NQR healthcare

[nora123]

if you would like to see which senators and congressman support the public healthcare option through reconciliation go to whipcongress.com. My wish is for all americans to have affordable healthcare.

Nora

[hollyc]

I second that wish.

[newellyn]

Here, Here!!!!!

[Zora]

That site is very helpful in providing phone numbers for you to reach your senator. If you support healthcare reform, please take a moment to contact your senator and let him/her know.

As the parent of a son whose company has just forced him into a high-risk plan, I know they are one seriously broken bone away from bankruptcy. Surely we can do better than this!

[LauraJ]

As one whose daughter is in London and doesn't know when she can come back, due to Crohn's disease and IBS (pre-existing conditions) - please contact your senator regarding health care reform. In California, Anthem Blue Cross wants to raise individual costs by 39%. There has been a delay on that due to the federal government stepping in and telling them to "wait a minute".

I want for every American what the congress persons get.

[nora123]

amen Laura!!!!!!!!!!!.

Nora

[Gator]

I'm for everyone having "good" healthcare and everyone should have it. I'm just worried about "government run healthcare". I have a government run health care plan (TRICARE) and it is horrible. Don't get me wrong it's better then nothing but it isn't "free" and isn't user friendly. I'm for a public option.

[jmcclannan]

I'm with you, Connie. After dealing with government run healthcare during my husband's 20 years in the Air Force, I know I don't want a national healthcare system. Affordable healthcare we definitely need.

[Quilting Heidi]

Connie I'm so with you!!!! I have Tricare too and it sucks! I purchase my healthcare through work and it costs me a whole lot more than Tricare but at least I'm not being turned away by doctors who won't accept Tricare or having to settle for a doctor that isn't the best in his/her field. I've had more than my share of nightmares dealing with Tricare!

Laura - Blue Cross is another bad insurance company. They used to handle Tricare and I dealt with them a lot in the 80's. It was not a fun experience either.

[Stagecl]

Connie,

I am with you too and so is my DH. Government run health care is not the solution to the problem, but affordable health care is a need.

Don't get me started on HMO's...my younger sister is dead because of foul ups in that system.

[LauraJ]

Then health care reform is necessary. Not a government run system, but checks and balances so everyone gets the care they need and health insurance companies are not a "for profit" system as it stands now. My SIL who just retired was rejected by a couple insurance companies because she has arthritis in her shoulder - that's the only issue she has. Found one that would cover her - but whooooey - it's expensive until she gets old enough to get on Medicare (government run though).

It's frustrating.

[LinneaMarie]

Well, let's look at other government run programs. Welfare?? Broke. Social Security? Broke. Medicare? Broke. Post Office? (before it went private) Broke. I think government mucks up most of what they put their fingers in, but I agree something HAS to be done!

I just heard a horror about CVS Pharmacy and their unethical practices; not to mention, the person's health insurance would not help the insured! They stood by CVS!! What's wrong with this picture?? Does the word "kickbacks" come to mind??

[Gator]

Laura, you hit it right on the head. The health system from the top down needs some kind of checks and balances. I'm not for the insurance company but the hospitals etc need some of the blame. All our local hospitals are and advertise that they are "for profit hospitals". There's something really wrong with charging 1000.00 for a room that you sit in for a small procedure, nothing special. I actually got a bill for use of the room, all the other stuff was on a different bill? Don't even ask me how much an aspirn cost!

One more TRICARE note, I saw what doctors in the TRICARE system get paid (what they agree to accept) for an office visit, Vets get paid more for government owned animals!!!!

[meg]

government run - NO.

affordable - yes.

we already have too mcuh government and all they do is come in, spend money lining pockets and leave a big, fat mess.

hmo's are already a mess..the last thing they need is a bunch of bureaucrats nosing around - making rules we cant live by and mucking it up worse than it already is.

think i have an opinion on this?

[Parm]

Just curious, how much does healthcare cost in the States?

[Stagecl]

Parm,

It depends upon which company you work for, who that company has their insurance through, what your company (with the Insurance company) has decided to cover and at what cost.

We have had insurance through many companies that my husband has worked for and none of them are the same. Some give you coverage for eye exams, others don't, some have dental and orthodontics while some just have dental, some have larger co-pays than others and the list goes on.

We have paid everything from $80 per month up to $400 per month.

[Parm]

Wow, I hope you guys get the healthcare sorted out. Good luck.

[Quilting Heidi]

My mother was paying almost $800 a month before she was eligible for medicare. Now she pays just over $500 for the medicare supplement. She ends up spending about $12,000 a year on insurance, deductables and medication.

[Parm]

Heidi,

I thought medicare was free for seniors? $12000 is insane, i think.

[Rae50]

We definitely need health insurance reform. ( Not necessarily government run.) When my husband took early retirement about 10 years ago, we researched what health ins. would cost us. We knew that it would be a large out-of-pocket expense for us. We had COBRA coverage for the first 2 years and then had to get our own policy. When we called the health insurance companies we had gotten quotes from 2 years earlier, we were told that they would not cover my husband because he had had an issue with his heart and had needed angioplasty. He also had type 2 diabetes. The only company that would insure him was Blue Shield because that is the insurance he'd been covered by where he worked. However, they dictated the policy we had to buy and it is super expensive. Then to add insult to injury, every year they either raise the rates or make more items fall under deductibles. Then every couple of years, they raise the deductibles. At the end of 2009 they raised the premium rate by 10%!

In addition, this does not include either dental or eye care.

I just get really upset and angry every time I have to write a check for that premium and even more so when I have to pay doctors and labs and hospitals our high deductibles. My husband will qualify for Medicare in 2 1/2 years, but who knows what will happen with that in the meantime.

[Parm]

Linda, It makes me sad that people are turned away for pre-existing conditions, everyone should be treated equally. I sure hope everything gets sorted.

Good luck to your hubby as well.

I also heard as I was surfing channels this am ( I think CNN) that an insurance company in

California was going to up the premiums by 39%, I'm hope mistaken, that sounds drastic.

[Quilting Heidi]

Parm,

There are still things that medicare doesn't cover and her health insurance is just a supplement to cover some of those things. She also falls into the donut hole for her prescriptions and has to pay a lot out of pocket. Her deductibles go up all the time. She is a diabetic and has lots of other health issues. It is a really good thing her house is paid for because I don't know what she would do if she had to pay rent or mortgage. When you think of what the out of pocket cost would be for her if she ended up in the hospital the insurance is cheap!

[newellyn]

I'd love to hear from some of our Canadian friends on how their health care ("government run" that it is) works for them. I've heard rave reivews and have known at least one person who had a heart attack in Canada and it just cost them a couple hundred for excellent care not 10s of thousands it costs here.

When I was working and negotiating contracts we had to offer a cap of $1200 per month premium so now the employees are paying out of pocket for any amount over that and they do have to pay. That's a premium of $144,000.00 per year per employee, that's just insane.

I don't really care who runs it, they do much worse of a job than the big insurance corps. do now!!

[Parm]

Lynda,

I don't want to sound like I'm gloating or anything, but I LOVE our healthcare system. In BC for a family of 4 you pay approx $114.00 premiums a month, that's the maximun you pay, this covers everything, well pretty much everything. For example if you need your eyes checked here, for adults it's about $70 (depends on optometrist), for kids upto age 18 and seniors free. For the most part everything is covered. There are no surprise bills at the end of hospital stay. When I was in Ontario, premiums were deducted through our income taxes.

We also have fair Pharmacare here in BC. Depending on how much you earn and as long as you have met your deductibles in meds, prescriptions are lower. No one is turned away at the ER. Sure there are line ups for some things such as elective surgery; however for acute care you can get in asap. There's more info on the provincial websites.

My MIL had heart problems, she needed two stents in her heart, wait list was less than a week, cost $0.

Our companies don't pay for medical unless they pay your premium ($114.00 - BC rate, if negotiated in contracts by unions).

Sure we have slightly higher taxes here, but our healthcare system is worth it.

[SandraC]

I know that our health care system must cost the govt a fortune to run but I think most Canadians would say that they are very happy with how thing are run here. I may stand corrected but I think that my portion paid on my income taxes toward health care is $600 per year.

Here's my story of a health issue in our family and what it cost me. When my husband got sick we spent the next 2 months in and out of hospital. If I remember right, he was in for 21 days of the last 2 months of his life. He had numerous tests. It took a few days each time to actually get a bed since he needed to be in the GI ward and it was full. So he spent a lot of time in a treatment room in the ER. Not great to be stuck there, but the care was phenomenal, so no complaints. For 4 days we went to a hospital in London that specializes in transplants, where Greg underwent many tests and interviews to see if he would be a candidate.

Total cost to my family.....only the outrageous fee they charge for parking in their lots...$15 per day I think.

I've been watching this topic when it comes up from time to time and I just don't understand the hesitance in health care reform in the States. Especially when I hear the fear of getting ill or in an accident. Believe me, you go thru' enough heartache when serious illness hits, I can't imagine the burden of worrying about paying for it on top of it all. This past year I watched the movie, "Sicko", I don't know if it's a true depiction of health care in the States, but it appalled me. There was a part of the movie where a guy had to decide which finger to have re-attached because he could only afford to have one sewn on. Wow!!!

Also, don't know if I have this right either, but is it true that depending on what health care you pay for will determine which hospital you can go to??? I can go to whatever hospital I want to.

I really feel for you because the United States is considered a leader in the world and yet it seems so many people suffer from this ongoing problem. It's just not right and doesn't make sense.