Obama's health plans

[Fashion Lad!]

Um... describe 3rd world countries for me?

Then tell me if the King Hussein (now dead) comes to the Mayo Clinic for his health care, does he come from a 3rd world country.

What about the Prince of Saudi Arabia? To date, he was my favorite to come into town. He came at the end of 2008 and spent like $4M, and basically saved Rochester for the fiscal year.

Mayo has seen political leaders from The U.K (got'cha your back there!), Canada, Australia and Germany. I cannot give names as the newspapers and news programs couldn't either.

3rd world countries now?

[Rapscallion]

Um... describe 3rd world countries for me?

Shitholes, for the most part

Then tell me if the King Hussein (now dead) comes to the Mayo Clinic for his health care, does he come from a 3rd world country.

He's dead? Shows how good private health care is!

Good question, though, so a good answer is to point out that once again they have a system where there is a large amount of wealth in the hands of a few people who are then, "We the people who can afford," instead of, "We the people."

What about the Prince of Saudi Arabia? To date, he was my favorite to come into town. He came at the end of 2008 and spent like $4M, and basically saved Rochester for the fiscal year.

Again, someone who can afford it. How many of his countrymen can?

Mayo has seen political leaders from The U.K (got'cha your back there!), Canada, Australia and Germany. I cannot give names as the newspapers and news programs couldn't either.

3rd world countries now?

The UK as a third world definition depends on which newspaper you read on which day :/ More seriously, as I said we have a two-tier system over here. Does getting private cover over here give you a better service? Mixed results, though my evidence is only anecdotal. If people with more money than me want to spend extra on health care, they're free to do so. I'd say it's better to have a system where you can have basic healthcare and pay for possibly more, than a system where you either pay and get or get nothing apart from emergency treatment.

So, try answering the question you don't want to answer.

Why do you want to pay more under private healthcare than - according to my payslip - you could under a national system?

See, all through this argument, the main attitude I've seen has been "Why should someone else benefit from my money?" The NHS leaves more money in my pocket than private healthcare would.

Out of interest, does the money you pay for your health insurance give you treatment in the mayo clinic?

Rapscallion

[Fashion Lad!]

My monthly premium for insurance, medical, dental and eye insurance is right about $70 a month. If I had an entire family to cover it'd be roughly $200.


My insurance is through Mayo and so for all my health needs, I go through Mayo. <3 Mayo.

[the_std]

Guess what I paid for myself, through my last employer, under the Canadian system.

$20 a month. And that was dental, optical, and everything. My family, when us kids were still under 18, paid $115 for five people per month. And I've never, ever gone wanting for anything medical related.

[Rapscallion]

My monthly premium for insurance, medical, dental and eye insurance is right about $70 a month. If I had an entire family to cover it'd be roughly $200.


My insurance is through Mayo and so for all my health needs, I go through Mayo. <3 Mayo.

Not bad at all. Now factor in pension and unemployment benefits.

Out of interest, is your premium worked out depending on age/resilience of the insured? IE the more likely a person is to need help they get charged more?

Rapscallion

[Fashion Lad!]

No, my insurance doesn't change depending on age.

Good for you and your Candian coverage, your people are the reason why I have to wait until tomorrow to get an MRI instead of doing my typical same day MRI.

Apparently, there were about 10 Canadians that came to the Mayo Clinic to continue care due to the waiting times up there. So don't tell me about your "cheap" insurance. You just increased my waiting time. This came from from the scheduler for the MRI. Stay up there with your long wait times.

Well, I take in roughly $800 a week, and after taxes I take home about $640 a week. But, I usually get a sizeable refundat the end of the year. Last time it was nearly $3500. I wish I could opt-out of Social Security

[Boozy]

You just increased my waiting time.

Actually, your beloved private health care system increased your wait time. Those Canadians have money. Money matters more than need or nationality in a capitalist health care system. Thems the breaks.

[Fashion Lad!]

Actually, your beloved private health care system increased your wait time. Those Canadians have money. Money matters more than need or nationality in a capitalist health care system. Thems the breaks.

Uh... not a the Mayo Clinic. In order to use such blanket statements, maybe you should find out if where I'm going may be above the cloth. It's need then first come first serve.

I guess Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then the day of Monday, is a lot better than 2-3 months that I hear it can take up there. I guess I can deal with 3.5 days. Ha! Still, same day is better.

[Pedersen]

My monthly premium for insurance, medical, dental and eye insurance is right about $70 a month. If I had an entire family to cover it'd be roughly $200.

Congratulations, FL. You've managed to land a job in the health care industry, where insurance is dirt cheap and benefits are top notch. I know this from the time that my dad was an RN at the local hospital. He had better benefits than anybody that came in under any other insurance, and paid a lot less.

Now, for the rest of thus, the story is a little more grim. For instance, I pay for my wife's health insurance, along with my own. My out of pocket per month expenses are $200/month for insurance alone. This does not completely cover pretty much anything. There's medicine, doctor visits, etc. All of those, when they occur, have co-pays, which result in more out of pocket expenses.

Mind you, I'm fairly lucky in comparison to many others. One place I used to work had one of the people who worked with me paying out approximately $1000/month (I think it was $940/month, but am not positive) to keep his family insured.

None of that touches on the expense incurred by the employer to insure me. You ever look at the COBRA paperwork, and the premiums that must be paid? When it was for me and my wife, it was looking to be $1200/month. That means that my employer was paying an extra $1000/month to cover my health insurance. After all, that's what COBRA is: Your ex-employer allowing you to stay on their group policy, but you have to pay the entire premium, not just the portion they weren't paying.

I've also looked at starting my own company. Last time I looked, for me to have health coverage for myself and my wife was going to cost around $1600/month, and that's just the policy.

And those are just my personal experiences. If you'd like, I'll find actual numbers from studies that show that you are mighty goddamned lucky with the health care you've got, and the rest of us feel a lot of pain every time we try to look at switching policies (or even jobs, which also necessitates policy switches).

I admit that I do not know if I'm in favor of a universal plan. But I do know that the costs for just the damned policy are a lot higher for most people than they are for someone who gets lucky enough to work at a hospital.

Here's hoping you never have to deal with the rest of the real world without that backing you up.

[guywithashovel]

I don't think you or AA or lazy or worthless leeches, I'm taking your word that you're working to better yourselfs and I have no problem with that. But as I asked AA what gives you the right to make demands upon me I'm not your daddy and I didn't take you to raise???

I have never asked you for anything.

[Boozy]

I guess Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then the day of Monday, is a lot better than 2-3 months that I hear it can take up there.

Where are you getting this "2-3 months" thing? I was requisitioned for an MRI and received one five days later -- and mine was for a non-emergency, "let's just cover all our bases" sort of thing.

[AdminAssistant]

I'm a healthy person in my mid-20's with a good medical history and an okay background (Dad with high blood pressure and sugar problems, Mom's a breast cancer survivor). When I had a PPO, it was $300/quarter...so $100/month. On a college student's budget, that's a hell of a lot of money.

My coverage now is dirt cheap ($100/semester) but it also means I pretty much have to go to the student health clinic for everything. My co-pay for a 'real' doctor or a hospital visit would be 30%, and I'm not sure on the deductible, but it's high. Add in that right now the clinic is being overwhelmed with swine flu cases and...yeah, it kinda sucks. I want to go there to talk to someone in their wellness clinic about a diet and exercise plan, but I'm so terrified of picking up the flu there that I'm waiting.

Oh, and three days for a non-emergency MRI is nothing. Honestly. FL, when it comes to healthcare in America, you are one of the very lucky few.

[Fashion Lad!]

Canada's wait times are obscene!

Where we have the longest wait times in the country, they actually have their own version of Universal Health Care. Their doctors cost more, their premiums are higher and their wait times are the highest in the country. In fact, their costs far exceed any cost of living differences in other states.

I had my MRI this morning a specialist is going to look at the scan today. Tomorrow, I'll be meeting with that specialist to discuss further treatment. I could be in surgery by Wednesday next week.