The Other Credit Crunch

The current medical care crises is a continuing example of our need for universal affordable health care. We are the only country in the western world where people are going into poverty and catastrophic financial debts to pay for medical services. the private for-profit model of health care is unaceptable as well as immoral, and it doesn't work. The multi-tiered delivery of health care based on the ability to pay is criminal. Health care is not a business, it is a public service and a right, not a priviledge or a luxury. It is a god given human right.

From my husband's experience, workman's compensation, is also a battle for those with on the job injuries and illnesses due to exposure... They will drag things out for years if they can get away with it. Others have the same experience.

I am a widow who has very little left due to my husband's illness, I paid everything off sold my home to do so, now I live with my children. I had insurance, copays medications transportation add up faster than anyone can imagine..I planned for my older years but I will work until I die on the job. How can this happen,? I am not unhappy, he would have done it for me..

What happened to workers compensation?

From Americ an MDs no doubt...to excue their own greed. Actually, I had one US doctor admit that his brother's patients in Italy received much better and more prompt care. I asked him if his brother, practicing in Italy ws so poor...and was told with a slight rddening..no..he lived quite well..very handsome house and a very nice car (so not living in a hovel by any means), but that he could earn more here...so that is the bottom line...you allow the greed of doctors, hospials, health insurance companies to pick off at will your fellow citizens! And that makes the rest of you what...??? Either sniveling cowards or the barbaric murderes I hold you for.
What I can also tell you is that my husband received a at can the day after he arrived back in Germany. After two years of unretarded growth however, thee was nothing he could do. The autopsy showed that had he received a dignosis and treatment early on, it would have been treatable, as the base location was not life thratening. I releat..I would just love to know who you have been talking to.When you say doctors...are we referring to doctors here in the US..or likethe doctor here I talked to...who sought to justify his own greed while having to admit that being a doctor over in Italy was just as nice, if not quite so profitable??? Sounds to me as if the doctors you have been talking to have the same philosophy as the CEOs here...be damned to eveyone as long as I make the most money! By your inaction you have all supported and encouraged such behaviour!

Here's 2 tips for people to save money in these hard times.

1) Especially during the holiday season, check out deal websites. From free magazines to black friday ads, doing a bit of planning and checking around for things you need to buy or how tips on how to reduce bills are all over these frugal sites. I started using coupons and paying attention to what comes in the mail or using deal websites like www.slickdeals.net as you can find a ton of deals and it gets new deals every minute. www.fatwallet.com is another great web site for deals. You can even find free subscriptions to magazines and stuff on those web sites. before I buy anything major I first do a search on those web sites.

2) My biggest savings was my mortgage. My loan with Countrywide was in an adjustable rate and interest only loan. My payment was 3800. I'm now paying 2200 and that rate is fixed for all 30 years. I used a web site called www.LoanModAssistant.com. It was only $199 and worked like a charm. It took me 6 weeks to finish this. That was like getting a 1600 per month raise. Anyone that needs help with this should check it out.

I hope these tips help.

Spelbound.... You are SO right about your observations with the care of seniors in "care" facilities... I have seeen the same thing... Our health care system is rotten from top to bottom.... I need to go take a cancer nap.... the same cancer that Jeff in the health care industry believes I brought on myself, depsite a healthy lifestyle that included exercise, a healthy diet, no smoking, etc. But he has shown me the error of my ways... my lymphoma is MY fault... I will give that some thought... thanks,Jeff... You've made my day!

This is the disgusting fact of life: If any of these people had been ILLEGALs working off the books or scamming social services they would have gotten 100%+ coverage. The UNPAID bill for ILLEGALS is partially covered by FEDERAL TAXPAYER DOLLARS. Wake up America!!! Illegals are getting the free heathcare, maternity care, organ donations, longterm care, hospice and nursing home stays -- draining every possible resource that belongs to Americans. The first thing that will help Americans immediately is to demand our existing Federal Immigration Laws be enforced and mass deportation take place. Many are being sent to the U.S. along with their contagious third world diseases and endangering American citizens with the intent of getting free medical care and social service dollars.

The poster named Jeff who says he is in the health care industry is certainly part of the problem... I pray he doesn't have to learn what goes on the hard way... I wouldn't wish my situation, or my husband's, on anyone... and we both werer healthy working in management for a major international corporation.... Sometimes cancer and other illness happen, despite healthy life, but "fine" representative of the health care system doesn't know that... Maybe he should find another line of work... Compassion means a great deal to those of us who are critically ill.

So according to the recent poster, my cancer (lymphoma) is my own fault... and husband's pulmonary fibrosis, caused by diesel emmisions at his workplace... he had never smoked in his life... ... is OUR fault?
I think it's sad and pathetic that people in this country can no longer have a reasonable discussion about an issue without being personally insulting to others.

I realize that health care costs keep rising. A part of the cost is the fact that many are not insured or are underinsured. A part of the cost is that doctors choose to do procedures that will benefit them (ie. doing an angioplasty instead of prescribing drugs to aleviate the blood clot). Another cost involves people not taking care of themselves. We are one of the fattest countries in the world, and many of those obese people are uninsured, causing the cost to rise for everyone. There are a multitude of reasons why we lag so far behind in health care in this country.

One thing I've never seen anyone explain is how the insurance companies are doing? I haven't seen Blue Cross Blue Shield in front of Congress asking for a bailout. Every year my insurance eats into my pay check little by little. I never see a raise, but I'm often denied prescription drugs and certain procedures because of something they call "pre-authorization."

I don't know what it will take to fix the system, but I wish that someone could come up with a hybrid plan. A plan that is not completely socialized, but one that would force more people to buy insurance at the same time capping CEO salaries for these health insurance companies that refuse to pay.

I see a few comment s made on here about Canadian health insurance. the comment makers don't have an idea about of what they speak. I was born and raised in the states, then moved to Canada after Korean conflict. I have had by-pass , hernia, ear surgery and other dealings. Never once did I have to pay across the table out of my pocket.
My brother in the states served in infantry in Korea and worked all his life at one company, when he retired he got a terminal disease and the insurance put a bed in his home and told his wife they would leave it there for one year. His wife asked what happens after that ? Insurance people told her to sell her home if he was still alive.
The U S medical system is the SH---.

Eventually we'll get single-payer health care simply because everything else doesn't work. Want to know where private health care leads? Simply look at third-world countries, where everything is fee-for-service. If you needs hospital treatment in the Philippines, for example, you have to put down a deposit. If you can't pay, you don't get treated. That's the way it is in most of the world. But at least they have an excuse that resources indeed are very short. The U.S. can't say that. All the countries with single-payer systems, OTOH, have lower total health care spending than the U.S. The U.S. is #37 overall but #1 in costs, and it's hitting a breaking point.

what about all of the illegal imigrants that walk into hospitals all over the country and get treated everyday without having to give out a social security# or address..how much of the billions of unpaid dollars are because of this..could this not be a starting place to shore up our country and save some money for our children?

Wow, it really is true that people don't like to develop critical thinking skills, Stop for a moment, stop blaming individuals for being ruined by health care costs. and think about the bigger picture. General Motors can't compete in the global marketplace with its health care obligations, never mind the lousy cars. American businesses can no longer be the depot for this coverage. Period. That change is already well in place, jobs with no insurance, no transportable insurance and not enough jobs, period. In the meantime, one semi-serious brush with illness and financial ruin is the result. There's hardly anything about our early and mid 20th century infrastructure that works anymore. Bad things don't always happen to people because they're lazy or just deserve it. Smarten up!

What you'll fail to realize it is that high costs trickle down from the drug companies. Drug companies pressured Congress to put in no negoiation on drug cost clause in the Medicare program.To become a doctor or nurse when that person is in massive loan debt when they leave school. The doctors usually have stakes in or outright own the medical equipment in the hospitals and clinics that is why those service costs are high. Medical Insurance is a misnomer as it is something but never covers what you would expect for a major injury or surgery. Most insurers will deny a claim time after before they pay just to keep their profit. All this work against the comsumer who is blamed for overutilization (however, don't they tell you to see a doctor if this or that happens?). Of course, they do to propetuate business and generate income. Everthing is against the patient/consumer how do we get out of that kind of deby. 50 to 75% of bankruptcies are massive medical costs that only a weathly patient can afford. We do need national health care in this country to assure the Average American can seek medical help for themselves and their children for services available but not affordable! You have to forfit your or your childrens lives as this country has the best medical care just not the best affordable care. It is always all about the money ALWAYS..