[Kosh]

Today I find out that I have joined your ranks. I am one of the 45+ million people in this country who possess no health insurance.

[aldo_14]

What's health insurance for?

[Martinus]

Originally posted by aldo_14
What's health insurance for?

[color=66ff00]A lack of NHS.

Seven hundred billion dollars for weapons. I need say no more.
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[aldo_14]

Yeah, think of what a couple of cruise missiles and 3 metric tonnes of anthrax could do to clear the waiting lists.

[Unknown Target]

What...?
Anyway, health insurance (you were probably being sarcastic, but still) is in case you get injured ort something and require a hospital stay, the insurance pays for (or should pay for) some of it. I believe it also gives moeny to your loved ones after you die.

[aldo_14]

And what if you get injured and have no money?  Say if you're homeless and get hit by a car.

[Rictor]

Then you get Shifty Pete down in the alley to operate. I hear he spent a few years in med school, though most of the time he was tripping on acid.

[achtung]

Originally posted by aldo_14
And what if you get injured and have no money?  Say if you're homeless and get hit by a car.

You will still get medical care but owe a massive bill to the hospital.  X-Rays usually cost somewhere near $100 without insurance I think just as an example.

[Charismatic]

Originally posted by Kosh
Today I find out that I have joined your ranks. I am one of the 45+ million people in this country who possess no health insurance.

Eh, cheers! Congrads! Glad to have you with us Kosh!!!

Eh, dam america.. and our electromatic bombs... um..

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Swantz


You will still get medical care but owe a massive bill to the hospital.  X-Rays usually cost somewhere near $100 without insurance I think just as an example.

So the right to life isn't a sacred right.

wow, sucks to be American.

[Scuddie]

If you're in an auto accident, you could lose your home.  A 3 day hospital stay with treatment for such a thing would cost well above $100,000.  This is no joke or exageration.  Truth be told, many people who lose their homes, lost it because of no medical insurance.

[Deepblue]

Originally posted by Unknown Target
I believe it also gives moeny to your loved ones after you die.

That's life insurance.

[vyper]

And to think they almost hung Hillary for trying to get a US NHS.

[Nuke]

it wouldnt be so bad if our hospitals spent more money on trained professionals and less on expensive diagnostic machines. you go to a hospital and after an $200 mri scan, 2 x-rays ($100 each) and some ultrasound (another $100), the doctor gives you a $0.50 asprin and sends you on your way. they spend more on tests than treatment. it is possible to diagnose 90% of medical problems with 5 minutes of q & a with a qualified doc. also you have wuss syndrom, people think every little thing is life threataning and have to run to the er. flu shots for example. most people get sick on the shot alone. last time i had the flu was 3 years ago, and it didnt last more than a day and a half. sure beats getting sick from the flu shot, and then getting the flu when it doesnt work.

[Rictor]

Originally posted by vyper
And to think they almost hung Hillary for trying to get a US NHS.

Of course. NHS is a dirty, dirty socialism.

Originally posted by aldo_14


So the right to life isn't a sacred right.

wow, sucks to be American.

There is no right to life. There is a right (in theory) not to die from X and Y and Z, but outside of that - **** happens. The arguement can be made that the state isn't responsible if you get sick or injured, so they are under no obligation to help you out. Of course, many would beg to differ, and I would partially agree. But people do not have a right not to be f**ked over by life.

[achtung]

Actually I just remembered a good example:

When I broke my arm a while back the medical bill was somewhere in the order of $6000 I beleive.  But I have insurance

[Martinus]

Originally posted by Nuke
it wouldnt be so bad if our hospitals spent more money on trained professionals and less on expensive diagnostic machines. you go to a hospital and after an $200 mri scan, 2 x-rays ($100 each) and some ultrasound (another $100), the doctor gives you a $0.50 asprin and sends you on your way. they spend more on tests than treatment. it is possible to diagnose 90% of medical problems with 5 minutes of q & a with a qualified doc. also you have wuss syndrom, people think every little thing is life threataning and have to run to the er. flu shots for example. most people get sick on the shot alone. last time i had the flu was 3 years ago, and it didnt last more than a day and a half. sure beats getting sick from the flu shot, and then getting the flu when it doesnt work.

[color=66ff00]Actually it wouldn't be so bad if malpractice insurance didn't cost a ****ing fortune because money grabbing asshats want to bleed the system dry.

The hospitals are mired in high paid suits passing the buck to the lowest end of the 'food chain', medics are assualted by both patients and their families/visitors and the only people really getting any benefit out of the whole affair in the long term are lawyers.

*fumes*
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[Ford Prefect]

Don't trash the American Dream, dude.

[EtherShock]

What, you mean suing the pants off someone for millions of dollars? ^_^

HMOs aren't going to give up their moneymaker without a fight. It'll be a long struggle for national healthcare here. We have as good a chance of seeing national healthcare as we do of a free college tuition.

[mikhael]

This makes me miss the military medical system (the one I grew up with, not the ****e you lot get today).

Of course, I'm not so sure how I feel about socialized medical systems. I wasn't too impressed with TQEH in Adelaide of late. Their poor aftercare is a direct cause of me spending 2mos salary on emergency plane tickets recently.