Author Topic: American Health Care  (Read 1596 times)

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Offline "couldbecousin"

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #45 on: September 28, 2012, 06:45:48 PM »
What is working black, lit?

Working without paying tax  :thumbup:

  In the States we call it "working under the table," or "getting paid under the table."   :yarly:

And it's practically a national sport  :green:

  It sounds tempting except for the IRS audit part if I get caught.  :autism:
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Offline renaeden

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #46 on: September 29, 2012, 06:40:43 AM »
Our healthcare system is ok I think. The government agency is Medicare. When I go to a specialist I have to pay the fee in full and then claim most of it back at Medicare. I only pay what is called the gap. The hard part is having the full fee in the first place though.

When I see my GP it is free because I am on a Pensioner Concession Card. Otherwise I would have to pay about $50.

Prescriptions that are part of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme are $5.80 for those with concession. Others are full price. When I took Lamictal, that was about $150 for a box of it. Sometimes if you have a certain illness that the medication is specifically designed for, you can get it on  the PBS.
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Offline Peter

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #47 on: September 29, 2012, 12:07:53 PM »
I don't need to pay a penny for my health stuff.  The only thing I've paid for in years was £10 or something for an optional scratch-resistant coating on my glasses (I only get a free pair every 2 years, and they can get pretty badly scratched in that time).
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14:10 - Moarskrillex42: She said something about knowing why I wanted to move to Glasgow when she came in. She plopped down on my bed and told me to go ahead and open it for her.

14:11 - Peter5930: So, she thought I was your lover and that I was sending you a box full of sex toys, and that you wanted to move to Glasgow to be with me?

Offline Queen Victoria

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #48 on: September 29, 2012, 02:30:56 PM »
The PR is on Medicare, designed for those 65 and older and Medicaid, designed for the indigent.  She's on Medicare because she's disabled and receiving Social Security benefits on PA's account. 

She pays nothing if a doctor accepts both insurances. 

She usually pays $1.10 for a generic drug and $3.30 for a name brand drug.  Since her Zonegran is about $360 a month this is a lifesaver. 
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Offline renaeden

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #49 on: September 29, 2012, 06:34:17 PM »
^I don't think your Medicare is the same as ours. We used to have Social Security (the government agency that gives people who do not work, etc. payments) but it changed its name to Centrelink.
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Offline Adam

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #50 on: September 29, 2012, 07:23:52 PM »
I don't need to pay a penny for my health stuff.  The only thing I've paid for in years was £10 or something for an optional scratch-resistant coating on my glasses (I only get a free pair every 2 years, and they can get pretty badly scratched in that time).

You get free glasses? Even the NHS ones cost money down here. Do you pay for  eye tests in Scotland?

Offline Queen Victoria

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #51 on: September 29, 2012, 08:06:09 PM »
^I don't think your Medicare is the same as ours. We used to have Social Security (the government agency that gives people who do not work, etc. payments) but it changed its name to Centrelink.

It's not.  Our Medicare is partly funded by a 1.45% tax on wages.  You qualify for it at age 65 or younger if disabled and on Social Security disability.  It's optional to take it, but if you change your mind you pay a premium penalty for late enrollment. 

It has 4 parts, A, B, C, and D.   

A covers hospital and similar costs and is free. 

B covers doctor fees, outpatient care, durable medical equipment, etc.  B runs abour $98 a month. 

C is run by Medicare-approved private insurance companies.  It includes everything in A and B and usually includes D coverage. 

D provides prescription drug coverage and has a separate premium. 
« Last Edit: September 29, 2012, 08:09:30 PM by Queen Victoria »
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Offline Peter

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #52 on: September 29, 2012, 09:50:46 PM »
I don't need to pay a penny for my health stuff.  The only thing I've paid for in years was £10 or something for an optional scratch-resistant coating on my glasses (I only get a free pair every 2 years, and they can get pretty badly scratched in that time).

You get free glasses? Even the NHS ones cost money down here. Do you pay for  eye tests in Scotland?

It depends on what benefits you get and/or what age you are; I get a free eye test and a free pair of NHS glasses every 2 years due to the benefits I'm on.  I think when you're 60 you get a test and NHS glasses free every year regardless of benefits.
Quote
14:10 - Moarskrillex42: She said something about knowing why I wanted to move to Glasgow when she came in. She plopped down on my bed and told me to go ahead and open it for her.

14:11 - Peter5930: So, she thought I was your lover and that I was sending you a box full of sex toys, and that you wanted to move to Glasgow to be with me?

Offline TA

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #53 on: September 30, 2012, 02:02:33 AM »
All I have to say on the subject is that American Healthcare is the biggest scam in Human History. It's all about the money. Doctors, Trial Lawyers, Bankers, Politicians, The Media, you name it, everybody has their hand in the cookie jar. No one cares if you live or die when you end up in a hospital, they just want to get paid. Why do you think Doctors are prescribing thousands of meds that their patients don't need? The drug companies have to make a ridiculous profit. For that matter, why does your average doctor make an average of $1,000,000 per year? They do not need that much. In the UK (correct me if i'm wrong) a doctor only makes the equivalent of $180,000 USD per year. Why can that not be true here? Socialized Medicine, there is a way to do it without "raising taxes", cutting wasteful spending. For example, paying $500 for a hammer, having a simple accountant with fifteen assistants, and paying ridiculous amounts for national defense, just to name a few.
« Last Edit: September 30, 2012, 02:05:26 AM by TA »
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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #54 on: September 30, 2012, 02:17:46 AM »
I think that doctors in every country prescribe shit that their patients don't need, at least in western countries.

I could probably get very cheap dental care as well, though you have to apply for it by the municipality where you live (unlike everything else health related, that is run by the county). They usually break the law, because they should give a so called "green card" to everyone with an AS diagnosis, but they don't. They only give it to people who have a personal assistant or similar. We must have money for all muslims enriching our country :thumbdn:

Offline luciaelizabeth

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #55 on: October 01, 2012, 06:47:33 AM »
I think that doctors in every country prescribe shit that their patients don't need, at least in western countries.

Someone needs to recommend me a hack doc.

Offline El

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #56 on: October 12, 2012, 06:07:12 AM »
Massachusetts's state insurance used to be better than private insurance in most ways till a couple of years ago, when they started making cuts (the biggest of which was dental, which now only covers extractions and cleanings).  Copays for masshealth are increasing, as are prescription costs, and it's need-based, so the people who are on it (presumably) can't afford the hikes (but, see below).

One of the downsides of masshealth vs. private insurance is masshealth pays less for the same services.  So, some health professionals (doctors, psychiatrists, therapists, etc.) will refuse to take masshealth because they will receive less money for the same services for people with masshealth than people with private insurance.  PLUS, people with masshealth do tend, on average, to be less reliable than people with private insurance (lower functioning, and also just plain less access to resources- ex. less likely to own their own cars and be able to reliably come in).  Insurance doesn't pay health professionals when the clients don't show up.

Masshealth also has less stringent standards for who it pays.  I could see masshealth clients when I only had my Master's.  I couldn't start seeing private insurance clients till I was actually licensed.

The two above issues have a filter effect where some of the more esteemed doctors/"good doctors" are only accessible if you have private insurance.  The neediest people end up getting a lower standard of care.

A caveat though is the issue of copays- masshealth has them, sure, but private insurance often has steeper copays.  And if a health provider isn't getting the copay from the client, they're losing a big chunk of change there, too- and not everyone on private insurance can afford copays, either.  If providers/provider companies want to survive, sometimes this ends up meaning turning needy people away because they don't have the money for copays.  (We started doing this at my company a couple of years ago; we had not before, because it felt kinda wrong to do, but we needed to to stay afloat.)  Sometimes we also have to turn people away because they fucked up on the paperwork for their insurance/it changed/it termed/the insurers themselves fucked up.

I get health insurance through my work (though I make little enough that I could be on masshealth if I wanted to).  And it's good insurance.  But, I do pay part of my salary to get it (it's not automatic), and there's a crazy-high deductible- I think it's $3,000 in-network, before the insurance company starts paying all the costs itself, though my company itself starts paying the deductable after I've shelled out $500 (though I end up paying more when non-covered medical expenses are taken into account).  Since going from masshealth to private insurance, my medical expenses have become a non-negligible chunk of an increased cost of living, for me.  It sucks.  And a lot of employers are doing this (using a high deductable), to save money while still providing "good insurance."

One more thought:  I have friends who live one state down, who don't have health insurance, and probably "should," and would if they lived in MA.  However, the cost of living is much higher in MA, and I believe taxes are as well.  I don't know how much of that is due to the healthcare, and I think that I'd rather have the healthcare, but then, I'm biased.

It's complicated, and by and large it's one big mess.

What is working black, lit?

Working without paying tax  :thumbup:

  In the States we call it "working under the table," or "getting paid under the table."   :yarly:

And it's practically a national sport  :green:
Only way to survive if you're on welfare or social security (without having put a lot of years in- which, might I add, is incentive to work over the table, except social security may crap out before people in my generation reach retirement age)- needs to be supplemented, and that supplementing needs to be off the books.  Which includes legal "under-the-table" jobs, or, more profitably, getting yourself a nice prescription for some fun meds and selling them.  Depending on the med, you're gonna average between $5 (ex. bzos) and $30(ex. opiates)/pill.  If you assume most rx's are 30 a month, for each fun-med rx, you're making between $150 and $900/month (more than some social security checks).  And, often bzos are rx'ed 60 or 90/month- ads up to more than you'll get on cash assistance if you're receiving welfare/temporary disability.  The system's fuckin' borked, yo.
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Offline Queen Victoria

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #57 on: October 12, 2012, 02:09:48 PM »
Went to a meeting this afternoon about the new year insurance options.  Basically the 2 plans available are the same, administered by BlueCross/BlueShield.  I'll probably stick with the HMO, because the doctor visits would be slightly less ($15 for regular doctor/$25 for specialist versus 10% after $300 deductible). 
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Offline Peter

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #58 on: October 15, 2012, 01:44:44 AM »
Only way to survive if you're on welfare or social security (without having put a lot of years in- which, might I add, is incentive to work over the table, except social security may crap out before people in my generation reach retirement age)- needs to be supplemented, and that supplementing needs to be off the books.  Which includes legal "under-the-table" jobs, or, more profitably, getting yourself a nice prescription for some fun meds and selling them.  Depending on the med, you're gonna average between $5 (ex. bzos) and $30(ex. opiates)/pill.  If you assume most rx's are 30 a month, for each fun-med rx, you're making between $150 and $900/month (more than some social security checks).  And, often bzos are rx'ed 60 or 90/month- ads up to more than you'll get on cash assistance if you're receiving welfare/temporary disability.  The system's fuckin' borked, yo.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the street value for my dexamphetamine and was surprised to find that it sells for $3-$5 per 5mg pill.  I get 224 of those pills every 28 days, so that's $672-$1120.  It's a shame that I need them for myself.
Quote
14:10 - Moarskrillex42: She said something about knowing why I wanted to move to Glasgow when she came in. She plopped down on my bed and told me to go ahead and open it for her.

14:11 - Peter5930: So, she thought I was your lover and that I was sending you a box full of sex toys, and that you wanted to move to Glasgow to be with me?

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Re: American Health Care
« Reply #59 on: October 15, 2012, 01:54:06 AM »
The ironic reason why drugs are so expensive in the street is that they are illegal without a prescription. If they were legal, they'd be much cheaper, and no one would have to prostitute themselves or become burglars or robbers to be able to afford being a junkie.