FREE HEALTH CARE

by Dansk 24 Replies latest jw friends

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  misspeaches

  We have a medicare levy here in Australia.

  Depending on your total gross taxable income at the end of the financial year a medicare levy is included in your taxes.

  If you earn over $50,000.00 or are over the age of 30 you then also have a medicare surcharge of $700 to pay. UNLESS you have private health insurance and then you are exempt from the surcharge. Private health insurance can be quite minimal depending on what you get. If you want the works you can pay about $100 a week. I pay less then $10 a week. Much cheaper than the actual surcharge!
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  carla

  Is the 700.00 per year or per hospital visit? A new knee here (US) cost about 16,000,00 just for the 'parts' (actual knee) not including the Dr. to do it, the anesthesiologist, pain meds., hospital stay, etc...
• 

  misspeaches

  It's $700 a year (when you do your tax) and all Australian's are entitled to free medical health care. However I understand that there is quite a waiting list for public health care. Private health care is much less of a wait.
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  fairchild

  I used to live in Belgium where health care is almost free. Everyone has health insurance because it doesn't cost much at all to get it. The couple of times I was in the hospital in Belgium, it didn't cost me a dime. There was no "wait" to see a doctor or a specialist.

  Boy was I in for a surprise when I moved to the US. Most people I know around here either don't have health insurance, or pay an arm and a leg to get some basic coverage, but when they need more than just a doctor's visit, they end up paying a lot out of their own pocket anyways.

  During the winter of 2004, I was taken to the hospital with kidney stones. I was in the hospital for six hours and paid over four thousand dollars. It took me a year to pay it off.

  On September 31st, three weeks ago, I lost consciousness at work. They took me home, I drank some herb tea and went to bed. The next morning I couldn't keep my balance. It was so bad that I had to call a friend to help me with my morning routine. This friend took me to urgent care (which is a cheap alternative to the emergency room). At urgent care, I got to see a nurse and had to pay $125 in advance before she even looked at me. They took an EKG and it seems that the EKG showed that there was something wrong with the pattern on the EKG. The nurse told me I really should get this looked at and she gave me the phone number of a place where they accept new patients. I called, explained the problem, and the earliest appointment I could get was for the end of October. So here I am sitting at home, waiting for my appointment and wondering what is wrong, and especially wondering how much all this is going to cost.

  Don't get me going.. all I can say is... god forbid one gets sick in this corner of the world. Not good, not good..
• 

  FlyingHighNow

  I believe Clinton was pressing for a free health care system in the USA? Did Bush scupper it?

  Ian

  This is the real reason that Hillary and Bill were constantly being investigated for this and that. And why Bill was impeached. The people who were behind exposing him with Monica, most of them had affairs, too. It wasn't the affairs.

  I don't go to the doctor. I am one of the working poor. I treat eveything myself with herbs, vitamins, etc. The only way I'll go the doctor is if it's life or death or a broken bone or something I can't fix. I believe that Bush is banking on the uninsured choosing not to go to the doctor. He's even fixed it so that you won't be able to write off medical bills in a bankruptcy. So many people will choose to die, rather than amass debt from catastrophic illnesses. Bush was behind a recent plea for Canada to stop allowing her doctors to prescribe Rx drugs for Americans, so that Americans cannot buy Rx meds in Canada. The sad thing is, most of the Americans who buy meds in Canada are elderly or of little means. Bush did have some interest in health care companies at one time. He knows what pies to keep his fingers in.

  America's downfall will be her greed. She feeds off her citizens. She sends their jobs overseas and doesn't make sure all of her citizens stay healthy. Our president is most concerned with his comfort now, and that of his friends and family. He could care less about what happens to America in the future.
• 

  bem

  Dansk,

  After reading these posts I feel really fortunate. I have my CDIB which is degree of Indian blood. My great-great-grandmother. was an original enrolee on the Dawes Rolls. So I can use the Choctaw nation care center free. but they will bill insurances and medicare < folks on social security recieve this) And they encourage everyone to get health insurance.

  Years ago I could go to the Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona and use the health care facilities there.And I went to the Indian hospital in Phoenix. at no charge

  Just my bit of info to add to your line of thinking.
• 

  rebel8

  I believe Clinton was pressing for a free health care system in the USA? Did Bush scupper it?

  I have an entire textbook on this subject. Bush wasn't the cause of the failure. Clinton's plan had some significant details not thought out before it was presented. He also failed to get the support of the key players and it would never pass without that. The American Medical Association's (physician association) support was not gained prior to Clinton's attempt at getting the new plan passed, and their objection was one main reason it failed. "Socialized medicine" has been presented several times in US history and many experts believe the failure of the Clinton plan was so complete that it will fully prevent a similar plan from being passed ever again.

  There are significant flaws in every healthcare system. The main flaw of the US for-profit system, IMO, is that it mostly benefits the for-profit providers rather than the patients.

  There have been some improvements in the US since the Clinton fiasco. For example, some states have implemented lower cost insurance. In my state, anyone at any income level can purchase insurance from the state. The cost is prorated depending upon income. This is a great advance for those who are underinsured or uninsured, such as small business owners. Previously, it was hard or impossible for people to get health insurance on their own, and it was not affordable. Those who didn't have insurance through their employers were pretty much SOL.
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  under74

  There have been some improvements in the US since the Clinton fiasco. For example, some states have implemented lower cost insurance. In my state, anyone at any income level can purchase insurance from the state. The cost is prorated depending upon income. This is a great advance for those who are underinsured or uninsured, such as small business owners. Previously, it was hard or impossible for people to get health insurance on their own, and it was not affordable. Those who didn't have insurance through their employers were pretty much SOL.

  They've had that in WA State for years...but it's still too expensive. I had health insurance in CA but was still going to sliding scale clinics and paying money I didn't have. There may have been holes in the Clinton plan but if the government really wanted to help people out they would have made it work rather than fight it.
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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Hi Dansk

  Canadians have almost all of their medical expenses paid for them by the provincial government, which in turn receives some money in transfer payments from the federal government.

  Ontario (where I live) has recently brought in health premiums that we need to pay annually (to help a bit with our province's ballooning health costs). Their based on income level though and overall I think they're fair. Here's a fact sheet on it:
• 

  proplog2

  National health care is inevitable in the USA. There will always be better services for those willing to pay for it.