Aa
Dont Knock our Health System
Canada's system is called Medicare, and is much like Medicare in the U.S. for over-65-year-olds, except that this one treats virtually the entire Canadian population of 33 million.Canadians are setting aside their criticisms of Medicare and rallying to its defense. The reason: Their system has been dragged into the debate over President Barack Obama's health care reform proposals by opponents who say Canada proves Obama is wrong — that Canadians endure long waits for critical procedures, medical rationing, scant resources and heavy-handed government interference.
http://www.the33tv.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-cn-canada-medicare-for-all,0,5821607.story
http://www.the33tv.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-cn-canada-medicare-for-all,0,5821607.story
First and foremost, thank you Medhelp for letting the discussion continue....it's what brought me back to the forum today.
Mr. Liver: I have worked in long term care/skilled rehab since the late 80's.
Most people don't understand the difference betwen Medicare and Medicaid when they are checking on their parents benefits.
The part most people are unfamilar with is MedicareA which is a health insurance policy. It will cover the first 20 days of skilled nursing care if someone breaks, their hip, needs a knee replacement, or is dehydrated and has a urinary tract infection and needs care and strengthening before going home. On day 21 Medicare drops to an 80/20 copay.
Medicare B pays for outpatient services such as therapy or home health and some medical equipment.
Medicare D pays for prescriptions.
When a person trades in their medicare coverage for a Medicare supplement, they are often surprised to find out that they have a $50 $75 or $100 co-pay per day when they leave the hospital and need skilled rehab from day one. Not one of the supplemental insurances pays as well as Medicare A.
Hospitals don't keep patients the amount of time that they used to in order for a person to leave the hospital and go home. Many people need extra time in a skilled nursing facility receiving rehab before they can go home safely.
I've encountered many shocked families when they find out that the medicare ppo doesn't offer as much coverage for skilled nursing care as traditional Medicare PartA.
Just my observations in the field...
Bug
Mr. Liver: I have worked in long term care/skilled rehab since the late 80's.
Most people don't understand the difference betwen Medicare and Medicaid when they are checking on their parents benefits.
The part most people are unfamilar with is MedicareA which is a health insurance policy. It will cover the first 20 days of skilled nursing care if someone breaks, their hip, needs a knee replacement, or is dehydrated and has a urinary tract infection and needs care and strengthening before going home. On day 21 Medicare drops to an 80/20 copay.
Medicare B pays for outpatient services such as therapy or home health and some medical equipment.
Medicare D pays for prescriptions.
When a person trades in their medicare coverage for a Medicare supplement, they are often surprised to find out that they have a $50 $75 or $100 co-pay per day when they leave the hospital and need skilled rehab from day one. Not one of the supplemental insurances pays as well as Medicare A.
Hospitals don't keep patients the amount of time that they used to in order for a person to leave the hospital and go home. Many people need extra time in a skilled nursing facility receiving rehab before they can go home safely.
I've encountered many shocked families when they find out that the medicare ppo doesn't offer as much coverage for skilled nursing care as traditional Medicare PartA.
Just my observations in the field...
Bug
Hello All,
As some of you may already be aware we have decided to discontinue any political discussions on the site. However, we have allowed this particular discussion to continue because there has been no fighting and basically it is a quiet discussion.
That being said, someone seems to disagree and has been continually hitting the abuse button. Sadly, one member is going to ruin this thread for you all.
The next abuse report that comes in, the thread will be removed and a report will be run to find out which member is the culprit and he/she will be dealt with accordingly.
I sincerely hope this will not be necessary and you will be able to continue this discussion.
I hope you all enjoy your holiday weekend and I thank you for your cooperation.
The MedHelp Team
As some of you may already be aware we have decided to discontinue any political discussions on the site. However, we have allowed this particular discussion to continue because there has been no fighting and basically it is a quiet discussion.
That being said, someone seems to disagree and has been continually hitting the abuse button. Sadly, one member is going to ruin this thread for you all.
The next abuse report that comes in, the thread will be removed and a report will be run to find out which member is the culprit and he/she will be dealt with accordingly.
I sincerely hope this will not be necessary and you will be able to continue this discussion.
I hope you all enjoy your holiday weekend and I thank you for your cooperation.
The MedHelp Team
Am I the only one who wants a compassionate society?
I think we all should contribute to a society that includes education, clean water and air, health care and compassion for all its citizens.
Socialism? Isn't that what our libraries are? I think they're wonderful!
I think greed, the me first attitude, has caused the big mess our country is in right now.
And I think the mess the health care situation is in can be directly contributed to greed.
The Insurance companies function for profit. Not for care or health first. If they did,we wouldn't need any changes.
Mr. Obama's mother died of cancer.
He saw her struggle with her insurance company while in the hospital. I think his desire to change the current situation comes from this experience.
And please Mr. Liver, leave the illegal immigrants out of this.
I think we all should contribute to a society that includes education, clean water and air, health care and compassion for all its citizens.
Socialism? Isn't that what our libraries are? I think they're wonderful!
I think greed, the me first attitude, has caused the big mess our country is in right now.
And I think the mess the health care situation is in can be directly contributed to greed.
The Insurance companies function for profit. Not for care or health first. If they did,we wouldn't need any changes.
Mr. Obama's mother died of cancer.
He saw her struggle with her insurance company while in the hospital. I think his desire to change the current situation comes from this experience.
And please Mr. Liver, leave the illegal immigrants out of this.
In a nutshell, they are private companies who have elected to provide Medicare Supplemental Insurance to those qualified beneficiaries who normally use Orginal Medicare Plan with the promise to conform to certain gov't rules and regulations as required in the Original Medical Plan. Of course, the Supp Ins Plans does all of the requirements and then some from the same money. The private plans receive the medical premiums that the medicare recipients normally would have had to pay to the Medicare Original Plan.Then they more efficiently disburse the payments
They use this money to run their insurance companies and do it much more efficiently and provide more services and better care, than the Original Plan does. These supplemental plans focus more than medicare on after-care .Preventative care is critical also and amenities such as health classes . If a plan enrollee would like to pay a little extra they can further reduce their co-pays and deductibles and. get benefits that offer PPO, and HMO low deductibles, private hospital rooms, reduced cost of some services, and more choices as to doctors and contracted hospitals. Choice is important to people when it comes to their health and the safety of their loved ones.as it should be. I kinda rambled but I think you got the bottom line. Don;t let gov't run the 6th largest industry in North America. Rember the government must first take before it can give.
Hope this helps a little. Complicated subject to be sure. I have read enough US Code to last me 2 lifetimes.
They use this money to run their insurance companies and do it much more efficiently and provide more services and better care, than the Original Plan does. These supplemental plans focus more than medicare on after-care .Preventative care is critical also and amenities such as health classes . If a plan enrollee would like to pay a little extra they can further reduce their co-pays and deductibles and. get benefits that offer PPO, and HMO low deductibles, private hospital rooms, reduced cost of some services, and more choices as to doctors and contracted hospitals. Choice is important to people when it comes to their health and the safety of their loved ones.as it should be. I kinda rambled but I think you got the bottom line. Don;t let gov't run the 6th largest industry in North America. Rember the government must first take before it can give.
Hope this helps a little. Complicated subject to be sure. I have read enough US Code to last me 2 lifetimes.
Can you explain how Medicare Supplemental insurance plans work? Who is eligible for this and what does it cover? Now asking for my benefit as the ongoing debate here in Canada is whether to allow private healthcare and in what form. Your reference to it has piqued my interest.
Politicians on the left can imagine a conspiracy, or racism ( I just love that one) , or an organized effort by citizens in the community or the RNC is bussing (taking a page from the DNC play book) disgruntled seniors in from assisted living homes. They can imagine all of this and more while trying to explain away the dissent they are hearing at their townhalls but its not going to work. Many Americans are angry and they have an absolute right to be.
I saw a lady at my townhall meeting with a shirt that said "I love my government-run medicare!" Maybe some of you have seen them. I talked with her a bit about her shirt. It turns out that she didn't have medicare at all. She has a Medicare Supplemental Insurance Plan. I explained to her that the shirt seemed to imply that she had the Original Medicare Plan administered by the federal government.
If the proponents of the health reform bill were to actually read it, and/or listen to what Obama really says about it they certainly would come to a clear understanding of what fuels much of the dissent at their meetings.
Original Medicare Plan vs Medicare Supplemental Insurance
Original Medicare is an 80/20 plan for doctors visits and limits on hospital stays, 20% co-pay for .diagnostic tests (MRI can be pretty pricey) , and you can't find a doctor who accepts medicare payments to treat you in the first place. Trying to find a specialist who accepts the low payments offered by the Original Plan is a joke. Why anyone would take this plan over a Medicare Supplemental Insurance Plan (offered by private insurers) is beyond me. For the same money per month as a medicare part B payment, private insurers offer plans with lower co-pays and deductibles, and include many more medical services. Many offer free gym memberships, and put an emphasis on preventative care. They offer dental programs for very low addt'l payments, something the Original Plan has never offered. Many of the supplemental plans offer a wide array of programs for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and most chronic diseases. Supplemental insurance programs are a godsend to those who are among the most vulnerable in our society- the aged, and disabled, many of whom have very little income.
How can these private insurers provide so much more than the gov't run Original Medicare Plan ? Several ways-- lower overhead due to more efficiency in administration, more emphasis on follow-up care and preventative programs, and they do receive $115 billion dollars in governmental subsidy for administering the plans in place of
Here's what Obama thinks is right.This is according to his own words. He wants to take away the $ 115 billion in subsidies paid to the private insurers who administer Medicare Supplemental Insurance across the country . This will result in drastic and severe cuts to these health plans that most of our retired seniors and disabled have come to rely on. There is no mathematical way around it. We will be diminishing the level of healthcare that the aged and disabled now receive. Obama may be OK with that, but I'm not, and neither is most of America. Our seniors and disabled are VERY worried and have every right to be in light of this agenda.
Think about this:
Obama is going to take money ( $115 B ) which he repeatedly refers to as "savings" from the Medicare Supplemental Insurance plans that cover the majority of our retired and disabled Americans. Where are the "savings" ( $115 B ) going to? Why to subsidize the health insurance of younger, healthier, and more affluent people, of course. A large number of seniors and disabled people have been showing up at these townhall meetings who are not happy about this. They are angry at what is being attempted by this administration. And so are their children. And their friends. And their fellow church and community members. You know, the very people you would expect at a townhall meeting---the constituents.
And how can there be anyone so naive as to not think that illegals won't be covered ? I don't think many Americans, and apparently no one in the administration, knows how the vast majority of illegals get work in this country. It's because they have the necessary documents to fulfill the requirements of an I-9 form of which a copy is then sent to the federal government. And the documents presented in most every instance are very authentic looking. Dems love to call the illegals "undocumented workers" LOL. If this were true we wouldn't have much of an illegal alien problem. I've hired hundreds of people over the years. I have hired some that I suspected were illegal. And in some cases I found out later that my suspicions were correct BUT, at the time of interviewing they had authentic looking documents and their SS# checked out. .Employers, HR, managers,etc are not trained to be counterfeit experts. To not accept them based on a suspicion only, would be blatant discrimination. There is no doubt that illegal aliens will sign up for and be accepted into health care coverage with the same documents they use to get work. So, my friends, we WILL be paying for illegals. Lots of them. And some of that money used to do this will come from the $115 B that they are going to take away from our seniors and disabled. Good reasoning and logic there Barak. You might want to try laying off of the island bud for awhile.
Worth mentioning is the fact that for the first time in 37 years our seniors and disabled will not see a cost of living increase on their SS checks. As Obama loves to point out in trying to sell his agenda, healthcare costs are rocketing and as he has stated repeatedly, 60% of all healthcare costs are spent on our aging senior population. Could someone please connect the dots for Obama?
As for lobbyists---Why do you suppose there is not ONE mention on tort reform in 1100 pages of the house bill ? You don't suppose one of the largest contributors to Dem coffers, i.e., the Trial Lawyers Assoc. lobbied to keep it out of the reform bill ? I have never in my life seen such a blatant case of being in someone's pocket. How can you have an earnest, honest, and meaningful debate on healthcare reform without so much of a mention of tort reform when it contributes immensely toward the rising costs of healthcare? You can't. Its disenguous on their part to keep one of the major causes of rising health care in this nation off the table simply for their own personal political gain in the next election.
Write your representaives and senators in Congress and tell them to leave medicare and medicare supplemental insurances plans alone.
I saw a lady at my townhall meeting with a shirt that said "I love my government-run medicare!" Maybe some of you have seen them. I talked with her a bit about her shirt. It turns out that she didn't have medicare at all. She has a Medicare Supplemental Insurance Plan. I explained to her that the shirt seemed to imply that she had the Original Medicare Plan administered by the federal government.
If the proponents of the health reform bill were to actually read it, and/or listen to what Obama really says about it they certainly would come to a clear understanding of what fuels much of the dissent at their meetings.
Original Medicare Plan vs Medicare Supplemental Insurance
Original Medicare is an 80/20 plan for doctors visits and limits on hospital stays, 20% co-pay for .diagnostic tests (MRI can be pretty pricey) , and you can't find a doctor who accepts medicare payments to treat you in the first place. Trying to find a specialist who accepts the low payments offered by the Original Plan is a joke. Why anyone would take this plan over a Medicare Supplemental Insurance Plan (offered by private insurers) is beyond me. For the same money per month as a medicare part B payment, private insurers offer plans with lower co-pays and deductibles, and include many more medical services. Many offer free gym memberships, and put an emphasis on preventative care. They offer dental programs for very low addt'l payments, something the Original Plan has never offered. Many of the supplemental plans offer a wide array of programs for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and most chronic diseases. Supplemental insurance programs are a godsend to those who are among the most vulnerable in our society- the aged, and disabled, many of whom have very little income.
How can these private insurers provide so much more than the gov't run Original Medicare Plan ? Several ways-- lower overhead due to more efficiency in administration, more emphasis on follow-up care and preventative programs, and they do receive $115 billion dollars in governmental subsidy for administering the plans in place of
Here's what Obama thinks is right.This is according to his own words. He wants to take away the $ 115 billion in subsidies paid to the private insurers who administer Medicare Supplemental Insurance across the country . This will result in drastic and severe cuts to these health plans that most of our retired seniors and disabled have come to rely on. There is no mathematical way around it. We will be diminishing the level of healthcare that the aged and disabled now receive. Obama may be OK with that, but I'm not, and neither is most of America. Our seniors and disabled are VERY worried and have every right to be in light of this agenda.
Think about this:
Obama is going to take money ( $115 B ) which he repeatedly refers to as "savings" from the Medicare Supplemental Insurance plans that cover the majority of our retired and disabled Americans. Where are the "savings" ( $115 B ) going to? Why to subsidize the health insurance of younger, healthier, and more affluent people, of course. A large number of seniors and disabled people have been showing up at these townhall meetings who are not happy about this. They are angry at what is being attempted by this administration. And so are their children. And their friends. And their fellow church and community members. You know, the very people you would expect at a townhall meeting---the constituents.
And how can there be anyone so naive as to not think that illegals won't be covered ? I don't think many Americans, and apparently no one in the administration, knows how the vast majority of illegals get work in this country. It's because they have the necessary documents to fulfill the requirements of an I-9 form of which a copy is then sent to the federal government. And the documents presented in most every instance are very authentic looking. Dems love to call the illegals "undocumented workers" LOL. If this were true we wouldn't have much of an illegal alien problem. I've hired hundreds of people over the years. I have hired some that I suspected were illegal. And in some cases I found out later that my suspicions were correct BUT, at the time of interviewing they had authentic looking documents and their SS# checked out. .Employers, HR, managers,etc are not trained to be counterfeit experts. To not accept them based on a suspicion only, would be blatant discrimination. There is no doubt that illegal aliens will sign up for and be accepted into health care coverage with the same documents they use to get work. So, my friends, we WILL be paying for illegals. Lots of them. And some of that money used to do this will come from the $115 B that they are going to take away from our seniors and disabled. Good reasoning and logic there Barak. You might want to try laying off of the island bud for awhile.
Worth mentioning is the fact that for the first time in 37 years our seniors and disabled will not see a cost of living increase on their SS checks. As Obama loves to point out in trying to sell his agenda, healthcare costs are rocketing and as he has stated repeatedly, 60% of all healthcare costs are spent on our aging senior population. Could someone please connect the dots for Obama?
As for lobbyists---Why do you suppose there is not ONE mention on tort reform in 1100 pages of the house bill ? You don't suppose one of the largest contributors to Dem coffers, i.e., the Trial Lawyers Assoc. lobbied to keep it out of the reform bill ? I have never in my life seen such a blatant case of being in someone's pocket. How can you have an earnest, honest, and meaningful debate on healthcare reform without so much of a mention of tort reform when it contributes immensely toward the rising costs of healthcare? You can't. Its disenguous on their part to keep one of the major causes of rising health care in this nation off the table simply for their own personal political gain in the next election.
Write your representaives and senators in Congress and tell them to leave medicare and medicare supplemental insurances plans alone.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis Social Community
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
