If you don't agree with the healthcare reform...

Ed for president in 2012!

(Seriously Ed, ita with practically all of what you said, believe it or not, though I would say there are a good many people, some not alive anymore, who would disagree with this assessment:

Jeanne, as usual I welcome your own assessment of my position, but if you're going to take issue with a single sentence (and one I didn't put a whole lot of thought into by the way) at least you could show how the differences could be easily quantified. I mean, I wrote a lot back there. Help me out a little!

Absolutely NOT raising my eyebrows over here!

On April 30th of this year my grandfather passed away at the age of 76 from a combination of congestive heart failure, emphysema and a tumor on his brain. He had been in and out of the hospital for months... sick for years... smoked 90% of his life and lost his wife (my grandmother to lung cancer 7 years before).

Had he not died that evening, in the hospital, the chaplain by his side, my father arriving five minutes too late and his wife thankfully across town, he would have been taken out of the hospital the next day and forced to undergo many painful procedures scheduled by the woman he married three years before who was determined it was not his time to die.

My father and his siblings knew what he wanted and tried to be the voice of reason... but couldn't convince him to share his feelings with his new family. In turn he treated his own children badly trying to impress his wife and step kids. If his wishes had been known earlier or written down. If someone had been the voice of reason to say that treatments at that point were uncessary and cruel, then it would never have been the issue it became.

ETA: Even though the treatments outside of the hospital she'd scheduled never happened, in the months leading up to his death she made sure that every possible expensive drug was being considered, and that many unecessary options were tried.

This post has been edited by Kentuckychick on Sep 11 2009, 07:36 PM

I was going through some private messages to clear out some stuff... and came across some PM's about this post.

Now that it's been nearly 2 years, what are your thoughts on the reform?

Things still aint pretty! LOL. My thoughts haven't changed. Reform is needed, health insurance companies suck.
My DH's group insurance at work has raised the premiums another 30% for the past 3 years in a row.

Well, for starters...wasn't Obama going to penalize those who chose not to use 'his' healthcare choices, but exempted himself and his 'buddies' from these choices and penalizations? Sounds a bit fishy to me. If he isn't willing to use it, why should we? This is unsettling to me, to be honest. Even a judge said the plan was unconstitutional and needed some heavy revisions. I'll hop on board when he decides whatever is signed, is good enough for him and his family too.

I don't think it's fair to compare the US to Canada, simply due to the fact that the US has more hospitals and doctors per people (unless someone corrects me with factual evidence, but last I checked the US was almost doubled).

Rocky, I didn't take your first post as bashing Americans, but I do think because you don't know our system first hand it's a little hard to understand truly where we are coming from. Same can be said about us...we don't know the Canadian healthcare system first hand either so I don't like how some people (in general, not here) automatically assume that universal healthcare here will be 'just like Canada'.

I think things need to be reformed within our insurance companies and the hospitals. I worked in laboratory billing for 3 years...there is no reason why a lab test that takes 5 minutes to run (and $10 to run) should cost $500! I don't care who isn't paying what...it's insane and should be illegal to inflate the cost THAT much. I think our hospitals have also gotten greedy, along side our insurance companies (lawsuits aside).

I am all for universal healthcare...BUT, I do not think ANYONE should be exempted from anything (Obama shouldn't be exempted from the same care that he's MAKING Joe Schmoe take) and I think we should still be able to have choices and not get penalized for making a choice that is best suited for our families.

I as well, think basic health care is a right. Living should not be a priveledge.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a law passed about pre-exsisting conditions? I thought insurance companies couldn't deny someone care based on them? Is there some fine print that I didn't read?

Ed...I agree with most of what you said. Pretty much sums it up for me as well.

For a year while Troy was unemployed, our family was on Medicaid/Badgercare. Thankfully, around here, a lot of doctors accept it...even the doctors we were already using. Our experience with it was good (although a headache or two at times), so the little bit of experience we have first hand with it is positive. Quite honestly...it was the best insurance we had ever had...paid $20 a month to have it, had no bills. WI is at least doing 'something' right when it comes to healthcare!

I agree on the hospitals, considering a two hour ORAL surgery for Megan cost us $20,000 - well the insurance company is paying the largest portion of that. But seriously? $20,000 for 2 hours!

Thats insane!!!! WOW....

Im trying to understand the US healthcare and why most people like it better that the canadian one. I can see both sides and i guess I cant pass judgement unless i was an american and had thier healthcare. I like the coverage i have but that because thats all I have known...

How many of you guys(americans) have no coverage because of it, and if you dont have coverage for you or your kids and they need the hospital/doctor/traetments will they be turned away?

This post has been edited by mummy2girls on Jul 25 2011, 08:52 AM

It's illegal for a doctor or hospital to turn a patient away who is in need of care. The patient will just have a huge bill at the end of it all and will have to pay out of pocket.

Thats insane!!!! WOW....

Yep, we haven't seen the bill yet, but they told us the hospital portion would be $16,000 and then our estimate for the dentist was $3,000 but they had to do more than they estimated, so we are assuming closer to $20,000. We'll see when we get the bill.

It's illegal for a doctor or hospital to turn a patient away who is in need of care. The patient will just have a huge bill at the end of it all and will have to pay out of pocket.

True and most hospitals will make deals with you. Our friends didn't have insurance when they had their first daughter. They made an agreement to pay so much a month for well, she's 16 now and they finished paying it off two years ago. Also, If you say you'll pay so much of the total bill, they will write off the rest of it.

Shelly,

Hospitals have to inflate cost so much to make up for those that aren't paying. it sucks. A lot. but SOMEONE has to pay for the care. They can't force the people with no money to do it, so the paying ones have to carry the load.

Our health care situation is that we have a group plan through DH's work, but he is a small business ( 13 total employees) so carrying insurance on everyone is a HUGE burden. It is more costly for our age group because we are all of " breeding age" so are young families with associated costs of child birth, and young children. They have raised our rates 30% each year for the past years. They can just do that. No reason. Just because they say so. I believe how much we personally have to pay for our insurance out of pocket is up to the individual company to decide. They decide how much of the cost they will pay and how much to pass on to their employees. for us, we paid $5000 out of our paychecks last year. We still have to pay $25 every time we see a Dr, plus we have to pay up to i THINK $1000. on our Drs bills, out of pocket a year. Once we pay our $1000. (per PERSON) then we only have to pay 20% of each bill. This doesn't count any dental or eyes, at all. That comes completely out of pocket.

Now Obama passed the bill where they can't deny you insurance because of pre existing conditions, and honestly, I haven't looked into insurance since, but BEFORE, I was considered uninsurable because I have asthma. They would over me, but deny any claims that had to do with my asthma. so, no coverage for Dr visits, or hospital stays that had to do with my breathing.

As for those that can't pay, you can't just say, "oops, sorry, can't pay". Its a debt you legally owe. So, they can turn you over to collections, make you pay everything you can, even if it means that you have claim bankruptcy. And, you can see by What Karen is having to pay, it wouldn't take long to bankrupt someone.

We were self pay when Ashley was born, and it's not just the hospital fee you pay. There's the hospital fee, the doctor fee, the antestegiologist, etc, etc, etc. It all adds up, and yes they will deal with you. With us, they gave us a 50% reduced cost, but we had to agree to pay that in advance. And, of course, there's all the prenatal care that you have to pay for before that as well.

From my own personal experience, I haven't seen anything different from before the reform was passed, our insurance went up another 30%, just as it did last year until DH called and questioned it, we had to submit some paperwork, and it oh... it should have only gone up 20% instead of 30%.... yup, just like before the bill was passed.

so far i LOVE my healthcare. long waits suck but at least we dont have that on our shoulders... that would put us in the poor house. Expecially because Jordan was in the NICU PICU, and jenna having 3 surgeries, speech thrapy and OT as well.AND Breannas neurology app's as well! I think i would be sitting on the street right now. And then jenna having asthma... to thin k she can be denied coverage because of that...scarey!

I am confused on something so you'll have to clear this up for me, if you can. How are you "uninsurable"? If you are on a company group plan they do not look at pre-existing conditions. I've worked for several employers and every time I was not underwritten and I have asthma and allergies. You are only underwritten when you are getting insurance on your own outside of an employer policy, which happened to me in college and those things were not covered, as well as many other pre-existing conditions I had. This might be the case for you, although I find it confusing, but the majority of people employed by a business or their spouse is employed by a business is NOT underwritten, therefore any pre-existing conditions is not an issue. And if your husband is the company and insuring 13 other people, they would not be underwritten so why are you?

I am confused on something so you'll have to clear this up for me, if you can. How are you "uninsurable"? If you are on a company group plan they do not look at pre-existing conditions. I've worked for several employers and every time I was not underwritten and I have asthma and allergies. You are only underwritten when you are getting insurance on your own outside of an employer policy, which happened to me in college and those things were not covered, as well as many other pre-existing conditions I had. This might be the case for you, although I find it confusing, but the majority of people employed by a business or their spouse is employed by a business is NOT underwritten, therefore any pre-existing conditions is not an issue. And if your husband is the company and insuring 13 other people, they would not be underwritten so why are you?

I am Uninsurable by PRIVATE insurance only. Since I have a group plan it isn't a issue. However, with my husbands group plan we have exceptionally high insurance costs because we all individually have medical issues. We all had to fill out paperwork for every insurance company they applied for stating our health history. I have asthma, and a kid with eating/ growing issues, one with a history of heart issues. his employees have blood blood clot issues, pre diabetes, we have had a child born within the company every year... insurance companies look at all those things individually when deciding what to charge the group.

This post has been edited by PrairieMom on Jul 26 2011, 12:06 PM

I am confused on something so you'll have to clear this up for me, if you can. How are you "uninsurable"? If you are on a company group plan they do not look at pre-existing conditions. I've worked for several employers and every time I was not underwritten and I have asthma and allergies. You are only underwritten when you are getting insurance on your own outside of an employer policy, which happened to me in college and those things were not covered, as well as many other pre-existing conditions I had. This might be the case for you, although I find it confusing, but the majority of people employed by a business or their spouse is employed by a business is NOT underwritten, therefore any pre-existing conditions is not an issue. And if your husband is the company and insuring 13 other people, they would not be underwritten so why are you?

I am Uninsurable by PRIVATE insurance only. Since I have a group plan it isn't a issue. However, with my husbands group plan we have exceptionally high insurance costs because we all individually have medical issues. We all had to fill out paperwork for every insurance company they applied for stating our health history. I have asthma, and a kid with eating/ growing issues, one with a history of heart issues. his employees have blood blood clot issues, pre diabetes, we have had a child born within the company every year... insurance companies look at all those things individually when deciding what to charge the group.

Yes, they do usually look at that on a yearly basis, however I've never managed health insurance for a company that we had to be underwritten. Never heard of that. I'll have to ask our BCBS lobbyist when he comes in if this is a state thing, very weird. I do know insurance companies look at claims over a years time, which is how (one way) they determine the increase in your premium. All insurance does this, as well as looking at the community as a whole thing, but that's a thing in itself, lol.

I am confused on something so you'll have to clear this up for me, if you can. How are you "uninsurable"? If you are on a company group plan they do not look at pre-existing conditions. I've worked for several employers and every time I was not underwritten and I have asthma and allergies. You are only underwritten when you are getting insurance on your own outside of an employer policy, which happened to me in college and those things were not covered, as well as many other pre-existing conditions I had. This might be the case for you, although I find it confusing, but the majority of people employed by a business or their spouse is employed by a business is NOT underwritten, therefore any pre-existing conditions is not an issue. And if your husband is the company and insuring 13 other people, they would not be underwritten so why are you?

I am Uninsurable by PRIVATE insurance only. Since I have a group plan it isn't a issue. However, with my husbands group plan we have exceptionally high insurance costs because we all individually have medical issues. We all had to fill out paperwork for every insurance company they applied for stating our health history. I have asthma, and a kid with eating/ growing issues, one with a history of heart issues. his employees have blood blood clot issues, pre diabetes, we have had a child born within the company every year... insurance companies look at all those things individually when deciding what to charge the group.

Yes, they do usually look at that on a yearly basis, however I've never managed health insurance for a company that we had to be underwritten. Never heard of that. I'll have to ask our BCBS lobbyist when he comes in if this is a state thing, very weird. I do know insurance companies look at claims over a years time, which is how (one way) they determine the increase in your premium. All insurance does this, as well as looking at the community as a whole thing, but that's a thing in itself, lol.

I had to fill out paper work stating the entire families health history for the past 5 years for 2 separate places this year. I suppose it has to do with risk assessment or something. But I was told that because our employees and families are of reproducing age, and have health concerns we have higher costs. they don't deny us coverage, they just charge us out the ... well...
We are currently using BCBS, thats who has raised our rates 30% every year for the past 3 years.

I am confused on something so you'll have to clear this up for me, if you can. How are you "uninsurable"? If you are on a company group plan they do not look at pre-existing conditions. I've worked for several employers and every time I was not underwritten and I have asthma and allergies. You are only underwritten when you are getting insurance on your own outside of an employer policy, which happened to me in college and those things were not covered, as well as many other pre-existing conditions I had. This might be the case for you, although I find it confusing, but the majority of people employed by a business or their spouse is employed by a business is NOT underwritten, therefore any pre-existing conditions is not an issue. And if your husband is the company and insuring 13 other people, they would not be underwritten so why are you?

I am Uninsurable by PRIVATE insurance only. Since I have a group plan it isn't a issue. However, with my husbands group plan we have exceptionally high insurance costs because we all individually have medical issues. We all had to fill out paperwork for every insurance company they applied for stating our health history. I have asthma, and a kid with eating/ growing issues, one with a history of heart issues. his employees have blood blood clot issues, pre diabetes, we have had a child born within the company every year... insurance companies look at all those things individually when deciding what to charge the group.

Yes, they do usually look at that on a yearly basis, however I've never managed health insurance for a company that we had to be underwritten. Never heard of that. I'll have to ask our BCBS lobbyist when he comes in if this is a state thing, very weird. I do know insurance companies look at claims over a years time, which is how (one way) they determine the increase in your premium. All insurance does this, as well as looking at the community as a whole thing, but that's a thing in itself, lol.

I had to fill out paper work stating the entire families health history for the past 5 years for 2 separate places this year. I suppose it has to do with risk assessment or something. But I was told that because our employees and families are of reproducing age, and have health concerns we have higher costs. they don't deny us coverage, they just charge us out the ... well...
We are currently using BCBS, thats who has raised our rates 30% every year for the past 3 years.

Yeah, there are 3 of us in the office. I'm the only one of baby rearing age, yet my boss had a child same time I did, lol. They do have young kids, too. My co-worker's kids are grown. Ours has gone up 20-30% every year since I've been here and I've been here 12 years. And in that 12 years I've never had to fill out any paperwork for the three of us on health status. With all of Megan's health issues this year, I'm sure ours will go up 40% next year.

Is your insurance BCBS HMO or PPO? Ours is PPO. I wonder if that might be a difference as to why you would have to file paperwork. Ah, I will ask our BCBS guy whenever he actually comes in. He is just contractual so he's not always here.