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Yesterday we drove 120 miles round trip to pick up a neighbor at the hospital, where he was life-flighted. Last Thursday, he had a seizure, probably because of working in 120 degree heat index all day. He fell on his driveway, fractured his skull and had bleeding in the brain. He still had bleeding in the brain when they released him directly from ICU. He had only been on the job 30 days and had no insurance. One of the nurses told his wife, they only released him because of no insurance. I have known him for 15 years and he did not recognize me. This is the state of health care in the US. His wife is unable to work, so if he dies, the state will be supporting his wife and two kids.
To me that's freedom in action. Maybe the leg wasn't hurt badly enough to require an ambulance. Maybe she will see how it is in a few days and drive herself to a quick care if need be. We don't know.
Yes, if we had single payer healthcare, some problems would be solved, but it would create other problems.
I received minimal services at the hospital. X-rays were actually the cheapest line item. The total bill, my share, was $10000. That's one of the reasons I didn't want to go. Mind you, the people that did help me there were great. They pulled glass from my arm, gave me a tetanus shot - did their best to clean me up. But, I have no idea where the $10000 figure came from. Their itemized bill included $7500 in "general ER services" or something. And another $2250 for the doctor (for five minutes).
Are these prices accurate? If so that is the problem whether you pay for it yourself or make your neighbors pay for it for you.
That's how it works now. It always works for awhile. Sooner or later it will be rationed. The key is where.
If I am mistaken then perhaps you can explain how you can train doctors for years , pay them large salaries for their time and expense , and provided unlimited resources. What's the secret?
My guess is that your needs have fallen within a cheaper truncated mass market approach, but at the expense of more complicated cases. If you have any kind of unusual ,case you will wait in line.
This made the news. Why? Because it's unusual AND the Dr. and the patient are using the media to push a point about wait times.
The very fact, that Kingston is a small town, with less specialist plays a part. Also the women REFUSED to even travel a short distance where she wouldn't have to wait so long for her NON-URGENT care. Why would she refuse?
Also, this in one province, not all of Canada.
My mother needed to see a neurologist and there was NO wait because it was deemed urgent.
Supplemental health insurance covers dental, eye care and prescriptions ( if your province doesn't cover them ) and is usually included with your employment.
There is a push for a national Pharmacare program and rumblings about dental and eye care perhaps being covered one day.
Once again, the Fraser Institute is a biased right-wing think tank sponsored in part by the American Koch Bros. Their goal is to rid Canada of UHC and public education.
Anyone with a brain in Canada, just laughs them off.
But back to the original story the OP posted.
Never would happen in Canada. People don't fret over the costs of an ambulance, even if it's an air rescue ambulance.
Yesterday we drove 120 miles round trip to pick up a neighbor at the hospital, where he was life-flighted. Last Thursday, he had a seizure, probably because of working in 120 degree heat index all day. He fell on his driveway, fractured his skull and had bleeding in the brain. He still had bleeding in the brain when they released him directly from ICU. He had only been on the job 30 days and had no insurance. One of the nurses told his wife, they only released him because of no insurance. I have known him for 15 years and he did not recognize me. This is the state of health care in the US. His wife is unable to work, so if he dies, the state will be supporting his wife and two kids.
100 years ago he would be dead.
Today you have the option to pay for insurance and receive medical assistance to compensate highly trained professionals for their lost opportunity costs, tuition and so on.
Its a dilemma no doubt , but there are consequences for being careless not to being insured and being careless about working in harsh conditions. Our system does expect people to be responsible for their actions.
In NJ the cost of not having insurance if you get pulled over is prohibitively high. My wife got pulled over without her card. She is, and always has been, insured. Even after producing the insurance, we had to pay $375 just for not having the card with her. I can only imagine what it would have been if she wasn’t insured completely.
NJ used to be one of the worst but crack-downs and law changes have helped.
Today you have the option to pay for insurance and receive medical assistance to compensate highly trained professionals for their lost opportunity costs, tuition and so on.
Its a dilemma no doubt , but there are consequences for being careless not to being insured and being careless about working in harsh conditions. Our system does expect people to be responsible for their actions.
Wow......... cold as ice.........
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