MEDICAL CARE/ENERGY ATNN CANUCKS?BAY AREA RES.

universal medical care is obviously one of the most important needs in america and is one of the more realistic shots at some larger form of socialization of the american infastructure. the US is so far behind everyone else in its medical system it's ridiculous and embarassing. i know a little bit about the way the canadian system works, but i'd greatly appreciate it if a cunuck could drop some science on some of the specifics... i'm more familiar with britain's system (and man they should include dental in that shit... ;)... so help me out.

feel free to talk about medical care in general here. who's insured, who ain't, what people are paying, medication coverage all that fun stuff...

parenthetically, i'd also be interested in the socialization of energy providers that has been happening out west- particularly in sacramento, but also in the bay area- so if you're from out there get up on it and find out the story. i'd like to know more about that too....

so bless me.

ahh man, ive been waiting to vent on this shit. i got insurance through cigna. i have to go through a fuckin riggamoroll to get an appointment w/ my pcp (usually about a month). then god forbid i have to see a specialist. that turns into at least another month of waiting for an appointment, and when i go for the appointment my pcp never put the referral through. so i get fucked into waiting another month. i could go on in detail bu tif im reminded of the situation i might go fckin kill the people who work at my doctors office.

i fuckin hate!

oi...

..i should know more about my own health care

system...but..

its one of those things that i haven't really annexed any thought to [yet]..

as far as payment up here...i'm pretty sure its in relation

to your income per annum...so...a bum like me right now

is paying jack squat....like $7 a month..peanuts...........

i was just at a clinic the other day..i was recommended

some cortezone type ointment

for a rash, which isn't covered by the monthly payments,

so i'm not sure how coverage for drugs, ointments and all that stuff

correlates.....

in canada it really depends on alot of things as far as i know. i still live off the parents medical plan, so i dont pay shit for anything. i could see my doc 3 times a day for a year and get a perscription of valium and morphine and a bottle of gential wart cream every time and not pay a cent. but as far as i know, its baisically free up here aside from a few things, cosmetic surgurey and products, some dental work.... well i think alot of dental work actually. but the doc and hospital visits are free. i dunno, ive never bothered to really look into it, i get free everything so i dont even bother.

I don't live in Canada but I know a little about their health care system ( I took a sociology class focusing on class and health.) Here is the deal, the good thing about their system is regardless of how much money you make, or if you have insurance or not, you will always be able to see a doctor and get treated. In comparison to the U.S. which has a "fee for service" system, which means if you don't have a job that offers insurance or if you have bad insurance or a shitty h.m.o. the quality of treatment you get generally will go down. Basically your class determines your level of health in America. In Canada, almost all services are free and its funded by progressive taxes (income). The only big problem is there aren't as many specialists and if you ever need something like a M.R.I. immediately or some specialized test with expensive equipment you are screwed, the waiting lists are months long. With certain exceptions the government will send patients to the U.S. if they need care urgently or to other provinces that are available to help. There are ups and downs, overall it seems to be better than the U.S. system based on Canadian people, in general, are much healthier. Theres my two cents.

This is THE LAW's #1 gripe with america...

He has no health insurance and participates in many high risk activities.

In the past, he's scammed emergency hospital care with fake names etc...

It sucks.

perhaps the law could enlighten us on such a practice. dont they ask to see id? can you just make up a name and address and get away with it? being also uninsured, this could be usefull...

I hate going to the doctor. I currently have insurance, but I am very hesitant to use it. I’m the guy that walks around with a limp for six weeks instead of seeing a doctor.

I’m currently looking into getting some EMT training. I have a few friends that are EMT trained and they know how to tell if something is broken, stop people from bleeding, and stitch themselves up. That would save me a lot of trouble, as I have a couple of scars from where I should have gotten stitches but didn’t.

seeking....

THE LAW found himself in a bit of a pickle with certain extremities bleeding profusely a couple years back...

he showed up at the emergency room at the most expensive hospital in the city...proceeded to give them a fake name, social security number and address. (remember it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) don't bring ID!

They ask if you have insurance, say "yes," you are still covered on your parent's insurance but you're not sure which company. They take your info and make up a chart for you. Remember all your info!!!!!!!!...They have to treat you no matter what, so you don't HAVE to say you have insurance, but they'll be a little skeptical if you say you don't.

Hospitals take a long time to get around to billing AND it's a whole different department. THE LAW even went back for 2 follow up visits...but don't push your luck.

REMEMBER YOUR INFO!

Thanks LAW,

One who has found himself paying to much for health benefits and decided to not eat ramen noodles every night appreciates information such as this. HESHIANDET, I know your pain. It took 7 months to remove a lump in my throat the was the size of a tennis ball. It wasn't cancerous, but the shit looked like a second adams apple.

I worked for a health insurance company for a while.

The fact that a company can make ten billion dollars profit off peoples health is obscene.

I got pretty bitter.

I can assure you that if you want competant convienient health care in the US, you better be prepared to pay for it.

I have no health insurance and I work. It sucks that to get affordable insurance you have to basically have a job. I mean I have a job, but they are shady shady on the benefits.

Its all fucked.

thanks for the tip, THE LAW

what queen bee said is pretty much what i had understood to be true... basically the system in canada is more efficient because different hospitals specialize in different things, unlike in the US, where to a degree, hospitals try to be everything in one place. i think the canadian govt actually did a study that revealed that it's more efficient to airlift people to specialized hospitals (in an accident situation) than to have all hospitals have certain types of specialized trauma units... which isn't surprising. and yeah, it's covered by progressive taxation... why that is absurd in the us i don't know...

i work in a very small non-profit and receive half medical benefits which kick in soon. so i'm not really sure what this will amount to. i actually think that i have a small allowance each year, and then after that it pretty much comes out of my pocket...

this system needs a fucking overhaul dog.

seeking and the bay area kids, what do you know about this community energy plan?

My mom pays my health insurence...

with all this free coverage i have i think ill go down right now and abuse my power.... get a cat scan or two, maybe an mri scan as well, get my appendix removed, maybe a physical, get a few x rays...... yeah im lovin this health care plan i got up here in canada.......

Insurance rates have been going up over 20% a year for the last couple of years. Pretty soon most companies are going to have a hard time paying insurance premiums on their employees. My company had been paying 55% of the premium for my dependents until a couple of months ago, so what had been costing me about $200 a month pre-tax is now $500. It sucks.