Did you sign up for Obama Care? Good luck with that.

[Speed Demon]

Look familiar? It's our government hard at work.

[DannyB_KY]

SD,
I work for the Fed Gubment. I got hurt at work last sept. Here we are at the end of March, and I have not received the treatment I need for my back, so go back to"full duty." I'm on limited duty, which means pushing paperwork. There are many aspects of my job that I can not do and it makes me quite angry. The burro rats don't care. In fact, if they can"save" so much money during a quarter, they can get a bonus! Do you really think they want to help???

People ain't seen nothing yet.

[Speed Demon]

Danny, what do honest politicians, Santa Claus and vampires all have in common?

Short answer: None of them actually exist.

[Flash Harry]

The thing is - everyone in the UK is entitled to healthcare that is free at the point of need. This means that I don't have to worry about what happens when either I or a member of my family get sick. I don't have to be concerned that my insurance does not cover me for expensive cancer beating - or anything else beating - drugs, or extended procedures after a car accident or the like. I just know and I feel comfortable that whatever I need I will get.

In the UK, there are some worrying things happening to the National Health Service. Our right leaning government are selling off the easy procedures to private companies, such as cataract ops, where money can be made, still paid for by the NHS but outside of the NHS. It won't be long before we are offered and enhanced cataract op where you get a bit better services, which will mean that we have to pay for some of the operation and therefore it won't be 'free at the point of need' and we will be offered insurances to help pay for these enhancements. It's a slippery slope.

I get what Obama is doing, he is trying to provide for those who for one reason or another cannot afford the healthcare that they need. In the UK the NHS works well. I don't like it being messed with. I think that in time America may come to be as proud of their free heath services as we are in the UK.

Call me a sentimental old lefty, maybe I am, but you cannot predict what you are likely to need or when you're likely to need it. I really don't want the corporate bollocks messing with my health care.

[FuzzFace]

I tried to tell myself to avoid this thread but here I am.

I grew up in Canada and have lived in US for almost 3 years.

Obamacare is a far cry from universal health care systems provided by most 1st world countries.  All it is, is an insurance plan that prices according to salary bracket.

To me, anything that gets my medical coverage out of the hands of insurance companies, and completely separate from my employer... is a step in the right direction!  Call me naive...

[Speed Demon]

Here's the bottom line.

Good health is nothing more than the slowest possible rate that you can die.

Nature has more control over that then we ever will.

[Farrell Jackson]

Here's my "real world take" on Obamacare. I was dropped by my insurance company because they were forced out of California and then I was forced to enroll in Obamacare at a higher cost or be penalized. I was happy with my cost and coverage but now I'm not. I had to leave my family doctor of 30 years and sign up with an approved doctor that knew little of my medical history.

In January of this year I went to see my new doctor with a bad chest cold. He diagnosed me as having a large spot on my upper right lung saying it had a high degree of being cancerous. I said WTF??? I've never smoked, I excercise and lead a fairly healthy life style so I questioned if it could be a pneumonia spot? He said not likely and scheduled me for a lung biopsy....being in shock I agreed. After some rational thought,  I decided to pay out of pocket and get a second opinion from my real doctor of 30 years before they stuck a 6" needle through my back and into my lung. After my real doctor reviewed the diagnosis and looked at the X-Rays, he agreed that it was most likely not cancerous and more likely to be pneumonia. So I demanded an MRI but only after my bad cold and coughing was completely gone. The new doctor said it was risky to wait. I felt strongly that it was a missed diagnosis so I paid for it myself. The result: the spot was gone, no biopsy, and it was just mild  pneumonia so no need to worry. WTF? 6 weeks of thinking I might have lung cancer and it cost me additional $$$$ out of pocket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!%^%##$&*()()*#@!!!!!!!!! Don't take me wrong, I'm thankful it was nothing but I was put through this worry and cost because of the forced change in my healthcare due to Obamacare. So now I pay my Obamacare payment or risk getting a penalty at tax time and will pay out of pocket to see my real doctor. At years end I'll decide if it's better to pay the penalty and go with something else.....like Obama said we could....oops did he miss-speak again when he said that?

As far as Obamacare providing health care for those most in need......they already had free coverage at the free clinics and hospital emergency rooms. That same group of people in need are not signing up for Obamacare because it would cost them money for something they already get for free.

Bottom line: Obamacare is a complete disaster. Now I will be paying more for less and that's from my real world perspective. Am I pissed....yes I am.

Farrell

[alfstone]

The thing is - everyone in the UK is entitled to healthcare that is free at the point of need. This means that I don't have to worry about what happens when either I or a member of my family get sick. I don't have to be concerned that my insurance does not cover me for expensive cancer beating - or anything else beating - drugs, or extended procedures after a car accident or the like. I just know and I feel comfortable that whatever I need I will get.

As a doctor, and also (last year) as a patient, I agree 100%.

The problem is that they (US and NHS) are two completely different points of view, philosophies, without any common points.

Alfredo

P.S....the famous "Breaking bad" TV series...about an American University Professor with cancer who, in order to PAY the therapies, begins to make and sell metamphetamine drugs...well, in Italy (as in the UK, France, Spain etc.) such a starting point would be simply absurd...since everything is free.

[DannyB_KY]

Free isn't "free"........somebody, somewhere had their hard earned pay heavily taxed....

[alfstone]

Free isn't "free"........somebody, somewhere had their hard earned pay heavily taxed....

Somebody? No, EVERYBODY pays taxes, and EVERYBODY knows that if things go wrong with health, EVERYBODY (the ones without job included, or the poor ones) has free access to ALL the structures of the NHS: GP, first aid, specialists, everything for diagnosis and treatment.

But after all, again, they are two different worlds, speaking different languages, so it's impossible to understand each other. One thing, for sure, is that very few here would change a "tax-based" health service with a "credit card-based" one. You could answer that the same applies on the converse, so...

Good luck! 

Alfredo