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[LuvOrlando]

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[hipchickie]

I haven't seen it (though I intend to at some point) but I wanted to mention that I know a LOT of canadians. In the US we hear a lot of anecdotal stories about the heath care system there, and how there is long wait times, it is impossible to find good care, etc etc...that is far from how they feel about it. They have told me over and over that there is only long waits for elective surgery, no abnormal waits to see a dr. any other time, especially not if you are sick.

 

[BelleBoo&AmisMum]

I saw the movie in theater and I'm about to make DH watch it now. Regardless of political views, I think it's a very good and important movie for people to see. Very well done and sobering at the same time.

 

[JoyG]

I started watching it last night, but fell asleep. I'll finish watching it tonight.

I have a question...who are those people applying/denied for insurance in the US? Are they the ones that don't automatically get it through their jobs?

Have you ever heard of someone starting a job and still getting denied for coverage? Or trying to change providers while on a job that offers more than one provider and getting denied?

And here's a question about socialized medicine...are you required to go to only the doctors or hospitals in the neighborhood where you live, or can you go to any in the country?

Thanks

 

[Fitswimmer]

I started watching it last night, but fell asleep. I'll finish watching it tonight.

I have a question...who are those people applying/denied for insurance in the US? Are they the ones that don't automatically get it through their jobs?

Have you ever heard of someone starting a job and still getting denied for coverage? Or trying to change providers while on a job that offers more than one provider and getting denied?

And here's a question about socialized medicine...are you required to go to only the doctors or hospitals in the neighborhood where you live, or can you go to any in the country?

Thanks

Yes, I have heard of folks getting denied for coverage when they get a job. We had a woman at my current company get denied for insurance when she came here due to pre-existing conditions. When I worked for the DOD, we had a choice of about 10 different plans and there were people who got denied for one plan and had to try and get coverage with another one. It does happen.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I hope to rent it soon. It was in and out of the theatres so fast around here that I never got a chance.

 

[Cindy B]

It was a very interesting movie. I fell asleep about 1/2 way through the movie (not the movie's fault) and what I saw was very fascinating.

That whole segment about the formation of managed care in the early 1970's was very fascinating. It makes sense now. Of course Nixon had a hand in the evil HMO's!

I like the idea of socialized medicine, but I am aware how long the wait is for certain doctors/specialists. I would like to know if the wait would be any longer than my wait now for HMO's...

Now, my DH works at one of those large companies featured in the beginning of the movie. DH is not a case/claims reviewer, and I can only imagine how some of them feel. The part about the medical reviewer getting bonuses with a high "denial" right is entirely true. DH's division gets bonuses for achieving goals as well. This company supports us (I'm not working now) so I can't really bite the hand that feeds me.

 

[believe]

I have not seen this, but curious about it.

My Dad can not get coverage unless through the government of KY and it would have been approximately $1500/month or $18,000/yr which is more than he makes in a year. He is self-employeed, was previously covered by my mom's work prior to her death and through cobra the 3 years after her death. He has diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Luckily he doesn't have any debt and is able to cover all his scheduled check ups and his dr has moved him to medications he can get on the $4 plan at Walmart. His dr is also giving him a discount for paying cash at his visits.

I always thought I wanted to be a stay at home mom, but have now realized that if something happened to DH I may have difficulty getting health care coverage myself depending on my ability to get a decent job and care for my kids. I have since decided it is worth working just knowing I can have health care coverage that is not through DH.

As for having a job and being denied coverage some jobs have insurance that does not cover pre-existing conditions or individuals have a 1-2yr waiting period before the insurance will cover any of the cost.

 

[TB'sWidow]

I have not seen the movie but I am one of the working americans that do not have ins. The company that I work for will work you 40hrs and list you as part time so that they don't have to offer health benefits. To purchase health care on my own is to outrageous due to pre-existing conditions. I am not sure what the solution is but something needs to be done.

 

[Disney Doll]

I put very little stock in anything Michael Moore does because I think he is an idiot. I don't think he does his "expose" movies for anything other than notoriety. He seems to have people convinced that he is some sort of "societal watchdog". I think he is self-centered, and self-serving, at best.

I have been a nurse (both full-time and part-time) for 25 years in a city hospital. I can tell you without hesitation that everyone gets treated if they come in, they all receive the same care, and they all have the same nurses and doctors caring for them. There are social workers who work with the uninsured so they can avail themselves of the many programs available to pay for their healthcare. We have health clinics...the same MDs who would take care of me, an insured person, if I was hospitalized, will take care of the uninsured.

If your MD follows the dictates of the insurance compnay against his/her better judgement, then find a new MD. In my career as a nurse, I have been at the bedside and I have worked for insurance compnaies. Believe me when I tell you, there are MDs who have and will stand up to them, and have "won" the argument. There are MDs who have "milked" the system...why do you think insurance companies got so much power in the 1st place????

Have a problem with the system as a whole?? Then barrage Washington with protest, write your representatives and tell them that securing your vote will only happen if they have a solid plan for improving the system. And I do mean a plan...not a "I can fix the healthcare system" empty promise. We've already heard that one.

 

[JoyG]

Yes, I have heard of folks getting denied for coverage when they get a job. We had a woman at my current company get denied for insurance when she came here due to pre-existing conditions.

Was that the only choice at your job or did she have other companies to choose from?

See, that is scary to me. That someone could be out of luck due to pre-existing conditions. Socialized medicine is sounding better and better to me.

 

[Minnie824]

I have not seen the movie yet, but intend to. I will tell you though, my parents are currently going thru trying to get insurance. My dad is currently not sick, but has had a variety of issues in the past. He is now retired, but not yet old enough for medicare. My mom has never worked. They are being denied by every insurance company they apply to. If they were sick and needed to be hospitalized, sure they may get treated, but then the bills would come in, and they'd lose everything they have. Medical Insurance in this country is a HUGE problem.

 

[Christine]

I have a question...who are those people applying/denied for insurance in the US? Are they the ones that don't automatically get it through their jobs?

Part of the problem is that many smaller companies cannot afford to offer health insurance so, some people do not have health insurance offered through an employer--even at full cost. They then have to try to go private and this can be daunting.

 

[Magpie]

(snip)
And here's a question about socialized medicine...are you required to go to only the doctors or hospitals in the neighborhood where you live, or can you go to any in the country?

Thanks

I'm Canadian - I can go to any doctor or hospital I please. Although, the doctor might choose not to take me if he or she's completely booked up with patients. I've dropped in at clinics all over the city. I've gone to hospitals in other cities. I've never had a problem.

Waits are completely dependent on where I am. If I've got something non-life threatening and I'm in Toronto - I can expect a looong wait if I go to the emergency room. On the other hand, if I can wait until morning, all I have to do is check clinic availability on line, and I can walk into a clinic in ten minutes. Or possibly an hour, if a whole bunch of people got there ahead of me.

I've been to an emergency room in Northern Ontario with a child who had a popcorn kernel stuck in her ear. I got to see a doctor in fifteen minutes. Of course, they didn't have the equipment needed to get the thing out, so we had to drive down to North Bay - but again, no waits, since they were expecting us.

Yeah, I sometimes have to wait a few months to see a specialist, but I've got no complaints. I honestly believe that socialized medicine saved my mother's life, and has made us all healthier. We could never have afforded insurance when I was young. My mother would have died if she'd been in the mindset that she should wait or try to treat herself.

You know - we can buy Auralgan over the counter here! It's an analgesic ear drop. When my kids have an earache they get instant pain relief. However in the US you've got to have a prescription to get the stuff. Why? One doctor friend told me it's because they're afraid that if people could take away the pain of their children's ear aches, they'd never go to see a doctor. We don't have that concern here in Canada - our big problem is that people see their doctors over *everything*, even stuff they don't need to worry about.

The system's not perfect, and things could be improved, but I think it's a darn sight better than the US's system. And I haven't even seen Sicko yet!

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[Fitswimmer]

Was that the only choice at your job or did she have other companies to choose from?

See, that is scary to me. That someone could be out of luck due to pre-existing conditions. Socialized medicine is sounding better and better to me.

Yes, that was the only choice. HR chooses a company and that's what we get. Now, we currently have a choice between two types of plans, but they are both managed by the same insurance company. So, she was denied by the insurance company totally and had no other option available but to go private.

 

[merryweather20]

When I think about it, the necessity that I go to 'participating' Dr's in my 'assigned network' is the same as a socialized system. Some non-Dr drew up lines limiting my care and I am required to stay within those boundaries. Because I live in the suburbs I need to pay huge deductibles to see a Dr. in a big city hospital because he/she is 'out of network'(which I do if a something odd pops up). So even if he/she participates with my Insurer, my plan can still disallow this coverage because of physical boundaries on a map. Besides this point, our Ins premiums have been growing at an alarming rate while our benefits are eroding at the same rate.

How did this happen and how did I not notice the shift in power?

I live in Canada and I am in no way limited to the Doctors I go see. Not only can I see a specialist out of province if I want, under limited circumstances they will cover doctors fees in the States and other countries as well. Someone I knew was able to go to Chicago to see a specialist because her condtion was rare enough that this was the best option.

I think its outrageous they wouldn't even let you go out of your city!

My wait to see the best orthopedic surgeon for knee replacement in Ontario was only 3 months. This doesn't seem agregious to me.

 

[ksumn1]

I haven't seen the movie yet...I rented it yesterday and plan on watching it this afternoon after class. My DD had to make sure that when he left one job for another that they had the same insurance carrier, because my DM is diabetic. He was told by the Human Resources manager at one of the companies he interviewed for that he was actually better off with the other company because it was almost 100% guaranteed that their carrier would deny her coverage because of her pre existing condition. And with the cost of her insulin, and other medication, that would be a major problem. Right now, the closest gynecologist to me is over a 35 minute drive away, IF I want to see an in network doctor. So, a $50 copay and drive or pay 40% and be closer to home? Not a problem now, but when I was pregnant, I found out in my 7th month that my dr was not considered in network. This is after I made numerous calls to the insurance company and the dr's office to make sure. So instead of paying 20% of the bill, we had to pay 40%. It made a pretty big difference. I had to work overtime in the last 2 months of my pregnancy to make up the difference. Very interested to see the movie.

 

[tw1nsmom]

I put very little stock in anything Michael Moore does because I think he is an idiot. I don't think he does his "expose" movies for anything other than notoriety. He seems to have people convinced that he is some sort of "societal watchdog". I think he is self-centered, and self-serving, at best.

I have been a nurse (both full-time and part-time) for 25 years in a city hospital. I can tell you without hesitation that everyone gets treated if they come in, they all receive the same care, and they all have the same nurses and doctors caring for them. There are social workers who work with the uninsured so they can avail themselves of the many programs available to pay for their healthcare. We have health clinics...the same MDs who would take care of me, an insured person, if I was hospitalized, will take care of the uninsured.

If your MD follows the dictates of the insurance compnay against his/her better judgement, then find a new MD. In my career as a nurse, I have been at the bedside and I have worked for insurance compnaies. Believe me when I tell you, there are MDs who have and will stand up to them, and have "won" the argument. There are MDs who have "milked" the system...why do you think insurance companies got so much power in the 1st place????

Have a problem with the system as a whole?? Then barrage Washington with protest, write your representatives and tell them that securing your vote will only happen if they have a solid plan for improving the system. And I do mean a plan...not a "I can fix the healthcare system" empty promise. We've already heard that one.

People going into the ER without insurance may get the same care as those with insurance, but they're still responsible for the bill. I completely respect that you feel Michael Moore is an idiot. However, without seeing the movie you don't know what the focus is.

The movie isn't talking about the poor people in this country who qualify for welfare and medicare (medicaid...I always mix the two up). The big problem in this country (and the focus of the movie) is the number of middle class working Americans who are either denied coverage, can't afford the premiums because they're self-employed, or are denied treatment because their insurance companies won't cover certain treatments for any myriad of reasons.

You may get treatment in the ER, but you won't be admitted unless it's an urgent situation. You won't get Chemo., you won't get "elective" surgeries like gallbladder removal (unless it bursts)... Also, unlike the truly poor, the working poor will be responsible for the bill. That means, because of the way our healthcare system is set up, that someone who's been denied coverage but has modest assets risks losing everything from one major illness.

We run our own business. We pay for our family's and our one single employees insurance. It costs us close to $1,200 a month. With all that money spent, we still have to fight for my DS's therapies and medical equipment to get covered (with very little success). So in addition to only having 50% prescription coverage and high copays to keep the premiums down, we have to pay out of pocket for his orthotics, his speech therapy (this is in addition to what he gets at school), and many private evaluations.

I'm pretty sure I'm for socialized medicine, but I know I'm against the insurance companies being allowed to operate for a large profit. I'm sure someone will tell me why it won't work, but I feel that at the very least the insurance companies should be made to work under the Not-For-Profit label. This would allow all involved to be paid a decent salary, but take the profit away from stockholders and put the money back in either the system or consumers pockets.

When it comes to paying for a national healthcare system, I would like to see a study done about how much money we, as a country, currently pay for healthcare. This would need to include premiums paid by companies and indiviuals, copays, out of pocket, deductables, medicaid, medicare, .... My instincts tell me that if we took that money and put it into a national healthcare system it would be completely paid for and we would potentially have the strongest one in the world.

 

[pooh6890]

I have not seen the movie but I am one of the working americans that do not have ins. The company that I work for will work you 40hrs and list you as part time so that they don't have to offer health benefits. To purchase health care on my own is to outrageous due to pre-existing conditions. I am not sure what the solution is but something needs to be done.

It's against the law to report an employee as part-time when they are full-time. Employees that work 30 or more hours are considered full-time. You could contact your local unemployment office and let them know what is going on without any reprecussions. All they need is the name and employer identification number. They will investigate from there.

I am definately not saying to do this. If they are a small business, they don't have to offer any benefits if they don't want to. I have been extremely lucky to have insurance. My boss pays for my insurance, my dependent coverage and up to 5% of my salary for co-pays and extras. He is a gem! But, a lot of my friends and family are working jobs where there is either no health insurance benefits or they are paying out the nose thru their paychecks. I would not be able to pay for insurance for myself and my daughters if I had to foot the bill. That is pretty scary.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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