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Post by Aqualung on Mar 15, 2009 15:19:52 GMT -5
And just because I'm curious--does anyone know how much a surgery like mine would have costed in the US? I heard once (I think from a tv show*) that to reset a broken arm can be up to $10, 000. Is it true? I don't know about a broken arm but my our bill for my wife to give birth, natural, was around $28,000. So a case like yours would have very well broke your parents. I'm very lucky that I have very good insurance and it cost us only $250 out of pocket. When I became diabetic the bill for the two nights/three days I spent in hospital was over $6000. Luckily the hospital charity paid for it since I had no insurance at the time. Capitalism and health care should not mix. End of story.
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Post by schizophonic on Mar 15, 2009 15:30:01 GMT -5
When I became diabetic the bill for the two nights/three days I spent in hospital was over $6000. Luckily the hospital charity paid for it since I had no insurance at the time. Capitalism and health care should not mix. End of story. Insulin and drugs to cover are also quite expensive if you're not covered by insurance. And going without is serious business.
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Post by Aqualung on Mar 15, 2009 15:48:58 GMT -5
When I became diabetic the bill for the two nights/three days I spent in hospital was over $6000. Luckily the hospital charity paid for it since I had no insurance at the time. Capitalism and health care should not mix. End of story. Insulin and drugs to cover are also quite expensive if you're not covered by insurance. And going without is serious business. Yep. Most of the drug companies do have assistance programs though so you can get it for free if you don't have insurance. Which is what I did; I got some test strips for a while, and Novolog--the insulin I take with food--they sent me SO MUCH of it that I only ran out the other day (I have a new prescription now)!!
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Post by schizophonic on Mar 15, 2009 19:08:39 GMT -5
Yep. Most of the drug companies do have assistance programs though so you can get it for free if you don't have insurance. Which is what I did; I got some test strips for a while, and Novolog--the insulin I take with food--they sent me SO MUCH of it that I only ran out the other day (I have a new prescription now)!! Wow. Had no idea they'd cover you that completely.
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Post by Sikotik_Psyphi on Mar 15, 2009 21:14:20 GMT -5
I get all of my antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds free through patient assistance. I get my counseling and my case management outreaches at 90% off. Even with that, my expenses run up quite quickly. I'm 100% sure that if I had universal coverage I could have gotten the help I needed in a more timely fashion and would be a successful productive citizen rather than the near shut in I am today. I hear all the time about how people with mental illness should get treatment for it, but if they can't afford it, why bother? Personally my treatment up until recently was barely adequate and when coupled with an inability to pay for it led to nasty letters in the mail and harassing phone calls that only aggravate my delicate condition. I once thought that unrestrained capitalism and private everything was the way to go, but then real life happened and I learned differently. Even when I had insurance through where ever I was working that offered it, it barely covered shit. I used up my lifetime allotment of mental health coverage in less than 180 days due to being hospitalized repeatedly and requiring ECT due to me not responding to any of the medications that I also could barely afford even with insurance.
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Post by schizophonic on Mar 16, 2009 0:21:54 GMT -5
I get all of my antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds free through patient assistance. I get my counseling and my case management outreaches at 90% off. Even with that, my expenses run up quite quickly. I'm 100% sure that if I had universal coverage I could have gotten the help I needed in a more timely fashion and would be a successful productive citizen rather than the near shut in I am today. I hear all the time about how people with mental illness should get treatment for it, but if they can't afford it, why bother? Personally my treatment up until recently was barely adequate and when coupled with an inability to pay for it led to nasty letters in the mail and harassing phone calls that only aggravate my delicate condition. I once thought that unrestrained capitalism and private everything was the way to go, but then real life happened and I learned differently. Even when I had insurance through where ever I was working that offered it, it barely covered shit. I used up my lifetime allotment of mental health coverage in less than 180 days due to being hospitalized repeatedly and requiring ECT due to me not responding to any of the medications that I also could barely afford even with insurance. I spent most of my 20s being uninsured or fighting with insurance companies. Currently, I qualify for VHAP, which is Vermont's health program for people who can't afford insurance. That's great, until I start making enough to no longer qualify, because I'm back in trouble. I've dealt with some of the aid programs, but they've always left me with heavy debt, and it's only thanks to semi-socialised medicine that I'm digging my way out at all. On top of that, I'm still dealing with multiple conditions (which insurance companies will call pre-existing and deny me for), and I have to jump through some really dumb hoops sometimes. Not that I'm not thankful that I have coverage and all, but they actually provide obstacles to me becoming something more than a wreck. I've been in the "well why don't you get help?" Scenario when I couldn't afford it. It's horribly frustrating that people think it's that simple.
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Post by canadian mojo on Mar 16, 2009 8:37:47 GMT -5
Yep. Most of the drug companies do have assistance programs though so you can get it for free if you don't have insurance. Which is what I did; I got some test strips for a while, and Novolog--the insulin I take with food--they sent me SO MUCH of it that I only ran out the other day (I have a new prescription now)!! Wow. Had no idea they'd cover you that completely. The companies will also give, or sell at a heavy discount, glucometers since the real money is in the test strips that you use. The pen needle injectors are also pretty much given away too. (At least up here in Canada)
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Post by canadian mojo on Mar 16, 2009 8:47:38 GMT -5
One of the worst aspects of US healthcare as it is now is that the insurance providers dictate the choices of doctors. Their decisions are based not on the best treatment for the patient that gives best quality of life but what is a most cost effective. Hence many treatments are never even considered. A good example would be doing amputations rather than spend a lot more money and time to save limbs. Don't ever forget: in a universal system, it is just a different group of bean counters deciding how much money to spend on a patient. It will only be as good as the public forces it to be.
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Post by schizophonic on Mar 16, 2009 9:15:13 GMT -5
Wow. Had no idea they'd cover you that completely. The companies will also give, or sell at a heavy discount, glucometers since the real money is in the test strips that you use. The pen needle injectors are also pretty much given away too. (At least up here in Canada) Yeah, it's fifty bucks for one of my meters, or you can get them free at a Doctor's office. It's about 110 bucks for a box of 100 test strips. They also give away those insulin pens, though now they're discontinuing them for the disposable insulin pens, because there's more money in 'em.
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