While my dad was hiking the Appalachian trail, one of his toes really started hurting him. He went to see a doctor in Virginia, and to see the doctor, have an x-ray, see the doctor again, and to get some anti-inflammatory pills it cost him $1,200. Now that is fucking pure crazy!!!!!

Let's just focus on the actual disagreement here, and agree to disagree:

I believe the US healthcare system is in dire need of repair, and you think it is fine.

The end.

I love Cliff-notes :1orglaugh


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The thing is that her ear was open pretty good, it wasn't just a little scrape, it was wide open. I wasn't about to leave unattended and have a big scar on her ear for the rest of her life.

I've been telling the wife to toughen up, it's never gonna happen, when stuff happens like that, she panics.

Things must be different in your ER, but around here, they NEVER give the option of if you'd want them to fill it or give a prescription, USUALLY they do give you a couple of pills, then a prescription, but in this case, the nurse brought in a mixed bottle, which she probably had to make a full bottle to give her that one dose, if I denied it, I probably would've still got charged for it anyways. Plus, in the rare case that some kind of infection was setting it, I'd rather have the anti-biotics working that night rather than waiting until 4pm the next day when she got home from school.

My kids come first in my life, I'm not gonna sit back and risk anything. I know that going to the ER was gonna be a few bucks, but that's just rape.

The US doesn't have a health care system, they have an insurance system. Let he with the best insurance win, let those who find themselves denied by the insurance companies go suck an egg.

When people talk about Obama's plan (including Obama himself) it's always "insurance" this and "Insurance" that. He's not on the right track at all, only scratching the surface of what needs to change.

And someone down there who is covered can definitely go for treatment and end up only paying a few hundred bucks, but how much did they pay over the years in monthly insurance fees leading up to that treatment? Certainly someone without that level of coverage can end up paying thousands for the same treatment.

Personally I'd rather pay a little extra on my taxes than have to cough up an extra $500 to $1500 like some Americans say they're paying per month. Some say they're only covered for up to 80%. Others say their deductible is $5k. Up here in Canada the only "deductible" we have is on auto or house insurance. :D

I have no doubt that if done right the US could come up with a health care system that takes the best qualities of the systems in Canada, UK, Sweden, Germany, etc, and ties it all together to be the absolute best of the best. But unfortunately there are too many misinformed people there who cringe and shake in ignorance over such frightening terms as "universal", "socialized" or *choke* "government-run". ooOOoo, scarrrrry.

Put it this way... an old high school friend of mine just had open heart surgery at a local hospital, 5 days ago to be exact. She's home now and doing great, emailed me this morning to rave about how it went and the level of care she received.
The bill to her on discharge? --- $0.00
No fees
No defucktable deductible
Just a ride in a wheelchair to the car by a health care aid and a well wish.

I don't know how you can beat that, or argue about it for that matter. I would love to see the US have a better system them they do, one that is better than ours, but when I see these same threads over and over and over and people arguing the same arguments as 5 or 10 years ago I'm afraid that change won't arrive in my lifetime. Sad for the friends and relatives I have in the US whom I care about.

The most I can remember paying for medical care was an extra $AUD400 (about $USD360) above what medicare (Australia's free health care) paid for. That included surgery and a 2 night stay in hospital.

Going to the ER or seeing a public doctor is generally free. Some private doctors charge extra.

Ambulance insurance for myself and my family costs about $USD99 per year. All ambulance trips (including helicopter) are covered 100%... no excess, they don't even send a $0.00 invoice if you do take a ride...

Sound like it's a joke but it's true. Tell them your from Mexico, have no ID, and they don't charge you. It's the law.

Very good post:

This line says it all: "The US doesn't have a health care system, they have an insurance system"

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I've been to the emergency room 8 times in my life and had top-notch care with a short wait.

Total bill: $0

Even when I got bit by a dog and needed shots, stitches, 3 different doctors, fluids, medication... $0

Long live Canada!

Why are you guys arguing with baddog? he is always in threads like this.. dont worry he is old and he'll be needing doctors/hospitals VERY soon and they'll fuck with him...

Anyway anyone who says USA healthcare/insurance is great can suck some balls...

Watch what happens when you need a 6-7 figure surgery, your insurance company will deny that shit.. On a different note i dont have health insurance since i never really liked paying $5000+ a year for something i might use once every few yrs..

anyway i DID go to emergency room one time for my jaw, they did xrays and i ended up with a $2,000 bill.. wooooooo, and i had to pay it..

BUT i fractured my fingers badly in Panama, i went to the ER in a great hospital(its affiliate with john Hopkins, the surgeon worked on it for a while to stop bleeding and xrays and stitch it up.. i had no insurance.. total bill = a little over $1,000

in the USA id have to pay $10k.. thats what sucks about the USA health care system..

:1orglaugh This thread contribution was actually pretty funny! :1orglaugh

From what I gather, Obama is "trying to end that crap" by charging the $780.59 to taxpayers, and not doing anything about reducing that $780.59 to something that isn't out of this world.

you can dispute those fees if you had no insurance
the fees are high because of greed and to cover people who don't pay their bills

if you asked them re-review the fees and give you something reasonable they'll most likely do it

Thats really nothing that bad, took my infant to the hospital because she had a bad cold and the bill was in the thousands for just a few tests.

Well considering there is about an error rate of over 80% in medical billing, yes you can find reductions easily.

Pretty much the minute you check into the ER it is about $500 even if they just see you and send you home without doing anything. Kind of sad.

On a side note, good insurance does not mean good fast care. A friend of mine's wife is going through issues with her hip. About 6 months ago she had a lot of pain and went to the doctor. It took about a month to get her to a specialist and get the MRI done. The specialist told her she needed surgery to repair what was wrong, but that insurance won't pay for it unless they jump through hoops. So she got a cortisone shot and did physical therapy for two months then had more tests. Of course nothing had changed. From there they tried a different type of a shot and still more physical therapy and it, as expected, didn't work. Last week she went back and now, after six months of pain doing things everyone knew wouldn't work, but had to be done to satisfy the insurance company, she is getting surgery.

Of course now she has to wait because the surgeon is so booked it will be two more months until she can get it done and the doctor said that since she has had a couple of kids she wants to do an extra procedure while in there to insure that everything will heal correctly. The insurance company won't pay for the extra procedure even though the doctor says it is necessary, so they will have to pay the $750 for that out of pocket.

As far as the OPs post. Lesson learned. Don't take your kid to the ER for such a minor issue.

Everyone talking shit about what those dumbfucks in Washington are trying to pull right now are shinning bright in ignorance. These people aren't going to give you shit. I've been saying it all along exactly what they are going to do and by god they are doing it. You will be FORCED to buy into a private insurance plan. If you don't you will be FINED. If you don't pay those fines what do you think they are going to do? Take your shit and/or throw your ass in jail. In addition to all that there are all sorts of BS regulations and mandatory requirements. It was never about helping your dumbasses out. It was about adding another source of funds for them to disburse. More money, power and control. That's it. They could give a shit less whether you live or die as long as they can control the money supply. And right now they need a lot to control.

Aren't we now only about 4 months away from living in a police state under a one world government?

Actually your one World government is already here. Under a pandemic the UN is in control of all nations. But to make it official the treaty will be signed in December under the disguise of climate change... You're trying to be a fucking smartass when everything is happening right before your damn eyes but your fucking stupid to see it. Oh and by the way your really going to love what those climate change bills are going to do to your wallet...

If all that you are saying really is happening. . . you and I are helpless to stop it.

But of course it won't happen and you and I both know that.

Will there be a "climate change" bill signed in December? Possibly. I have read a little bit about one that has been talked about. Will it be bad for my wallet? Maybe. Does that mean I am living under a one world government? Nope.

nice one though its too expensive..how i wish i could do that offer

You're right about one thing. They are going to do whatever they want to do regardless of what any of the public says. They proved that with their bailouts. It's only going to take one big mistake and I have a feeling that's going to come real soon before people are camping out on the White House law demanding some heads. They know this and I firmly believe they are pushing the envelope to make it happen.

As far as the climate change BS. You have no fucking idea. There's actually two parts. One of those is the bills in Washington. The other is a treaty between the nations. Not only will the Washington bills increase your cost of living GREATLY but the treaty IS the WORLD GOVERNMENT (world governance is the exact term they use MANY times in the treaty) with a whole new set of laws and regulations which is accompanied by a World tax to fund it.

hmm. maybe not December after all.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...enhagen-treaty

http://www.rechargenews.com/business...icle197739.ece

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6897178.ece

Looks like maybe a few more months of freedom.

Good to know at least that one is off the table for now.

In the middle of a war, jobless economy and illegals still running into the country they have decided to take on health care.... sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit

not really all that surprising!