fly them and they have no purpose in contemporary warfare... sigh...). Some of the hospitals dating from the first years of the NHS are crumbling horribly, too, and they can be maddeningly slow to approve new drugs. I still wouldn't switch back, though, and I have quite a lot of health problems. My boyfriend does everything through his work-provided BUPA (private insurance), and I use the NHS because I'm a poor grad student, and I honestly haven't seen any measurable difference in the standard of care. He sees specialists a bit faster, but that's it; he recently had an MRI which was paid for privately and hence he got the appointment within a week, but all the equipment and docs were NHS.
I don't understand the conservatives' emphasis on economic freedom. What's free about not having basic services? Or having to "choose" between medicine and food? I actually have decent health insurance, but even I would feel more free if I could rely on medical care and not have to worry about whether the best doctor for my hypothetical future illness is covered under my convoluted plan.
@ytuhermanotambien: Because it's economic freedom for rich people only...poor people don't count, they should've thought about that before they decided to be poor goddammit!!!
@onestrawplz: And all Americans can become rich if they try hard enough...unless, of course, we have socialist programs that thwart the American dream.
@onestrawplz: No its actually all their fault because they lack will power, the ability to "pull themselves up by the bootstraps" and are probably lazy too.
Duh.
I think the reason that there is such animosity toward socialized medicine is American attitudes. We are the only country in the entire world that advertises drugs. "Talk to your Doctor!" they all say, and that is a very very unique idea -- that you aren't just a patient, you're a consumer, and you can be an informed consumer. In places with socialized medicine there is what Americans perceive as "a lack of communication" but it comes from an attitude that the doctor must know best. He's a doctor and he went to school for that.
On the one hand, it's great to be skeptical of doctors, especially as women (twilight sleep, the pill experiments, forced sterilization, committing and isolating Typhoid Mary for seemingly no reason, etc..), but on the other hand, our country definitely takes that skepticism way too far.
I don't think it's just Reagan, though he embodies the spirit. It is a unique view of the world that partially makes us who we are as a country, for better or for worse.
@judgingnora: I think you are mixing some issues. It is actually very important for patients to take control of their health, to question and challenge their doctors and, at times, inform their doctors. I had a chronic illness misdiagnosed for 17 years because I didn't think I could question my doctors.
But what I am saying is very different from a patient asking for the purple pill because the commercial suggests it works better than the generic.
@Lymed: Oh they are very different! And it is very important to take control of their own health by questioning the doctor. I think in America we value questioning doctor's opinions very highly, because everyone, to some degree or another, doesn't trust institutions (in different ways, of course. conservatives go on about small government, liberals talk about "the man" etc.). But my point was that attitude, which is healthy, is what leads to pharmaceutical advertisements. Drug companies know that Americans like to be in control of their own health, and prey on that.
@judgingnora: Unfortunately, I know too many Americans who are not in control of their health. People who are clearly sick and just accept when their doctor says there is nothing wrong without pushing for a diagnosis. It amazes me that people won't question a doctor when they feel the diagnosis is wrong, but they can be perfectly comfortable asking for a pill they saw advertised on tv.
@Lymed: Yeah, I think we're coming at this from different angles due to different experiences. My dad got sick at 9/11 is alive today because my mom would stay up super late and do tons of research and then come at the doctors with all her findings. Eventually she just decided that no one knew what they were doing, and she took him off all the drugs and that's how he got better. She also requested x-rays that no one wanted to give him, and discovered that the medication he was on had eaten his hips! No doctor could figure out why he couldn't walk for 2 years. But she is the reason why I think people question their doctors a lot.
@judgingnora: Your father is lucky to have your mother fight for him. Many people don't fight like that. Many people are taught that the doctor is an educated authority figure that you don't question. I had to teach myself to question because I knew the diagnoses I was getting didn't fit. And I was taught to never accept anything.
While I agree that it's great up here in Ontario that we have socialized health care it is by no means free. We all pay for it in our taxes and as a business owner I pay something called 'Employer's Health Tax' which is quite expensive. Please don't ever think that universal health care is free.
The wait times up here are really long for things like CAT scans and many of my friends have trouble even finding a family doctor who will take them on because their practices are full but overall we're very lucky. My grandparents are in their late 80's and spend quite a bit of time at the doctor and in the hospital and I'm very grateful that I don't have to go into dept to pay for their care.
@EldaGigante: In America, my friends have trouble even finding a family doctor who will take them because their practices are full or they don't participate in the insurance plan. In America, I have to wait months to get in to see specialists or to have my annual physical.
And yes, universal coverage is not free. But it will be less expensive than the current American system.
@EldaGigante: Wait times can be very long here too. I had to switch my son's pediatrician when we moved and that was a 6 month wait for a new patient visit. I know people who have to wait months and travel hundreds of miles to see an oncologist or a gastroenternologist just to pay a huge bill because their insurance did not see that visit as necessary.
@EldaGigante: I don't think that all of our healthcare is "free", but most care is provided at no end-user cost. I think the main point of any healthcare discussion should be "how can we make it better for users", no matter which country they are in. Then we'd all be off to a better start, and hopefully on one would have to go into debt to receive medical care :)
@EldaGigante: One of my Canadian friends was just explaining that she paid the same amount of taxes in Canada as she does in the US-- only the Canadian ones went to things she needed, like health care, as opposed to being funneled straight into wars.
@ytuhermanotambien: I'm pretty sure overall taxes are higher in Canada. A large part is that actual corporate tax rates in Canada are much higher. After all the deductions in the U.S., many large corporations have a very low tax rate.
@EldaGigante: Your first paragraph is an excellent point. It's disingenuous to try to claim that we can pay for universal health care just by getting rid of "inefficiencies." It's going to be more expensive (in terms of taxes or deficits) - - - but we just have to say that it's GOOD POLICY to pay more for a healthier nation, not that this is some sort of big tax savings plan.
@schweppes: But right now, we are paying for everybody's health care but in really inefficient ways. Medicare pays for dialysis for people who couldn't afford to treat their diabetes. Social security disability pays for people with amputations who couldn't afford to treat their diabetes. We all pay for people without insurance who go to the emergency room or are hospitalized and never pay their bill...many of whom could be treated much less expensively if they could have afforded to go to a doctor and fill prescriptions.
Universal health care won't be free. But it should, over time, become cheaper overall than the current system if everybody has access to good preventive care and chronic disease management.
@Lymed: Scarily, its not THAT much higher. I once had a discussion with a few Canadians about what % of income we pay into taxes. I live in NY where we pay A LOT of state tax, and even with their general and provincial taxes...the %s were comparable. However if i lived in Florida or NH, it'd be a different story.
@tankearae: But that doesn't include corporate taxes. The U.S. corporate tax rates appear much higher than it is because there are so many corporate tax loopholes.
@tankearae: Yeah. I worked for a Genevan-chartered organization in NYC for a few years, and many of my co-workers were from our big office in Cardiff. When you added up all of the state and local NYC-dweller taxes + our health insurance deductions, we were getting almost the exact same percentage as take-home pay that our overseas co-workers did. And they got a whole lot more for their money than either of us did.
(Not to mention the number of holidays and vacation days that Europeans get, and yet if we actually used all 10 of our PTO in a year they said we weren't hard-working enough. Yeah, those 50 50-hour weeks weren't really there. Mmm-hmm...)
@Lymed: And I'm not saying it is a bad thing if Canadians pay more in taxes when considering corporate taxes. Because that money goes to social services that we don't have in the U.S., like universal health care.
@Lymed: Valid points. However, keep in mind that Canadians don't have to pay health insurance premiums - so that offsets the higher taxes (to what extent, I don't know).
@DoxDox and the Prototype: I agree. I just don't want people thinking we can move to universal coverage, keep our current tax rates, and not have to pay insurance premiums. We still need to pay for health care. I would prefer Canada's system. I think it is cheaper and fairer in the long run. But somebody will be paying more taxes than they do now, whether it is individuals or employers or both, in order to pay for it.
I still don't get the Reagan worship. The man set back HIV research how far because it was a gay/black disease? Then again, it seems like the only 'rights' bourgeois white people care about are:
1. Not paying too much in taxes (every last white conservative I know howls like crazy over 'wasting' money on these things but would crap a brick if I suggested repealing the mortgage exemption)
2. Being able to shoot an AK-47 if they want, because otherwise the British will be able to come over and slap us around (more the rural and/or male white bourgeois)
3. Getting any government benefit mentioned or it is unfair (my sister, who makes over 75K a year, pouted because she didn't get a $300 stimulus check. Really.)
I'll leave aside my really mean personal feelings about the religious right stooges, but among the types of conservatives I can bear to talk to, it's all about the unlimited right to stuff and killing the crap out of anyone who'd touch their stuff. It's not a really sophisticated ideology.
Okay, maybe I've missed something in the great health care reform debates, but as a Canadian, living in Ontario, I've always been covered for all medical care (with exception of things like the Hep A and B vaccines, and some other travel shots) via the Ontario Health Insurance Plan [www.health.gov.on.ca] .
Doctor's visits? Free. Blood work and CAT scans? Free. Cast for broken limb? Free. Basically, the only things that aren't covered are elective plastic surgery. Is it true that we may spend time waiting for care in Emergency or at the doctor's office? Sure. it's not a perfect system in Ontario. And some of our wait times for things like cancer diagnostics are shameful (leading people to wonder if a "user pay" model could fast track this treatment).
But the fact that the Ontario government "manages" the overall healthcare is much less threatening than an HMO managing my care. If I break my arm, I head to Emergency, wait, get X-rays, get it set and go home with my prescription for pain meds, that I will use my work-related insurance to purchase at the dispensing fee rate. Using this example, as long as I have my OHIP Health Card with me, I'm won't be asked for payment at any point in the "broken arm setting" process. The doctor won't have to confirm if I am "allowed" under my HMO to get this arm set, they will just set it. Is our system out-dated too? It's not perfect. It's slow. But as I've had a parent with serious health issues, it is reassuring that I and my parents have not been bankrupted to pay for a triple bypass operation and its recovery, as all costs associated were covered by OHIP. On the flip side, a cousin in the States was in Emergency room, and had to pay $500 upfront for medical tests/blood work before she was tested. That just makes me sad.
People shouldn't have to bankrupt themselves for health care in the US, and if government involvement regulates and improves the cost inflicted on the patient, I'm open to some proposals. Fingers crossed on this one.
@MotherChucker: isn't it the taxes that canadians pay funding this system? when you compare what american taxes fund (predominantly military) you see the discrepancy right there in priorities.
I have the exact same conversations with my grandfather about Reagan. He holds Reagan personally responsible for the severe homelessness problem in San Francisco, among other things like the death of the Great Society.
I was raised on tales of the air traffic controllers' strike the way my husband was raised on tales of pogroms.
@QuicheLorraine: i have a very, very strong memory of me as a little girl watching television with my parents one night. reagan came on the tv and babbled something and i made some inocuous, childlike comment about how if i was old enough to vote (i was maybe six?), i would vote for ronald reagan. and my father nearly blew a gasket screaming, "NO! THE REPUBLICANS ARE THE ENEMY!"
that's pretty much the heart of my political philosophy at this point.
@QuicheLorraine: Apparently, as a child I used to go around singing, "Reagan, Reagan, he's no good! Send him back to Hollywood!" which embarrassed my parents when we were out in public, but I must have learned it from them.
@Lymed: I knew Regan must be evil when my first grade teacher (this was her year to retire) told us all to go home Monday before the election and "make sure" our parents voted for Regan the next day.
I've never understood the knee-jerk reaction against socialized medicine. I lived under the UK system in my early 20's and it was amazing. Free dr.'s visits, free prescriptions (including birth control) no lines at the emergency room and house calls. HOUSE CALLS - nothing beats not having to trek to the over-crowded free-clinic when you have a 104 fever and instead have the dr come to your house.
At the same time I was so excited about free medicine, my UK BF's mother was coping with a life-long, debilatating illness. She used nation health for most things, but she also bought private insurance (even though she had a pre-existing condition.) This gave her reimbursement for private clinic visits, experimental and non-western treatments.
So it seems like private insurance can co-exist, even with single payer, everyone gets better health care, everyone is happy.
@samplesize: You had me at free birth control. GAWD that sounds amazing.
Two years ago when I was uninsured, I went to get my birth control and it was well over one hundred dollars. Granted, it was one of those multi-month packs, but that's what my doctor prescribed for my condition. I was whining and the pharmacist pointed out, half-jokingly, that it was still cheaper than a baby.
@samplesize: The knee-jerk reactions is because of a decades long campaign aimed at scaring the American people. The reason the world "socialized" is used is because a large portion of the American population lived for decades in fear of communism and was taught that socialism is the first step towards communism. For many people, the fear of communism is a fear of nuclear war. It brings memories of hiding under their school desks during drills.
I am endlessly flabbergasted by the fact that anyone believes Charlyne Yi is in her 30s. I'm not sure if its because we are so used to seeing late 20 somethings play high school students or if it is because so many people think Asian women have the magically ability to not age. I looked her up months ago and didn't believe her fake birthday.
@ericacartman: I watched Gilmore Girls and I think Lane passing as a high school student has a lot to do with costuming and the fact that it is tv. And also probably the fact that a lot of Americans don't know many Asians. When I heard the actress who played Lane was 30, I wasn't really surprised. I would have guessed she was late 20s, not 15.
man I am so sick of addiction intervention shows. it's horrifying/disgusting and all fun and games until the addict you know fucks up your life and then it's not just a fun tv show anymore. *eyeroll*
i saw a classmate on there, as the family member of an addict. i wanted to approach them and offer sympathy but had no idea how.
@Ms Meghan: Since I am *** Currently *** dealing with a loved one who is an addict and engaging in destructive behavior that is fucking up my own life, I agree wholeheartedly. This show sucks.
10/01/09
10/01/09
Except health care. He grew up under a single-payer system for 30 years, and then moved to the U.S. and has lived under the American system for 45. And he believes in universal health care, as a businessman and a human being. He may believe in the free market, but thinks health care should not be a for-profit industry. Because that's just an incentive for health care companies to try to screw every last penny out of your coverage while at the same time cutting costs by denying you the care you paid for.
10/01/09
In Israel, I have the basic public option, UPGRADED to fancy public option, AND I have extra-fancy private insurance. It's really not a big deal.
What is the problem???
10/01/09
Not realizing, of course, that people get strep throat, urinary tract infections, hit by cars, etc.
They also don't seem to understand that they could get basic health care for a tax increase of LESS THAN THEY PAY for health care now.
10/01/09
I mean, if I would've stayed in the US after I graduated from college with an English major (instead of moving to Israel), I would've been fucked. If I wouldn't have found a good job, how would I have dealt with all my health issues?
This is actually one of the main reasons I moved out of the US. I don't want to be forced into some yuppie job so that I can get antibiotics when I have a cold. Geez!
When Israel seems rational in comparison to you, you know you're in trouble, AMERICA.
10/01/09
10/01/09
My very own personal COTD. Brilliant.
10/01/09
10/01/09
BUT, nationalized healthcare has its pitfalls, too. I'v recently had to pay 58pounds per visit to the GP because my NHS number/files have not been moved to my new GP (I registered with the new GP now 7 weeks ago) and as such have to pay to see the doctor as an 'unregistered patient'.
I'v also had to pay 485 pounds for a second ECG and 827pounds for a second echo cardiogram because the results of the first one were lost somewhere between hospital and GP, and the NHS won't cover costs for multiple ECG's unless there is a 'pertinent medical reason'.
Furthermore, my GP referred me to a cardiologist, with whom I was able to make an appointment for 11 weeks after the referral, who has then referred me to another cardiologist for a second opinion for 9 weeks after I saw him (NHS won't allow for costly procedures without second opinions). I have since had the second opinion (just last week) and the prodecure has been scheduled for FEBRUARY 2010, unless I want to have it done at a private hospital where it can be done as soon as next week.
Let me also add that this is for a genetic heart condition that basically calls for a defibrillator to be put in and im at the low end of the totem pole for procedures because i am 25 and otherwise 'healthy'.
All in all, its taken over 1500pounds and and 5 months to get to THIS point - and now its going to be another 5 months before anything is done about it UNLESS I choose to pay out of pocket OR use my supplementary insurance from work which fucks with my premiums.
Not saying im not grateful that i have the option to have this sorted by spending 2000 instead 15000 pounds - my point is, nationalized healthcare has its fuckups, too.
(also im an american living in the uk, and if i chose to do this in the states, my parents health insurance would pretty much cover all of it with minimum additions to premiums - they have uni jobs and their healthcare extends to family)
10/01/09
Also, if you are 25, I doubt you could still be on your parents insurance. If you can, this is probably the last year. 25 is the highest year I know of in which employer provided insurance covers children who are not on disability.
10/01/09
I have to say though, having lived in the US as well with good insurance, I still think the NHS is better as a concept. It needs reform, and a lot more money spent in more intelligent ways (if we stopped wasting billions on Eurofighter jets that no one will EVER USE because we don't have pilots who can fly them and they have no purpose in contemporary warfare... sigh...). Some of the hospitals dating from the first years of the NHS are crumbling horribly, too, and they can be maddeningly slow to approve new drugs. I still wouldn't switch back, though, and I have quite a lot of health problems. My boyfriend does everything through his work-provided BUPA (private insurance), and I use the NHS because I'm a poor grad student, and I honestly haven't seen any measurable difference in the standard of care. He sees specialists a bit faster, but that's it; he recently had an MRI which was paid for privately and hence he got the appointment within a week, but all the equipment and docs were NHS.
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10/01/09
10/01/09
/s
10/01/09
10/01/09
Duh.
10/01/09
On the one hand, it's great to be skeptical of doctors, especially as women (twilight sleep, the pill experiments, forced sterilization, committing and isolating Typhoid Mary for seemingly no reason, etc..), but on the other hand, our country definitely takes that skepticism way too far.
I don't think it's just Reagan, though he embodies the spirit. It is a unique view of the world that partially makes us who we are as a country, for better or for worse.
10/01/09
But what I am saying is very different from a patient asking for the purple pill because the commercial suggests it works better than the generic.
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
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10/01/09
Me: Mom, how come Paul's cousins have to move in with his family? There's not enough room.
Mom: Reagan.
To this day, I get a deeply incredulous look on my face when someone refers to Reagan as "the farmer's friend."
10/01/09
The wait times up here are really long for things like CAT scans and many of my friends have trouble even finding a family doctor who will take them on because their practices are full but overall we're very lucky. My grandparents are in their late 80's and spend quite a bit of time at the doctor and in the hospital and I'm very grateful that I don't have to go into dept to pay for their care.
10/01/09
And yes, universal coverage is not free. But it will be less expensive than the current American system.
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
Universal health care won't be free. But it should, over time, become cheaper overall than the current system if everybody has access to good preventive care and chronic disease management.
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
(Not to mention the number of holidays and vacation days that Europeans get, and yet if we actually used all 10 of our PTO in a year they said we weren't hard-working enough. Yeah, those 50 50-hour weeks weren't really there. Mmm-hmm...)
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
1. Not paying too much in taxes (every last white conservative I know howls like crazy over 'wasting' money on these things but would crap a brick if I suggested repealing the mortgage exemption)
2. Being able to shoot an AK-47 if they want, because otherwise the British will be able to come over and slap us around (more the rural and/or male white bourgeois)
3. Getting any government benefit mentioned or it is unfair (my sister, who makes over 75K a year, pouted because she didn't get a $300 stimulus check. Really.)
I'll leave aside my really mean personal feelings about the religious right stooges, but among the types of conservatives I can bear to talk to, it's all about the unlimited right to stuff and killing the crap out of anyone who'd touch their stuff. It's not a really sophisticated ideology.
10/01/09
Doctor's visits? Free. Blood work and CAT scans? Free. Cast for broken limb? Free. Basically, the only things that aren't covered are elective plastic surgery. Is it true that we may spend time waiting for care in Emergency or at the doctor's office? Sure. it's not a perfect system in Ontario. And some of our wait times for things like cancer diagnostics are shameful (leading people to wonder if a "user pay" model could fast track this treatment).
But the fact that the Ontario government "manages" the overall healthcare is much less threatening than an HMO managing my care. If I break my arm, I head to Emergency, wait, get X-rays, get it set and go home with my prescription for pain meds, that I will use my work-related insurance to purchase at the dispensing fee rate. Using this example, as long as I have my OHIP Health Card with me, I'm won't be asked for payment at any point in the "broken arm setting" process. The doctor won't have to confirm if I am "allowed" under my HMO to get this arm set, they will just set it. Is our system out-dated too? It's not perfect. It's slow. But as I've had a parent with serious health issues, it is reassuring that I and my parents have not been bankrupted to pay for a triple bypass operation and its recovery, as all costs associated were covered by OHIP. On the flip side, a cousin in the States was in Emergency room, and had to pay $500 upfront for medical tests/blood work before she was tested. That just makes me sad.
People shouldn't have to bankrupt themselves for health care in the US, and if government involvement regulates and improves the cost inflicted on the patient, I'm open to some proposals. Fingers crossed on this one.
10/01/09
2009 federal budget
10/01/09
I was raised on tales of the air traffic controllers' strike the way my husband was raised on tales of pogroms.
10/01/09
that's pretty much the heart of my political philosophy at this point.
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10/01/09
At the same time I was so excited about free medicine, my UK BF's mother was coping with a life-long, debilatating illness. She used nation health for most things, but she also bought private insurance (even though she had a pre-existing condition.) This gave her reimbursement for private clinic visits, experimental and non-western treatments.
So it seems like private insurance can co-exist, even with single payer, everyone gets better health care, everyone is happy.
10/01/09
Two years ago when I was uninsured, I went to get my birth control and it was well over one hundred dollars. Granted, it was one of those multi-month packs, but that's what my doctor prescribed for my condition. I was whining and the pharmacist pointed out, half-jokingly, that it was still cheaper than a baby.
10/01/09
07/29/09
07/30/09
07/30/09
Maybe I'm an unusually good judge of age though.
07/29/09
i saw a classmate on there, as the family member of an addict. i wanted to approach them and offer sympathy but had no idea how.
07/29/09