We don't qualify for Medicaid, can't afford insurance, so as a result, I haven't been to a doctor in about 5 years. When I did go, my mom paid $75 dollars for a NP to tell me that "yep, it's infected". dh had a major motorcycle accident and the hospital put a lein on our settlement(we sued the lady that hit him) for payment. But there was not enough to cover it and he has gone without necessary surgery to correct a broken bone in his wrist. He's basically without the use of that wrist, and will be until it is fixed. My kids are for some reason freakishly healthy, Thank you Jesus! so they haven't needed to go in about 6 years. My ds8 doesn't even remember the doctor's office! They have been to the dentist once, when they were little. The cleanings were free for some reason, but ds has cavities and dd needs braces and there's no way to take care of that. Yep, it sucks to not have insurance.
WOW! Do you have to pay the same price to see a NP as you would to see a doctor? I guess maybe this is where my textbooks continually refer to people being much sicker when they do end up in hospitals or lack of preventative healthcare (I'm not pointing fingers by any means... I certainly understand why now). Universal healthcare certainly isn't a perfect system but I'll happily pay higher taxes so that I don't have to worry about health costs. So are there no clinics that will assess people for 'free'? Sometimes I wish I lived in the US and could have some kind of clinic like that, where people could just walk in, be assessed and not have to be worried about the cost of it. I've always said that if I didn't have a family to support, nursing is something I would do free of any expectations of payment... it is my passion, where I felt like I was most effectively able to serve God and the very reason I went back and took the refresher course I'm doing right now.
Our NP "charges" the same as a doctor, but the NPs usually provide a MUCH higher standard of care. And she works out of a clinic that sets across-the-board rates no matter who you see. There are two such free clinics in town here. There are two downsides: you still have to meet income qualifications and they are very limited on what they can/can't do because of funding.
Brenda, I live in a rather depressed and very rural area. Many of the people I know are not insured. Most of the businessmen are self-insured (put aside an amount monthly for health). I myself have no insurance. The majority of people around here make less than 200% of the poverty level and are on state medicaide insurance. Some pay a monthly reduced premium and some don't, depending upon their income. Very, very few employers here offer insurance. The hospitals don't want to take you in or treat you if you are uninsured unless you are dying or if it is life-threatening. My doctor has even stopped giving me a full exam when I go in because I am not insured, even though I pay my bill and pay the full amount out of my own pocket. The insurance in this country has gotten to a very bad state. I have not read the rest of the replies, so I don't know whether this post agrees, disagrees or what with their responses. I'm just telling you how it is here. My sister and husband, for example, have worked their entire life and have never had any health insurance. I have had it on and off, depending upon my employer. For the last four years it has been not because I have been unable to find full time employment. Most employment around here is part time so the employers don't have to pay insurance. For full time over so many employees you are required to offer insurance. So they hire everyone part time. :roll: That is part of the reason I am moving. To get a little closer to a larger city where I can hopefully work for a company that offers insurance, whether I'm full or part time, I don't much care. If you are uninsured, you are pretty much without hope. The largest cause of bankruptcy in this country, last I knew, was medical bills. Hope this helps a little. It is just from my perspective. I have always lived in this state and have no clue what it is like in other places.
To answer your questions about "free" clinics - they do exist. Around here the closest one is about 50 miles, which I would probably travel, but they only accept people who reside in their county. There are also income guidelines at most of them. And looonnnggg waiting lists. As for the State medicaide insurance, most of the people I know can't even get into a dentist who will cover under it. Those that do are full and not taking any patients. It is common to travel over 100 miles to get into a dentist if you can even find one. To comment on another thing being discussed - our doctors in this state USED to be able to charge on any scale they wanted to, but a year ago that stopped. Evidently it was state-wide, although I have to check into that to be sure. If it wasn't, I might be changing doctors. Last year my check-up to get my medication refills (they won't refill without a yearly check-up) was 85, this year it was 205 - and that was the base rate before any tests!!! The doctors can, at least at my clinic, no longer adjust the fees according to what THEY want to charge. Whether it be on income or any other reason. I don't care if it's their own sister!
WOW !! I will admit that as I'm reading all of this and taking it in, I've often thought to myself... how do you 'refuse' care to someone based on insurance or financial status (even if it's minor and not considered life threatening) and call yourself a health care professional? I really can't wrap my mind around it. To me that is blatant discrimination as well as heartless and a whole list of other things I could call it. I know a couple years ago my family MD was being investigated by medicare to make sure he wasn't frauding the system... they questioned him on some of the patient visits he had (sometimes billing medicare a couple times in the same week for the same patient)... they even called some of his patients to verify they had been to see him on such and sucha date :shock: Around here, there are a lot of "frequent flyers" because there is no second thought put into going to the doctor. Though we have universal healthcare, I still don't go to the doctor very often. Though I was diagnosed with diabetes last fall, I still manage on my own as much as I possibly can. The last time I went to the hospital for myself (other than for blood work) was when I had a migraine headache that I couldn't manage on my own at home anymore (and I only went after a couple days of suffering). Really wish there was something I could do for you guys... your stories inspire me on one hand and break my heart on the other
I had a few thoughts I would add to this discussion. Because of the cost of health insurance, it is one of the things that has to be considered when looking for employment. It is something we factor into the "wage" my husband would be earning. You could make a little more at some companies, but if you are paying alot more for insurance, you have to balance out whether it is really making more money. Another thought I had was about COBRA (not sure what the acronym stands for). This is insurance coverage you can purchase as a fill in for when you are between jobs or health insurances. I had a friend who was paying $1000 a month for her family of 4 to have health insurance while her husband was in between jobs and waiting for new company to kick in. That is one that is hard to fathom...paying so much money when you are not making any money. Why did she pay it? Her fear was based on horror stories she heard about people getting on new insurances and being told that a diagnosed condition was pre-existing, and therefore not covered. So, she kept up with COBRA each month so that she continuously had coverage and could not benied with the new company. My family was very fortunate in that hubby's severance package included 3 months of coverage and we only had a few weeks with no coverage before his new job started. However, we were taking a risk for a few weeks and hated the feeling. Anyway, those were just some thoughts I had while reading the other posts.
Another couple of thoughts: In case you're wondering why on Earth so many Americans are against Obamacare - It is NOT universal healthcare, no matter how it's touted in the media. It's universally required insurance. It would not be a simple matter of raising taxes and giving everyone the same coverage. It's a bill that forces everyone to PURCHASE insurance. Those who choose not to purchase insurance will be fined until they do (but still not covered). Those who can't afford coverage will be given a federal insurance that would have been funded from a couple of different sources. 1 is that individuals are now taxes on the insurance amount their employers contribute (so your employers contribution is now considered income. Splitting hairs, but ok, makes sense to some degree). The second way is, like CountryGal said, doctors are not required to charge a certain amount and no less. The idea is that if doctors are charging most people more than necessary, they can afford to get paid almost nothing for the rest. Not trying to get into a debate about Obamacare (been there, done that. ha!), just figuring right about now you're wondering why on Earth we wouldn't try to shoot for the Canada model. I'm also not an expert on this, I'm just going by my own understanding. [In case you're wondering, not only has the bill been defunded already, but several federal judges have ruled that the individual mandate (the part requiring the purchase of insurance) is unconstitutional.]
Hmm, I wondered why so many people were against his proposal... now it makes sense. We understood it to mean a system similar to ours (I thought universal meant same care for everyone, similar standards as what we know - boy was I wrong lol)... not a system that forces people to buy into something they can't afford (geez! don't they think if people could afford it, they would). I really appreciate all of you taking the time to explain this to me. I can honestly say that my eyes have been opened and I understand your system better now than I did prior to asking
So I was looking at something totally unrelated to this original topic this morning but when I went to the webpage http://www.healthcare.gov/ there is a link on the left hand side under the "5 Things to Know" heading that caught my eye about affordable healthcare and coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. I really hope it helps someone
Hubby's current job does not provide benefits, so we pay 100% of our premium out of our own pockets for private health insurance. We pay $200 a month for him and me, however our plan is crappy. We only pay $35 for office visits, but anything else that we need (surgeries, etc.), we have to pay our $10,000 deductible before they will pay anything. Yes...$10,000!!! Even after that, we still have to pay 20% of what is left out of our pocket after we pay the $10,000. Our children still qualify for Medicaid (which was explained in another post). We pay $20 a month for them to have it. The premium each month depends on your income. It's actually a law (in our state, don't know if it's federal) that children are always eligible for Medicaid (in WI it's Badgercare) but the more your income, the more your premium for them will be. At only $20 a month for the kids, we are keeping it until hubby get benefits through an employer. I'd rather keep paying the $20 and have everything be covered in case something major happens, than paying through the nose for them to have a private policy and then nothing be covered if they ever have an emergency. If you don't have health insurance...yes, you are basically screwed and have to pay everything out of pocket. But...like you have just read, having it doesn't mean you are cleared of having bills. Honestly...I think I am one of few conservatives who are FOR a health care plan and reform. I don't like the way Obama was trying to instill it, but I do think something needs to be done about it. The insurance companies are getting WAY too greedy AND I also think the hospitals charge WAY higher than they should be able to (I witnessed this first hand when I worked in medical billing....yikes!).
We were on Medicaid for over a year, and my children are still on it. We have not had a single problem with it and we always get to see our doctors whenever we want. Perhaps it's different from state to state, but I honestly cried when we had to give it up for me and the hubby. In a very weird way, I sometimes wish our whole family still qualified.
If we had insurance like Canada I would be ALL FOR IT!!! lol Like Amie stated, the way he was trying to instill it was not realistic or fair. If we had a system like Canada more people might be supportive. The way he was going about it was taking rights away from people. I am all for universal health care and health care reform...but only if it's done fairly and makes sense. His way did not make sense at all.
Laws have passed on pre-exsisting conditions now though. You can not be denied insurance based on them anymore from my understanding, but they can charge you more for your premium. I believe this is federal law as well. Also, here a hosptial or doctor's office can not take you to court if you are paying good on your bill regardless of what they want from you. I'm guessing this is not a federal law, but maybe a state one??? Our local hospital (the one I use to work at) asks the patient what they can afford and sets them up with a bill pay that fits their needs. As long as you are paying anything, even $5 a month, they can not take you to court over it.
I've read most of this, but I didn't see any mentions of co-pays or bankruptcies. In America, more than half of all bankruptcies are directly related to medical expenses. When I was teaching PS, I was scared to death I'd get in a car wreck, because I couldn't afford the district's health plan. I had no coverage at all for over a year. Thankfully, nothing happened. I've had crazy insurance rates and policies before. Right this minute, my family is very blessed. My dh works for a company that completely covers all employees and their families, no questions asked. That's pretty much unheard of anymore. We pay extra for vision and dental, but pretty much everything else is covered. We have a co-pay for regular visits (well checks, flu, etc.) that is appx $30 depending on the type of doctor, we have a $350 deductible for in-network care and $700 for out of network care, and we pay only 10% of costs out of pocket after the deductible up to like $2500 or something. After that, it's all covered. I don't know anyone else who even comes close to that (yet, my dh gripes about the higher co-pay cost... it used to be $15-20 on our old plan ... the one we were paying hundreds of dollars for every month.) I had 5 surgeries in a 3 year span, my oldest son has been in and out of therapy and has braces for his ankles, my youngest son has immune deficiency ... yet, we haven't paid very much for this stuff compared to most people. It's insane to see the itemized bills, too!! The rates they charge individuals for these services are in the hundreds of thousands, yet the contracted rate for insurance companies is far less. Stupid! It's also crazy that you're charged $10 for a single dose of tylenol when you could buy a whole case at a pharmacy or wholesaler. There are some crazy, jacked-up prices out there for sure! Rates for all services and commodities in the health industry should be standardized.
This isn't true for WI at all. Sure, if my doctor is booked I may have to see the NP if I really want/need to get in, but I can count maybe twice that this has happened within the last 10 years...with or without Medicaid. Again, I have had zero complaints about Medicaid (aka:Badgercare) in our state. *knock on wood* I've also never felt looked down upon for having it...never! Perhaps that is because we have quite a few people on it, or perhaps we didn't always have the insurance? In any case, I've never been made to feel like I'm trash. The more I read in this thread, the more blessed I am feeling, to be honest.
Our healthcare system isn't without flaws. We do wait on average longer for some things including surgery HOWEVER, you see the specialties based on triaging... obviously the more serious it is, the sooner you go. Discovered that with Andrew and even when I was flying under the diabetes radar my doctor sent me off to the specialist before I was actually diagnosed (BUT he wouldn't medicate me because he didn't feel I would be compliant with meds HAHA). It truly breaks my heart to see so many people go without basic healthcare because of finances involved. I would absolutely LOVE to travel around the US in an RV loaded full of medical supplies and treat people within my scope of practice at absolutely no cost what so ever... that would be my dream come true (and God knows it :lol
Sorry, I know this is an old thread, but I was reading through, because I have recently had to look for insurance, which I had never had to deal with before. I am feeling really blessed right now. DH and myself met while in the military (Go Navy!), and so never had to worry about paying for healthcare, or doctor bills, or dental or anything. In fact, you would get in trouble if you didn't get your yearly check-ups and whatnot. Now that we are both out, we have been without insurance for about a year, and just got signed up with TriCare (DH is a reservist still), and we only pay 197.50 a month for out family of four. We do have a co-pay of I think 20%, and a yearly deductible (can't remember now, but I think it is something like $2,500). I was wondering if it was a good deal on insurance, and now I know! Yikes, I can't believe what some of you have to pay, as we can just barely afford this. God bless all of you, and I pray that your situations improve.
