gbaji wrote:
I'm a bit curious here. You have to pay the first 1k of a hospital stay/surgery etc..., right?
That's not the same as a co-pay. A copayment is the portion of a normal scheduled doctor's visit that you have to pay (which the insurance pays the rest). Sure. Technically, they're the same principle, but most health insurance makes a huge difference between how they handle payments for emergency proceedures, surguries, and hospital stays compared to how they handle your yearly medical checkup, or your flu shot.
I'm fairly confident that you don't have to pay 1k to get a flu shot. I'm also a bit confused about the "If I have a kid, that's 2k". Um... You and your child are both going to have surgury at the same time? Unlikely unless you get into a car crash or something. You made it sound like you'd be paying 2k every time you went to a doctor for a checkup. That's just not true...
Most "preventive" medical actions are affordable by the vast majority of people in the US, whether they've got medical insurance or not. You can walk into just about any clinic in the country (look in the damn Yellow Pages if you don't know where one is!), and get a checkup and basic care, and maybe be out 50 bucks tops. I lived for 10 years with no health insurance (making barely over minimum wage). It's really not that hard folks.
The reason why most folks don't get preventative medication is because they either would rather spend their money on something else, or they just choose not to go to a doctor until it's very serious. The same people who ***** that they can't afford to spend 20 bucks a month on medicine for their kid's earache will have an eternal 12 pack of beer in the fridge (and often a drug habit of their own). I've seen this waaaay to many times folks. If you can buy beer, you can buy medicine for your kid.
I've known poor parents who wouldn't take their kids to the doctor when sick, even when the copay for them was like $5. They "can't afford it" (their words). Yet, there they are smoking a cigarette out of a pack that cost them 4 bucks...
Responsibility starts at home folks. I'll be the first in line to vote in a national "free medical care" law, the day that even 50% of the population that would use it will meet it halfway.
I am not sure where you are going with this but, for doctor visit it is still a 15.00 co pay. Perscriptions are a 20.00 co-pay. Last year if I needed to go to the hospital for any reason emergency room or other it was a 100.00 co-pay. This year if I need to go to the hospital its first 1000.00 is on me the rest they will cover.
If I have a really ****** year this might work to my advantage as 11 hospital visits in a year under the old plan would have cost me 1100.00 and now only cost me 1000.00.
The 2000.00 kicks in because if I have a child my spouse would cost me 1000.00 and my new child who would be another patient on the books and costs me an additional 1000.00.
I usually see my doctor about 5 times a year and my perscriptions run me 40.00 bucks a month. Hope that clears it up for you. Also some perscription drugs have gone up, but lucky for me their are generics for what I take.
Ya our health care system rules, and we are already seeing a decline in emergency rooms as many hospitals are cutting the cost of keeping one open. At least with getting drugs from Canada we can say we are doing something about keeping prices under control, well at least until we institue something like they have to prevent special intrests from gouging us.
Edit-- to clean up my quote
Edited, Sat Apr 17 03:31:11 2004 by flishtaco
