Health Care: A Right or a Privilege? (page 4)

LDH

I had to put my children on a state program just so they could keep up with their shots - I hated it.

Good for you. That's what they're there for.

FHN, when I say 'you,' please read into that YOU meaning anybody. I don't presume to know your situation, which is why I asked. My plan is to help if possible.

My close friend, married with twin boys, were spending $900 a month of their $2,200 salary on health insurance! I got the boys on Healthy Families, and it's costing $18 a month for their full coverage. Then mom and dad were able to go a on a high deductible plan which is costing them $200 a month. That's a savings of almost $700 a month, a staggering amount. But she had never taken the time to do her homework, and I ended up doing it all. Which is fine, that's why we're friends but the point is THE HELP WAS THERE, she wasn't looking in the right place.

There are programs out there, and if you want to PM me I may be able to help. Not everyone who is uninsured is a lazy bum, but that also doesn't preclude the possibility that they are not taking full advantage of programs that are already in place.

Socialized medicine is not the answer.

Lisa

fairchild

LDH you are on thin ice. You are obviously blaming the person who does not have insurance here.

First of all, unless you know our situations, don't judge, don't EVER judge a person if you don't know them.

You MUST understand that circumstances can push people towards ruin, and I am not talking about over-spending on things they don't need. I spent most of my life working as a traveling juggler/magician and made good money. Back then, it was my PRIORITY to HELP people who were less fortunate than me. Over the years, I have donated TEN THOUSANDS of dollars to good causes. Little did I know that my own life would take several bad and unexpected turns and I would end up with nothing.

The last thing I need is to be blamed for it, because the turns my life took were beyond me and out of my own control. For the past years I have been trying to pick up the pieces, and I have done this to the best of my ability and to the best of my knowledge. I am comfortable at my job and I am good at it. Unfortunately it does not come with benefits. I don't think someone should be forced to relocate just to find benefits somewhere. I truly believe that health care should be a human right, something everyone has access to. Unfortunately, this is not the case. If you have access to it, good for you, but DON'T blame people who don't have access to it and insinuate that they are not trying hard enough.

FlyingHighNow

When people say the "governement" should pay for things, I sometimes wonder if they know there is no such thing as 'government'.

So do you think we are like little kids who think all we have to do is to go the bank and get more money? We all pay taxes. When I was in Connecticut, working in Rhode Island, I paid more Michigan State taxes than I did Rhode Island Taxes.

I work in retail. That doesn't mean I know everything there is to know about the industry. You work in insurance? Doesn't mean you know everything about it. Poor choices? We all have skeletons in our closets. This doesn't mean that the USA doesn't have a pitifully inadequate health care industry and health insurance program. What has ruined it is allowing it to turn into a big lucrative business.

LDH

LDH, you misunderstand the basics of why you are paying MORE for insurance. You are paying more because we DON'T have health insurance.

Daniel I could make your head spin with utilization scenarios and actuarial probabilities, but the point is the programs are already there. My point about paying more was based on taxes, not my personal health care premiums.

No reason to add more burden to an already burdened and taxed society.

Not all have it that good, and STOP JUDGING PLEASE.

Daniel, I am not judging, I am making remarks of opinion. I do happen to be informed on the subject, after all that's the field I've worked in for 20 years.

There is always room for improvement, but pressure must be put on the employer. If your employer does not have health insurance, at the least get yourself a ToNik plan like the one I mentioned. It's around $100 a month.

fairchild

In all fairness I do have to add something to this whole insurance thread. I truly believe that one of the many reasons why health care is so very expensive is because some people without insurance go to hospitals and give fake names and addresses. They never pay a penny (And I know at least two people who do that). Then the honest straggler comes along and gets to pay the expenses for the ones who didn't pay their bill.

We must admit that there is something very wrong with the American health care system all around. If it was so great, this thread would not even exist.

LDH

First of all, unless you know our situations, don't judge, don't EVER judge a person if you don't know them.
You MUST understand that circumstances can push people towards ruin, and I am not talking about over-spending on things they don't need. I spent most of my life working as a traveling juggler/magician and made good money. Back then, it was my PRIORITY to HELP people who were less fortunate than me. Over the years, I have donated TEN THOUSANDS of dollars to good causes. Little did I know that my own life would take several bad and unexpected turns and I would end up with nothing.

Faichild, I qualify my remarks by saying not all who are without health insurance are without fault in the scenario. Nothing I said includes you in that group, unless that's where YOU see yourself. Bad things can happen to anyone. I already mentioned I was a single parent working for 7 years before I got married. There were certain things that were always paid out of my meager paycheck.

rent

car note

utilities

insurance (renter's, health, and car)

food

Just before I got married my condo was burglarized, I had almost $27,000 of stuff stolen. Just the month before I had considered lapsing my renter's policy because I was moving in with my fiancee, I figured I could 'shoot the gap.' Why pay a quarterly premium when I was only gonna be using it for two weeks?

My fiancee insisted I not do that, I told him--hey buddy if it's that important to ya, you can pay it. And then I handed him the bill.

Imagine my surprise the next week I go home and everything is gone. The first call I made was to my fiancee to find out if he paid the premium on my renter's insurance, of course he did. WHEW!!!!

So please, spare me the song and dance routine. Even I, who had worked in insurance all my life, thought I could play the game and go without coverage. I would have had NO ONE to blame but myself.

People do this all the time, bank on the odds being in their favor and of course you know Murphy's Law. It don't happen like that. You gotta bite the bullet and pay the premium.

Lisa

daniel-p

Unlike you, LDH, I do not think this is an overly taxed society. We have some of the lowest taxes of any industrialized country, and, consequently, the lowest quality of life. What it comes down to is this: I would rather pay more taxes and have a better life style than pay less and have less security. And no, I am not a red commie bastard, and yes, I do apreciate the opportunities this country has to offer. But I would rather pay a lot of taxes and have more services to make my life more comfortable than live in a cut-throat business world where the only thing that matters is profit.

FlyingHighNow

I hope that you can help people find programs for people, LDH. That would be helpful.

I live in Michigan. While there is a clinic where you can pay according to your income, they give very poor care there. Also, the doctor is from Iran and you cannot understand him, even when you have him explain several times. I had a nurse hurt me using the wrong sized equipment. I asked her to get another one my size and she refused. Then I spoke to the doctor about it and she became angry with me. She brought in another and this time it was far too big and couldn't work for me. Again I tried to work this out with the doctor. He could not understand what I was asking for. Now, if I have strep throat again, I will go see him, if I can get an appointment that is. They are backed up 6 weeks to 2 months with appointments unless you have a broken bone, gash or life threatening illness.

When I lived in a far Atlanta suburb, they had no such programs for working people.

FlyingHighNow

I pay $55 a month for my car insurance. I pay it faithfully. I would end up paying close to a thousand a month for health care. I cannot afford that. It's not a matter of taking a gamble.

LDH

http://www.govbenefits.gov/govbenefits/index.jhtml

Please use this link to isolate programs that may already be available to you that you don't know about.

Daniel, the government is notorious for being wasteful. If I thought for one minute that 'paying more taxes' would give citizens a better quality of life, I'd be all over it.

All the taxes in the world didn't help New Orleans.

Health Care: A Right or a Privilege?

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