"She has said she will garnish wages if necessary."
That's not really what she said. She said she MAY garnish, which was one of several options she stated. And none of which were written in stone.
"Just a Guy. Your feelings are touching. I am gladdened by the thought that you will one day wind up 6 feet under as we all do." - MrRoxy ------
"I do not suggest you walk out the door onto a New York street with your vulnerable child part exposed and not protected..." - Jason Bennett
"So, you think that just because YOU can't afford good health insurance WE should have to pay for your insurance! I don't think so. This is the land of opportunity... look for a better job...."
Hold on everyone, this will be a long one- lots to comment on. Who are you to say what "hard work" is. We need doctors, lawyers, waiters, hairstylists, construction workers, farmers, teachers, gas station attendants, etc. Everyone does not have the same access to higher education and some don't have the cognition- but they may have other talents or be willing to do a job, most of us would cringe at but is needed. I doubt that most sanitation workers have a higher education degree; but I am extremely thankful that someone is willing to do that job. I am sure some people would think my job is easy-part of my job is to "play" with children with special needs; but I work my booty off. My parents are teachers and they work hard for little pay; my brother is a talented artist waiting to get a job in his field or get discovered, in the interim he works his a-- off at 3 different jobs. My brother and I both have preexisting conditions which in our current healthcare system is extremely difficult to get covered. I am basically trapped in a lower paying job that has many drawbacks because I have to have a "group" medical plan. I can't grow professionally in the ways I should be able to due to healthcare limitations. Even with my group plan I still have problems getting things covered for my prexisting condition. On more than one occasion, the insurance company has decided that they will no longer cover certain medications. I have to waste my doctors and my time appealing to get these medications covered that are preventing me from getting hospitalized. The medication is significantly cheaper than a hospital stay. Small business owners can't afford to offer group plans, so they may miss out on a good employee. I also think it is ignorant to say that people jacking up the costs simply aren't taking care of themselves. People that lead super healthy lifestyles can be in accidents, get cancer, have a stroke, etc. Genetics plays a significant role in many diseases. Leading a healthy lifestyle does not make you immune to a health crisis. I have friend that almost went bankrupt paying her medical bills when she got cancer. She had always been very healthy, then out of nowhere she got cancer. She had a good job with insurance, but her out of pocket costs were extremely expensive. Although she had Short term disability (only pays a certain percentage of your salary) it was not enough to cover all her expenses (mortgage, utilities, food, and medical). I personally had ACL repair surgery in December and have been out on FMLA. If I had a "desk" job I would have been back at work a long time ago. Due to my preexisting conditions i could not get STD so I worked my booty off, had to post pone my surgery to build up enough PTO so I would have at least 20 hours of pay coming in for the 3 months I am out. My pay has been cut by more than 50%, yet I have the same bills I had prior to surgery and more- because now I have more medical bills. Anyways, things can happen and a major medical condition can change even a well educated person with a "decent" job life forever. I am very fortunate that I have a job with FMLA in place and could save some money up in advance, I can't imagine what would have happened if I didn't have insurance or the ability to work extra shifts and build up my PTO, etc. You can not compare the US healthcare system to an economically poor country like Hatii. That is like comparing apples to oranges. Again, I will say I don't know what the perfect solution is, but I strongly believe change is needed. As someone else said I don't have kids but pay taxes for schools; it doesn't bother me. If paying a little more in taxes means everyone has access to good medical care than I am all for it. As someone with a pre-existing condition i also wouldn't mind paying a little more money than someone who does not as long as it is reasonable and doesn't get out of control; but I know not everyone could do this. Maybe, there could be break of some type unless the pre-existing condition is a preventable one like obesity or if you have lung cancer because you smoked.
"I also think it is ignorant to say that people jacking up the costs simply aren't taking care of themselves. People that lead super healthy lifestyles can be in accidents, get cancer, have a stroke, etc. Genetics plays a significant role in many diseases. Leading a healthy lifestyle does not make you immune to a health crisis"
Thank you thank you thank you! How was I to know that I had an allergy to HALOTHANE anesthesia, and that I was administered it BY MISTAKE and got halothane hepatitis for one year, in the hospital for three months, not expected to live.
Just another example of what you're saying, sesot. thank you for your intelligent post.
"Canada's system is so great , people cross the border into the US for care they need & cannot get in Canada.
Why always compare to Canada, Roxy? Why not compare to France, which has a much higher ranking on health care than either Canada or the US, and spends nearly half of what the US spends per capita. Why compare the 30th ranked Country to the 37th. Why not compare the 1st ranked to the 37th? How many of the French come to the US for the care they need and can't get in France?
And by the way...who did pay for your surgery...you still haven't said if it was out of pocket or insurance.
"Just a Guy. Your feelings are touching. I am gladdened by the thought that you will one day wind up 6 feet under as we all do." - MrRoxy ------
"I do not suggest you walk out the door onto a New York street with your vulnerable child part exposed and not protected..." - Jason Bennett
"Canada's system is so great , people cross the border into the US for care they need & cannot get in Canada.
Do you have any facts that provide the percentage of Canadians that come to the US for healthcare? My guess is it is still a small percentage for the entire country. JustAGuy is correct there are several other countries that the US can look at and learn from. No-one said we have to make an exact copy of Canada's healthcare program. We have a great opportunity to learn what works and what doesn't and improve upon it. The US is definitely not number one in healthcare and no-one said Canada was either.
"Elphaba, Don't pity me.... I have good health insurance!"
Thank goodness...because you seem to be lacking in a lot of other areas.
"Just a Guy. Your feelings are touching. I am gladdened by the thought that you will one day wind up 6 feet under as we all do." - MrRoxy ------
"I do not suggest you walk out the door onto a New York street with your vulnerable child part exposed and not protected..." - Jason Bennett
"Why not compare to France, which has a much higher ranking on health care than either Canada or the US, and spends nearly half of what the US spends per capita."
You can't compare the US and France. France is a much smaller country, less populated and smaller and different economic system than the US.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
But you can compare cost PER CAPITA. Population has nothing to do with it when it's broken down per capita not per population. But, to your point, Canada also has a much smaller population and is much larger. So, do we just compare ourselves to ourselves? That'll work out great.
"Just a Guy. Your feelings are touching. I am gladdened by the thought that you will one day wind up 6 feet under as we all do." - MrRoxy ------
"I do not suggest you walk out the door onto a New York street with your vulnerable child part exposed and not protected..." - Jason Bennett
Just saw Sicko, definitely makes you think about the possibilities for improved healthcare in this country. I know the movie is very biased, but the stories are real, and sad. I would like to learn more about the French system of healthcare. I wish all politicians would watch that movie. Again, I don't think the US should simply adopt another countries plan directly, but we need change. We can certainly learn a few things from the 36 countries with better mortality and healthcare systems than the US. We need to look at the good and bad on how to improve healthcare in the US. We are one of the "richest" countries in the world, yet we don't do a very good job taking care of our own. The story in the movie how the captured terrorists are getting better care than most US citizens made me so angry.
