This ignorant one decides to take his SS retirement at age 62 in 2002. He then was teaching 1/2 time. He had retired from full-time in '98. He "retired" again in 02 with his eyes shut tight, just wanting to get back a little of what he'd paid in over the years to SS. SS told him , "if you wait until you are 80 we'll send you a lot more money each month!" Yet this guy is impulsive. But then, in the first place after making his SS claim he learns that he must pay SS 50% of what he earns over $11,200. So, he decides to teach only 1/4 time ...that way SS will not take but a little money from him. He wished to avoid that since he has already paid into SS for 45 years! But when he goes from 1/2 time to 1/4 time the school no longers gives him medical insurance. He reasons (as he never had to buy medical insurance before) "how expensive could that be anyway?" (dummy!). Then in shopping around he discovers that as he has a few minor health problems, it will cost him for the medical insurance as much as or more than what he is getting from SS retirement! Furthermore, he now pays taxes again on his SS "income"-ha!! Not only that, but SS is still taken out of his meager 1/4 time income!!! (what for the after life?). I will not tell you this guy's name. But if you see a slightly over weight guy with a dumb look on his face begging on the corner, that's probably him!
Could this same hypothetical person also be working on two doctorates? If not, for the life of me, I can't figure out who it is. In the words of an old TV commercial, Bill, "We love you, MAN."
I went to the emergency room at 12:30 midnight, due to kidney stones. I received the following treatment: Was in & out in 90 minutes. Got to lay on an ER bed while naked in a paper robe. Was hydrated with an IV bag. God to talk to a doctor for almost 4 minutes. Had blood taken and blood was examined. Received high-strength tylenol. [*]Total Cost = $1000. It's all a scam. How could the above possibly cost a thousand dollars?
Can you edit your typos in 8 minutes or less ? That got, as in g-o-t. Not God Almighty. The meter won't accept any more quarters, so I can no longer edit the typo.
Similar thing happened to me, although I missed the enjoyment of getting naked. Direct cost to me $ 0.00. In America, it pays to be rich or on welfare. The working poor take it up the whazoo. When are you guys going to figure that out? An uninsured person (typically foreign) walking into our local hospital, if I remember the chart on the wall, would pay about $100.00 for such a treatment. Taxpayer supported medical care hasn't bankrupted every other developed country in the world and it certainly wouldn't bankrupt America. In fact health care, in Canada, takes up a significantly smaller portion of the GNP than in the United States so we are better off for it.
No problem. When you get to the border, just say you are a fundraiser for the Hezballah (sp??) and you're a political refugee and there should be no problem. Just don't say you're enrolled in 2 doctoral programs or you'll be deported and placed in a nice Oregon State hospital until you regain lucidity.
Scam? I guess the naysayers of healthcare are optimistic about some type of national healthcare, i.e. the program that the Clinton administration tried to get off the ground? Would a socialist approach to healthcare answer the problem? How will America feel about healthcare where the bottom line will be that you only receive care that is previously sanctioned by the administrative powers that be... I have bad news for all of you...healthcare costs, waiting, and "in-and-out" service is only projected to get worse. Currently, military healthcare types can make a killing working part-time in local hospitals due to the shortage of healthcare workers. Unfortunately, since many are leaving the biz - costs are incrementally applied to the consumer - i.e., paying PRN nurses $24-30/hr in Georgia (nurses in D.C. can get $70-80/hr; Conneticut $60/hr) costs to staff their wards/emergency rooms/etc. since they don't have enough "in house" staff to handle the current patient loads. I have been called by numerous nursing agencies and asked, "Gee, Steven...XXX hospital has patients in the Emergency Department that they can't send to the floor due to a lack of staff. Is there any way you give them a few hours? Can you work 7PM-11PM to get them through this crunch?" Bottom line: physicians and nurses are required to do more with less help...Nursing/Medical school enrollment is on the decline...There have been projections of nursing shortages to the tune of 2,500,000 in the year 2015. What can you...the consumer...expect? Expect bad attitudes, lackadaisical care, and diminished effectiveness from the majority of healthcare workers. I am appalled at what is considered commonplace in healthcare, especially in the civilian arena. I am not sure it's so much a "scam" as it is a desperate healthcare industry trying to provide viable healthcare any way they can. Looking from outside in proves how subjective we all are...I might believe that too many local police jurisdictions set up phony checkpoints as part of a scam to make ticket quotas....but since I am not part of that industry, my comments about it are pretty naive and subjective. Steven King
A funny thing happened on the way to Disneyland.... While we were on vacation last year in Florida, my daughter had an ear infection (probably from the chlorine in the pool). I took her to a local "walk in clinic" near the Disney theme park. The pediatrician on duty looked into hear ears and gave her a prescription (Amoxocilin). The total cost (physician's visit and prescription) was $76.00. I was able to claim 90% of the from my health care plan (OHIP). My cousin who lives in Staten Island, New York took her son to a local hospital for an ear infection (in November). In the end it cost her nearly $375.00. Your health care system definitely needs to be overhauld!
Re: A funny thing happened on the way to Disneyland.... Roy, That much I can agree with you on... Steven King
I have been having pain in my right foot for several months, so I went to the doctor in January. After several visits, xrays, consultations, etc. I am out about $70, plus I get to keep the xrays. I do have a broken foot (one of the small bones in the ball of my foot) and received a cortisone shot. That is included in the above price, along with several blood tests that were run to rule out gout. I may have to have surgery to remove the bone fragments. If so, it will cost me about $175 for the total cost of the procedure. Not bad. All told, it shouldn't cost me more than $250 or so. Last June, the day we left for Estonia, my son was running a fever and coughing alot. So just to be safe, we took him to the pediatrician. He had to have xrays, had pneumonia and we had to get xrays, etc. End cost - well over $500. Wouldn't you know it that I was in a two day window where we were not covered by any insurance then... bummer. But it makes me wonder how in the world one doctor visit and a couple of xrays, plus on little prescription for an anti-biotic can run over $500, while three doctor visits, cortisone treatment and minor out-patient surgery can cost less than $250. Say what you want, but the American health care system is a scam. my thoughts anyway, clint PS, I don't think it would get any better with the socialized medicine system. I wasn't overwhelmed with the quality of the military medical care. My former fiancee was Canadian and they didn't impress me all that much either, though that was over 10 years ago.
"Socialized medicine." Haven't heard that thrown around in a while. My sister moved to Canada 2 years ago. She had no insurance here and is quite pleased with the quality and quantity of health care that she receives there. She won't be back! BTW, she married a Canadian (but we love her anyway!). Tom Nixon
Cheap Canadian drugs As long as we're on the topic: why don't all Americans buy their medicine from Canada? Following an article in some geezer magazine last year, I started buying from CanadaPharmacy.com (there are many such services) The prices are vastly lower than the best US prices. Two examples in our household: Allopurinol I take daily to ward off gout: Price with my Blue Shield: 50 cents a pill. Price without insurance: $1.10 a pill. Price from Canada: 7 cents a pill. Premarin my wife takes to ward off osteoporosis: Blue Shield, $1.50 No insurance price, $4, Canada price, 20 cents. And one can buy unlimited quantities. Our doctor faxes them the prescriptions, and things come in the US Mail a week later.
Re: Cheap Canadian drugs === You have gout too eh? Ain't it fun? I also take that as a preventative. Before I had my gout diagnosed I thought a thousand devils had infested my foot. Now I know that is not true. The devils rather are selling Americans the drugs they need --at huge profits--to live without severe pain (as allopurinol) or simply to keep on living ( like my blood pressure tablets, tiny but $1.75 each)! I will look into that Canadian site, thanks. Last month we paid here $175 for such and soon I start my diabetes prescriptions too which I hear are not cheap.
A Tale of Two Countries: If you fall off a ladder and break your leg: In Canada> pay a relatively small service fee for the hospital services and have all other medical fees (including prescriptions) covered by the federal health care plan and/or company insurance plans. Most likely you will collect a disability pay while you are away from your job. In the U.S.> get a second mortgage.
