Healthcare reform has passed and is signed into law... this is a Big F*cking Deal!

by Elsewhere 89 Replies latest jw friends

  • besty
    besty

    AFAIK the UK private healthcare business is pretty buoyant - people have the choice to pay extra for private care.

  • beksbks
    beksbks
    the UK private healthcare business is pretty buoyant - people have the choice to pay extra for private care.

    This is what so many here have either forgotten, or purposely obfuscated when they kept screaming about "government takeover of health care". Mo Rons.

  • cry
    cry

    When it comes to private healthcare here in the UK, it's main appeal is that if you need an operation (not life threatening) you can get treated quickly - queue jump! The care you get is pretty much the same, or as my friend said when she went private - you get a pot of tea instead of a cup! For the major life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, premature births, long term health conditions, prematue births etc etc - private health care makes no difference. Most are happy to be part of the NHS, in fact, a lot of private policies do not cover major situations.

  • shamus100
    shamus100

    Besekers,

    Show me where on you-tube I should believe this. I'm not able to make congruent sentences and am completely reliant on either it or fox news.

    Link it otherwise I'll never believe it!

  • Mary
    Mary

    We even pay for humans to be turned into monkeys with our healthcare system! Come on Shamus.....kiss the human! Kiss me baby!

  • leavingwt
    leavingwt
    That's a pretty lame thing to pick out - you know what I was saying.

    Shamus,

    Did I forget to kiss the monkey? Please don't bite me. I wasn't sure what you were saying.

    This new law does not provide very much fee health care -- at the point of delivery. (We've had free health care for very poor (Medicaid) and certain veterans. Folks 65 and over get Medicare.) Under this new bill, a family of four making 88K or more will receive no government subsidies and will be required to purchase insurance from a private company. The government will not regulate what that private company will charge for this insurance coverage.

    What we now have is nowhere close to what you have in Canada or Britain. Money is still a huge concern, when it comes to getting the health care we need, even with the passage of this new law. If one doesn't have any money or any insurance, he or she won't get very much treatment, other than ER care for stabilization. Then, you get a huge bill for your ER visit. If you cannot pay these bills, the creditors come after your assets. This is why so many people file for bankruptcy.

    So, what did you mean when you said free? I don't want to put words in your mouth.

    -LWT

  • beksbks
    beksbks

    Won't that family of 4 be part of some bargaining pool to lower the cost?

  • leavingwt
    leavingwt
    Won't that family of 4 be part of some bargaining pool to lower the cost?

    I'm not familiar with those pools. Please let me know. I have a family of four. This is of interest to me.

    These pools are among private insurance companies, unregulated by the Federal government, I'm guessing.

  • leavingwt
    leavingwt

    Beks,

    I'm reviewing some of the numbers, here:

    http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/21/us/health-care-reform.html

    One piece of data we'd really need to know is how much these subsidies will be. Have you seen any numbers/percentages? I have not.

    Regarding free care, here is what I found:

    Starting in 2014, anyone with an income below 133 percent of the poverty level — or about $29,327 in 2009 for a family of four — will be eligible for a rejuvenated Medicaid program. Medicaid’s often anemic reimbursements will be increased to the same level as Medicare, making more doctors willing to accept it.

    I think we all can agree that a family of four earning $30K or less is very poor. They will indeed receive free care via Medicaid. (I've seen some of the local Doc-in-a-Box clinics refuse Medicaid patients, so hopefully the "rejuvenated" system will turn this trend around. Coverage is no good if you cannot find a clinic who'll accept it.)

    OK, so once that family gets to earning, let's say, $32K per year, they won't qualify for Medicaid, and they'll get subsidies and begin shopping for private insurance. We'd need more data to know exactly what they'd be up against.

    -LWT

  • shamus100
    shamus100

    LWT,

    I tore your head off there - sorry. It's hard to distinguish persons who can put sentences together on this forum, and the you-tube fox news version of Canadians.

    Understandably, (sp?) Canadian health care it doesn't sound perfect. Nothing is perfect the first time around. Hell, everyone has got to work together to make the country / healthcare better, not dwell on negativity and shitty personality conflicts. Of course I understand this may be impossible for some that live far far far far from civilization.... (I'm not insinuating you!)

    My health care is free. One hundred percent free. I don't pay .01 cent a month for it. Now all the idiots out there are screaming "BUT IT'S IN YOUR TAXES" yes, it's in my taxes, thank you very very frigging much. But in most provinces there is a small charge per person - ours used to be $31.00 per month. And it's far from perfect too - dental is NOT covered. Physiotherapy is usually not covered, unless you need it to get over a specific condition. So what? I will never go bankrupt unless I'm irresponsible and go to another country without purchasing out of country health insurance. (I, like most here, have additional coverage from work that covers that, though)

    Work with it - work with each other. I think that I can speak for a lot of people here when I say, America's view of Canadian health care is so warped, so utterly false, so utterly stupid it's astounding. Unbelieveably, "truths" about our health-care is thrown out like drunken rioters throwing beer bottles at riot police, then they run away like rats setting up the strawmen. BLEACH!!!! Yuck, gross.

    I am disgusted with the level of nonsense I've seen when it comes to idiots who live deep in the heartland who can't even spell Canada thinking they are some kind of experts all of the sudden. Wow, get a grip.

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