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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
 Posted - 12/11/2007 : 00:34:12
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The purpose of this section of SFN is as stated:| A place for Skeptic Forum members to post announcements they feel are pertinent to everyone that visits these forums. |
It is in respect to this rationale that I would like to say the following:
About a week ago I felt I had symptoms of a head cold. It got worse, fast! I had a fever, escalating to 103 degrees. I felt terrible! Wife issued ultimatum - go to doctor! Now! Today!
I did, the doctor issued a calm statement - you are going to the hospital! I went, figuring I might as well die in a professional manner. Good place to go, I received oxygen, antibiotics, x-rays, opiates (for cough suppression), much more!
I had bacterial pneumonia. Much better thing than viral pneumonia! They have drugs for b pneumonia, very few for v pneumonia! I was much better in a couple of days. I was released yesterday, (Sunday), and am feeling pretty good, several medications for the next week or two, rest a lot, take it easy, etc.
I checked today as to the hospital bill. They did not have it ready. I persisted, for even though I have excellent health insurance, I wanted to know what I had to pay! Finally, a lady in the billing office called back with a preliminary estimate. Six days R&B, oxygen therapy, various (many) medications, chest x-rays, god knows what else - $23,620 And that does not include physician's billings, and various "miscellaneous" that they haven't figured out yet. It will undoubtedly exceed $25,000 for six days in a hospital! That's over four thousand dollars a day!!!
I am fortunate in having the benefits of a Blue Cross/Blue Shield group health insurance policy, which costs about $350 a month in premiums. Most of the above medical bills will be paid by that policy, my share being about 10%. But without that insurance, coming up with an extra $25,000 for medical bills this year would be a problem!
I don't know if these matters are of concern to many of you folks in the forums, because your age is probably in the 20 to 40 or under 50 range. But please---make some plans for the future! If you don't have health insurance, get something going! The disease I had is age-related, but anyone can get it! And there are so many other catastrophic health scenarios possible. I know you feel immortal at 35, but think a bit about what you would do if health disaster did strike you, or your family.
At 79, I feel very lucky to have had the medical attention that I needed, and that I have the resource necessary to pay ten percent of what it really cost! I can only hope that younger folks take notice and recognize this problem for what it is, both on an individual level; and also as to how it affects the nation as a whole! If you are going to vote for a political candidate next year, what is their position on health care?
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2007 : 05:20:22 [Permalink]
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Good that you pulled through, Bill!
In this country, medical bills can destroy people, so it's a good thing you were well-insured. Hope you stay healthy.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 12/11/2007 17:41:27 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2007 : 05:58:17 [Permalink]
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Buck, that's exactly right. Without some kind of health plan, you can be easily bankrupted for even some minor ailment.
As I am service-connected disabled, my various health problems, mostly orthopedic, are treated by the VA, but under this sorry excuse of an administration that too is becoming iffy. It is hard to get an appointment and then you might have to wait a long time for it to come around.
Good to know that you came through it ok, but you really should quit smokin' that stuff.... 
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2007 : 06:34:36 [Permalink]
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If you are going to vote for a political candidate next year, what is their position on health care?
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And assume that whatever they're saying, they're lying.
Glad you're doing better. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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ocheewah
Skeptic Friend
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2007 : 07:19:16 [Permalink]
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| I am grateful that I have a strong union that has been able to protect my health care benefits despite efforts by my state legislators to cannibalize them. Last April, when I underwent radiation treatment the one pill was almost $3000. Just yesterday I had lab work done as a preliminary step to a body scan in January to reaffirm my cancer has not recurred. The next step is a series of three injections in the days before the scan at $800.00 a pop. All told, my little bout with cancer should top out at somewhere around $100,000 and I'm getting off cheap because I had an "easily curable" cancer. If it wasn't for my insurance, I'd be out on the street starving at this point. Fat lot of good it would do me to still be alive and kicking. |
Those who danced were thought quite insane by those who could not hear the music. |
| Edited by - ocheewah on 12/11/2007 07:20:12 |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2007 : 17:45:36 [Permalink]
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Not counting the medication, my busted hip including the broken neck of the femur seven years ago, I expect my total bill to land around $300US when I have recovered fully from my planned hip replacement. That is state tax funded universal health insurance.
For this I also get 80% of my salary while I'm on sick-leave, which is expected to be 2 or 3 months.
Gawd, how much I love my country! |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2007 : 00:55:57 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
Not counting the medication, my busted hip including the broken neck of the femur seven years ago, I expect my total bill to land around $300US when I have recovered fully from my planned hip replacement. That is state tax funded universal health insurance.
For this I also get 80% of my salary while I'm on sick-leave, which is expected to be 2 or 3 months.
Gawd, how much I love my country!
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Then, onm the other hand I have to send my wife to Omaha, NE for surgery.
I'm not satisfied with Swedish healthcare, some things are really good, others less so. Most can be better. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2007 : 01:33:23 [Permalink]
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Glad to hear you are feeling better Bill.
And yes, health insurance is a must.
I doubt I'll have any when I retire unless I can afford my own (thats 30ish years down the road at a minimum though). Hopefully this country will get the greedy bastards who want to profit from healthcare out of power.
Even if the US never goes to a UK style healthcare system, the least we need to do is eliminate profit from the field. Not to say that doctors/nurses/etc shouldn't be able to earn good money working in healthcare, just that if we removed the pressure from corporate shareholders (and the expectation of profit) that we'd be much better off.
It is wrong to make a profit (especially the billions a year in profit US healthcare companies make) from the suffering of others.
Also, with the removal of profit, the end-user (patient) costs would shrink.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Starman
SFN Regular
Sweden
1613 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2007 : 02:26:19 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dude
It is wrong to make a profit (especially the billions a year in profit US healthcare companies make) from the suffering of others. |
Which companies are doing this? Who pays them to hurt people?
Seriously, I prefer that people make profits from helping the suffering, than from making electronic trinkets, web ad services or snacks.
Everybody involved in providing health care should be able to make money, even the investors.
The insurance companies on the other hand does not provide any health care and their interests are opposed to the patients.
| Also, with the removal of profit, the end-user (patient) costs would shrink. |
Through which economic mechanisms?
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2007 : 11:35:35 [Permalink]
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Starman asked:
Which companies are doing this? Who pays them to hurt people?
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US health insurance companies and for-profit healthcare providers.
| Through which economic mechanisms? |
If profit is removed, then the cost of providing care decreases because the companies doing the providing no longer have to pay shareholder dividends. If insurance companies are non-profit, then the cost of health insurance decreases for the same reason.
| Everybody involved in providing health care should be able to make money, even the investors. |
I have no problem with providers (and all the others who are required to make healthcare function) making money from it. My problem is with companies that operate with the main intent of making a profit from healthcare.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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The Cost of Getting Well!
