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Most is not all. My sister-in-law had pancreatic cancer. Some chemo was infusion, some was not. She did not survive the cancer and is missed every day, but at least my brother was not stuck with enormous bills due to not having proper insurance. She was incredibly healthy up until the day she was not. Nobody would have predicted this. You just never know.
Most is not all. My sister-in-law had pancreatic cancer. Some chemo was infusion, some was not. She did not survive the cancer and is missed every day, but at least my brother was not stuck with enormous bills due to not having proper insurance. She was incredibly healthy up until the day she was not. Nobody would have predicted this. You just never know.
I hate to say this but even with proper insurance you can still get wiped out . I know a lady right now at our church , her husband had cancer he has since passed . they had really good health insurance and she still had to sell her house and move in with her son and will probably be there until she passes . They are still sending bills and she is still paying them and he has been passed almost 8 yrs now . Yes that is how high the bills were and still are . You know what she prays for ? she prays that she will get them paid before she passes . So having or not having proper insurance does not make that much difference it depends how long you last on the cancer meds plain and simple .And the cost of the cancer meds . It is disgusting in this country how we treat cancer patients and their families . Medicine is big business and they don't care if you loose your house , your dignity , what have you .
Yes, our insurance bureaucracy is broken. Each has its own. I too get only generics from India.
I want my 80s 90s insurance back. REAL INSURANCE THEN Not what we have. I have a $2000 deductible. In good physical health. So I will never meat that until a Hospital stay. I always avoided check-UPS. Just older now so do some as issues of stress and competing take their toll.
Why anyone says they LUV tier current system unless it is like our old insurances ..... I will never know. I will retire at 62 living frugally. One 401k and that's it. No debt and won't get any.
Stay in my cheaper hometown and walk to everything I need.
These who trash Canada's system .... really need a reality check. You pay for the under-insured whether you realze it or not anyway here.
Sorry, I have talked to people in Canada, friends as well as others: Don't kid yourself the Canadian plan isn't nearly as good as you may think. Why do people from Canada sometimes cross the border for treatments if it is so wonderful.
I can also add, we have medicare and Humana; 99% of the time we are completely satisfied. The pharmacy part is normally all we would ask for. We did have a problem about 3 months ago, but it got straightened out. I also am a bit upset right now, but not totally Human's fault. I am about to have my second shot for my back. In fact I will have it tomorrow. The shot takes about 5 minutes or so, is performed in the out patient clinic next door to my pain doctor. I have no pre op type of treatments, no IV, no nothing and it still costs me $300. Why, because it is consider out patient and there fore I am paying the administration fees, the as if I were having out patient surgery.
My grandfather was Canadian. If he needed to go to the doctor, he went. If he needed medication, he got it filled. If he needed a medical procedure, he had it done. I never had to concern myself with him having to choose between food and medicine, having to reduce his doses to make them last longer because he couldn't afford to get his medication refilled every month, or possibly losing his home due to excess medical bills.
By virtue of my mother being Canadian, I am a Canadian citizen. I have not ruled out retiring there.
Hope it woks as well for you as for your granddad. I have heard pros but some horror stories as well.
The part we pay is so little. it amounts to almost nothing. We get the meds we are on from our ins pharmacy company for little to nothing.
So many of you are way to young to remember most insurance companies were simply for major medical. Some employees offered better insurance but meds were rarely covered whether you were on medicare or younger and still being insured via your employers with you paying part of the monthly premium. We survived, we were able to handle even surgeries, we took out kids to the doctor when needed and we found away to pay the bills. and please don't say, but in those days the doctors didn't charge an arm and a leg; well let me tell all of you something: people didn't make the salaries that they do today and medicare paid almost nothing.
tibbar; Similar experience: had a prescription to fill: $94 but luckily my doctor told me it shouldn't be that much and to give him a call if it was: turned out the $94 was for pills and the tablets were $7.15 Guess which one I chose?
I'm the OP. Received a phone message Sat. morning from Cigna healthspring (drug ins.) to tell me that a "determination" had been made about my generic cheap medication. If I wanted to talk with someone call.... and there will be a letter in the mail within the month. Obviously, that clearly says...we aren't covering it. I wasn't going to call but later did and a young man told me, after I explained my reason for calling... he checked with the Determination Dept. and they said... "the information your Dr. sent us just didn't jibe with us". Huh?? He actually said that and sounded like an idiot.
I hung up. Got my medication filled within an hour at CVS after my Dr called it in. 2.63 with coupon.
I know having part D is supposedly the "smarter" thing to do, but boy, this is clearly a racket.
Always do a cost comparison with Costco. You do not have to be a member to use the pharmacy. Their cash price is always cheaper than my insurance co-pay. I'm not retired yet, have a very good insurance through employer. But honestly, why use insurance when the cash pay price is cheaper?
Also, if you take generics, check with Target and Walmart also as they have a list of generic meds for a very small monthly cost. On the other hand, if you need to have a specific manufacturer for a generic by choice, then work with a pharmacy who can accommodate your need.
Sorry, I have talked to people in Canada, friends as well as others: Don't kid yourself the Canadian plan isn't nearly as good as you may think. Why do people from Canada sometimes cross the border for treatments if it is so wonderful.
I can also add, we have medicare and Humana; 99% of the time we are completely satisfied. The pharmacy part is normally all we would ask for. We did have a problem about 3 months ago, but it got straightened out. I also am a bit upset right now, but not totally Human's fault. I am about to have my second shot for my back. In fact I will have it tomorrow. The shot takes about 5 minutes or so, is performed in the out patient clinic next door to my pain doctor. I have no pre op type of treatments, no IV, no nothing and it still costs me $300. Why, because it is consider out patient and there fore I am paying the administration fees, the as if I were having out patient surgery.
Here we go again.
You do realize that 40,000 to 60,000 Canadians out 37 million people, get care outside of Canada a year, not just to the US.
It's a microscopic drop in the bucket.
Medical tourism is alive and well in the US as well. 1.4 million Americans sought healthcare outside of the US..many coming to Canada.
3x as many Americans do medical tourism as Canadians.
0.424% - American rate of medical tourism (330,000,000/1,400,000)
0.162% - Canadian rate of medical tourism (37,000,000/60,000)
The lack of insurance and/or high cost of procedures are the culprits. Our system is far too inaccessible and becoming increasingly so - all due to cost.
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