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On Wed, 2 May 2012 22:18:51 +0000 (UTC), Bastette
wrote:

Medicare is the health care plan we have for retired people. You pay
into it throughout your working life, and then you get your healthcare
paid for once you retire

Wrong. You pay nothing until you buy it, starting at age 65. You pay
every month, and it comes to more than five hundred bucks per month.

Casady

Richard Casady wrote:

On Wed, 2 May 2012 22:18:51 +0000 (UTC), Bastette
wrote:

Medicare is the health care plan we have for retired people. You pay
into it throughout your working life, and then you get your healthcare
paid for once you retire

Wrong. You pay nothing until you buy it, starting at age 65. You pay
every month, and it comes to more than five hundred bucks per month.

Sorry, I confused Medicare with Social Security. I'm too young for
Medicare but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough how it works. My mom
had Medicare, and I don't remember her paying that much in premiums,
and finances were pretty tight.

--
Joyce

I will not sniff at my male human's feet after he takes his shoes off,
freeze my mouth open in disgust and then sniff my private parts to compare
odors. -- Cat Resolutions

"karen" wrote in message
...
On 5/6/2012 7:26 AM, jmcquown wrote:
I'd like to know more about these programs you mention. I sure couldn't
find any financial help when I was hospitalized for a week in 2008. The
hospital waived some of their in-house charges due to the circumstances.

The sentence above indicates that you did receive help with hospital
bills. The doctors are quite often independent contractors with the
medical facility and billing is done separately.
snip

Exactly my point. The hospital could (and did) cut some of their in-house
charges. The doctors were independent and weren't willing to even slightly
discount their bills. I don't even remember the doctors actually doing
anything. The nurses were the champions when I was in the hospital.

So tell me, please, how do I find out about these programs you speak of?
I walked out of the emergency room after I tripped over Persia's cat
steps and broke my nose. snip I knew I'd get stuck with a huge bill
for what
amounted to a band-aid, an ice pack and some aspirin.

For a broken nose that would not stop bleeding heavily for several hours I
would, personally, go to the less expensive walk-in clinic or an urgent
care clinic. In my opinion, ERs are for possibly life threatening
situations and clinics are for first aid.

That's great if you've got a walk-in clinic that is open at 9PM. There
isn't a 24 hour clinic within 30 miles of here. And certainly not one an
ambulance would take you to. When I broke my nose it was late evening and I
couldn't possibly have driven myself anywhere. My glasses flew off, I
couldn't see, I hit the panic button and Security came. They're the ones
who called for the ambulance. And the ambulance takes you to the hospital,
not to a clinic.

So please tell me about these programs you speak of and how to find
them.

What have you done to find help? Have you contacted Senior and Disabled
Services in your area and asked them for suggestions?

No I haven't. Because I'm not a "senior" and I'm not disabled. Come to
think of it, I'm not sure there is such a thing in this area. I googled,
can't find anything other than links to SSDI (Social Security Disability
Insurance) applications. I don't qualify for SSDI.

Have you gone to their offices and browsed through their brochures? Have
you contacted a large medical facility and made an appointment with either
their social worker or their patient advocate? Are you willing to travel
out of your comfort zone to get the services you might need? Do you have
a chronic condition requiring prescription meds? If not, do you count
your blessings daily on that! Have you even Googled your state and low
cost clinics or insurance aid? Have you checked with the unemployment
office for brochures on where to get medical aid? Have you dropped in at
the (what would be county in my area) mental health clinic and asked for
information there?

Mental health clinic? LOL No, I haven't checked with the mental health
clinic. I'm not even sure where I'd find one.

I do count my blessing that I don't have to pay for prescription meds. I
manage my chronic condition (diverticulitis) by watching what I eat. It
sure does tick me off that I can't eat hamburgers on sesame-seed buns

My "comfort zone" does not include driving 125 miles to Charleston for
medical care, or 70 miles to Savannah, if that's what you're asking. I
should be able to find a doctor closer to home who will take care of me
without draining my wallet, wouldn't you agree?

Of course I've googled about services. I'm not an idiot. There's not much
available out there unless (and again I stress the unfairness of this) I am
a single woman with children or grandchildren in my care.

As far as ambulance bills go - in our area there is a program called
Fire-Med where you pay a small fee (comparative to the cost of services)
annually and all ambulance fees are covered for every individual in the
household for a year. Whatever fees collected beyond service costs are
used for the purchase of equipment or training for EMTs.

Good for you! That's great! Unfortunately, I don't seem to have the luxury
of such a program. So I got stuck (twice since 2008) with a $400 bill for
ambulance services. One time was unavoidable. I wound up with a drain in
my back due to a blockage in my colon. How's that for charming? The second
time was the broken nose. I could have (and should have) avoided that. I
just panicked because I live here alone. My glasses flew off, I couldn't
see, my nose was broken, I was bleeding and in pain. So I hit the panic
button. The guy from Security called the ambulance.

Karen

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
I should be able to find a doctor closer to
home who will take care of me without draining my wallet,
wouldn't you agree?

No, I would not agree...in the rest of the civilized world and
much of the uncivilized world, yes, of course. But not here. Sad
as that is....

Deborah

On 2012-05-07 12:15 PM, Phoenix wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
I should be able to find a doctor closer to
home who will take care of me without draining my wallet,
wouldn't you agree?

No, I would not agree...in the rest of the civilized world and much of
the uncivilized world, yes, of course. But not here. Sad as that is....

Deborah

I don't really know of anywhere in the world in which medical services
are equally available everywhere. It's hard to get any doctor to work
in rural areas, and it's hard to justify putting specialists in places
where they won't get enough patients in their specialty to keep up their
skills, even if the specialists were willing to work far from the big
hospitals with the modern equipment and lots of patients.

I don't know how rural an area Jill lives in, so I don't know if this
helps explain the lack of medical care.

As for the cost, we all pay. It's just less obvious when you pay through
your taxes than when you pay cash up front.

--
Cheryl

Heathcare is a right in any civilised country, Lee.
We sink to the third world if we cannot afford it for ourselves, isn't this
the same as having to walk for 4 days in Africa to find a doctor if you are
afraid of the cost where you live?
At least when they get there it is free.
Tweed


"Storrmmee" wrote in message
...
this is what its about, while i feel its a right, some in govt and in all
parties do not, and if forced to it, i would say at a minium children have
a right to reasonable healthcare as they can't earn the money or pay the
bills, but until this is decided any of the fixes, easy or hard won't
happen, i wish this would be put to a federal vote, or have it added to
our constitution so it would be a right, Lee
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
It's a privilege is it? To get healthcare? I rest my case. Your system
stinks.



"Storrmmee" wrote in message
...
and i just thought, something that the citizens of our country haven't
decided on is the actuatul status of healthcare, we really need to
decide if its a right or privilidge, once this is decided the path would
be much clearer, Lee
"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...
Ah, but "then you get the bill"
I am of course not an expert on your medical system but I remember some
people on this group that were afraid to seek medical help when they
needed it because of the cost.
This should never happen.
No-one can help having an accident or an illness.



"Storrmmee" wrote in message
...
emergcy care is always done, and then you get the bill, EVERY state
has programs for those who can't aford it, and there are private funds
like hill/burton to assist, its notperfect but its not nearly as bad
as others would have you think, also there is the VA which i am
quickly becoming an expert on and medicare for disabled people and
most states have an extremely reasonable priced sceme for children of
working people who don't have healthcare through their employer, my
sister for example paid 55.00 a month for coverage for her children.

Lee

who is sure healthcare could use improvements but its not a broke as
some would have you think
"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...

"Bastette" wrote in message
...
Medicare is the health care plan we have for retired people. You pay
into it throughout your working life, and then you get your
healthcare
paid for once you retire. Sound familiar? I still don't think it's
as
comprehensive as NHS, but at least people can get reasonable health
care - which, at retirement age, most of us need.


What happens if you get seriously ill before you retire? as I did.
Our system provides healthcare at any age.
Tweed

"Phoenix" wrote in message
...
jmcquown wrote:
I should be able to find a doctor closer to
home who will take care of me without draining my wallet,
wouldn't you agree?

No, I would not agree...in the rest of the civilized world and much of the
uncivilized world, yes, of course. But not here. Sad as that is....

Deborah

But why? Give me a good reason why people in work cannot pay in a
proportion of their wages in every month to have free healthcare for
everyone? I'd be bankrupt by now if we didn't have this system.
Tweed

"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
On 2012-05-07 12:15 PM, Phoenix wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
I should be able to find a doctor closer to
home who will take care of me without draining my wallet,
wouldn't you agree?

No, I would not agree...in the rest of the civilized world and much of
the uncivilized world, yes, of course. But not here. Sad as that is....

Deborah

I don't really know of anywhere in the world in which medical services are
equally available everywhere.

In the UK.

It's hard to get any doctor to work
in rural areas,

not in the UK

and it's hard to justify putting specialists in places
where they won't get enough patients in their specialty to keep up their
skills, even if the specialists were willing to work far from the big
hospitals with the modern equipment and lots of patients.

Our specialists are in the hospitals. Our doctors refer us there.
Tweed

On 2012-05-07 1:46 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
wrote in message
...
On 2012-05-07 12:15 PM, Phoenix wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
I should be able to find a doctor closer to
home who will take care of me without draining my wallet,
wouldn't you agree?

No, I would not agree...in the rest of the civilized world and much of
the uncivilized world, yes, of course. But not here. Sad as that is....

Deborah

I don't really know of anywhere in the world in which medical services are
equally available everywhere.

In the UK.

It's hard to get any doctor to work
in rural areas,

not in the UK

I'll take your word for it, and just remind you that both Canada and the
US have far lower population densities than the UK, and increased
urbanization just makes the situation more difficult for those who remain.

and it's hard to justify putting specialists in places
where they won't get enough patients in their specialty to keep up their
skills, even if the specialists were willing to work far from the big
hospitals with the modern equipment and lots of patients.

Our specialists are in the hospitals. Our doctors refer us there.
Tweed

I'm talking about situations in which, say, a pregnant woman needing
special care would be four or five hours by road - or a plane flight -
away from a major hospital, and, in winter, easily unable to reach the
nearest OB/GYN or GP who does deliveries because of weather.

If you have a heart attack, you might quite easily be dead by the time
you're brought to the nearest hospital - which wouldn't have a
cardiologist on staff. If you had the same heart attack in a city, you'd
stand a good chance of surviving it because you'd reach a
better-equipped hospital faster.

--
Cheryl

"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
On 2012-05-07 1:46 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
wrote in message
...
On 2012-05-07 12:15 PM, Phoenix wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
I should be able to find a doctor closer to
home who will take care of me without draining my wallet,
wouldn't you agree?

No, I would not agree...in the rest of the civilized world and much of
the uncivilized world, yes, of course. But not here. Sad as that is....

Deborah

I don't really know of anywhere in the world in which medical services
are
equally available everywhere.

In the UK.

It's hard to get any doctor to work
in rural areas,

not in the UK

I'll take your word for it, and just remind you that both Canada and the
US have far lower population densities than the UK, and increased
urbanization just makes the situation more difficult for those who remain.

and it's hard to justify putting specialists in places
where they won't get enough patients in their specialty to keep up their
skills, even if the specialists were willing to work far from the big
hospitals with the modern equipment and lots of patients.

Our specialists are in the hospitals. Our doctors refer us there.
Tweed

I'm talking about situations in which, say, a pregnant woman needing
special care would be four or five hours by road - or a plane flight -
away from a major hospital, and, in winter, easily unable to reach the
nearest OB/GYN or GP who does deliveries because of weather.

If you have a heart attack, you might quite easily be dead by the time
you're brought to the nearest hospital - which wouldn't have a
cardiologist on staff. If you had the same heart attack in a city, you'd
stand a good chance of surviving it because you'd reach a better-equipped
hospital faster.


We have helicopter ambulances, with doctors and paramedics that can find you
in a remote place and fly you to the nearest hospital, treating you as you
go.
There are very many remote places in the UK.