To get to the other side.
Yeah, it's no good up there and it would be no good down here. When a 57 year old who needs a hip joint cleaned up (due to arthritic bony spicules causing severe chronic pain) in the US what happens? He gets it done and expeditiously at that! If his insurance doesn't pay for it, he can still get it done without traveling to another country. If a Canadian needs this done after paying exorbitant taxes all his life, they will say, "Nope, sorry, your too old. You only have a few years of life anyway, and we can use that money better on someone else. So here, take some Ibuprofen for the rest of your life". Crazy scenario? Yes, but it actually happened to a 57 year old Canadian who saved up his dollars, came to the US, and had this procedure done.
So, what boarder are we going to cross when socialized medicine hits?
7 comments:
My sweet mother-in-law has 2 arthritic knees that are so bad she can hardly walk some days without serious drugs. No medical insurance at her job, and no one will give her an independent contract because of her health issues. Perhaps she should just get both knees replaced at the same time and go bankrupt? There certainly aren't any easy answers, are there. The rich get better, the poor get Medicare, and the rest of us just die.
Oh, wait.. MedicAID. I wouldn't know. We've never had such luxeries...
Speaking of. Yes, she is in a precarious situation. To add to your list, she probably is too young for Medicare (the insurance we all "will get" after paying into it all our lives). Yeah, real wonderful stuff. By the way, it's estimated that funds for Medicare will run out by 2037 instead of the previous 2040 thanks to the recent slump in our economics. So, plan accordingly.
To add, her situation is rough but yet, not impossible. If it were Canada, or anywhere else in the world, her case would be impossible. Such was the case of the 57 yr old in the story. They rejected his claim because he was "too old to benefit and funds would go better somewhere else" like to a younger patient with their whole life in front of them. I think your mother in law would have fallen into this category as well, though I'm not sure because I don't know all of the details there...age, med probs etc.
At the end Hillary, I would have to say that the "rest of us" instead of dying, really end up suffering, which in my mind is worse than just dying. But either way, things aren't getting better.
THere needs to insurance reform. Insurance companies are getting away with murder. We pay so much money every single month and they totally try and get out of paying for anything. Still the cost of insurance is out of control. It is a chain reaction though. The cost of malpractice is so high because of frivilous law suits. Do you think Obama will go after them? I highly doubt that!
The other day Dan brought home a little metal part that they put into someones elbow. Well one of the doctors dropped it onto the floor and so therefore could not be used. This little part looked like something you could get at Home Depot. It cost the doctors $2000. You can't tell me it cost anywhere near that to make!
Dude, when we going to hear some more philosophizing from you? I need an update. By the way, does your brother work for the BOARDER patrol or the BORDER patrol?
Yeah, I've taken a hiatus...oh and yes, Todd is an internal designer and puts up wallpaper boarders all day long. Kind of a pansy thing to do, but none the less, it pays the bills I guess. ;)
Post a Comment