<p>
</p>
<p>This number keeps going up! First I heard 30 million, then 40 million, now 48 million. I tried to confim it with the census bureau figures, but that site is down, due to you-know-what.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>tx,
My mother was under 65, but both parents retired, when her brain tumor was found. She was covered under a local government employee insured-for-life plan, so future coverage was not an issue for her. Her tumor did not recur.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, frankly, we didn’t. You only got to go to a “doctor” if you were well-off. Otherwise, it was local healers. (Though the doctors often did far more harm than good so…)</p>
<p>Healthcare became “modern” about the same time as health insurance began to appear. There is nothing to compare our modern situation to.</p>
<p>I have advised a number of friends pre-Obamacare to buy individual policies for their kids once they reach their 18th birthday instead of keeping them on the family policy. The insurance, at least in Ca., is very cheap and they can’t ever lose it even if the kid gets sick. You also save some money by taking them off the family policy depending on the number of kids on the policy. </p>
<p>I may be wrong but if you suffer chronic problems because of a brain tumor, I think you would be eligible for Social Security Disability. I think you are automatically eligible for Medicaid or Medicare if you receive disability payments. Not 100% sure of this.</p>
<p>Bay, this is a good source for information about the uninsured, from the Kaiser Health Foundation, a non-profit:</p>
<p>[Uninsured</a> | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation](<a href=“http://kff.org/uninsured/]Uninsured”>Uninsured | KFF)</p>
<p>Here are some data tables about the uninsured:</p>
<p><a href=“http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2012/10/7451-08-data_tables.pdf[/url]”>http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2012/10/7451-08-data_tables.pdf</a></p>
<p>I agree with what you wrote, romani, as I am a big proponent of healthy living as the best preventative medicine. If most people did this, then we wouldn’t need so much healthcare.</p>
<p>The other reason we could survive without insurance is that healthcare was much cheaper back in the day. Most people could pay out of pocket for all but the most catastrophic injuries. This is the aspect I wish we could have solved with Obamacare, rather than simply collecting more money to pay for the same or more levels of care.</p>
<p>“You only got to go to a “doctor” if you were well-off.”</p>
<p>This statement is not accurate.</p>
<p>One reason healthcare was much cheaper pre-WWII is that we didn’t have many treatments that worked. Our blessing and our curse is that a lot of the new expensive treatments work. Drugs for childhood cancers work. Treatments for premature babies work. Statins work. Hip replacements work. Transplants work. These things are not cheap, but they make a difference for millions of people. But nobody, or virtually nobody, could pay out of pocket for treating a 35-week preemie, or getting kidney transplant. </p>
<p>The new plans on the exchanges, especially the Bronze plans, have a lot of cost-sharing before the deductible kicks in. It’s not the same as paying everything out of pocket, but it puts skin in the game. So maybe that’ll encourage judicious use of primary care.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Agreed. And I wish this was better addressed culturally/on a societal level (as well as with the ACA), but alas… you can’t have it all. IMO, the UK does a good job of addressing preventative health issues.</p>
<p>I do, truly, believe that more people would take advantage of preventative care if it was available. Many aspects of preventative care are now required to be covered under the ACA so we’ll see how well it works (or doesn’t).</p>
<p>Can someone explain the catastrophic plan? It seems to be available to those who are under 30 or can’t find anything meeting 8% of their income.</p>
<p>On a side note, I am pleasantly surprised how many people have loved ones who have survived brain tumors and lived a full life. For some reason I only seem to know relatives and friends who have lost loved ones to brain aneurisms that went undetected.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Good point, but I wonder how much of the need for these treatments would have been obviated by healthy living.</p>
<p>romanigypsyeyes, do you think that ( “If most people did this, then we wouldn’t need so much healthcare.”) applies to “mental health” diagnosis and coverage?</p>
<p>For the record; I still need to figure out where the original quote came from.</p>
<p>Good point. But I assume we all know women who did everything right and still ended up with preemies. Same with statins: my husband does everything right, he’s always been slim, he eats a healthy diet, yet he still is on statins. And I don’t get the impression that hip replacements are for people who live unhealthy lives: my biking buddy just got a hip replacement at age 65 or thereabouts, and other cycling friends have gotten knee replacements.</p>
<p>But I certainly agree that we need to find ways to encourage healthier behaviors. Obesity is the obvious big issue here, and we need to figure out what to do to keep people from getting overweight. For example, we need to find ways to set up our built world to discourage obesity.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Absolutely! Catching and treating any disorder will almost always save costs in the long run if it’s not as advanced. Mental disorders are no different.</p>
<p>The NY Times has a big story today (Sunday?) on the ridiculous cost increases for asthma inhalers – for what we pay for 2 QVAR (one of the least expensive inhalers) you could get something like 30 QVAR inhalers in Germany. </p>
<p>Prescription drug costs in the US have skyrocketed. A maintenance drug my D took increased tremendously in price AFTER it went generic, and even the generic ended up being about $60/month more that the brand drug had been before there were generics – the brand version ended up about $150 a month higher – breathtaking for a drug that is off patent.</p>
<p>Throughout the 60’s our drugstore was around the corner from my house, and I was the one designated to go pick up prescriptions. Many cost a dollar or two. An expensive prescription was maybe eight dollars. I don’t remember ever taking more than a ten dollar bill with me. There was no prescription drug insurance coverage – I think our only insurance was some kind of hospitalization coverage – so the drugstore cost was the full cost – and the pharmacist led a pretty nice lifestyle. (He lived down the block.)</p>
<p>"Absolutely! Catching and treating any disorder will almost always save costs in the long run if it’s not as advanced. "</p>
<p>[Doctors</a> urge mental health screenings with physicals](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/12/mental-health-checkups/1981495/]Doctors”>Doctors urge mental health screenings with physicals)</p>
<p>Not everyone agrees.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/childinmind/2012/10/preventive_mental_health_care.html[/url]”>http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/childinmind/2012/10/preventive_mental_health_care.html</a></p>
<p>Looks like supremes punted on the delay of generics after patent expiration.</p>
<p>[MMS:</a> Error](<a href=“http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1308368?viewType=Print&viewClass=Print&]MMS:”>http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1308368?viewType=Print&viewClass=Print&)</p>
<p>
Dstark’s 27 year old daughter wouldn’t be – Social Security is tied to work history – here’s the info: [Disability</a> Planner: How Much Work Do You Need?](<a href=“http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify2.htm]Disability”>http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/dqualify2.htm) – by my math, I can’t see how anyone could qualify without at least 10 years’ employment history. </p>
<p>SSI is a different program, and is means tested. Both program also require proof of severity of disability – it is possible that a person recovering from a brain tumor could have very serious impairments but not qualify for disability benefits because the functional impairment wasn’t deemed severe enough.</p>
<p>People are qualifying for SSI for a lot less than having ongoing impairment (memory) from a brain tumor. Do you know if you are eligible for Medicare/ Medicaid if receiving SSI?</p>
<p>If you’re younger, you don’t need 10 years employment history.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What disagreed with what I said?</p>