This week, my sweetest, mushiest cat bit me- and I ended up in er a couple of times & had an overnight in the hospital to be pumped full of iv antibiotics. I have ins but let say someone had the same thing happen without insurance. They would have been admitted (considered life threatening) & then I would have had to pay for part of it out of my taxes for Medicaid. Wouldn't it be better if we had a system where everybody could get affordable health insurance--everybody I know who doesn't have insurance doesn't have it cause they can't find a low cost plan (I'm in NY).
-----Original Message----- From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Diane Rosenfeldt Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2012 11:08 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] O T I have health insurance through the state-run high risk pool . It's relatively expensive and there is a lot it doesn't pay for -- I am currently paying off $295 for a regular doctor's visit and labs because I have a pre-existing condition so no visit is EVER just an annual checkup by their definition (which would have been free). That's in addition to $326 a month with a $5500 deductible, which is the "low income" premium. Its major advantage is on the drug co-pay, and they get you a *little* off your doctor bills. I have a temp job, 5 paid days off a year, no bennies. I would have gone under long ago if my housemate weren't extraordinarily generous (and received a decent inheritance a few years back). I have a friend who has a number of health issues, including panic disorder, for which she was taking a number of meds, with meds to counteract the side effects of those meds, you know how that goes. She had a bad patch, lost her full-time job and benefits, and was also using this shared-risk insurance. It was increasingly difficult coming up with the monthly premiums. Several years ago she married and moved to England, and gets every prescription for under $10 (our money) and now is making inroads into her panic with a psychologist. She is miles better off there than she was here. Y'all may not all be fans of Michael Moore, but his film Sicko was an eye-opener. He goes around Europe and finds out that the drugs are cheap, the doctors aren't greedy, paid sick days and vacations are plentiful and *mandated* -- much more compassionate than here, where those of us without paid sick days either get into financial trouble or suck it up and work sick. He also took a bunch of sick people, many of them first-responders on 9/11, by boat to Gitmo, since the medical care there is supposed to be great, to demand equal treatment for US citizens as prisoners of war get. They couldn't land on Gitmo and diverted to Cuba, where each and every person was evaluated and prescribed meds which were actually better than they were getting in the States, and those meds cost a fraction of the price. One woman was going bankrupt at home to pay for her inhaler for her 9/11 lung damage, I think in the states she was charged something like $120, and in Cuba that inhaler cost something like $5. The thing about health care is that if the costs can be brought under control, a LOT of our country's economic and social problems get solved, and the federal government is the only entity with enough power to do that. The individual states aren't up to it. Diane R. -----Original Message----- From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Natalie Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2012 11:21 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] O T My mother-in-law is in Sweden, at 94 1/2, she lives alone, gets someone coming in 6 times a day, bring her 3 meals, help her up, get to bed, etc. clean her place. It costs $200/month. Yes, they paid into it all their lives, but she'll never go bankrupt or be subjected to a horrible place when time comes to move to a nursing home. Father-in-law had a sunny private room, great care for $10/day! -----Original Message----- From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Lorrie Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2012 6:28 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] O T On 10-04, GRAS wrote: > Obama ideally wanted single-payer..... Yes, and it is shameful that America, supposedly the greatest county in the world, lets it's people go without medical help. Every other first world country has single payer. _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
