I actually came onto this site to seek advice, but have yet to come across a situation similar to mine. Here’s my current dilemma…I’m a 24 yr old female who has never went without medical insurance, UNTIL december of 2004 when I left my employer to go back to school full time. Before that, Kaiser remained consistent as my health care provider while under my mom’s policy and when I switched on my own. Unfortunately, I overlooked the need to keep an insurance plan while in school-Bad thinking on my end. In result, my mother had no choice but to pick me up under her insurance, but we all know how long that process takes for benefits to kick in…90 days or longer! January 1st 2006 is when I will be officially insured in Kaiser’s records! Sounds soon enough right? WRONG!!!

This past Saturday the 10th, I experienced thee most excruciating abdominal pain i’ve ever felt before. A friend rushed me to Kaiser Permanente where my mother frantically awaited our arrival. We then preceded to the emergency room to check in, which at that time was a few minutes after 6:00pm. By 10:45pm I was in a gown, waiting in a room for a doctor to see me. After a couple IV’s, a CATSCAN, an ultrasound, a vaginal exam, some morphine, and 3 doctors later I was finally told that I had a 7cm cyst on my right ovary causing the ovary to twist & lose oxygen.

Surgery was the only given option in order to salvage my ovary so indeed my mother agreed to it. No more than a few seconds after the doctor left the room, we were hit by an onslaught of paperwork which stated our obligation/responsibility to pay all entire hospital fees including surgery of course.

Now this absolutely kills me…please explain to me how the hospital already has all my current information including insurance membership identification # stored in its computer, BUT due to the fact that it says “pending till January 1st 2006″ they can’t honor it???? C’mon people, it’s less than a month away and it was clearly an emergency, it’s not like I was impatiently scheduling an appointment for this month! What can be done in a situation like this? This bill is not going to be cheap whatsoever. Merry Christmas to me huh?

Norwegian hospitals are clean, friendly and efficient, and the corridors we stick our patients in have paintings on the walls. But you get in. Free. And if it’s an emergency, there’s no waiting. The 40-50% taxes mentioned are not just income tax, but also miscellaneous fees and a sales tax of 25%. It’s not like you walk home with only half your paycheck.

I wish Americans would get over their fear of letting the government handle some things (like ensuring its entire population can actually read and write, and has good health; that would benefit employers, too). Think about it: Spending a lot of $$ on health insurance you may or may not get or that requires you have a (full-time) job out of your own pocket, or paying a bit more in taxes and being guaranteed a bed in a hospital and subsidized meds for chronic illnesses.

I’m happy to see this discussion. I think it’s about time the US stopped acting like a third-world country. That said, I was struck by the ingenuity and creativity in many of the suggestions given for how to manage the current situation, as well as all the sympathy.

Stay well, no matter what, ‘K?

It was a marvelous response though… (Good thing I still have a copy of it.)

However, when my husband and I attempted to get life insurance for our daughter outside of what was offered by our employers, it was denied. By Gerber, the famous $1 a month premium life insurance company. Also by Minnesota Life. The reason for the denial was her pyleoplasty, despite the fact that she was fully recovered and there are no anticipated problems in the future resulting from the condition. This was a wake up call for us, and made us realize that if it is this hard to get life insurance, it must be nearly impossible to get and/or afford health insurance with ANY pre-existing conditions at all.

Furthermore, my mother recently was laid off and my father is self-employed. They have been paying over $1000 a month in health insurance premiums while my mother is trying to find a job with benefits. What a crummy situation to be in. While I would love to be able to quit my job and stay at home full time with my daughter, this will never happen as we simply cannot afford to give up the health insurance benefits that we have.

This is a huge issue for our country and one that needs to be dealt with by our leaders immediately. Until then, Jon & Heather, see what kind of bennies the State of Utah offers; perhaps one of you could get a part-time position with benefits? Alternatively, and this isn’t a great option but one my mother is considering, get a part time job anywhere (gas station, McDonalds, etc) that offers benefits. While it may be demeaning, the benefits may outweigh the negative aspects.

Lots of love and good luck.

I could wager a guess what 45 million* or so think about it.

Happy Holidays.
(I believe Christmas is on the 25th?)
(Or maybe executions bring out your holiday cheer?)

*http://www.uschamber.com/publications/weekly/update/040831.htm

Since the information on that site is a little over 2 years old… I wonder if the numbers would be the same now. Plus, only 1,000 people were polled. 1,000 out of a country of (as of 7/1/03) 290,788,976 people*. I wonder what the other 290,787,976 people think about it.

I’m not trying to argue or discredit anything but polls shouldn’t be taken as the gospel truth. Especially when they only poll 1,000 out of a popultaion of 290,788,976. Besides statistics can (and usually will) be manipulated to show whatever the people gathering them want them to say.

Anyway, I really do appreciate the fact that you were able to back up what you said. A lot of people do nothing more than just talk and cannot produce the facts to back up what they say. I’m glad you were able to.

“This ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 9-13, 2003, among a random national sample of 1,000 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Fieldwork was conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.”

* http://tinyurl.com/dzwsz

Merry Christmas!

Oh, and I hope Tookie rots in Hell. (sorry for straying off topic)

As I said, 60-70% as long as they don’t see a decrease in access to care. (Numbers drop if people are told that they will have less access.)

You can get a lot more info on different universal health models (contrary to common beliefs, they are all very different), if you google “2003 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey”.

Speaking of statistics/leaving the country… I’d like to know how many people actually left the country (like they said they would) after the 2000 & 2004 election.