Uninsured & Uninsurable in the USA

[nana]

I saw this posted at a site I go to regularly and since my husband and I are in almost the same boat and have made the same choice, to leave and live in a civilized country, I thought i'd post this person's story, wondering just how many others are making the same choice for their own survival?
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"Written by Uninsured & Uninsurable in the USA at 23 Jun 2005 07:31:06:

My husband and I are in our late 50s and early 60s. He has well controlled type II diabetes, I had a benign tumor removed several years ago and have some residual disabilities.

We paid the entire quarter million dollars US to cover those medical and hospital costs incurred when the tumor was removed and the post-operative complications that put me in and out of the hospital 7 times in 18 months.

We kept trying to find some insurer to cover either or both of us.

The ONE insurer who MIGHT have covered us, but eventually refused us, would have charged us $9,860.00 in premiums, annually and we would have had to pay, out of pocket the first $3,000.00 in annual medical costs FIRST. After that we'd have to pay 40% of all doctor visit costs as well as a percentage of all drug costs etc.

These numbers would have exceeded 1/2 of our entire annual income. And their total annual payout for either of us, in any calendar year would have been $75,000.00 after which we'd be hit for 100% of any further costs, and then a total LIFETIME payout of $250,000.00 after which we'd be hit for 100% of any additional costs.

Our current drug costs, monthly, exceed our food budget.

Three weeks ago, I knew I was in serious trouble, medically, but because of the cost of going to the hospital, I waited 3 more days, in agony, before finally going for help, fortunately I got there in time.

Our doctor, knowing we have no insurance managed to get me and and out in ONE DAY and my husband nursed me at home for the next week but that didn't stop him from charging us over $543.00 for two, 10 minute visits to my hospital room.

The bill for ONE day in the hospital is $12,548.34 US plus an additional $543.00 doctor bill, for a total of $13,091.34, which exceeds half our annual income, which of course is that low now because of the previous quarter million in medical bills that devoured much of our retirement savings.

We're getting out of this country before another health crisis pushes us into the invisible homeless seniors population, for one that has a balance of free enterprise and universal health care. It is possible for a country to have both a healthy economy as well as decent social services and that is where we are going. While we still have a retirement income sufficient to support us in another country. We have already started the process and forturnately one of us is still a citizen of that civilized country and spouses of citizens are welcomed there.

One difference between health insurers in this country and the one payer systems in other countries is, the purpose of the insurance companies in the USA is to make money for their shareholders but CUTTING coverage whenever and where ever they can. In a one payer system, the ideal is to break even.

I'm stunned that insurance companies in this country can DICTATE not only which doctor a patient can see but also which treatments are allowed and which hospitals are approved by the various insurers, often many miles from the insured person's residence.

These decisions are not made between the patient and their doctor for the best result for the patient but are made to save the insurer MONEY and make more money for their shareholders.

This is freedom?

"The moral test of government is
how that government treats
those who are in the dawn of life,
the children;
those who are in twilight of life,
the elderly;
and those in the shadows of life,
the sick, the needy and the handicapped."

- - Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978)

This country fails every one of the above criteria."

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[Moses]

This is murder. And look at this in the context of the outcry from the Bush Crime Family and the Republicans over a brain dead woman in Fla.

Did they mention what state they lived in?

[nana]

No the posting didn't say where they are but I've been going to that site for years and so have they, so it wasn't difficult for me to figure out who posted it and I also respect their reasons for their anonymous posting, so my lips and my fingers are sealed.

If my conclusion about who posted it is correct, they, like us, are currently in California.

I know I'm praying that I remain healthy for at least as long as we have to stay here because the thought of bankrupting my husband with hospital expenses terrifies me. I'd rather die quietly at home than destroy decades of his savings and wise money management only to leave him in dire straits due to catastrophic medical bills.

You know I've often wondered if the lack of universal health care had ever been challenged. Doesn't the bill of rights guarantee life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? In order to maintain a LIFE one needs adequate medical care don't they? How many have died and continue to die because they have no access to appropriate and affordable health care?

I wonder if anyone has ever looked into that possibility? How can this country justify being the only industrialized nation that does NOT provide health care for all its citizens? If this is the greatest nation on earth how come it can't do what so called lesser nations do and have done, for decades?

I was browsing through some files and found the following:
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Published on Monday, November 10, 2003 by CommonDreams.org

Take It From A Patient: Canada's System Works

by Sandy Smith Madsen

"It is unconscionable that we ration health care by the ability to pay.... your heart breaks. Health care should be a given."
-- Kathryn Anastos, U.S. physician

Although I was born and raised in Tennessee, I was served well by Canada¹s universal health-care system during the 13 years that I lived in Canada. As a legal resident, I was entitled to the same high level of health-care benefits enjoyed by all Canadian citizens. I was free to go to any doctor, anywhere, anytime.

Three of my children were born in Canada. The bill for the birth of my youngest Canadian-born daughter was $3.00. This bill covered excellent prenatal care, delivery, and a private hospital room. It included visits to my home by a nurse and by my doctor, visits that were made as follow-up care after a normal, healthy delivery. While home visits by doctors are not standard procedure, in a country that views health care as a public service, it can happen.

There are now 43.6 million Americans without health insurance and another 40 million who are under-insured. U.S. employers are cutting back on health benefits, claiming they can¹t compete as long as the U.S. is the only major industrialized nation that expects employers to provide health insurance.

And the cost of insurance premiums continues to rise. Just imagine the consequences if a disease such as SARS should strike at some of our uninsured neighbors who are in the habit of taking two aspirins and waiting it out rather than seeking expensive medical care.

Little wonder that Americans are increasingly looking to Canada¹s single-payer system, and looking with envy. Yet opponents of the single-payer system recite a litany of horror stories. They charge that Canadians are "suffering and dying" while waiting for medical care. They claim that the Canadian system is a "disaster," and that it is "socialized medicine." Oddly enough, I knew nothing about these dire circumstances until after I returned to the U.S.

Canada does not have "socialized medicine." The Canadian government does not decide who gets care or when they get it; doctors and patients decide. Doctors are accountable to patients, not to the government. Most doctors are self-employed; they submit claims for payment to their provincial insurance plan. They are highly paid professionals who have considerable influence in determining their fees.

Want to see a doctor in Canada? Simply show up with your health-care card. Many Americans already know this, as they have been caught helping themselves to Canadian health care by means of counterfeit health-care cards.

Canadians are never denied care, or forced to wait for care, for lack of funds or because of a pre-existing condition. Patients requiring urgent care or primary care are never put on waiting lists. While it is sometimes necessary to wait for elective surgeries, or specialist care, if the delay is such that the patient¹s health will be harmed, all expenses are paid for the patient to access care in another location.

The United States spends almost twice the amount per person as Canada spends on health care, yet Canadians enjoy a lower infant mortality rate and a higher life expectancy. Studies in both the U.S. and Canada have found that survival rates are higher in Canada for most types of cancer.


Since Canadian health care follows you from the cradle to the nursing home, the loss of a job is not the disaster it is in the U.S. Unemployed you may be, but if you are unemployed in Canada, you still have your health care. While Canadians receive quality health care in return for their tax dollars, in the U.S we pay only slightly lower taxes and soaring health insurance premiums. With the loss of a job, all our paid premiums go up in smoke. In Canada, a major health problem does not lead to financial ruin.

Doctors seldom know if they are serving the rich or the poor. Perhaps that¹s why I found so many doctors who were genuinely responsive to my needs, rather than to my wallet.

The way my Canadian friends tell it, there are more Canadians who believe that Elvis lives than there are Canadians who want the U.S. health-care system.

Sandy Smith Madsen, of Nashville, is a doctoral student at Emory University and a member of the Tennessee Alliance for Progress media committee. Email: [e-mail]

[Moses]

Lets face it, life has become wretched for many in the US- while we were so smug about our superior medical care and all.

Doesn't it seem even worse w/ the HMOs?

[nana]

HMOs? Don't get me started! On second thought, why not?

HMOs aka Human Mortality Organizations. They dictate not only which doctors you can see but which drugs, which treatments, which hospitals, which therapies the 'insured' can go to and also how long they can stay in the hospital after their allowed/approved surgery or treatment. And the efficacy of the approved courses of treatment is not their first consideration but rather how LITTLE money they can spend to 'live up to' the legal requirements of their so called 'coverage'.

pardon me while I puke
(the anti nausea drug some HMOs approve for some chemo patients doesn't work)

Fortunately I don't qualify for HMO coverage either but I've seen friends go through 7 layers of hell while getting cut rate, but approved HMO 'medical care'.

[Moses]

And these are the things people were most afraid would happen under "socialized" medicine.

[nana]

Yeah it cracks me up whenever I hear that one. And I delight in telling them that in Canada the patient chooses their own doctor, and the doctor and the patient, between them, decide on which treatments, which drugs, which surgeon, which specialists, which hospital and which therapies will give the patient the best result. All the 'socialized medicine insurer' does is pay the bills that the patient never even sees they have no say in medical decisions. Period.