<p>Jym626…enjoy your massage.</p>
<p>Maybe you said this before…my mind is slowly losing it.</p>
<p>Are you a doctor? Do you like working in the healthcare profession?</p>
<p>I guess you are a doctor as I reread your post.</p>
<p>I’m tired. :)</p>
<p>“I never said it was perfect, however, I would STILL be waiting for this medical issue to be taken care of in Canada vs being able to call my dr one day and having the appointment the next and the procedure done that same day–not life threatening either.”</p>
<p>Have you ever lived or worked in Canada and called your doctor about a medical issue?</p>
<p>I would say we have improved on one thing. Prior to ObamaCare, we had at least two and sometimes four busloads of Americans getting on a bus one block from my office on a weekly basis and going to Canada, where they’d have check-up and get prescriptions for their meds. These were mostly either seniors who fell in the “donut hole”, or folks who couldn’t afford coverage, or had pre-existing conditions, or simply couldn’t pay for their meds. (Unemployed, COBRA runs out, etc., etc.) We are seeing less of this now.</p>
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<p>Hmmm, try this one, or back tracking to the one below…</p>
<p><a href=“https://uc2011.chooser2.pbgh.org/Default.aspx[/url]”>https://uc2011.chooser2.pbgh.org/Default.aspx</a></p>
<p>[University</a> of California Human Resources and Benefits - At Your Service](<a href=“http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/employees/health_welfare/index.html]University”>http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/employees/health_welfare/index.html)</p>
<p>follow links from ‘medical plans’</p>
<p>Point is, we pay a huge premium (double entendre) for choice in our medical care. Kaiser has done a fantastic job of controlling costs while providing enough choice to satisfy most members. And when they face a situation they’re not qualified to handle, they readily outsource to research U med faculty rather than face negative publicity- usually. I’m a fan.</p>
<p>didn’t read the whole thread - BUT qdogpa - I’d trade with you in a heatbeat</p>
<p>Even with my employer subsidized plan, family of 5 premiums are over $21,000.<br>
No Dental
No Vision
Co-pays 50-100
RX - 40-120/month</p>
<p>And getting a doctor appointment is impossible if you want something after school/after work.</p>
<p>A well-care visit requires 60-90 days in advance.</p>
<p>I love the data, momsquad…thanks.</p>
<p>Kaiser Permanente pulled out of our city many years ago.</p>
<p>SteveMA, your lack of empathy and understanding for virtually every poster on this thread is a little astounding.</p>
<p>My family has absolutely excellent health insurance. Single payer, universal. Tricare Prime. We have a choice once a year, to continue with Prime, which restricts our choice of providers except in the case of emergencies and urgent care, when we need to alert Tricare that we needed to seek care outside of the military system. We decided long ago to play that particular game. Our payoff is that we pay nothing for care, prescriptions, services, medical devices, etc. </p>
<p>Other levels of Tricare allow the subscriber to select an insurance coverage that is more traditional. Go to any doctor you want, but deductibles and co-pays apply. Some people prefer the freedom of selecting any provider and paying more out of pocket.</p>
<p>Either way, with either form of the coverage, there is a certain amount of frustration and wasted time in dealing with the parent insurance company. Other than an occasional accident and normal illnesses, I have a really healthy family, but there are times, as I sit on hold in the queu (sp?) listening to the music and the occasional recorded voice telling me I’m number 12 in line and to continue to hold, that I wonder how in the world anyone who has a job that makes it impossible to hold for 20 minutes… how in the world do those people do it? We’ve always had good service in the end, and personally I’m willing and able to spend a lot of time in the Mickey Mouse maze of getting approvals and referrals, but I can’t imagine the frustration of someone with a truly ill family member.</p>
<p>And I’m not trying to FIND an insurance company, I’m just trying to wade through the layers of beaurocracy of the one I have.</p>
<p>weatherga-well, because a friend in Canada had a similar issue and is still waiting for resolution. Granted it’s a limited sample, but no more limited then the personal experiences given by others here.</p>
<p>eastcoascrazy—it isn’t a lack of empathy or understanding, its is trying to educate people about their options. Sitting back and stating that you “don’t have options” or “my health insurance stinks” or whatever the complaint isn’t addressing the issues. The point is, everyone DOES have options, many options, some good, some bad and yes, it takes a little time and effort to evaluate these options but the people you are accusing me of lacking empathy for are the same ones that insist they have no options and haven’t listed to any advice on this thread. dstark is a perfect example, shopped a policy in the past, couldn’t find anything better at the time, assumed it was a lost cause. Found out differently today in a brief session online…</p>
<p>weatherga stated that it wasn’t easy to find individual plans, I told her how that can be done, easily, yet I’m accused of not being empathetic??</p>
<p>Then comments like Longhaul’s about not getting into doctors when they want (long off appointments or after work hours) has NOTHING to do with any insurance company but the blame is still there. Find another doctor if you can’t get timely appointments–again, it’s about choices. </p>
<p>In longhaul’s situation, paying $21,000/year out of your own pocket for group insurance is absurd, I agree. Why are the premiums SO high? That means his employer is paying at least $41,000/year for a family plan–that is NOT the norm and I would personally want to know why the plan is that high. For Longhaul, yes, WAY, WAY too much premium.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that there seems to be much more understanding on this issue than say 5 years ago. (I’ve had a high deductible, useless-premium plan for over a decade). To me that’s maybe one tiny silver lining in the terrible economy: those holier than thou types who had steady jobs with good insurance and would come on forums like this saying basically, it’s your own fault if you don’t and you get sick – there are a lot less of them now!</p>
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<p>Medicare (as it is now) for all would likely be cheaper than what we have now, but much more expensive (per person or as percentage of GDP) than what Canada has, which was the claim in the quoted statement.</p>
<p>Did your daughter wait 8 1/2 months for a proper knee operation like mine did here in the good ol’ U.S., with the best insurance in the state?</p>
<p>My company dealt with the Canadian (BC) health care system on a daily basis (since 1987), and, although I am not involved, still does. I’d take theirs in a heartbeat!</p>
<p>“A well-care visit requires 60-90 days in advance.”</p>
<p>And then if need something seriously done? You’ll have been waiting six months or more - right here in the good ol’ United States.</p>
<p>“Medicare (as it is now) for all would likely be cheaper than what we have now, but much more expensive (per person or as percentage of GDP) than what Canada has, which was the claim in the quoted statement.”</p>
<p>I think the major factor would be in covering the currently uninsured. The per capita cost of care for those who have private insurance right now is SO much more than the per capita in Canada that the reductions would be immediate and huge. But ONLY if private insurance companies are eliminated. </p>
<p>From what I know about BC, virtually all of their problems would be eliminated if they increased allocations by about 10% (which would still be about 70% of what costs are here, and would cover absolutely everyone - yes, including undocumented immigrants.)</p>
<p>SteveMA…I knew there were cheaper plans…</p>
<p>I found better plans in the past…</p>
<p>I think I explained this… ;)</p>
<p>I just decided to switch after reading your posts…</p>
<p>I am taking a chance…</p>
<p>No guarantees…</p>
<p>Snowdog–after 2 years of unemployment and over $80,000 in medical bills at our house during that time I am VERY thankful that we chose to eat mac and cheese and get individual health insurance plans vs just skipping coverage because “it costs too much”…we went without a LOT so we could pay that almost $600/month in insurance premiums so we didn’t end up worse off then we were…it also taught me a LOT about insurance plans and how to navigate the system as needed.</p>
<p>Oh…and I don’t get to know the rates of the plan I am switching to until after I switch.</p>
<p>I have to switch this month…and the plan is repriced during the next month or the one after that…</p>
<p>And then they can increase my premiums again and again and again…just like always.</p>
<p>dstark–you certainly did not come out and say that you could find cheaper plans…ever.</p>
<p>Like I said, your rate increases are consistent with what is happening nationwide and there are a multitude of reasons why these rates are increasing.</p>
<p>Do I have to explain everything? ;)</p>
<p>I told you I tried to change my plan, but I couldn’t change my plan because of a PRE-CONDITION.</p>
<p>Post 252 for one…</p>
<p>Why do I bother writing this stuff? :)</p>
<p>Sorry to read about your prior situation.</p>
<p>Dstark maybe i can adopt you?</p>
<p>Lol…</p>
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<p>Yes, the salary and bonus of exuctive 1, and executive 2, and executive 3. An absolute multitude.</p>
<p>Having our healthcare managed by organizations whose actual, legal mission is to maximize shareholder profit is not really a great recipe for “more and better” care. Just sayin’ We’ve got, in the worst POSSIBLE cliche ever made, the Fox in charge of the Hen House, and we wonder why there’s nothing for breakfast.</p>
<p>It’s a bad paradigm</p>