Scan Medical Insurance

Which costs more...USA taxes plus the cost to pay for private medical insurance or Canada's taxes? I was debating with my friends on FB on whether health care should be considered a right or a privilege. One of my friends responded using Canada's high taxes as a reason to not have universal health care. But, I thought about it...taxes in the US are high when you consider your federal income taxes, social security taxes, local taxes, and other taxes. Plus, you would also need to add-in the amount that private health insurance costs (including the amount taken from your check and the amount that an employer would also pay).

Is the cost of private medical insurance (such as BUPA) tax deductable?

is there a online website that will find the lowest private pay medical insurance for my needs? I'm looking for a website, where i can plug in some basic information, where basically all the major or most competitive private pay medical insurance companies input their pricing costs, and i can find the lowest price insurance company based on my needs ? what are the urls for the best websites for this sort of thing ?

Why do conservatives think Obamacare is the cause of high insurance/medical costs? The private insurance market has been driving up the costs of health insurance and medical care for the last 20 years. In some cases health insurance premiums were rising by as much as 50% per year. Meanwhile, coverage plans were dropping procedures and HMOs were refusing to accept those with preexisting conditions. The Affordable Care Act is not the cause of any of this. The independent CBO (which the Republicans praised under Bush) estimates that the Act will save $1.7 trillion over 10 years.

Why do people in countries with state socialized medicine live longer than Americans with private insurance.? Medical insurance in the USA is at least twice as expensive as in Canada or any of the major european countries, yet the USA has the lowest life expectancy by 2 to 4 years and the highest infant mortality rates. Everyone in europe gets the same prevention and treatment options for half the per capita cost and no one is uninsured, Pharmaceuticals are a fraction of the cost in the USA and no one has to go without. Private medical facilities are available for the people who have the money to pay for them with a level of service as good or better than the USA, and the cost of private insurance is still less than the USA. Costs in the USA rise faster than any other nation in the world putting medical insurance and services out of the reach of 20% of the US population. How can you, as leaders elected to defend the interests of the entire American populace, support a system that promotes a lower life expectancy and because of elevated individual costs of maintaining insurance coverage, a lower standard of living for American citizens.

How much does it cost per night to stay on the private ward (19) at Airedale Hospital? Keighley? Does anyone know how much it costs per night to stay on ward 19 in airedale hospital? I do not have private medical insurance although you can self-pay the ward itself.

Why shouldn't women be allowed to ask their medical insurance carriers to cover the cost of contraceptives? Why is the GOP getting in the way of a legal, private business transaction? Insurance companies WANT to offer contraceptives, because Insurance companies understand that women who have them prescribed to them by their doctors have lower instances of ovarian cysts and other health problems, ultimately reducing the insurance company's costs. Why is the GOP getting in the way of a legal, private business transaction? Why is the GOP AND CHRISTIANS getting in the way of a legal, private business transaction? @Rachel: If you are a real female, yet think that "Contraceptives are not medicine", then you are an idiot. Read this: Health benefits of oral contraceptives. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11091985 @bibigirl: If you have to lie to make your point, then you have no point at all to make.

Where will republicans move to after we adopt a public option considering they only want private insurance? What country will republicans move to when they want to live in a place with only private insurance companies covering medical costs?

Is it practical to take private health insurance considering the subsidy of the gov't (through medicare)? I'm thinking of taking private health insurance. However, I'm not sure of its practicality considering that health care is subsidised by the government. I also understand that most often than not, the insured ends paying more as medical costs in private hospitals/private care is far more than the premiums paid. As such, is private health insurance really necessary? Is public health care in Australia reliable or sufficient in cases when medical care is required. Thanks in advance for your views/comments.

I have been denied private medical insurance in CA; all I want is cheap EMERGENCY coverage; is it availible? Blue Cross, Kaiser, they've all said no. I'm an exceptionally fit 29 year old male, but I had a condition in high school that could, theoretically, require surgery again someday. I'm willing to sign ANYTHING regarding what they won't cover, just as long as they cover emergency injuries. The only plan I've found is the Major Risk subsidized plan that would cost me over 300 a month, way over my budget. Are there any simple emergency-only plans left in CA?

If you don't want to pay for others Medical Care , you don't want to force them to buy insurance? If they can not afford the ever rising cost of private insurance or are denied, then what? Does a parent just sit there and watch as their child dies. Or the offspring watch as their parent is unplugged. What is your solution?

Facts only please: where is the money coming from to pay for everyone's medical insurance? Would it be possible for the government to only pay for preventative treatments from Medical Providers of choice, and not within a specific limited choice of medical providers; or, would it be feasible for the Government to pay for only the services that private insurance would not cover. With a Government controlled medical insurance systems; would this put medical insurance companies out of business? How would this proposition effect the economy long term; and if this can be implemented while maintaining Patient Rights, and individual decision making--where is the money coming from? and how much will this cost taxpayers per person, per year? Where are the figures?

Why are so many people being tricked into being anti-universal health care? Private insurance costs are soon-? going to be too expensive for almost all businesses and middle class working people. Businesses say that they have moved to other countries to avoid the health care costs. Meanwhile, insurance companies do whatever they want (raise prices, deny coverage, refuse to pay claims etc..). Finally, with looming concerns about fatal influenza (bird flu, swine flu) shouldn't we make medical care more available and have centralized information to track this stuff?

Private hospital for giving birth vs local nhs? I'm really worried about giving birth in an nhs hospital after hearing many horror stories from friends and seeing documentries on tv, does anyone have any advice on wether it really is so much better in a private hospital and how much it is going to cost here in the Uk? Do I need to take out private medical insurance months before I plan on having a baby - how does it all work? Can I just phone a private hospital up and request to give birth there? Any help or personal experience would be great. Thank you!

Does it cost more to go to a private doctor than going to a general medical clinic? I am going to get checkup so I can start taking my medication again. Is it cheaper doctors visit to go to a private doctor to a general medical clinic or if the same amount based on your insurance?

Healthcare plans; aside from insurance? Have medical groups offered plans that function as health insurance that would work to decrease costs associated with premiums. Should there be a National health insurance; would this result in a middle business that would cause the increase of costs. Would it be preferable to offer some form of reduced coverage or tax break that would offset the cost of purchasing private medical insurance of choice, i.e., HMO or PPO coverage. for the purpose of making insurance/coverage available for persons from lower income brackets.

How to get low cost medical/dental help in Georgia? Greetings, I am an adjunct instructor in the technical university system of Georgia. As an adjunct I get no medical/dental insurance. I work in the joint enrollment program so basically I teach high school students. Due to the nature of adjunct instructing I don't always have steady employment it bounces from month to month so I can't afford private insurance (who want upwards of 1/2 my monthly income at times) and I am currently in a lot of pain. I've always had poor teeth, despite constant brushing and flossing, and this is really bad. My wisdom teeth have all come in, one of them has a crack in it, and together they are just insanely painful. I've gone for three weeks in daily pain and I simply can't take it any more. I found out the procedures I will need will cost about $800 per tooth to have the wisdom teeth removed, and that is more (for all 4) than I make in 4 months, at full pay, which isn't possible with rent and bills. I don't think I qualify for medicare or anything like that and I am at my wit's end. If anyone has any advice I'd love to take it.

how much would a biopsy for Lymphoma cancer in the chest cost in a private hospital? i had x ray and ct scan through the NHS they said it is 99% that it is some form of cancer but the wait now for the scan is stupid how much would it cost so i could see what treatment, stage and type of cance it is and what my chance are i have no medical insurance. even a rough estimate are we take hundreds or thosands

In Malaysia, do you think the medical treatment cost in hospital go up when you produce your medical card? Medical card insurance or health insurance is getting popular in Malaysia. Do you think that when a patient produce his / her medical card to the private hospital, the medical treatment cost will go up compare to those without medical card insurance? Medical card insurance is also known as Hospitalization & Surgical insurance in Malaysia.

Would NO health insurance option be better than public or private insurance? Doctors, pharmaceutical companies, the medical equipment manufacturers have all jacked up their prices because the insurance companies pay for them. An in return the insurance companies increase the premium to cope with the increased prices. Its an unending cycle. If there was no insurance and everybody paid on the spot the total yearly cost would be much lesser for everybody. How many hundreds do you pay right now for insurance premium every MONTH when you probably visit a doctor once or twice a YEAR ?

Can you have children's medicaid even if you have the option of adding your child to your private insurance? My husband and I just switched to a new medical insurance plan with Regence that pays everything 100% with just $20 co pays and no deductible. It wouldn't cost us any more a month to add our child, but she currently has children's medical through dshs. The only problem is, my husbands employer does not allow double insurance coverage, so we have to choose whether to just keep her on the dshs or take her off it and add her to our plan. I guess my question is, does dshs allow you to keep getting medicaid for your child, even if you could add them to your own private insurance? We can only add her once a year to our insurance, so I need to know which one to keep. Someone please inform me! Thanks!

How much does it cost to stay in a Danish hospital? I am buying medical insurance for my trip next week? I live in Thailand. So my medical coverage is 4,000 Thai baht/per day, for a private room and board. That is US$12. I need to increase my insurance, obviously - but I cannot find any Danish government/tourist/websites that provide any info. at all. Thai bed and board insurance coverage - that should convert in to $120 (not $12 - my mistake!). My Thai insurance DOES cover me internationally. It is just not enough. thanks.

Benefits of Universal Healthcare for Conservatives? Just like to explain something to Conservatives and see if you agree with the advantages in cost savings with a Universal Healthcare system: In insurance there's something called anti-selection. It means insurers don't want to insure people who want insurance because they probably have an existing problem basically. Obamacare is supposed to force insurers to remove anti-selection / cover pre-existing conditions. The insurers of course informed the government, that their client base is too small to cover losses from taking on pre-existing conditions and said the only way we're going to do that is if you force people to buy insurance so our base is bigger so we can cover the added costs. The people who don't want insurance are the people the insurers want to sell to the most. They are the most likely to never use it and you can just collect money off them. Further, UHC works the same way that private medical insurance does. With UHC, people pay tax (Canadian taxes are about the same as US taxes) and that money is pooled and when someone gets sick, the money comes out of that pool to pay for them. With private insurance ditto, only the pool is much smaller and filled with people more likely to want insurance because they are people with problems or more worried than usual and making frivolous claims. Then add the biggest cost in private insurance - me, brokers, insurers. You pay for example $5,000 a year for private medical insurance and we take $2,000 right away and put it into our pockets. In a UHC system, there's no insurance company, so that $2,000 isn't needed. Also, since everyone's paying in and it dramatically lowers the risk, that too lowers the cost. Add to that, the doctors in UHC countries do not work part time for pharmaceutical companies trying to over-prescribe over-priced drugs to increase their salaries and the costs are even lower. Canada spends 10% of GDP on UHC. America spends 16%. Think about that. Canada's GDP is already a lot lower than the US overall. I don't know how to do the math representative but the difference is huge. Basically, Canada pays out a fraction of the US for UHC which covers everyone for everything, people live longer, healthier lives and the population is much more satisfied according to all surveys. Obamacare only amplifies the problem of inflating costs, as does the current system. The best tried and true method in UHC. Considering the cost savings, shouldn't UHC be backed by fiscal conservatives? *I know these things because I sell medical insurance. Johnny: If abortions are carried out for free in the NHS, it doesn't mean they must be under an American UHC system necessarily if Americans think that's a big issue. Sega: I am a Canadian, there are no bigger line-ups than there are in the US. Medical insurance doesn't magically put everyone in the front of the line at the same time. Also Canadian UHC doesn't cover dental. Liddel: I am a broker. As such, depending on who I'm working with I take between 15% and 20% of the premium. The insurer of course takes their 10% to 15%. At the end of the year, they take off the top what more they made on top and hand out bonuses with it. It ends up at 40% easy.

Benefits of Universal Healthcare for fiscal Conservatives? -this is not pro-Obamacare!? I would just like to explain something to Conservatives and see if you agree with the advantages in cost savings with a Universal Healthcare system: In insurance there's something called anti-selection. It means insurers don't want to insure people who want insurance because they probably have an existing problem basically. Obamacare is supposed to force insurers to remove anti-selection / cover pre-existing conditions. The insurers of course informed the government, that their client base is too small to cover losses from taking on pre-existing conditions and said the only way we're going to do that is if you force people to buy insurance so our base is bigger so we can cover the added costs. The people who don't want insurance are the people the insurers want to sell to the most. They are the most likely to never use it and you can just collect money off them. Further, UHC works the same way that private medical insurance does. With UHC, people pay tax (Canadian taxes are about the same as US taxes) and that money is pooled and when someone gets sick, the money comes out of that pool to pay for them. With private insurance ditto, only the pool is much smaller and filled with people more likely to want insurance because they are people with problems or more worried than usual and making frivolous claims. Then add the biggest cost in private insurance - me, brokers, insurers. You pay for example $5,000 a year for private medical insurance and we take $2,000 right away and put it into our pockets. In a UHC system, there's no insurance company, so that $2,000 isn't needed. Also, since everyone's paying in and it dramatically lowers the risk, that too lowers the cost. Add to that, the doctors in UHC countries do not work part time for pharmaceutical companies trying to over-prescribe over-priced drugs to increase their salaries and the costs are even lower. Canada spends 10% of GDP on UHC. America spends 16%. Think about that. Canada's GDP is already a lot lower than the US overall. I don't know how to do the math representative but the difference is huge. Basically, Canada pays out a fraction of the US for UHC which covers everyone for everything, people live longer, healthier lives and the population is much more satisfied according to all surveys. Obamacare only amplifies the problem of inflating costs, as does the current system. The best tried and true method in UHC. Considering the cost savings, shouldn't UHC be backed by fiscal conservatives? *I know these things because I sell medical insurance. Queen: Well, Clearly you didn't even read the first line of the question, so why did you answer? Do you meet people in town and they ask "How's you're father doing?" and you say "My truck has a flat tire!"...? Little Red: "10%, 16% whatever". Is that the way you'd run things? "Whatever"? That 6% represents at least $800,000,000, and that's "Whatever"? Wow, a real cagey one aren't you. Smsmith: Actually Canada has a huge problem with Americans coming across the border and scamming free medical care. Hundreds of thousands of cases per year.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how brainwashed is someone who says the Canadian healthcare system is failing? Every statistic and actual fact points to the direct opposite. The American Journal of Medicine says over 3 out of 5 personal bankruptcies are due to medical debt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_in_the_United_States). That’s 60% of all personal bankruptcies which make up the vast majority of all bankruptcies. There are a total of 0 (zero) bankruptcies due to medical bills in other industrialized nations. Canada spends 10% of GDP on healthcare, the UK spends only 8% of GDP on healthcare while the US spends 16% and still has to pay for insurance! UK and Canadian small businesses are not burdened with having to pay for employees insurance making them more competitive. Every industrialized nation with Universal Healthcare (UHC), bar none, has longer lifespans, pays less than the US and is happier with their systems. Even when Americans buy private medical insurance, they’re still not covered for many problems. You would never be turned away in a UHC country for a pre-existing condition. The American system works just like a UHC system. Americans that say “I don’t want to pay for someone else” obviously have no understanding of how private insurance works. AIG pools your money and when someone gets sick they use that money (your money) to pay for the sick person which is exactly how UHC works, except the pool is bigger which leads to lower risk and lower costs. Canada and Australia run UHC and not one bank collapsed during the financial crisis, in fact both country’s economies grew significantly. The cost of private insurance is climbing much faster than in UHC countries and families cannot afford proper care and preventative checks. This leads to higher costs when they finally do go to the hospital and the problem has become severe. Americans pay 5x what Canadians pay for medical treatment and yet their life spans are lower, their infant mortality is very high and How can someone looking at these facts say that it’s UHC that’s failing without being brainwashed?

got laid off from work. just had knee surgery covered by private healthcare....BUT? my old company has cancelled the private healthcare which they state "I'm afraid that we are not able to continue your private medical insurance past 24 November 2011. If you contact your consultant they should be able to refer you to have your follow up appointments and physio on the NHS" However, I have letters from my private healthcare that show approval to the total amount allocated to me. This included the consultation, MRI scan, surgery and about 800 pounds worth of physio and consultation following the surgary. Is my old company correct? Or have they got it wrong? Once the insurance agency approves the cost then they are held to that, no? I'm nervous about ringing them up in case they turn around and whip some horrible charge onto me... I had a 3 month notice period. Which they are paying me in lieu next month. No mention was made of the health insurance and what the situation is there. Before I was made aware of my sacking, the healthcare verbally said my outpatient costs had been approved.

Why does Privatized healthcare cost so much more? Canada spends 10% of GDP on healthcare (and everything is covered) while the US spends 16% (and very little is covered). The extra 6% is equal to 800,000,000USD per year. All that only covers medicare while the majority is expected (if not forced now) to buy private medical insurance. On top of that, the government of Canada has enforced laws that protect consumers from pharma companies charging extortionate rates for medicines but it seems in the US the government restricts low cost medicines from entering the country. If competition brings lower costs, then why is it medical care in the US costs at least 5 times what it costs in UHC countries?

Net Employment Income deductibles (Ontario)..please help!? A mechanic in a logging industry, what is deductible from the following: -lease costs -insurance -repairs/maintenance -gas -meals (out of town) -small tools -clothing costs -term life insurance -private medical insurance -house fire insurance -private membership dues Thank you for any help!

how much would you say is the average cost ? for Health/medical insurance cover in your country, where ever you are living.. Also the NHS deductions from salary in the UK. And UK 'private' medical insurance cover.

Americans, do you think that nationalised healthcare will drive the private insurers out of business? Because you're wrong. We've had Nationalised Healthcare since 1947 in the UK and we still have private medical care and plenty of private insurers who anyone can use if they so choose and can afford to do so. What it actually does is rob the private insurers of the monopoly on healthcare, so they have to lower their prices and become more competitive to lure people in. Just for kicks I checked out what it would cost for me, my husband and son to have private medical insurance cover in the UK (we've never used the private system so I have no idea, the NHS has always met all our needs). For all 3 of us, the cheapest policy which covers all our needs would cost £52 per month (thats about $104 USD per month I think) with no excess - ie I wouldn't have to pay anything extra on top of that when I go to see a doctor or have treatment, that would cover the whole of the bill with nothing for me to contribute towards it. Actually I think that pretty affordable. If there was no NHS the companies could charge what they liked simply because people would have no option other than to pay for it. Does that compare to the rates you are offered by your companies in the US? I won't be bothering to take out private cover though, partly because my employer already offers it as an "extra" and partly because I have never needed to use the private system and I can't see that I ever will. "No -- their form may have to change though -- they may end up just being supplemental insurance for people who want better insurance" Thats pretty much what private healthcare in the UK is - a bit of extra for those who can afford it. And the insurance companies know this, which is why their premiums are cheaper and they don't demand excesses or exclude people with pre-existing conditions etc. They know that unless they keep on top of their game, people won't bother to use them and will stick with the NHS. They don't have a stranglehold on people in the UK like they do in America. "I know that people come from Canada and Europe because they can get the some of the best medical care now without waiting in line." As I have already explained, we have private healthcare here in the UK too. So those same people who did not want to "wait in line" could get their treatment privately any time they wanted in the UK without going to America. As I have already explained in my post (maybe you didn't read it?) private medical insurance is even cheaper in the UK than in America! There is absolutely no reason for anyone to go to America for treatment unless its for some specialist/experimental treatment which is perhaps not yet available outside the US. People come to the UK from other countries for the same reason. And we do not "wait in line" in the NHS for any essential procedure. The NHS even has targets it has to meet to make sure people do not wait. Anything urgent is dealt with immediately. And you ALWAYS have the chance to go private here too.

How does a person get medical treatment / evaluation without insurance? The public health department will not provide the type of exam that this person needs to find out what's wrong with him. He needs a private doctor, but do they see people without insurance and how much will it cost for a cat-scan, mri?

NHS and US Medical insurance quest...anyone know?...? Right it been bugging me for years this one! Do we in the UK pay for our medical with the NHS through paying National Insurance Because, how do the self employed pay because a lot of them don't pay NI. Plus how do the people in the US pay for medical do they pay private companies or what? Also I recently gave birth here in the UK and was wondering If had given birth in th US how much would it have cost me, say if I had no medical insurance?

Can any of you prove your health insurance premiums went up because of ObamaCare? "Leading Republicans in Congress are blaming the new health care law for double-digit rate increases being sought by insurance companies in Washington state, New York and Connecticut. But insurance regulators, leading health care experts and the companies themselves mostly blame an old culprit: rising medical costs. "Improved benefits required by the new law are responsible for a relatively small portion of the increases. Furthermore, the increases apply mostly to those buying policies individually, not the majority who get private insurance through employers. Those with employer-provided plans won’t see as much of an increase in premiums, since many of their policies already include the required benefits, a spokesman for an insurance trade association told us." http://factcheck.org/2010/11/the-truth-about-health-insurance-premiums/

Career Vs Stability.. what option should I take? Hi all, I am about to embark upon the journey of buying my first home with my husband. he's been working in a new job for 5 months and I've been at mine for 5 years (been there long mainly due to stability reasons). We can complete the property purchase end of Dec or beginning of Jan which leads me to looking at the ongoing money situation... We haven't got much savings (hence taking out lots of mortgage insurances etc) and trying to cut back costs. For example I can get an interest free season ticket loan for my work travel which cuts my travel costs quite a bit every month. I have many benefits in my current job that also help cut my monthly costs..private medical, life insurance, Income protection(kicks off in april 2011), pension. However on the other side to it, I have not changed my job in over 5 years... The salary progression and career progression is slow in the my current work place and I'm in a stand still. I am sure if I look hard enough, I will get a job that pays £5k more. .. (I had a bit of a job hunt stint this year and got throguh to final round.. and then withdrew as my husband was made redundant)! My dilemma is do I stick to my current job for security as I'm starting to pay a massive loan (2 years are apprently the hardest) OR do I risk it get the property and then look for a new job in 6 months time? Get paid more and have higher career satisfaction but risk not have a secure job till I'm made permanent? and the other benefits going as well.?? And to add to the woodwork, I am thinking about starting a family but I don't think I can do that anytime soon (not for 2 years atleast) which makes me think if I'm going to look for a new job, I should start a new job atleast a year and half before starting a family... Whats are everyones realitic experience/advice.. pros and cons of both?

low-cost health insurance company? I have been trying to do research on the state of health insurance in the US and am not getting much informative stuff. What is stopping a private, non- or for-profit company setting up a lower-premium health insurance company? these are the possible problems i have come up with so far: - the insurance claims will far exhaust the float (is this true?) - the demand will be overwhelming (but this shouldn't be too bad considering the insurance business is not heavy on capital expenditures?) - it would be difficult to cover the high costs of drugs and specialist medical costs with lower premiums - getting hands on enough and reliable data in order to calculate proper costs, probabilities of claims against a potential pool of funds, etc. possible solutions would of course begin with restricting the pool of people granted insurance (restrict by probability of claiming insurance) until more data can be gathered to offer insurance to less healthy candidates.

NHS and US medical insurance question...? Right it been bugging me for years this one! Do we in the UK pay for our medical with the NHS through paying National Insurance Because, how do the self employed pay because a lot of them don't pay NI. Plus how do the people in the US pay for medical do they pay private companies or what? Also I recently gave birth here in the UK and was wondering If had given birth in th US how much would it have cost me, say if I had no medical insurance?

Why do those against universal health care think the govt. would take away your choices of private insurance? This is America. If you have money, no one is going to force you to give up your choices of insurance and doctors. It's just to help those that have nothing be able to get some care so that they don't end up at the ER every time they need help, which ends up costing taxpayers much more in the end. Isn't prevention cheaper than cures? Or do you have absolutely no sympathy for the poor who can't afford medical care?

How does private health insurance work? I am a freshman in high school interested in the medical field and I don't know much about all this health insurance business but I've heard all about this national health care bill and how all these people can't afford to pay for their own health insurance and that's why we are going to national health care and that got me to thinking about why we need national insurance anyway. It's obviously a problem of people not being able to afford private health insurance or not believing private health insurance is worth the cost. So I have a variety of questions about how one pays for it such as: How much do you pay a month? What do you have to pay when you go see a doctor? Are prescription drugs covered/ if not are prescriptions expensive? I know with car insurance your rate goes up if you receive multiple tickets/multiple car accidents and was wondering if your base health insurance pay goes up as well if you have a multitude of health concerns. If you could answer any of these questions I would really appreciate it as I am interested in going into the medical field later in life. I am also open to any other information about private insurance you have. However, I don't want this to become a political debate on national health care as I am purely interested how an individual pays for his own private health insurance.

Why has no nation on Earth ever had a successful private, for-profit, universal health insurance system? Attention, high school drop-outs! Free debating lessons here: ************************************************************************ Before answering the question above, please read my answer below. If you disagree with my facts and logic, please tell me why I am wrong. Then I will tell you why you are wrong. That is the way grownups do it. If you only want to type a sound bite, go away. *********************************************************************** Profit-making is incompatible with the prevention and cure of sickness. Healing sick people is not a service in the same sense that fixing a car is a service. The auto-repair industry serves its customers profitably in a free market for several reasons that do not apply to the health care industry: 1. The cost of an auto repair rarely exceeds 50% of the cost of acquiring an equivalent vehicle and is usually less than 5% of that cost. The patient cannot acquire another body. The cost of an illness may exceed the combined cost of a buying a home and raising a family of university graduates. 2. Garages stay in business by making good decisions and providing good service. Health care providers stay in business (retain their medical license) by conforming to industry standards. The health care industry (as opposed to the health care INSURANCE industry) does not want customers. They do not have to attract customers. There is no point in advertising for customers. The doctor regrets that the patient needs his help. The patient regrets being a patient. 3. Auto repair is based upon commodities: widely available parts, repair manuals, tools, and mechanics. Costs are well known and prices are regulated by competition Health care equipment is highly technical and very expensive. Doctors are mostly specialists, often researchers with few students. They sometimes build their own equipment. The customer’s life may depend upon finding the right doctor. If that doctor does not have a contract with the patient’s private insurance company, the claim will be denied. (http://www.creators.com/liberal/froma-harrop/free-market-death-panels.html) 4. All drivers can afford to drive – until they can’t. If too many drivers can’t afford to drive, some garages may suffer or fail. It’s tough on the ex-drivers and ex-garage owners, but that’s the free market. Patients must be served whether they can afford to pay or not. If they cannot pay, the cost must be shifted to others. In particular, children and students cannot afford to pay for their own care. But they must receive the finest possible health care (and education) regardless of the wealth or poverty of their parents. This requirement is enshrined in our Constitution’s Preamble which vows to “promote the general Welfare and to secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and to our Posterity.” Posterity is our nation’s ONLY product. We MUST do it right. Spending large public funds on the postponement of death for a few very uncomfortable months is an irrational betrayal of our heritage and our national interest. For the above reasons, universal health care costs can only be met by payments of deductible claims made through an insurance system financed by premiums that are subsidized for the poor. Costs are paid from the insurance pool. For statistical and administrative reasons, the larger the pool, the lower will be the premiums. The risk is spread over a larger population. That is why single-payer policies are the least expensive: everybody is in the same pool. This is a mathematical CERTAINTY. Breaking the insurance pool into a hundred different pools adds important costs: financing, administrative, advertising, customer selection, claims denial, high executive salaries, and profits. These additional costs (over 25% of the total current cost and over 33% more than the single-payer costs) represent a “tax” paid to private insurance companies by all its customers with no benefit to the consumers. The usual objection to single-payer is government inefficiency. And reduction of Medicare and Medicaid costs are part of the legislation before Congress. But the Veterans Administration provides excellent care to millions of veterans suffering a wide range of problems at a very reasonable cost compared to private industry. Government rationing of health care is another objection. But, without exception, every private health care insurance company has a large building with an entire floor or two devoted to a department that does nothing else but ration health care. These claim deniers are answerable only to their highly paid management, not to Congress or to a State Legislature or to the voter. The only recourse to denial of a claim is to file a suit through the court system and pay the lawyer. There are now insurance solutions approximating single-payer before Congress. They need your support. General answers: Success means that, with relatively few exceptions, everyone is served as well as possible within the available resources regardless of previous history or ability to pay. Of course, some will be served better or worse than others. It's the intent that counts. We have two excellent VA hospitals in the Chicago area. I receive excellent service in my clinic. The brouhaha at Walter Reed was solved by firing a general. There are problems at all hospitals, VA or not. Most of the VA problems arise from PTSD cases. No civilian hospital has that problem. I can't believe how many high school drop-outs skipped reading my carefully thought out essay and just dropped a sound bite. That's rude. I begged you guys to go away. For those who got ripped off at a garage, welcome to the free market. If you were treated that badly in a hospital, you might want to hold off on tort reform. jwoody88: The USA has a private (not public), for profit, health insurance system. It is neither successful in economic terms nor universal. Many people, including me, have been very well served, whether private or public. I am on Medicare and have no complaints, nor have I ever heard a senior complain. The problem lies with those who are not served. Texas Tre. The US Army, Navy, and Air Force are models of efficiency. Expensive, yes, but efficient in the sense that they do their best and are held accountable. That is somewhat like the USSR, which could beat us into space but couldn't make bumaga (that's toilet paper). The civil service people in our government are excellent. The problem is the guys like Brownie, who did a hekkova job at Katrina. Bush tried to run Iraq with born-again Christians just out of Bob Jones college. He tried to replace federal attorneys from the same source, which is getting Karl Rove into trouble now.

Can it Be True That Obama Wanted Our Military to PAY for Their Own Medical Insurance ? Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 9:17 AM In case you missed this on Fox, the only station to air it, Obama did propose that the military instruct our soldiers to purchase their own heath insurance. Regardless of your political views...you must read this. It shows our president's true colors. Unbelievable!!!! And it was checked on Snopes and he did propose this. HERE IS HIS RESPONSE WHEN HE BACKED OFF FROM HIS DECISION TO LET THE MILITARY PAY FOR THEIR WAR INJURIES..........SEND THIS TO EVERYONE TO SHOW JUST WHAT HE THINKS OF OUR MILITARY WHO FIGHT FOR OUR COUNTRY AND GET HURT PROTECTING OUR FREEDOM!!! Bad press, including major mockery of the plan by comedian Jon Stewart, led to President20Obama abandoning his proposal to require veterans carry private health insurance to cover the estimated $540 million annual cost to the federal government of treatment for injuries to military personnel received during their tours on active duty. The President admitted that he was puzzled by the magnitude of the opposition to his proposal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Look, it's an all volunteer force," Obama complained.. "Nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bearing the costs of their choice? It doesn't compute.." "I thought these were people who were proud to sacrifice for their country," Obama continued. "I wasn't asking for blood, just money. With the country facing the worst financial crisis in its history, I'd have thought that the patriotic thing to do would be to try to help reduce the nation's deficit. I guess I underestimated the selfishness of some of my fellow Americans." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DOES HE PAY FOR HIS OWN INSURANCE???? NO, WE DO!!!!!! He wants to pay for every illegal, but not the people who protect and defend this country, as he took an oath to do, too. Please pass this on to every vet and their families whom you know. “It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from his government." - Thomas Paine

Not Canaidan...how much would it cost to give birth in MONTREAL? My husbend hold the PR and the Medicare, but I dont have it yet and have no medical insurance (Private)..any one knows how much would it cost...IF U HAD SAME SITUATION OR FRIENDS DID....thanks

How much of our health care crisis/deficit is a direct consequence of patient care? Does anyone know the breakdown of our national healthcare deficit? What is the actual cost of nurses, hospital maintenance and ancillary positions that affect patient care and needs for how many patients annually? What is the actual cost of medical doctors reimbursements for how many patients annually? What is the actually cost of salaries to those who own private medical clinics and collect any form of federal funding? Versus how much of our deficit is a direct consequence of insurance invading health care? What is the cost for insurance personnel, insurance fraud investigation, accountants, case managers, and all else related to insurance reimbursement?

Is becoming a medical doctor worth it financially given the cost of med school & malpractice insurance? Obviously, there are other reasons to be a doctor, such as the joy of helping people, an interest in science, as well as enjoying the respect of the profession and the social prestige. I know that an elite few, such as surgeons and other specialists do quite well. But what about the "average M.D." (not necessarily a general practioner). I have an aunt who practices internal medicine and is the mother of two: after private school for her kids, malpractice insurance, and student loans (she has been a doctor for over 15 years) she doesn't seem to be doing that great financially. Her work hours are horrible. Oh, she graduated from Brown University medical school. Just what percentage of a physician's income goes to malpractice insurance? It seems the relatively higher salary she makes goes to pay for these things. Is my impression accurate?

Is there any assistance out there to help you pay for therapy? I just lost my private medical insurance what can i do when it comes to someway - somehow continuing my therapy? In any way I can ... obviously first by staying with the therapist I have now and finding help to pay for it or else anywhere I could free or low cost help???

Are medical insurance supplemental plans offered in the UK and other places where medicine is socialized? I hear that in the UK and in other countries that the socialized medicine is not good enough and many people are paying for supplemental private insurance to protect themselves? Will this be the way the insurance companies can still profit? Is there some deal going on in the USA to hand them over all the extra coverage plans? I take note that lots of seniors in the USA have medicare supplement plans they privately pay for and it costs them thousands. When people are on medicare, they soon find out that the coverage is inadequate. Will the same be for those on some kind of US plan as well?

"Has anyone figured out the total the cost to taxpayers for the Medical Care Congress is rushing to pass? On July 31, 2009 at Noon PST there were approximately 307,049,958 Americans. Citizens for Tax Justice, a taxpayer watchdog group, says there are 117 million taxpayers in the United States—a figure the IRS struggled to provide. The Treasury so far has committed $643.1 billion of TARP money or $5,496.58 for each taxpayer. (…But some 50 other federal programs that began as early as 2007 could push the government's total financial support of the private financial sector to at least $23.7 trillion (or $20,256.64 each taxpayer), says TARP's special inspector general Neil Barofsky.) The automaker bailout cost each taxpayer a total of $393.16. This morning Congress has just spent another $17.09 of each taxpayer’s money to retire old gas guzzlers by approving another $2 Billion in funds for the cash for clunkers program. The original program spent $8.54 for each tax payer. A total of $25.63 for every taxpayer going to the automakers to pay for trading in junk cars. Or $418.79 going to the automakers for every return filing taxpayer. Not every American...just the taxpayers that file. Since the first of the year, 8 months ago, Congress has spent in just two programs $5915.37 for every taxpayer and they haven’t passed the medical insurance bailout yet! What is it going to cost each of the American taxpayers to insure medical services for all Americans? Will it be more than the $20,256.64 potential TARP taxpayer expense?

Dropping someone because they are married? Insurance? So, when is this "wonderful" president of our going to take his health care reform and improve medical insurance? I am on my Mom's insurance again, after getting divorced. In between being signed up, I got remarried. They will drop me because of marriage. My husband doesn't get any form of medical insurance and affording private insurance is OUT of the question due to cost. Shouldn't it be illegal for insurance companies to discriminate/drop someone just because they are married? Can't you read? I said, we don't have that luxury. His job, nor mine doesn't provide it. And we don't mooch off the government like everyone else.

what type of lawyer would I hire regarding being thrown off SSI and being left deformed from breast cancer? I received SSI but was removed due to an inheritance. Unfortunately during the time I was on SSI I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I received treatment, but have been left disfigured. I now have private medical insurance, but it cost me $500.00 a month with a $3500.00 deductible yearly. I can't afford to go to a doctor, let alone pay to be made even again.Just to get my annual mammogram and ultra sound cost me $800.00, an additional $250.00 for an annual pap smear from my gynecologist, and another $200.00 just to have my cholestrol checked. All this I have to pay out of pocket on top of the $500.00 I pay out monthly. I am currently applying for SSDI but have been warned this will most likely take 3 to 5 years if I ever get it. No lawyer will take my SSDI because they couldn't make any money off of my small work record. Is there another type of lawyer to go to over being left disfigured while I wait out all these years to see if I get my SSDI. It already doesn't look good, they never gave me a confirmation #, and when I called they said they mailed it out. When I spoke with the 2nd supervisor she said a confirmation was never mailed out as of yet. They get away with lying, and I feel deliberately don't like me because I'm a fighter. I don't mean to be, but I'm left with no other choice. All my faxes were just ignored, and they say that's OK. The supervisors could care less.

went to dentist and pay $205.i dont have private insurance.can i claim on my tax this year? i had a massive toothache and went to dentist.i had it remove and cost me $205.i don't have health insurance.I will need to go back and get more teeth fixed up.Can i claim that on my tax under medical expenses.

Cost of giving birth in Australia? I have just recently come in Melbourne-Australia on WP. My wife is 4 months pregnant, I want to know how much does pregnancy cost in Australia, from monthly checkups to giving birth and child care. I have been inquiring health insurance companies in Australia and they say since my wife's already pregnant they will not cover it. How much does it cost in public hospital and private hospitals? Which is the best public/private hospital in Melbourne? Can I have any type of medical insurance with a high premium maybe to cover pregnancy? I will be waiting for your answers.

What needs to be reformed in our health care system? Do our hospitals need reforming? And if so, medical or financial reforming? Do our doctors, nurses and other health care professionals need reforming? If so, in what way? Do our emergency services need reforming? Do our medicines need reforming? If none of the above, then is it the cost that needs reforming? If so, how does government reform the price without having a Canadian or European result? And if that's the result, where will the world go for health care after we become just like theirs? Will we have only the Government Motors Insurance Corp for medical insurance plans? If all private insurance is forced out of the market, where will government employees get the super plans they get now? Has anyone looked at the way the government runs the VA health care and if so, what makes you think the government will do any better with your health care? And do you remember owebama wanting our service personnel to get their own private health insurance for combat related injuries? Finally, has anyone in Congress read this bill, or like the rest, do they just pass it because their "leaders" tell them to?

Does Health Insurance make people less "Cost-Concious" & drive up the cost of healthcare - as this study found? "Although a large number of factors are thought to have contributed to the escalation of medical costs, the expansion of third-party payers (whether governmental or private) may have lessened incentives for individuals to be cost conscious about their consumption of medical services." http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/MedicalExpenditures/index.shtml This was an official Government study, by the way.

Medical facilities for a pregnant lady with valid PR returning to Ontario from outside Canada after 1 1/2 year? We are a couple with valid PR Card and Health Card issued from Ontario. However, we have been living outside Canada for almost one a half year. My wife is currently expecting and we want to return back to Canada before the delivery of the baby. May i please have some information about her eligibility for medical facilities and the waiting period before she becomes eligible regarding the pregnancy. Moreover, how long before delivery should we return back to Canada to be eligible for the medical facility. Lastly, if we remain unable to get covered by the medical facilities for this purpose, what is the estimated cost of private insurance coverage (if possible), monthly visit to specialist and a private c-section treatment in Toronto. Thanks n Regs

medical insurance help.? My friend needs a surgery which is going to cost a lot. She doesn't have insurance . she is under the age of 18. She says that the only way an insurance company will cover it if the insurance is like from oxford or something like that.She said it was like only private insurance companies. Why is only private insurance companies that can cover it. Can Obama's health care plan cover the surgery. city is new york in case it is needed

How do you see a doctor if you are unemployed and have no medical insurance? I need to see a doc for something that is not life threatening, just really irritating and tiresome. How do I go about this? I don't know where to start. I've called private doctors but it costs at least 100 up front. where are such clinics listed and will they treat any condition

Are there private UK health insurances with 100% on everything? I need to find a health private insurance in the UK which covers 100% for all Medical Services, 100% for Hospital fees including single room and that it be valid in europe. Cost is not an issue, is there such an insurance? Thanks!

Private health care and insurance? I have an injury to my knee that requires a consultation to determine what the problem is. NHS waiting list for such consultation is 4-5 months... Completely free If I go down the private route I can be seen within a week. Consultation is £150, MRI scan is £289 (almost guarteneed necissary), Arthroscopy (investigative key hole surgery) £3180... Is there any kind of medical insurance I can get that will cover these costs...? I'm male, live in the UK and am aged 27. Help!

Repubs claim Univrsl Hlthcare will lead to lack of services.With Private Insurance we have Crappy Service NOW!? They threaten that Universal Health Care will feature denial of services, long waits for appointments etc.. However, last time that I checked, we all have these problems NOW with our existing HMO's. We have waited a month to get a referral, and then another two for an appointment. We have had the insurance pretend our son was never born, in their attempt to not pay. They have denied reasonable tests ROUTINELY so that I have to take my time from working FT and being a mom to write many letters explaining that I am a consumer who knows their rules and my rights. I think that someone who is not as savvy would be bankrupt from medical costs by now. $400 bucks per paycheck for this! Why wouldn't Universal Health Care be better than this red tape and bullsh*t? * Who is getting fined? Where is that a part of Universal Health Care in England for example? Also, I do not know of any little Canadians with like eye patches, though I feel for the person with the Berlin story? I am looking for an honest comparison, not paid people regurgitating Glen Beck and Michael Savage fear mongering. I am still feeling like you all are lobbyists or something. I am looking for factual comparisons, not paranoid lobbyist speak. Has anyone experienced functioning Universal Health Care? So how do you know?

Why is insurance a necessary element of a universal health care system? We seem to be blinded by the insurance companies' lobbyists. Most universal health care systems require that even the poorest among us buy health insurance. Why? If this country can spend trillions of dollars on an immoral 'war', it can afford to spend a few hundred billions of health care for every American. For those who have the resources or desire to buy their own medical insurance and have their own private doctors, let them do it. For those low-incomed legal citizens of the U.S.A., let them be allowed to walk into any hospital, show their Social Security card, and receive whatever medical treatment they need - at no cost, and without laborious paperwork. Hospitals should not be "for-profit" - they should be ready and able to serve the health care needs of every legal U.S. citizen, whether they have private insurance or not. -RKO- 04/21/08

How would you label me politically? Just curious. Have been told lately that my hands-off positions on social issues make me conservative. 1. I'm strongly pro-gun. If I can't fight back I have no last-ditch defense against tyranny or abuse. I'll drop my gun when the last cop and the last criminals drop theirs, many thanks. 2. I'm strongly pro-choice. I believe in self-ownership. Thus, as long as something is an unwelcome host in your body you can throw it out. 3. I'm strongly against censorship. Free speech means free speech, I won't buy onto none of that "decency" BS. Burn the FCC. I'm not offended either by hardcore conservative propaganda or BDSM porn. in primetime. If I don't like it I can swap channels. 4. I'm strongly against morality enforcement. Thus I oppose the war on drugs, bans on prostitution or gambling, sin taxes and having a drinking age higher than the age of majority. I'm also against laws forbidding consensual sexual acts. 5. I'm a strong supporter of religious freedom. If some folks want to pray let them pray as long as they don't coerce someone else. It's none of my business. Conversely, if some folks want to be hostile to religion, as long as they don't coerce someone else, by all means, let'em. It's again none of my business as long as no-one coerces each other. 6. I support a capable military, though not neccessarily one that is able to play world police. One that is enough to keep us and our allies safe, not a dime more. I oppose wars of aggression and imperialism, though I'm by no means a pacifist and when we have good reason to go on and kick butt, by all means do so. 7. I'm strong on privacy rights. While I don't think the Ten Commandments should be displayed in coutrtrooms, a golden script of the Fourth Amendment should be. Forbid cops from even buying a doughnut without probable cause. Allow them to do what they have to do when they have it. 8. Stop the marriage nonsense. Civil unions for all, and everyone shuts the f*ck up. 9. I'm pro-union, but I dislike them working like a mafia. Combine the open shop model with nondiscrimination laws that protect union members from management's retaliation and labor laws that let unions work. Let unions freely compete, as well as businesses. 10. It makes no sense to favor rich blacks over poor whites. Scrap affirmative action. Replace with free superior education and nondiscrimination in hiring laws. 11. It is outrageous that medical costs can drive people bankrupt. Single-payer, government-funded catastrophic health insurance for all (let the government bid with private contractors and lobby them for lower prices). Small medical costs let private insurance freely compete, and people choose whether to buy or not to buy it. 12. Welfare as is doesn't work. Replace with unemployment benefits to help people when they've been laid off. Good benefits that last for a reasonable while. Let them expire if they won't work. Aside from that, provide for the kids for they have no fault. That means food stamps and clothing vouchers and section 8, but no welfare check when mom's unemployment benefits run dry. 13. We need social security. We don't need it to go unchanged and untouched for the eras. Fix what doesn't work. Get ways, aside from taxation, to get revenue for it (such as investing part of the fund in a controlled way.) 14. I support the free market and free trade as long as there are reasonable protections for workers and the environment.

medical insurance resources? I do not have any kind of health insurance and I am in need of some scans to find out why I am getting severe headaches all of the sudden (tumour, fluid build up etc.) the tests cost a lot of money and I can't afford them so I need to know what resources I have available to help me pay for them. Is there some kind of govt agency to help me or a grant or even a medical study that I could qualify for? Are there any private foundations or charities to help me? Thank you un advance to anyone who has any helpful information

Wisdom tooth removal in sydney, australia? I believe my wisdom tooth is coming out. Not 100%, but am pretty sure. Just rang up a few dentists and found out its going to cost $300 or there abouts. I dont have private medical insurance, and i dont have that sort of money to spend. Anybody know where i can get my wisdom tooth pulled out for free? or will i have to settle with a bottle of scotch, a pair of pliers and a new you tube video?

Is there a student loan (private) that doesn't subtract the cost of attendance from any award received? Is there a student loan that doesn't subtract the cost of attendance from any award received? Most loans send your financial aid office paperwork to determine the cost of attendance as well as any loan, scholarship, or grant that you already receive. Usually the loan entity will only loan you up to the difference between these two numbers. In my case, my cost of attendance is the same amount as what I have already been awarded. The problem is, the estimated cost, is not enough for me (do to higher living expenses, and the fact that I have to pay for my insurance now (car and medical)). My financial aid advisor says that there are private entities that do not require a certificate from the school with the above information---but he did not know who. Please, help...

Where to get medical help for 53 year old severe diabetic friend without insurance? Nashville TN area? My friend makes too much money for government assistance (she makes a dollar above minimum wage) The income based clinics in our area are not excepting any new patients for a least 3 months or longer. Her BLOOD SUGAR runs in the 400-500 range. Even Vanderbilt hospital and several clinics we've called cannot even suggest where someone can get assistance with a $400.00/month insulin cost and the lab work that goes with it. All the "free diabetic supply" commercials on tv are only for medicaid recipients or those with some other form of insurance.She has not been able to find a job with affordable insurance,although she works full time.The job insurance offered is $250.00 a month and does not cover any pre-existing conditions. She is barely able to pay her rent every month. Private insurance with her health conditions would cost several hundred a month, we've checked them all out. I feel I am watching a hard working,tax paying friend die in front of myself and all these MD'S and clinics, who say they cannot help. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and prayers also.

Medical costs...Would this work...and if not, why not? Why not forget private or public insurance for the regular everyday medical costs that we all should be incurring? Things like screening for certain illnesses or conditions, doctors office visits, x rays, etc. and use the private OR public insurance program ONLY for catastrophic illnesses. People of all income groups would be charged for services based on their income. It is what is called a sliding fee scale. Same thing for insurance company premiums. Based on a sliding fee scale. This would give equal access to every person in the country, whether on unemployment, working or on welfare. The fees charged by doctors and hospitals could be based on a percentage of their gross income. The rich would pay more obviously..but then they can afford to pay more. But the point is, the poor will also have to pay their fair share...based on their income. It might be set up for example that someone earning less than 15000 a year would pay $10 for a doctors office call and on the other end, the person with an income of over $250000 would pay $200 for the same type of call. Forget the government need to be involved in our health care entirely except to cover people for catastrophic illnesses...and that can be done by each state based on their own costs. Doing things this way would save billions of dollars a year in what we are now paying for government to have their finger in the pot (Medicare and Medicaid) and would also at least partially eliminate fraud. Do you think something like this would work? If not, why not?

Have you read the Canadian and European news sources? Canada [Top] Parliament unanimously passed the Canada Health Act in 1984 and established a single-payer, publicly-financed health care system. To ensure a true government monopoly (is there any other kind?) Canadian provinces outlawed private health insurance. Chaoulli v. Quebec UPDATE (June 9, 2005): In a 4 to 3 decision, the Canadian Supreme Court struck down Quebec's law that prohibits private medical insurance. Surgery postponed indefinitely for 1,000 Kelowna patients - Cathryn Atkinson, April 8, 2008 [Globe and Mail] Majority of Que. dentists quit health-care system - March 27, 2008 [CTV.ca] Why Ontario keeps sending patients south - Lisa Priest, February 22, 2008 [Globe and Mail] Will Socialized Health Care in the US Kill Canadians? - Don Surber, March 3, 2008 [Acton Institute] Wait times for surgery, medical treatments at all-time high: report - October 15, 2007 [CBC News (Canada)] The Ugly Truth About Canadian Health Care - David Gratzer, Summer 2007 [City Journal] Cancer patients question why PET scan not covered - May 28, 2007 [CBC News] BC Medical Association: Waiting Too Long for Hip and Knee Surgery Costs $10,000 Per Patient-Maximum Wait Times Should Be No Longer Than 6 Months - June 28, 2006 [CCN Matthews] Ont. physician turns away patient for being 55+ - March 17, 2006 [CTV.ca] Canada inches toward private medicine - Rebecca Cook Dube, August 8, 2005 [CS Monitor] Doctor defends private cancer clinic - Gillian Livingston, July 15, 2005 [Canadian Press] Dogma trumps truth in health-care issues - D’Arcy Jenish, July 7, 2005 [Ontario Business News] Why Canadians Purchase Private Health Insurance - Walter Williams, June 20, 2005 [Capitalism Magazine] Doctor welcomes health ruling - June 9, 2005 [CBC Montreal] Patients shouldn't wait more than 8 weeks for cardiac defibrillator: experts - May 24, 2005 [Canadian Press] Grads fail to slow doctor shortage - Jennifer O'Brien, May 21, 2005 [London Free Press] Free Canadian health care comes at cost - April 10, 2005 [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette] Canada's drug tab reaches $22 billion, report suggests - Sheryl Ubelacker, CP, April 6, 2005 [London Free Press] Canadian health care is free and first-class -- if you can wait - Beth Duff-Brown, March 19, 2005 [The Associated Press] Pediatricians, parents warn of shortage of community-based care for children - Colin Perkel, March 4, 2005 [The Canadian Press] Access to specialists difficult: study - February 16, 2005 [CBC Calgary] Doctor shortages, frustrations vary from region to region, survey shows - February 15, 2005 [Canada.com] Montreal leads the country in offering private health care - Aaron Derfel, February 12, 2005 [Montreal Gazette] Canada falling short on medical imaging - February 9, 2005 [Macleans.ca] Creative incentives required to retain older doctors - Dr. Charles Shaver, January 20, 2005 [Toronto Star] MRI gap defies cash fix - Mark Kennedy, January 14, 2005 [National Post (Canada)] A boy's plight, a nation's problem - Lisa Priest, January 13, 2005 [The Globe and Mail] Where's proof private clinics cost more? - Tom Brodbeck, December 4, 2004 [The Winnipeg Sun] Surgery backlog tops 5,500 at kids' hospitals; One-year waits common - Aaron Derfel, December 3, 2004 [The Gazette (Montreal)] Hospital wait lists to get worse, Carriere says - Chris Traber, November 14, 2004 [Yorkregion.com] Frustrated patients can't handle ER waits - Jennifer Stewart and Jeffrey Simpson, October 28, 2004 [The Halifax Herald Limited] Private medical clinic opens in Montreal ...it answers, "an ever-increasing demand from the public for greater accessibility and quality of health services." - October 13, 2004 [CTV.ca] Canadians have higher death risk than Americans after heart attack: study - Sheryl Ubelacker, September 20, 2004 [Canada.com] Canadian medical tourists in India - Jeremy Copeland, September 20, 2004 [CBC News] Doctor shortage cripples Canada's free health care - Clifford Krauss, September 18, 2004 [Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune] Canada's Once-Proud Public Health System in Crisis - David Ljunggren, September 14, 2004 [Reuters (Ottawa)] Hospitals to cut, again - September 5, 2004 [Toronto Star] Canada's Medical Nightmare - Robert J. Cihak, M.D., September 1, 2004 [Health Care News] Canada faces shortage of doctors - August 19, 2004 [MSNBC] Canadians losing faith in health system: poll - August 16, 2004 [CTV.ca] Ontario hospitals a health risk - Michael Hurley, August 8, 2004 [Toronto Star] Need surgery? Here's how long you'll wait "It's inhuman. The quality of my life is horrible and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it." - Jason Fekete, July 28, 2004 [Calgary Herald] Docs, nurses fed up Canadian doctors and nurses are fed up with inter-governmental "bickering" that is dragging

I need help finding insurance for a major medical procedure. Texas, low income and don't qualify for medicaid? I'm uninsured, and due to the psychiatric disability i need the procedure for it is difficult for me to hold onto a job. I have found one i am managing to keep but its part time, min wage with no guaranteed hours and they won't let me work for their competitor. The procedure I want done is electroshock, I've tried dozens of meds over the last 4 years and none help. But it can cost 800-2000 per treatment and usually takes 4-8 treatments to kick in. Public health services only push meds. I think my only option is to find some private insurance and find some way to pay the premium. This is so confusing!! How do I choose one? Last time, i had BCBS but they had a one year waiting period for mental health costs and i cannot wait that long. And they didn't even pay for one hospital stay i had because "We have reason to believe this was self inflicted and we wil not cover" And i didn't even hurt myself, i just admitted because i was having an emergency. Or even... are there people, like counselors or agents that could help me find the right company or even public aid and set this up?

What is the best way to negotiate medical bills when you don't have health insurance? My son was involved in an automobile accident and was taken to a nearby er then transferred to a trauma center. He was in ccu then in a private room. Numerous tests were done and several doctors were involved in his care. He had some medical coverage on his vehicle and before they will give me a definite price they want to know how much insurance he had. He had $25,000 coverage but that amount will not cover all his expenses for 2 ambulance trips, 2 er's, numerous cat scans, x-rays, doctors, etc. I know medical costs can be negotiated when you can discuss the subject before using their facility but we were in a situation that we weren't thinking about the cost but about his injuries and what needed to be done.

Cost of giving birth in Australia? Hi, I have just recently found a job in Melbourne-Australia. My wife is 2 months pregnant, I want to know how much does pregnancy cost in Australia, from monthly checkups to giving birth and child care. I have been inquiring health insurance companies in Australia and they say since my wife's already pregnant they will not cover it. How much does it cost in public hospital and private hospitals? Which is the best public/private hospital in Melbourne? Can I have any type of medical insurance with a high premium maybe to cover pregnancy? I will be waiting for your answers, as my decision of moving to Australia totally depends on this. Thanks

Would you want the government to control healthcare and make your medical decisions or would you rather have? private insurance which allows competitve service and costs plus you have more say in your medical decisions

Is this a reasonable solution to the healthcare problem? I would favor the establishment of a publicly owned, non-profit insurance company which provides a lower tier, basic healthcare insurance. Private insurance companies could continue to sell policies for upper tier coverage that fill in gaps from the basic plan. Every American would be required to purchase this basic, affordable coverage. The cost of the policy should have an upper end cap and progress downward based on income level to the point of free for poverty level incomes. This would put all Americans in a single group fund, which will create economy of service. It would be vitally important that the funds generated in this entity not be mingled with the general treasury funds, as done with the social security funds. There would be years that this insurance group would have a surplus and years with a deficit. In surplus years, the cost of the policies should be lowered. In deficit years it should be increased. If the funds go into the general treasury, the cost of these policies would never go down. They would only increase when deficit years roll around. One deficit years would create an increase, which might be followed by 4 or 5 surplus years. The government would enjoy the surplus, then increase the cost again in year 6 because of another deficit. This is one of the major problems with the social security system. The government uses the social security system as a revenue source. There is a major danger of the same thing happening if a national healthcare system is established. Americans would find the cost of healthcare continuously going up if it becomes a general treasury item. Eliminating the profit from a basic health plan could lower the cost of insurance 20% or more. With a group that includes every American, we could see a 40% drop in insurance cost. Keeping upper tier insurance available thru private health plans would keep the medical industry vibrant.

Will the economy force Universal Healthcare? Americans do not really want it. We want to go first class when it comes to healthcare, but as Joe the Plumber, and Bob the builder sink further below middle class treating everybody in the emergency room is going to drive up costs even more. We already pay much more than the rest of world for healthcare. Medical costs being so high does not serve physicians or patients well according to the National Institute of health which is run by George Bush right now. Will we be able to afford to keep private Medical Insurance? http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1026935 Actually, Obama just plans to expand private insurance coverage to more people. Mostly children. He has no plan for Universal Care.

If Obama implements Universal Healthcare, will our newpaper headlines read like Canada? Parliament unanimously passed the Canada Health Act in 1984 and established a single-payer, publicly-financed health care system. To ensure a true government monopoly (is there any other kind?) Canadian provinces outlawed private health insurance. Chaoulli v. Quebec UPDATE (June 9, 2005): In a 4 to 3 decision, the Canadian Supreme Court struck down Quebec's law that prohibits private medical insurance. Surgery postponed indefinitely for 1,000 Kelowna patients http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FLAC.20080408.BCHEALTH08%2FTPStory%2FNational&ord=30438335&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true - Cathryn Atkinson, April 8, 2008 [Globe and Mail] http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080327/quebec_dentists_080327/20080327?hub=Health Majority of Que. dentists quit health-care system - March 27, 2008 [CTV.ca] Why Ontario keeps sending patients south http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20080301.wheart01%2FBNStory%2FNational%2Fhome&ord=108782161&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true - Lisa Priest, February 22, 2008 [Globe and Mail] Will Socialized Health Care in the US Kill Canadians? - Don Surber, March 3, 2008 [Acton Institute] Wait times for surgery, medical treatments at all-time high: report - October 15, 2007 [CBC News (Canada)] The Ugly Truth About Canadian Health Care - David Gratzer, Summer 2007 [City Journal] Cancer patients question why PET scan not covered - May 28, 2007 [CBC News] BC Medical Association: Waiting Too Long for Hip and Knee Surgery Costs $10,000 Per Patient-Maximum Wait Times Should Be No Longer Than 6 Months - June 28, 2006 [CCN Matthews] Ont. physician turns away patient for being 55+ - March 17, 2006 [CTV.ca] Canada inches toward private medicine - Rebecca Cook Dube, August 8, 2005 [CS Monitor] Doctor defends private cancer clinic - Gillian Livingston, July 15, 2005 [Canadian Press]

Can you get medical insurance for pre existing medical conditions? UK? My son has reflux and needs surgery. We saw a private consultant (at our own cost) who would charge £10,000. I would do anything to be able to pay rather than get messed around by the NHS anymore. We have suffered enough now. Can anybody find the name of a company that will do this? I will pay almost any monthly cost!!!!! yes it's acid reflux and he hasn't gained weight for 8-9 weeks so he is probably going to have surgery but I want to use a private doctor as the NHS is c**p.

Why not Universal Healthcare? What about those who can't afford private health insurance? For a problem that has been around for more than sixty years why now? Is it a plea for more power or is it really for the "people?" or Are the private healthcare providers trying to shoot down the idea for there own benefit? The Committee On The Costs Of Medical Care, by Charles C. Smith, Jr. M.D. quoted, “When organized medicine takes a stand, the surgeons are the first to take a dive!” I will be the first to admit I have no idea which side to take. I have done research for both sides but in a miss guided world and troubling times I'm on the fence and don't know if I should fear the idea or embrace it.

Why doesn't the state of CA ask Octomom for a repayment of the medical costs to birth her kids? I thought the state funds were only suppose to pay the medical bills of people who couldn't afford to pay. She obviously has money coming in (and lots of it). She does all these magazines and TV shows. CNN might not pay for interviews, but I'm pretty sure those other mags do. Plus she has her own TV show in the works. Why should she get free medical care when most people pay like a few hundred a month if they're lucky through an employer. I'm told it cost $2000 a month if you want to pay for private insurance out of your own pocket.

I think private individual health insurance is a fraud. Do you agree? Here is how individual insurance policies typically work: 1)Every year insurance companies create a new policy. For the next year they encourage people to sign up, then stop offering that policy to new people after one year. All of these people share the medical costs of everyone in the policy. 2) For the next half dozen years they encourage healthy people to upgrade to new policies. This leaves only the sick sharing medical expenses and the insurance premium goes up quickly. 3) A dozen years after each policy is made no one can afford the premium because everyone in the policy is sick and has major expenses. All of the ill people then lose their health insurance. 4) Now that the ill people have been filtered out from the healthy people they can't get insurance and are left to die by health insurance companies that could care less. My mother was one of the people filtered out when they sent her a sixteen thousand dollar premium bill for the year on a policy she joined over 15 years ago. She would like private insurance, but is turned down by every insurance company. She has to rely on government handouts to pay her medical costs. My opinion is the goal of health insurance is to defraud anyone who is has an illness. Do you agree?

Why penalize the uninsured when there are so many that are currently unemployed? Although I believe that everybody should have access to medical coverage, I noticed that in the specifics, it stipulates that the uninsured will be subject to a 2.5% tax on their income as a penalty for not having health insurance. The unemployed are having a hard enough time paying their bills, many could never afford the added cost of health insurance. My husband belongs to a labor union and is required to work a mininum number of hours every month to be eligible for health insurance. During the winter months we often find ourselves without health insurance because his job is primarily seasonal. That hasn't been a problem, we just schedule our annual check-ups during the months that he is working. We have had one emergency arise in the past 8 years that required a visit to the emergency room when he was uninsured. We happily paid for this bill, yes it was expensive, but no where near what it would have cost for us to carry private insurance or pay for COBRA over the course of 8 years. Our children are covered during the winter months through a subsidy insurance plan provided by our state that covers all children whose parents make less than $65k/year. The premium is $15 a month. However, this plan doesn't cover adults, and our annual income also puts us just above the maximum income that is eligible for medicaid. Specifically, my question is: won't this policy put quite a few people in a more difficult situation than they already find themselves in? I should have specified that I am referring to the 2.5% tax on income for the uninsured in the proposed federal health care reform bill.

How would a tax on health insurance reduce health care costs? House Dems are considering a tax on "high-cost" health insurance plans. "Proponents of the insurance tax, which President Barack Obama has endorsed, say it would help to lower health care costs by encouraging people to become more cost-conscious health care consumers. Some of the high-cost plans are so expensive because they come with no co-payments or deductibles, and cover every dollar spent for health care. Not all of them provide such "Cadillac" benefits, however. Some are very expensive because they're sold to companies with older employees, or workers in high-risk occupations." Senario: A wealthy person buys an expensive health insurance plan for $8000 a year that comes with no co-payments or deductibles, and covers every dollar spent for health care. He remains healthy and has few medical expenses, but they're all covered by his private insurance. No public money is involved and his insurance company pays in a timely manner. The patient is happy and the medical people are all happy because all his bills are paid. The next year, the government begins to tax his "Cadillac" insurance plan, so he now has to pay an additional 25% tax on his insurance premiums, raising them to $10,000. "If House Democrats adopt the insurance tax, it may help them to reduce the income tax increase that they've proposed." How exactly would that reduce health care costs, when all it would really do is REDUCE THE INCOME TAX INCREASE THEY ALREADY HAVE PLANNED TO PAY FOR THEIR HEALTH CARE PLAN? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090925/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul

hypothetical question ref health insurance and organ transplants? i am in good health. but in many shows you see on tv; ie; ER or in some reality shows of real hospitals. when someone gets a transplant of say a heart, liver or kidney as an example, many times you see that this transplant may come from a person in a different state and the doctors are taking private airplanes to bring back for transplant to the patient needing it. i imagine the costs involved would be staggering. couple of questions; when a person is a donor and upon their death, they use their organs, does the insurance company pay for only treatment related to the death only and deny any treatment/surgery to remove the organs? the person who needs the transplant, does the insurance company pay all associated costs, including private jet to bring the transplant? in one case on a reality hospital show, family members or persons donated i believe their kidneys that were healthy to someone else who was sick. both the healthy person and sick had i believe about a week recovery time in the hospital; i suspect that the healthy people health insurance would not pay and they could be out of pocket?? my guess that the costs of these transplants could run into hundred of thousands of dollars; does anyone out there in the medical insurance field had some experience with this? what specific exclusions/language is stated in most policies that might address this.

What is the motive behind the public health Insurance scheme announced by the Government of Tamilnadu.? In my view this kind of insurance scheme is not necessary, if the Government Hospitals are functioning without any corruption. For providing efficient medical facilities at free of cost to the common man, crores of rupees are being spent on Government Hospitals. Now suddenly the Tamil Nadu Government has woken up to the idea of medical insurance to the indigent people by entering into a contract with a private health Insurance provider. Some thing fishy! Why it is not with a Public sector insurance company. Have proper tenders been floated? Spending crores of public money like this needs to be questioned.

Is the Health Industry killing USA's global competitiveness? American are paying almost 1/3rd of their salaries to private insurance companies every month for medical insurance. These insurance companies are making almost 50% profit every year i.e. more than oil companies. No other business in the world makes so much profit. But these high costs are burdening American workers as people in other countries do not have such high medical insurance expenses and are therefore more competitive when it comes to hiring them for jobs such as manufacturing. Look at American companies too, aren't they hiring more people outside USA especially in Asia simply because they do not have to provide medical insurance at such high costs and therefore can get same manpower at lower costs in other countries. aren't the American losing both ways i.e. paying major chuck of their salaries to a louzy medical system and losing their jobs to people living in other countries? Is the Medical insurance in USA actually killing America's competitiveness?

How does medical coverage work in Canada? Is it similar to the USA or totally different? Who covers and what? Here in the States we have private insurance companies that most of us use to get coverage. The employer usually helps to cover the costs, and in some cases, if the person is unemployed or makes very little money, state provides so called Medicaid, which pays for coverage. I am wondering how the system works in Canada. Thank you, Boris

Can we trust Congressional Budget Office on their estimate of health care costs? Oopsy. Turns out public option will not keep private insurance companies honest it will only increase fraud and theft and profits of tort layers, contrary to Obama and Pelosi claims. What a bunch of clowns. WASHINGTON – Democrats' health care bills won't meet President Barack Obama's goal of slowing the ruinous rise of medical costs, Congress' budget umpire warned on Thursday, giving weight to critics who say the legislation could break the bank. This sobering assessment came from Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf.

Who needs a private sector when we have a Clinton make our health-care choices? Who needs a private sector when we have a Clinton make our health-care choices? The new Hillary health-care plan is very different from the old 1993-1994 Hillary plan. It is far slyer, and far cleverer, far more well-packaged. The same arguments that applied to the old Hillary plan do not necessarily apply to the new plan. But the new health plan ends up in the same place as the old health plan — with the government running everything. Here are the primary problems with the new Hillary health plan: What Entitlement Crisis? As everyone should know by now, our nation faces a dramatic entitlements crisis that will play out over the next 30 years. Federal spending has been hovering in a fairly stable manner, around 20-percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), for over 50 years now, since the early 1950s. But the Federal government’s own official projections show that over the next 30 years or so, federal spending will soar to 40-percent of GDP, requiring total federal taxes as a percent of GDP to double. This is due to the exploding costs of the entitlement programs we already have, primarily Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Hillary Clinton and other Democrats respond to this overwhelming crisis by proposing that we not reform any of the existing entitlements. Rather, they suggest that we endorse massive new entitlements, including for instance, National Health Insurance. Policy suggestions like this force one to wonder, are the democrats numerically illiterate? The Individual Mandate Hillary Clinton’s plan starts out very simply: she will mandate under federal law that everyone in America must buy health insurance, and by this she supposedly achieves universal coverage. The catch, of course, is that once you start down the road with this mandate, you end up with government-run health care. If you are going to require people to buy health insurance, then the next question which follows is, exactly what do they have to buy to fulfill this requirement? Suppose they buy the Fraternity Plan that pays only for unlimited beer and pizza during the weekends? Have they satisfied the requirement? The serious point is if you are going to require people to buy health insurance, then you are going to have to specify exactly what health-plan people will have to buy to satisfy this requirement. So the government has gone from telling you that you need health insurance, to telling you what kind of health-insurance coverage or plan you must have. And with Hillary, we can assume that this will be no basic, minimum plan. But Hillary continues to insist that this is not government-run health care. And this, of course, is only the beginning. Special interests will swarm to get their favored coverage in the required plan. People will merrily get used to billing everything in the plan to the insurance company. And costs will rise. People will start complaining that they can’t afford paying for this costly coverage, and whining that the government must do something. The government itself will already be paying for a lot of this coverage, and budgets will therefore explode. So the government will do something to control costs. It will start rationing. It will start telling people what services and treatments they can have, and when. It will start delaying access to new innovations. It will squeeze payments to health care providers so much that the providers will start rationing what they provide. Government guidelines will start dictating to these providers that they ration care, and how to do it. After a while, people start to realize, “hey, we have government run health care.” Don’t doubt it. This is exactly what happens with every other country that tries to mandate or provide coverage through government. They realize ultimately there must be some way to control costs. There is no market in these plans to control costs. So the government must do it through the only alternative – rationing. Indeed (we will see below), Hillary’s plan already includes the machinery for this rationing. It doesn’t help that a small band of too clever conservatives have been supporting just such an individual mandate since 1993-94, when broad objections from conservatives defeated their plan. Congratulations to these folks today. Hillary Clinton has adopted their plan, just as they were forewarned. The Employer Tax Since workers would now have to buy insurance under the Hillary plan; employers would have to pay for it wherever possible. All large companies would be required to provide health coverage for their workers (a plan, again, specified by the government), or pay a tax to the government. Already paying among the highest corporate tax rates in the industrialized world, this is just what our corporations need — another tax. Once the politicians get used to raiding this corporate cookie jar, the tax will soon be higher than the corporate income tax. When that tax burden leads to unemployment, no problem, we will just raise taxes on the rich again, and pay for more welfare. All of this will just improve the economy, the Clintons promise. The Refundable Tax Credit Where employers don’t pay for health coverage, the government will. Hillary proposes a refundable tax credit for the purchase of health insurance that will leave workers paying no more than a specified percentage of their incomes for the coverage. Hillary’s campaign is already calling this “A Net Tax Cut for American Taxpayers.” The problem with this is that the bottom 40-percent of income earners do not pay any income taxes, and the middle 20-percent now pay for very little (this is the end result of all those Republican tax cuts for the rich all these years). But the tax credit is refundable, meaning that if you don’t have enough tax liability to take advantage of the credit, the government will still send you a check for the entire credit. So the tax credit here is not giving you back your own tax money. It is giving you back other people’s tax money. So this is not, in fact, a tax cut. It is a new spending program, a new entitlement program, in fact. We already have a huge program called Medicaid to pay for health coverage for people who are too poor to pay for it themselves. The federal government is now spending close to $250 billion on this program, in addition to probably another $150 billion from the states. And these costs are just projected to explode and explode again over the next 30 years. In other words, we already can’t afford the Medicaid program as it currently stands. But what Hillary is proposing with these tax credits is a massive expansion of it. And we are back to the democratic chimeras again. Unfortunately, some conservative Republicans have recently toyed around with the idea of refundable tax credits for the purchase of health insurance as well. They have rightly been trying to change tax code incentives to get workers to own their own health insurance rather than relying on employers. Realizing, however, that the tax changes would do nothing for at least half of all workers who now pay little or no income tax, they have been considering various refundable plans to expand the help to lower income workers. The fallacy here is trying to provide assistance to the poor, and to low income workers, through the tax code. This is what Medicaid is for, and lawmakers should focus on helping those with lower incomes through reforming that program. But Hillary is not done with the refundable tax credits. She would provide such credits as well to small businesses who buy health insurance for their workers, paying for as much as 50-percent of premiums for firms with fewer than 25 employees. And she would also bail out big companies, who are now being crushed by foolish past promises to pay for health insurance for their retirees, with still more tax credits. In return, corporate big shots from these companies publicly intone that indeed, it is time for national health insurance. A better solution would be to just have the government take over these already socialized companies and finish running them into the ground. Government-Run Health Care Hillary wisely calls her plan the American Health Choices Plan. Accordingly, everyone will be “free” to choose one of the health insurance options in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan. But how is this not government-run health care? No company gets on the list of plans in the FEHBP without first complying with a host of federal requirements and controls. That’s alright when the government is providing insurance for its own employees. But should we be treating all workers in the economy as if they are government workers when it comes to health insurance? Is this not precisely what is meant by excessive government control? While the FEHBP embodies good policy for the federal government dealing with its own employees, excessive rhetoric from the original designers of that system (about how it is a model for all health insurance) has now brought us to the point of believing that all workers in the private economy ought to be treated as government employees when it comes to health care. Hillary will also provide, as another option, the choice of a completely government run, government financed health insurance plan. Why? And, again, how is this not government run health care? Moreover, how benign will this plan really be when she is done subsidizing it up the kazoo, and driving all the private plans out of business with her blizzard of regulatory requirements? Bye, Bye Private Insurance Hillary’s plan will also impose guaranteed issue on all private health-insurance plans. This means that insurers cannot reject anyone for their insurance, even on the grounds that the patient is already woefully sick and costly. Moreover, insurers won’t be able to charge more costly patients higher premiums. Effectively, this would necessarily end any real private insurance in America. Under these requirements, companies are no longer insuring health costs, they are simply financing health costs. Health insurers would be like fire insurers who are required to issue new policies at standard rates to those who show up to buy coverage after their homes have already caught fire. Clearly, this is unworkable. Hillary says the insurers are supposed to be in the business of spreading the risk, not cherry picking the most healthy. But when someone shows up to buy health insurance with cancer and heart disease, we are no longer talking about risks. We are talking about payout. This is not an insurance business. Rest assured, moreover, that the healthy with health insurance do not want to see the “risks” of the irredeemably unhealthy spread to them. Those without health insurance who have become uninsurable can, and should, be served through other means, such as state uninsurable risk pools that do not involve trashing the health-insurance system for everyone else. But trashing the private health-insurance market is exactly what Hillary and her allies advocate. Rationing Finally, there is the Best Practices Institute, which should be called the Ministry of Truth for health care. These folks will study all sorts of medical care, issue protocols, and standards for what is the best way to treat this or that. And don’t expect any insurers anywhere, public or private, to pay for anything other than what these folks say is the best practice. To oppose the Institute, of course, would just be to pay for waste and inefficiency. So this is the ideal mechanism for imposing the inevitably necessary rationing. New, expensive medical breakthroughs will be overlooked, or delayed. If your doctor has a brilliant insight on how to treat you, no problem. All you have to do is go to the Best Practices Institute in Washington, explain why this treatment is the right one for you, and get the regs changed. In this brave new world, life insurance will be a lot more valuable to people than health insurance. Insurers, now all under the control of government, will also impose rationing by squeezing reimbursements to health providers, with the limited funds the new system will allow them, until the providers themselves cut back. This is what the government already does with Medicaid, and increasingly with Medicare. And there is so much more. In Hillary’s three speeches and three papers on her website, she outlines dozens of new health care requirements in her new system, which will not be government run. The government is all wise and all knowing, and just needs to make sure the rickety old health-care system gets it all right, as it is dragged into the 21st century. And when Hillary gets done with those fascist drug companies, you can forget about any new breakthrough drugs coming to market in the future, running up costs. But remember, the system is not government run, and don’t let those nasty Republicans tell you otherwise.

Health care suggestion or comment please? I live in Europe and I pay the equivalent of about $200 a month for private health insurance. I can use the public health care for free if I want to as well of course. What I found interesting is that I can use my private health care all around the world except for Canada and the USA. I would need to pay $900 a month instead. I was really shocked. The reason is because in Canada, the health care is very expensive since it is 100% socialized (no private). And...in America, it is high on account of the medical insurance costs for the doctors which they need to pay on account of multi-million dollar lawsuits. The great thing about private health care along with free health care, is that it keeps the costs down...and we also don't allow these types of lawsuits which is the other reason why our costs are lower. I was wondering what any of you would think of adopting a system like this? It's so logical, keeps costs down, and absolultely everyone has access to free health care.

Do you know of health insurance coverage in the philippines? I have a relative in the philippines who is in and out of hospitals and so it can become costly. I would like to know if there are health insurance like here in the states such as a government type insurance like Medicare or private ones? It would be less worrisome for me knowing that whenever an emergency arrives, my relative will have insurance to cover whatever cost without waiting to receive money from me to get the medical attention

For residents of Massachusetts? I asked this last night, and got one answer; however, I don't know if it was the right one. How much does the required medical insurance cost you? I just want to see the difference between private and public costs. For example, I pay 500 dollars a month for private family care, with a 200 dollar deductable per person, per year. After that, the insurance co pays 85%. Oh hell, if I lived in your state, I'd be pist. I'd be paying around 1000 a month?

Do you believe that our fighting men and women should pay for medical costs? Obama is going to make our American soldiers pay for medical costs from injuries occurred while fighting for our freedom. How could this even enter the mind of someone who loves this country? Is this a slap in the face of our veteran heroes? http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/10/senator-warns-white-house-on-possible-vet-proposal/ http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-plan-kicks-vets-off-gvt-healthcare http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/17/vets-group-blasts-obama-plan-private-insurance-pay-service-related-health-care/ Unbelievable, some of you people have no respect for our American soldiers or the freedom which has been bought from their spilled blood. How can you defend Obama’s position? I am disgusted. azmayz88 do your research, this is not a false claim. Obama wants to shift the medical costs to private insurance. It is a moral obligation to pay for service-related medical care. You’re a moron and you should be ashamed. Johnny D, your statement is Un-American, Why don’t you go up to one of our veteran soldiers and say that to their face. Yeah, thought so, you Coward.

Would you let an insurance salesman make medical decisions for you? Well, that’s exactly what’s going on with our broken medical care system. The ones responsible for making your medical decisions are making those decisions to benefit the company they work for; not to make sure you get better. In fact, these people are paid bonuses based on how many claims they deny. Opponents of socialized medicine argue that they don’t trust the government to run our healthcare system. I find it funny that they trust a salesman to do it. The truth is; most government programs actually run smoother than private programs. The police, fire department, and the post office all do an amazing job. Why? Because they don’t exist to make profits; they exist to help us and are funded by us. If Kaiser was half as efficient as the post office, we probably wouldn’t have 40 million people uninsured and definitely wouldn’t have the highest medical care costs in the world……..

What is the cost of health care in America? I know many of you won't read this, but for those who do, I would like your opinion. Two years ago, one of my adult sons went to a medical office for testing. Upon completing the tests, he was handed a bill. The bill had two prices: One was the insurance price ($969.25), the other was the "cash pay price," ($678) -- exactly 30 percent less than the insurance price. What more do you need to know about the excessive cost and inefficiency of the American private health insurance system than that it costs 30 percent more than the underlying medical services are worth? This is the costly, inefficient system -- and the profits -- that Republicans and Blue Dogs (bought off by health insurance money) are seeking to protect. In America's for-profit, private insurance health care system, medical technicians must contend with hundreds of forms, billing procedures, regulations and requirements from hundreds of insurance companies; U.S. health care companies spend money for advertising and marketing; and, the U.S. health care system is based on profit. Since 1970, the number of medical doctors in the United States has increased 40 percent, while the number of medical administrators has increased almost 3,000 percent. We are drowning in a massive, inefficient private health insurance bureaucracy. The increasing cost of prescription drugs also is increasing the health care bill, and U.S. drug costs are the highest in the world. Americans pay 30 percent to 80 percent more for prescription drugs than citizens of any other country, largely because Republican legislation enacted under George W. Bush prohibits Medicare and private insurance companies from negotiating lower drug prices from Canadian and European suppliers, even of American pharmaceuticals. So American patients pay double and triple the cost of the same drugs, in the same bottles, made by the same companies in the same plants as Canadian patients. Profit in the present U.S. system has been exalted over good care, health and cost considerations. You might think that this excess money goes into developing new drugs, but you would be wrong: Only 13 percent of drug costs go to research and development, and little of that goes for pioneering new drugs to deal with life-threatening conditions; 51 percent goes to marketing, administration and profits. And when considering costs of health care, remember the U.S. taxpayer already pays for more than 60 percent of the American health care bill. This is because businesses are allowed to deduct the cost of health care for employees as a business expense, thus reducing taxes on businesses. This puts a greater burden on individual taxpayers as well as paying for government-supported health care such as Medicare and the Veteran's Administration health programs. Being the payer of more than 60 percent of existing health care costs, you would think the U.S. government would have a right to demand a more efficient system (President Obama thinks it does), but not if you listen to Republicans and Blue Dogs complain about change (i.e., less profits for their insurance company donors). http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/141772/the_only_option_for_health_reform_is_the_public_option/?page=2

Can I get health Insurance with childbirth coverage in Canada after I find out I am pregnant? From Sun and manulife package descriptions it seems that pregnancy, childbirth coverage is given for around $80 a month. Considering medical costs of delivery and prenatal care can be well over $6000, does this make sense? Will the company likely disqualify me if I am already pregnant? (I need private insurance, as I cannot be covered under provincial health insurance. I am not landed and cannot satisfy the medical required for PR as I cannot take the chest x-ray on the count that I am pregnant. My husbands company plan only complements the provincial one for residents only)

Biopsy block "lost in the post"? Recently my wife had a biopsy on a growth. A diagnosis was made but confirmation was needed from an expert. The biopsy block was sent by Royal Mail two weeks ago from the independant path lab to the expert. It never arrived. So now my wife needs a second biopsy. She is covered by Private Medical Insurance. Who is responsible or liable for costs associated with this extra procedure? Can my wife claim compensation for the extra time, pain and inconvenience this will cause?

Price on private health insurance? I want to start a small business and I'm worried about the price on health ins. If anybody has any idea how much will it cost me for medica ins. for my wife, son and I I would be a like some advise. We are very health (no major medical problem as of now) thanks

Just curious.How much does it cost $ to see a Doctor in America? I have always wondered this. I am Australian and we have the Medicare system, everyone pays approx 1.5% levy in their taxes so medical care is cheap. Everyone gets treatment if they need it. Is it true that if you dont have the money to pay a doctor or hospital, say for surgery, you dont get treatment? I have seen this in a lot of American TV shows and movies and wondered. What about people with low incomes? And families struggling? Can they get treatment for free somewhere? We have the option here to have private health insurance but its not compulsory. How much is your insurance, say basic, for a family etc?

Living in the UK... expensive, expensive, expensive? Does anybody find that they are struggling to cope in ths country with rising prices and costs of living. I feel that I am being priced out in every area: - Unable to afford a new car. - Unable to go on holiday. - Unable to start a family (costs of buying baby equipment etc). - Unable to make home improvements. - Unable to afford a private pension. - Unable to afford private medical insurance and dental care. There are many other things but I could go on all day. Anybody else find themselves in this situation.

Since it sounds like most people here in the US are AGAINST Universal Healthcare, what is YOUR solution? to fix our broken Healthcare system? Here are a few of the problems: 1) Costs more per person than any other country in the world. 2) Costs are rising twice as fast as inflation. 3) Administration costs are around 22-25% (possibly highest in the world?) 4) 60% of bankruptcies are due to inability to pay medical bills. 5) Private insurance is nearly impossible to get (or nearly impossible to afford) if you have a pre-existing condition.

Why would Obama want to run US health care like England does? Victims left for hours covered in blood, denied pain relief; elderly cancer patients lying in their own filth; dirty, chaotic wards akin to "war zones"; a shortage of basic equipment, including trolleys and thermometers; shouting nurses; ill-trained, badly supervised medics; disease outbreaks; starvation and dehydration; mounting piles of dead… Scenes from a hospital in war torn Chechnya, perhaps? Mugabe's Zimbabwe? Romania in the days of Ceaucescu? The aftermath of Antietam? The Middle Ages? Why, no. This was an English hospital the day before yesterday. And the day after tomorrow -- if President Obama gets his way -- it could well be an American hospital too. http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31173 This, remember, is the "service" so poor that 55 per cent of senior doctors take out private medical insurance so they don't have to use it; the one where one in 300 hospital deaths is the result of a patient contracting an infection completely unrelated to the one they came in to have treated; where the cancer survival rates are the worst in the civilized world; where more patients die in hospital in a year -- 40,000 -- than were killed in the 2006 Iraqi civil war. Oh, and it's also, let's not forget the "service" that costs the UK taxpayer £100 billion (about $140 billion) a year. That's roughly three times what we allocate for defense; and £20 billion less than we spend on our entire education system. And if it costs that much in Britain, imagine how much more it's going to cost a country with five times our population size. Yes, I'm sorry, America: that means you.

DEMS REPS Universal Healthcare question? I think a major issue in the upcoming election(why the hell are we talking about it yet, anyways!) will be whether the government should provide universal health care to all Americans. My question is, isn't it more important that we concentrate on lowering healthcare costs rather than giving everyone health insurance? Regardless of whether the government or a private company is giving you insurance, the hospital bill will be the same. Much of the reason people cannot afford health insurance is because the high cost of medical procedures cause insurance to cost too much. Why doesn't the government treat the cause(health care costs) rather than the symptom(health care insurance)? By the way, I am not advocating either party's position.

Approximate Cost of Breast Reduction Surgery - Perth Australia? I will be going in for breast reduction surgery in the coming months and would like to know what to expect in the way of costs. I realise its different from person to person but I'd love some idea of what people paid out there! I have private health insurance and i can claim it as a medical reason. I'm pretty sure i have to pay the full amount up front and can claim back the difference - any information on what people have paid would be great! Thanks :)

Do you think its right illegal aliens will get free medical care under pilot program is that fair ? Pilot program to offer free health care to illegal immigrants” (http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x491728019/Pilot-program-to-offer-free-health-care-to-illegal-immigrants) The (Massachusetts) Department of Public Health is introducing a pilot program to subsidize health insurance for illegal immigrants… Starting this summer, the department plans to enroll 50 uninsured people from a group of patients currently relying on the state's Safety Net Pool to cover their medical costs, Auerbach said. Given the recent health insurance mandate tracked through income tax returns, Auerbach said that group is now largely made up of illegal immigrants… To recruit the 50 test cases, Auerbach's department will send letters to some of the most frequent users of the Safety Net Pool. The department will then subsidize insurance coverage from private providers, tracking the volunteers to see if their health improves and if an expanded program could save the state money… In response, the Department of Public Health has awarded $1 million in grants to community groups to address the problem and created the Office of Health Equity ] have you ever heard a more Orwellian name? – Ed] This comes upon the news that Massachusetts’ Liberal wet dream – mandated universal health insurance – is already more than half a billion dollars in debt and that this debt, if unchecked, will grow to consume the entire Massachusetts state budget by 2023. But Patrick ain’t backing down. After all, his campaign theme was “Together We Can.” He's taking a break in his political assassination of Sal DiMasi, the speaker of the state legislature, who defeated Patrick's plan to open three Atlantic City-sized gambling casinos in Massachusetts neighborhoods. It is now revealed that what we can do together is go bankrupt paying for Liberal programs as our communities disintegrate around us. Patrick is determined to go ahead with free medical care for criminal aliens on the backs of the state’s taxpayers. Ready for President Obama? http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x491728019/Pilot-program-to-offer-free-health-care-to-illegal-immigrants Try this link

Separate But Equal Health Insurance Will Not Work? President Obama lists his health care reform plans on the White House website. The major points of this plan follow: Make Health Insurance Work for People and Businesses -- Not Just Insurance and Drug Companies. •Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans regardless of their health status or history can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums. •Create a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to help small businesses provide affordable health insurance to their employees. •Lower costs for businesses by covering a portion of the catastrophic health costs they pay in return for lower premiums for employees. •Prevent insurers from overcharging doctors for their malpractice insurance and invest in proven strategies to reduce preventable medical errors. •Make employer contributions more fair by requiring large employers that do not offer coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of their employees' health care. •Establish a National Health Insurance Exchange with a range of private insurance options as well as a new public plan based on benefits available to members of Congress that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health coverage. The last item - "Establish a National Health Insurance Exchange with a range of private insurance options as well as a new public plan based on benefits available to members of Congress that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health coverage." Should cause all of us some concern. Although I agree with Obama's overall plan - creating a public plan "based on benefits available to members of congress" is setting up a separate but equal health insurance system. If a person chooses to participate in the public plan - that person should have access to the VERY SAME plan as members of congress and all federal employees have. "Separate but equal" public plans, one for federal employees and one for the rest of America will mean trouble down the road. As congress changes and enhances their own plan - the other public plan (for the rest of us) will be left behind. I strongly feel that any new - optional - public plan should be the exact SAME plan our congress uses. American citizens should be able to buy into the existing Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program website states that federal employees have "“the widest selection of health plans in the country”. If American citizens decide to participate in the new public plan - they should be able to buy from the same pool of plans that federal employees buy from. This would ensure that as the congress changes and negotiates better benefits for itself - the rest of America will benefit as well.

Do you like Obama's rationing and no-private-pay health care plan? Is that constitutional? Eileen McGann 06.6.2009 The photo op was too good to be true. Health care providers trooped out of the White House and trumpeted their goal of saving $1.7 trillion of costs over the next decade in health spending. Now these drug companies, hospitals, insurance companies, medical device manufacturers, labor unions and doctors have laid out their plans in more detail. And right there, in plain print, is the beginning of medical care rationing. Now that the cameras have been put away and the media is no longer watching, their secret emerges: They are going to cut medical costs by cutting medical care. Right now, they cite four targets. They plan to: 1. Cut diagnostic imaging tests like MRIs and CAT scans. 2. Reduce the use of antibiotics. 3. Perform fewer Caesarean sections. 4. Cut care for management of chronic back pain These decisions will not be medical but financial. They will not be based on a doctor’s opinion of what his or her patient needs, but a bureaucrat’s and an accountant s opinion of what the new health care system can afford. And you will not be able to bypass their rulings and pay for this care yourself. The rules laid down must be followed and private payments will not be permitted to override them. What we now call a private fee for service will metastasize into a bribe. But this is just the very beginning of rationing. The total of health care spending now runs about $2.3 trillion a year in the United States. Over ten years, that’s likely to reach $30 trillion. So a cut of $1.7 trillion is a mere drop in the bucket. More rationing is coming, and coming soon. OBAMA WILL NOT EVEN ALLOW YOU TO BUY YOUR OWN MEDICAL CARE!!

is this true for insurance plans? i read a ? earlier and was amased in what i read!!!!!! please read and tell me if this is true!!!!! "The hospital (or any medical facility or doctor's office) has to charge every patient the same amount for each test, regardless of their ability to pay (private insurance, medicare/medicaid, or nothing). So, in your instance, an ultrasound at the place where you received it cost everyone $460.00. Because you have private insurance, your insurance company paid $233.00 while you paid $20, totaling $253.00. The reason why the bills are so high in the first place is because medicare and medicaid only reimburse the doctor or hospital approximately 1 CENT for ever dollar they charge, some state plans actually pay even less than that. That would mean that if you hadn't had insurance and were on a government program, that your doctor would have only been reimbursed about $4.60 for your test plus any type of copay that was applicable." IS ALL THAT REALLY TRUE???? And if your answer is NO, please explain why you said no.! Thanks so much!!!!!!

Was it OK for Andrew Speaker to fly to Greece after being diagnosed with a drug resistent form of TB? Andrew Speaker, 31 year old personal injury attorney recently ignored CDC recommendations & flew to Europe to marry after being diagnosed with a rare, treatment resistent TB. If YOU were on his plane to Canada, ignorung CDC advice to hire a private jet to return to the U.S., what would your opinion be on the following: Should he pay you pain & suffering for your fear of catching his TB? Should he pay for your testing to ensure he didn't give you his TB? If you contract TB, should he pay all your medical expenses? Was it ok for him to ignore the CDC advice because a private plane would cost him $100,000? Should a private plane to the U.S. be covered partially by his medical insurance? Since U.S. airlines had him on a no-fly list, do you believe he didn't know the risk he was putting other people's health at? Were his wedding & his wants more important than the safety of others? What are your answers to the questions above? My personal opinion is that I do not believe his protestations that he cares about any other human being outside himself. I don't believe he cares. I believe he's lying intentionally because he thinks noone else is as important as he is. I believe he doesn't believe anyone has the right to tell him what to do or not do. What do you believe? http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Disease_420/Diagnosed_with_a_Rare_Form_of_Tuberculosis_-.shtml http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070601.wnewtb0106/BNStory/International/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20070601.wnewtb0106 Old Guy 124, I don't think he flew over there to MEET his wife. I believe she's a US citizen and they just wanted to have their wedding in Greece.

Moving to Dubai!! Help!!? I am a typical 20 yr old and girl. I want to take the job listed below but i would like to know about dubai, can i live on this money?? what is the culture like? What is the general cost of normal everyday things? For this exciting role, your salary shall be: - 2,500 AED per month - Tips (estimated at 3,000 AED per month) For all of these roles, you shall receive the following: - Fully furnished accommodation (5 minutes from the beach) - Free transport to work - Transport to places of interest - Free meals - Free uniform and shoes - Life insurance - Private Medical Care Thanks in advance

Does the S in the S-Chip stand for SOCIALIST? Want the real truth behind it and why is was vetoed, or do you prefer whining? This was nothing more than a set-up to make the Republicans look bad. There can be no better contemporary example of the creeping crud of socialism than the congressional exploits surrounding reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. But it's refreshing to see President Bush has drawn such a deep line in the sand. Whether it's a Maginot line, however, remains to be seen. The quite generous and well-intentioned program, generally known as S-CHIP, was designed at its 1997 inception to cover truly needy kids. But just to be safe -- just to make sure those on the cusp didn't slip through the cracks -- even kids well above the poverty line (a line, by the way, that discounts government subsides) were afforded medical coverage. Children in families of four earning 200 percent of the poverty level (just over $41,000 a year) are eligible. The program expires a week from today. Of course, leave it to Disciples of Dependence to use kids in pursuit of statism's faux communal good. Under one early Democrat proposal, children in families with incomes exceeding $80,000 would have been eligible for government medical care. Upward of 75 percent of all American children could have ended up being covered under the government plan. The numbers have been ratcheted down but they're still quite onerous. And in typical fashion, Democrats keep lowballing the real cost. Mr. Bush has promised an uncharacteristic spending veto. And it's a veto that likely can be sustained in the House. Of course, chickens often do come home to roost. Now, just because S-CHIP involves children doesn't make socialized medicine any more palatable. In fact, using them as human health-care shields is downright despicable. Taxes would have to rise to cover the escapade. The cost of private insurance coverage for kids will skyrocket or dry up altogether. And all the goodies that come with socialized medicine soon will follow. Long waits. Crappy care. Can dead kids be far behind? The president deftly stated his position -- what should be every American's position -- in a Thursday news conference: "Our goals should be for children who have no health insurance to be able to get private coverage, not for children who already have private health insurance to be able to get government coverage." The grossly expanded S-CHIP program "is an incremental step toward the goal of government-run health care for every American," he said. Actually, you might as well call it the Socialist Democrat Recruitment Act of 2007. Just as liberals and progressives and Democrats want to bolster their constituency by amnestitizing hordes of illegal aliens, they'd simply love to be able to create millions of new government health-care dependents. Inculcate and indoctrinate as you inoculate. What a plan! It's outrageous, of course. As is the intellectual vapidity of supposedly smart people and institutions shilling for the latest government entitlement. Incredibly, The New York Times was critical of the Bush administration implementing rules that make it difficult to enroll kids in S-CHIP in families of four with income at 250 percent of the poverty level. That's about $51,000, folks. And The Times calls restricting applicability "too stringent"? It also labels as "ideological" the administration's opposition to "expanding government insurance programs." Using that logic, so too would be the world's horrific repulsion to the Holocaust. A St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial called the case against what essentially is a big bear hug for greater health-care socialism "academic arguments (that) obscure larger truths." Good grief. The Times seems to have no problem entertaining government health care for children in families of four with annual earnings of $82,600. No wonder there are new projections that by 2040, 60 percent of Americans will depend on the government for their income. In addition to the traditional entreaty of S-CHIP expansion being "for the children," its apologists also cite polling data that show a majority of the public want such a thing. But as stark as this is going to sound to some, the late, great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises nailed the malady in "Socialism," his seminal 1922 work: Propagandized with woefully little counterargument, "The truth is that most people lack the intellectual ability and courage to resist a popular movement, however pernicious and ill-considered." It is a lack of intellectual curiosity and proper education that allows America's Socialist Democrats to lead an ever more-gullible populace by the nose. And for that, a nation founded on the premise of liberty, freedom and individualism should be ashamed of its slide into collectivism. Professor von Mises said that what is needed to stop the trend toward socialism and its soon-to-follow despotism is "common sense and moral courage." Better add a large bolus of economics education for the illiterati. Pity that all are in such short supply in America these days. But grand kudos to President Bush, who deserves criticism for so many failings, for being dead-on in fighting liberal efforts to make the "S" in S-CHIP stand for "socialist." Here's hoping his Maginot line holds. So it’s okay for people earning $82,600 per year to live off of the government and accept entitlements? Does the insanity ever end with the Democrats?

Should I leave my good paying job for a lower paying one with benefits? I work as a contractor making 17/hr. I don't get medical, dental, vision, sick leave or vacation benefits which really blows because I have been to the dentist four times in the past 14 months for root canals, crowns, cavities, etc and am due for several more root canals and crowns which cost a lot of $$. On top of this I drive 80-100 miles a day round trip to and from work on my own dime and with gas being so expensive, well. Not just that but the commute is long (2hours most days round trip) and wear and tear on my car sucks too. I could leave this job and make the same doing roof construction with full benefits and be miserable in the winters here in Western Washington OR I could take a low paying office or factory job and have benefits but barely be able to pay my bills. The lack of benefits sucks because i have to pay for everything out of pocket even with my private insurance. The wear and tear on my car, the gas, it all blows. What should I do? I am two years away from graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. I used to be an account manager doing management work but all the ones I apply to and interview with are sales not management....

Average cost for speech therapy for toddler? I am a bit concerned about my toddlers speech development and would like to get him evaluated. Just wondering what kind of costs I will be looking at. I know some insurance covers it but my husband is self employed and we have private insurance that doesn't really cover anything besides basic medical care. Also if you have sent your child to speech therapy what age did you start and did you find it effective? Also my son is 21 months old. Am I jumping the gun by thinking about it too early? Everybody keeps saying that early intervention is the best. Should I start now or wait till after he's 2? Thanks!!! he only says mamma, dadda, bye, and more. and even those words he can't really say all that great. i do flashcards and read to him everyday but he doesnt really sit still and pay attention. he just wants to play with his cars. we are in pennsylvania. do you know where i can find info on getting a free evaluation?

DEMS,REPS Universal Health Care question? I think a major issue in the upcoming election(why the hell are we talking about it yet, anyways!) will be whether the government should provide universal health care to all Americans. My question is, isn't it more important that we concentrate on lowering healthcare costs rather than giving everyone health insurance? Regardless of whether the government or a private company is giving you insurance, the hospital bill will be the same. Much of the reason people cannot afford health insurance is because the high cost of medical procedures cause insurance to cost too much. Why doesn't the government treat the cause(health care costs) rather than the symptom(health care insurance)? By the way, I am not advocating either party's position.

What’s at the heart of the SCHIP debate.? What’s at the heart of the SCHIP debate. Congress faces a critical question this week: Will U.S. health care be government-run, or will Americans be given the freedom to obtain their insurance plans and medical care from private firms? The next U.S. president will likely answer this question, but the resolution to the current debate about SCHIP — the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, a state and federal government partnership for insuring poor children — that is roiling Washington, D.C., will preview the answer. Although health care is a crucial issue for the electorate; traditionally, presidential candidates have avoided any but the blandest generalities. Health care is the third rail of politics. Its complexity, size, and multiple, committed stakeholders scare away most would-be saviors. Yet, the underlying debate is simple: It is all about who will manage and control the health-care sector that comprises one-seventh of our economy. Will individual Americans have the freedom to make their own choices? Or, will we trust government bureaucrats, lawyers, and politicians to make those decisions for them? Our future health-care system will be shaped by how we answer these simple questions. Let’s be clear: The SCHIP battle is not about whether to insure poor children. The debate is about how to insure them: Via the government or private insurers? This debate has not only pitted Democrats against Republicans but has also sundered the Republican coalition. Some Democrats wanted SCHIP expanded by $50 billion dollars so that even families earning about $81,000 a year who have eligible children were included. (The 2005 U.S. median household income was $46,000.) A resolution with the Republicans who hold minority leadership roles led to a compromise, costing only $35 billion, which allowed coverage for those earning up to $60,000. A fundamental problem with this compromise is that the same amount of coverage for children within SCHIP costs $1,000 more per child than under private insurance. A group of forward-thinking Republicans led by U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R., N.C.) and others has an entirely different idea of how to provide insurance: they want to cash out eligible people and enable them to use this money to buy health insurance from private insurers in a tax-protected way. Count the president in too. He has pledged to veto legislation that permits expansion of the present program. None of the combatants’ are supported by an unblemished array of evidence. The Democrats support the expansion of SCHIP by lauding the universal coverage and substantially lower costs of single-payer, government-run systems, like the U.K.’s and Canada’s. Yes; but costs are controlled by rationing health care to the sick. More than 20,000 Brits would not have died from cancer in the U.S. Onerous waiting lists have caused illegal, for-profit health-service centers to proliferate in Canada. These rogue establishments are so well-accepted that the head of one became the president of the Canadian Medical Association. Nor do single-payer systems achieve equality of access or health status — the powerful, assertive, litigious, and connected go to the head of the line. In the U.S., the government-controlled Medicaid program has achieved its low costs per person by stringent limits on provider prices. As many as 40 percent of doctors refuse to see Medicaid enrollees, leading to reduced health care quality. Physicians who accept Medicaid often shift their un-reimbursed costs to the privately insured. A system totally paid by the government would shut down this escape hatch, exacerbating the current shortage of primary care doctors. But the group of Republicans who support private insurance acknowledge that they cannot laud health insurance as a model industry. The massive bureaucracies patients all-too-often encounter when they attempt to obtain the medical services they paid for are not merely frustrating, they sometimes kill. Free-market Republicans claim that the problem with the U.S. insurance firms arises from their lack of accountability. Agents, such as governments and employers, use our money to buy health plans. The agents’ incentives — simplicity and cost control — are not well aligned with our needs for responsiveness. Senators Richard Burr (R., N.C.), Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) and others want to refigure the tax code so that we could buy health insurance with tax-sheltered money, a right currently reserved solely for our employers. If we purchased our own health insurance with tax-protected funds, we could keep these arrogant behemoths in check, just as we do in the other sectors of the American economy. The Swiss universal-coverage, consumer-driven system requires people, not employers or governments, to buy health insurance. (The poor primarily receive funds to purchase insurance just like everybody else.) This consumer control enables the Swiss to enjoy an excellent quality of care without the social inequality of single-payer countries at costs that are a third lower than ours. SCHIP is not merely a debate about yet another mystifying government program. It is all about free-market principles versus government mandates. Giving taxpayers the freedom to choose and buy their own health care would unleash powerful market forces that have been subdued by third-party bureaucracies for the last 60 years. In every area of our economy, market forces have transformed rare, costly products and services like cars and computers into common products and services. We can make health care cheaper, better, and more widely available, if Congress can muster the vision and courage to act.

Editing help......??? If you have a few minutes to spare, could anyone please, please help me edit my paper. For many years, people have been debating how medical insurance should be paid: Whether private payment or government payment or some combination. Private payment means one would pay for ones own insurance. Government payment would mean the government pays for ones insurance. If the government were to pay for ones insurance, it would limit ones abilities. Also, Government already has to cover Medicare, Social Security, Government housing, the Federal Housing Committee, and the collapse of the Financial Institutions. To a lot of thoughtful people, the only way to fix the health insurance crisis in the United States is to get the federal government to cover everyone. In most states, individuals can be denied coverage for any number of reasons, so it is wise to request and compare more than one individual health insurance quote. The extra short-term effort that's required to apply for individual medical insurance plans is easily worth the long-term savings. If one is insuring ones family, as opposed to just oneself, there are some additional considerations to take into account. Even if one does receive coverage through an employer-sponsored health plan, one should consider the cost-saving benefits of switching to a family medical insurance policy or moving some of your family members off of your group policy into a family policy. Most Americans receive their health coverage through some type of group health insurance. Although large corporations with hundreds or even thousands of employees have the bargaining power to negotiate with medical insurance companies for custom health plans for their workers, the small business owner must still research options and compare prices from multiple providers. Since small business health insurance offers guaranteed coverage to all employees in a given company, it can be difficult and time consuming for a small business owner to find the best policy. Most major colleges and universities require their full-time students to have medical insurance. While many of these same schools also offer their own student health plan, it is wise to explore his or her options. Typically the school will provide the minimum requirements that a health policy must meet in order to waive coverage under the school's policy. As a senior over 65, one is likely covered under some combination of Medicare plans. Changes in recent years to the federal government's medical insurance program for seniors has created a complex system with rigid enrollment timelines. Currently, we have a mixed system, where the government heavily intervenes in health care. In Canada and Great Britain, they have fully governmental health care systems, but a black market of private medicine exists. The government regulates which drugs are available on the market, through the FDA and through the agencies that fight its War on Drugs. Currently, drug companies are granted monopoly privileges called "patents" that give them the exclusive right to sell their drug for 17 years. A few years ago, Congress passed legislation which actually outlawed the importation of cheaper drugs from other countries and prohibited the federal government's health insurance programs (such as Medicare and Medicaid) from negotiating for lower prices. This provision was repealed by the Democrats after they won control of Congress. Britain, Canada, Japan and a number of other rich countries do so, and they each spend less money on health care than the United States does. They also do not have major companies, like General Motors, flirting with bankruptcy in large part because of the cost of health benefits Health insurers made $100 billion in profits last year, and industries of that size are just not legislated out of business, said Jonathan Gruber, an economist. The party that controls the White House and Congress also opposes the idea. Republicans have their own utopian notions, which generally involve letting loose the free market for Americans to demand better care on their own. The discussion has basically been paralyzed for years. In the meantime, the problem has grown worse. In the United States, forty-six million people lack health insurance, according to the most recent estimate, up from thirty-one million in 1987. Massachusetts changed the terms of the debate. Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, and the State Legislature, controlled by the Democrats, reached a deal to cover almost everyone in the state. The plan will cut the cost of health insurance for families that do not have it and make it free for many poor families. The state will also require every resident to have insurance or face a stiff fine. The plan breaks free of the usual ideological shackles by dealing with both of the big reasons that nearly one- sixth of the U.S. population lacks insurance. One, many people cannot afford it. Two, some who can afford it imagin

Individual Freedom vs. Government Control? Individual Freedom vs. Government Control Congress faces a critical question this week: Will U.S. health care be government-run, or will Americans be given the freedom to obtain their insurance plans and medical care from private firms? The next U.S. president will likely answer this question, but the resolution to the current debate about SCHIP — the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, a state and federal government partnership for insuring poor children — that is roiling Washington, D.C., will preview the answer. Although health care is a crucial issue for the electorate; traditionally, presidential candidates have avoided any but the blandest generalities. Health care is the third rail of politics. Its complexity, size, and multiple, committed stakeholders scare away most would-be saviors. Yet, the underlying debate is simple: It is all about who will manage and control the health-care sector that comprises one-seventh of our economy. Will individual Americans have the freedom to make their own choices? Or, will we trust government bureaucrats, lawyers, and politicians to make those decisions for them? Our future health-care system will be shaped by how we answer these simple questions. Let’s be clear: The SCHIP battle is not about whether to insure poor children. The debate is about how to insure them: Via the government or private insurers? This debate has not only pitted Democrats against Republicans but has also sundered the Republican coalition. Some Democrats wanted SCHIP expanded by $50 billion dollars so that even families earning about $81,000 a year who have eligible children were included. (The 2005 U.S. median household income was $46,000.) A resolution with the Republicans who hold minority leadership roles led to a compromise, costing only $35 billion, which allowed coverage for those earning up to $60,000. A fundamental problem with this compromise is that the same amount of coverage for children within SCHIP costs $1,000 more per child than under private insurance. A group of forward-thinking Republicans led by U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R., N.C.) and others has an entirely different idea of how to provide insurance: they want to cash out eligible people and enable them to use this money to buy health insurance from private insurers in a tax-protected way. Count the president in too. He has pledged to veto legislation that permits expansion of the present program. None of the combatants’ are supported by an unblemished array of evidence. The Democrats support the expansion of SCHIP by lauding the universal coverage and substantially lower costs of single-payer, government-run systems, like the U.K.’s and Canada’s. Yes; but costs are controlled by rationing health care to the sick. More than 20,000 Brits would not have died from cancer in the U.S. Onerous waiting lists have caused illegal, for-profit health-service centers to proliferate in Canada. These rogue establishments are so well-accepted that the head of one became the president of the Canadian Medical Association. Nor do single-payer systems achieve equality of access or health status — the powerful, assertive, litigious, and connected go to the head of the line. In the U.S., the government-controlled Medicaid program has achieved its low costs per person by stringent limits on provider prices. As many as 40 percent of doctors refuse to see Medicaid enrollees, leading to reduced health care quality. Physicians who accept Medicaid often shift their un-reimbursed costs to the privately insured. A system totally paid by the government would shut down this escape hatch, exacerbating the current shortage of primary care doctors. But the group of Republicans who support private insurance acknowledge that they cannot laud health insurance as a model industry. The massive bureaucracies patients all-too-often encounter when they attempt to obtain the medical services they paid for are not merely frustrating, they sometimes kill. Free-market Republicans claim that the problem with the U.S. insurance firms arises from their lack of accountability. Agents, such as governments and employers, use our money to buy health plans. The agents’ incentives — simplicity and cost control — are not well aligned with our needs for responsiveness. Senators Richard Burr (R., N.C.), Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) and others want to refigure the tax code so that we could buy health insurance with tax-sheltered money, a right currently reserved solely for our employers. If we purchased our own health insurance with tax-protected funds, we could keep these arrogant behemoths in check, just as we do in the other sectors of the American economy. The Swiss universal-coverage, consumer-driven system requires people, not employers or governments, to buy health insurance. (The poor primarily receive funds to purchase insurance just like everybody else.) This consumer control enables the Swiss to enjoy an excellent quality of care without the social inequality of single-payer countries at costs that are a third lower than ours. SCHIP is not merely a debate about yet another mystifying government program. It is all about free-market principles versus government mandates. Giving taxpayers the freedom to choose and buy their own health care would unleash powerful market forces that have been subdued by third-party bureaucracies for the last 60 years. In every area of our economy, market forces have transformed rare, costly products and services like cars and computers into common products and services. We can make health care cheaper, better, and more widely available, if Congress can muster the vision and courage to act.

Why does Hillary Clinton keep promoting socialized government mandatory...? ...universal health insurance? From what I have heard about socialized medical services in other countries is not promising. Waiting periods, preferential treatment for so called elites, assigned physicians & lack of incentive for physicians to excel with in their field does NOT sound like the hot ticket to me. Would it not be a better choice to limit or abolish incentive based law suits against the medical practitioners/industry so cost would become affordable again, & have both private insurance & your choice in medical care? It just seems to me that senator Clinton is more concerned about her own popularity/status by offering so called "FREE" government funded social programs than our needs as Americans. I really think that any of the other three candidates for the presidency would be a more viable choice regarding this topic. Whats your take on this???

I have an elderly in-law in financial and medical need.? We are gay and have a house together in both our names. We took my partner's mother in for about 6 months 4 years ago while she moved here for surgery at a better hospital. We hated it. But then she moved out and her other son lives in her apartment now and helps/pays her bills. The other brother is emigrating to Tahiti in October '09 and we'll have to take over primary care for my partner's mom again. She has a sister but the last time she "helped" she used her mother's credit to buy an SUV and then abandoned it's debt to her mom and fled the state. If my partner's mother moves in with us again I will either have to start drinking again or kill myself. (Those aren't jokes.) I'm on lots of anti-depressants and have a history of suicidal ideation. But so far my psychiatrist has saved the day, so to speak, with the notion that we care for her in an apartment or home separate from us and I could live with that. But now things are getting worse for for he medically and economically. And so we are beginning to pay many of her bills and are in the pre-aware stage of seeing how bad these bills will end up becoming. I need help. What are some options to help defray costs of elderly care? I really know very little about it. I believe she is available for medicaid and medicare but am not certain to what extent or exactly what that means. My partner thinks he can declare her as a dependent for tax and insurance purposes but I have my doubts. We both own (are paying for) our house so an FHA loan through us to afford a place she can stay is unlikely unless one of us surrenders our half of the house to the other and applies singly for a new loan. We have little extra money. After all this background info, my real question is, what kind of government, private and community services might be available for someone in our possession. I can think of food stamps for example but I begin to draw blanks soon after. Can she become a dependent? What does it take generally to get federal housing subsidies, how can we get her medical insurance? What other ideas does anyone have that might be able to help? Thanks Thanks for your opinion Guinevere. Maybe we are horrid but guess I meandered too much to avoid bad mouthing her. What did she do to deserve us? My partner is her 3rd and youngest child. She abandoned him and her family when he was 3. My partner was 10 when his father died and she only took him back then because she had too. The other kids were all 18+ so she left them aside. When my partner turned 16 she pulled him out of school and sent him to live with his brother where he had to get a full time job to make ends meet between them while earning his G.E.D. There are tell-tale sign of abuse in all 3 children. When she lived with us all you heard are slurs and epithets used for gay people, African American and Hispanics. She calls our neighbors these things to their faces. My partner can't stand her but he can't abandon her without feeling like a monster. I can't leave him but I can't live with her again. I'm just trying to plan to make the best out of what we've got.

in the USA how much does this stuff cost... plz read? just wondering about your prices and our prices (UK) to rent a flat (apartment) a month? private ours is about £400 depends how big, but on the state its £250 a month to buy a normal size 3 bed room house in an "ok" area? ours is about £120,000 how much is your college fees , ours is free how much is medical insurance (ours is free but we get taxed) one more if you are on welfare how much to you get we get £90 a fortnight just wondering so if you can, thanks for helping

Does anyone know how much getting all your teeth removed and having permanent dentures put in is? I have grown up very poor, and therefore haven't been able to afford very much dental care. After having 3 kids and a messy divorce, not much financial has improved, my ex ruined my credit too. My teeth are basically rotting right out of my mouth and pieces are busting off all the time. Abscesses are very common, so much so, that any money that would go to a monthly payment to a dentist is spent on a doctor's visit ($200) to get the prescription for Penicillin ($10). We make barely too much for Medicare and not enough to afford private insurance. My fiancee's job doesn't provide medical insurance. I've heard that there are dentures that are similar to implants in that you can still eat, but cost way less. What to do? We live in Washington State.

Do UK Employees typically contribute to their private health insurance benefits through an employer? We are hiring consultants in the UK & trying to work out a fair dollar amount to reimburse for benefits. In the US, typically cost of medical coverage is shared between employer & employee. Is this the same in the UK? Or does the employer pay for 100% of coverage typically for BUPA?

medicaide / medicare ? I am retired but not old enough for either of above, I have private insurance. Plus I live in France and am 100% covered for all medical cost. I am told that when i reach age of 60 or 65 medicaide/ medicare will automatically be deducted from my USA retirement ckecks. Anyone know if this is true and if I can prevent it? Even if I am a dual citizen , there is no way to stop this ??? What other people do that have retired out side the USA? and, if I with draw USA citzenship.....a good reason to!!

How many people....? Think Giuliani is in bed with the medical insurance companies?? I just read a news report about him saying all Americans should have it and the government shouldn't have to help. He also tried saying that if we all had insurance through private companies, the rates would go down?? Is he out of his mind?? Even a specialist said it would be YEARS before they would drop if ever. Insurance companies are out for one thing...MONEY! Thats why they can pick or chose if a patient dies or not because of cost. I find this practice disgusting.

Can you lower a blood glucose test result in days just prior to testing? My brother is (in his doctor's words) a borderline diabetic. The last 3 times he's tested after a 12 hour fasting period (with no cheating) he has had a result of 119, 118 and 119. He wants to keep from going over and loosing his medical insurance opportunity when his group policy is no longer going to cover him (that's a complicated story). When he has to get private insurance, a single high reading for glucose can do great harm to his costs and/or his acceptability by the company. Can he do anything by way of diet or exorcise, for the days leading up to the test that would give him more favorable results by lowering the outcome of the test short term? Perhaps he will take the preventative measure and turn it into a routine. Then he won't have to worry about such things.

Cost of giving birth in Cairns, Queensland? Me and family has just migrated here in Cairns with a 496 Provisional Visa for almost 6 months now. Just recently, we found out that i am pregnant and haven't been in the doctor yet. We are not covered of any medical benefits yet and we were not able to get a private health insurance either. We tried but its kinda too late. I am just so worried about our situation because my husband is the only one working. We just wanna know ahead of time how much cost would you think should we prepare for the delivery. (Doctor, hospital, visits and all). I hope you can help us out with this. Thanks.

Should I get a job as a garbageman?? The cost of living is to high for me. I need a easy Gov-Job with benefits I work as an engineer but with the cost of health care and all the various Insurance addons Hurican Flood Storm Disaster Earthguake. the Mortgage Company wants me to have. I am working for nothing. All the people with easy do nothing Government jobs get paid vacations Holidays off Great Medical Dental and Eye care. Plus a Retirement gaurenteed by Tax dollars. Why even try to look for a better job in the private sector when CEO's are robbing the pension funds and giving themselves raises.