Health Care

Today I received a news letter from Smith Barney. Here is a synopsis of what it said:
“Your Health and Your Wealth”

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report, The State of Aging and Health in America 2007, life expectancy in the US has increased from 47 years for Americans born in 1900 to 77 years for those born in 2001.

Longer lives mean more health care expenditures. How much might this bill
be? Assuming Medicare benefits remain at current levels, a couple that reaches average life expectancy will need approximately $300,000 to cover health-insurance premiums and extra expenses as much as $550,000 if they reach age 95.”

The way I see it, you better hope that a universal affordable health care program is instituted where everyone is covered. Either that or have a huge
saving plan to pay for premiums. The only other option is to die young.

Makes you realise why our NHS is the envy of the world.

The one thing I always notice when someone mentions lifespans starting around 1900 is they never mention the epidemics that killed so many people in the past. Most of the causes have been wiped out now. If someone wasn't killed by one they had a good chance of living as long as people do today.
I sometimes recall a single-family burial plot we came upon one day far out in the boondocks at Fort Benning, Georgia. The mother, father and five children all died within a few days of each other. Cholera, yellow fever, or somehing I'm sure.
On the other hand, while doing research for a local sports book I read a story in a late 1800s newspaper about a couple celebrating their 76th wedding anniversary.
I wonder if Smith Barney's figures exclude Medicare? Without it we might have hit that $300,000. With it we haven't even come close. I get free medical care from the VA and it is very good, but for most things we rely on medicare and a great HMO operated by a chain of hospitals in the Akron area. Without all that we'd be in sad shape.

Same reason that folks like it here too; universal health care, and subsidies for every related aspect to it.

Except dental. It did cost me $10,000 for my kids teeth, and that's just to get her to have normal looking teeth, no movie start stuff.

Funny thing about teeth ... and genes.

My kid has straight teeth. No cavities.

And while I did teach him to brush and floss ... he didn't do any more often or any more thoroughly than I did as a kid.

I didn't allow alot of sweets or soda and neither did my mom.

What happens? I had half a dozen fillings and a root canal.

My kid?

At age 14 (he got his first part time job ... and started drinking soda almost daily) I took him to the dentist for a check up. Now, mind you, we used to be poor and didn't have insurance on him until he was 12. This was his first dental check up in years.

The dentist complimented him on his near perfect teeth (he had one itty bitty pin head sized cavity). Told him he had taken excellent care of his teeth. Even said "I bet you never drink soda." Hah!

He's 24 now. That is the only cavity he's ever had. The military told him his teeth are still perfect.

And he doesn't even try.

Dental genes are so unfair.

Oh, health genes too.

He doesn't get sick.

One time in his life, he was 17, he got strep.

That is the only time he's ever taken an antibiotic.

As a parent the only time I ever took him to the doctor before that was for his shots.

I'm not complaining.

Sounds to me that you were an excellent mother-to-be. A healthy mother produces a healthy child. Here's a bunch of flowers for you.

We need universal health insurance. With the present system, we are ultimately deciding who shall live.

I remember my grandfather talking about modern medicine and how it was keeping "old codgers like him" alive. It was always a strange remark, as the first time he went to the doctor was when he broke his arm falling on ice the month before he died. They found him dead on the floor by his bed the morning after his 88th birthday.

His father lived to ninety, his mother to ninety-six.

Carol

I agree, we need universal health care in this country. Rainbow's posts are a good example of the need for it.

Yes you do need universal health care in the US. I am stunned that it's not there yet, and have seen folks here struggle tremendously even though we have it.

On the teeth front, it is amazing how much a mom's health makes a difference, as well as floride being in the water. Growing up I had fillings in every single molar. One of my daughter's has had one little filling, and was born with perfectly straight and nicely spaced teeth, whereas the older one that needed the braces and all that has never had a cavity at all. I don't really attribute that to good mothering or lack of pop so much as I do regular cleanings because I was able to take them most of the time. Until I put my shingle out as a coach and writer that is!

One of the reasons I live where I do is because of the health care program. I was fortunate to have worked in Germany and was therefore elibigle. I have 100% coverage - no deductibles, nothing excluded. My premiums are based on my income, and with my retirement income, it is most affordable. The healthcare also includes dental. I pay 5 Euro per perscription regardless of the price of the prescription. And, I can go to the Doctor of my choice. When I visit the Doctor, I show them my card - it is like a credit card. They swipe it and that's the end of it. The doctor deals directly with the insurance carrier.

I believe that a program that is based on one's income is fair. That way it is affordable for everyone. But trying to get a program for the US is not easy. The insurance companies and the doctors will continue to lobby against it as they have done in the past.

Too true, and they are the ones with the money and therefore the clout. Without the VA I'd be sunk on prescriptions. It shouldn't be that way in a country that likes to boast it is "the greatest."

I think the United States is one of the only industrilized nations not to have universal health care. Universal health care is a good idea, but it might be troublesome finding the money to pay for it. We already have a multi-trillion dollar federal deficit. Mayby if we stopped this nonsence in Iraq, we'd have more money to use for things like universal health care. Another way would be to increase the taxes on the wealthy and/or make wealthier Americans pay for some or all of their medical expenses out of their own pocket. I don't think the tax payers should have to pay the medical bills of a billionair. People who can't afford medical care should be covered, but the ultra rich can afford it and there should be limits on their coverage to reduce the cost of the program.

With all this talk about universal health care, I got an interesting eye opener today and who better to share it with than you guys. Apparently there are certain cancer treatments and until today, tests, that we cannot get here...and so our provincial health care will cover diagnostic and treatment costs in Montreal, but you have to pay your own travel and expenses, including costs to stay in a hotel if you are doing treatment as an outpatient...as is often the case. It's a 1300 km (800 mile) trip.
IF you are employed and have extended medical coverage, it is possible that your plan will cover some of those costs...lots of ifs and lots of exclusions. Hmm. Universal??

Until I became eligible for Medicare, I never went to a doctor unless I thought I was about to die. Since Medicare coverage has been mine, I have been inspected inside and out.

I am glad to be able to go to a doctor if I am ill. I never did before. Here in Florida, there are many places that sell antibiotics for animals in the form of shots or pills. The antibiotic you would give to a pig or other small animal is the same antibiotic that would be prescribed for a human. No prescription needed. It goes by body weight.
It worked for me.

Love,
Betty

I also have been pleased with medicare and how well it works. We have had no hassles and do have a supplemental policy, but everything has been billed and paid efficiently.

Now I think first we should start with the children and make sure all children have the benefits the old folks have. We could do it.

Our mental health clinic was a certified medical clinic so we could bill insurance. It was often a nightmare, where different insurance companies had different requirements. Staff spent hours on billing. I think with universal health care we could simplify a lot of processes.

Carol

You're right Carol. Medicare is a god-send for those who have reached the age when it becomes available. However there are many who will never get there because of sickness/illness that was not treated because the person didn't have healthcare. That's where the problem lies. Everyone should have access to healthcare and it is possible. Doesn't it make more sense to protect human life with funding of healthcare rather than take human life with funding of wars? So when they say we can't afford it, remind them of the war that we can't afford that has and continues to put us deeper in debt.
It can be done and it is affordable. There are enough programs to copy, like in Europe, that are working well.

I don't even think the funding is impossible. I don't think we have to take money from any other program. If it were set up honestly there would be no problem.

When I had a small business, there was no way we could afford health care for our eleven employees. American Airlines paid far less for health care for each of its thousands than it would have cost our small business per person. But. . . if we had to pay a reasonable and affordable amount into the federal or state government for universal health care for all, we would have been more than glad to do so, like social security or unemployment tax. If each business had to do this, universal health care would be paid for.

But, whether a federal or state program, is a question. There are states working on universal health care for all their residents.

And I don't think there would be problems with doctors as in the past. I think many would just as soon forget worrying about how to get insurance to pay for services needed, and just treat patients to their best ability. So much time and effort goes into the issues of what gets paid for, that the best treatment gets by-passed.

There will always be those who are dishonest and mess up the system. Thus a system of checks and balances are needed.

Carol