Obama & Healthcare

[alegris]

It's very interesting reading about other country's health care systems and people's opinions regarding such programs. I'm from Canada and it's true that our wait times can be longer for lower priority patients. But it's comforting to not have to worry about paying for insurance/treatment and exceeding lifetime maximums etc. This is from a CFer who has had two major surgeries for intestinal obstructions, two surgeries for cancer treatment, and surgeries to remove my appendix and tonsils. Soon I'll be a hollow shell! Haha! I just wanted to say good discussion!

 

[Lovett]

My daughter (CF) has attended university in the UK for the past 4 years. As a student, she is completely covered by their healthcare system at no cost to her. I cannot say enough good things about the treatment she has received. The CF team provides competent, compassionate care. For example, when she recently experienced her first lung bleed, she immediately texted her nurses. After assessing the amount of blood she was coughing up, they told her to come in to the hospital for an x-ray. She arrived at 10 a.m. and was finished at 11 a.m. In that time she saw her CF specialist, a pulmonologist, had an xray and received medication. One hour. No charge. Competent professionals. Oh, and in addition to her regular CF visits, two of the nurses from her team visit her at home every few months just to check in on her. Give me this medicine any day. The health care professionals in the UK cannot understand how the greatest country in the world cannot take good care of their citizens. I agree.

 

[dasjsmum]

We're in Australia and have universal health care. I simply cant understand why people in the US arent jumping up and down to support Obama's push to get it. We receive everything we need free or at a very low cost. All cf hospitalisations etc are free to EVERYBODY.

The only way your system is more beneficial at the moment (that I can see) is that people with CF in the US can get Kaly, whereas it will be a problem for us until the gov puts it on the government scheme that pays for drugs.

As far as health care goes I feel really sorry for people in the US.

 

[Rachie]

I feel so lucky with our healthcare in the UK. I live in London an am under the Brompton. I can't believe in some countries you have to pay for medication or are denied access to certain drugs. Although we have issues with waiting times, if you have a serious condition like CF this is not the case. I can see my consultant whenever I want and have never had to wait long for a procedure. I pay £100/year for a prescription card and that is it. I'm on Cayston, pulmozyme, Colomycin etc etc. The only thing is that in the UK many people take it so for granted and are so unaware about the cost of medication, they then moan about trivial things! I think that drunks in A&E in this country should perhaps have to pay at least a small percentage of their care!

 

[RebeccaRose]

Let me tell you it's very scary to not have ANY health insurance. You could "what if" yourself to death over it. To hear those of you from the UK and Australia talk about the ease of your healthcare and meds sounds so wonderful to me. The people of America deserve that as well I think. With no insurance at all everything is a struggle... from simple check ups to common problems people face every year like a sinus infection... then add on a broken leg or minor elective surgeries you know you need but can't afford... let's not even talk about chronic diseases like CF or heart attack or cancer.

 

[joedexter23]

I am a 24 year old CFer in England. My 2 cents about socialized health care is that here in England us CF patients are able to live quiet comfortably without the massive weight of WHAT ON EARTH AM I GONNA DO WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE looming over us. I have never been denied any medication so far and my health is top notch. The only reason Im able to compare and contrast is I lived in America for 17 years where I was lucky enough to get health insurance BUT I had to move back to England because it was just so ridiculously expensive to continue a normal life there! It honestly ate my families earnings like they were hot cakes. All the co-pays and expenses of getting drugs like Tobi on top of every other prescription every week as well as hospital stays has easily added up to what some would consider a small fortune. My insurance company would even kick me out of the hospital even though I wasn't better yet just because my lung function would have gone up from admission.

The facilities in England are certainly not as luxurious as the ones in America but having said that our nurses, doctors and general care are just as good if not better in some cases. Here, you are a person, an individual whereas in America I wasn't more than a figure and a dollar sign. Thanks to socialized health care, one day, in America, people just like me will be able to live without having to earn thousands and thousands of dollars just to breath.

 

[Printer]

It is amazing how effective the American Medical Association and the Health Insurance Companies have been in scaring the American Public of the dangers of Socialized Health Care.

Bill

 

[LReyome28]

We can have socialized health care, just not RomneyCare

 

[Printer]

Welcome to the USA and medicine CONTROLLED BY INSURANCE COMPANIES. Do you know what a LETTER OF MEDICAL NECESSITY is, you will.

My meds are always questioned and held up. I'm waiting for an authorization for blood strips as we speak.

Bill

 

[saveferris2009]

Raise your hand if you have access to Kalydeco and you DON"T have G551D.

US only? Yup, thought so.

When Kaly gets FDA approved in Europe, Canada, Australia and you don't have G551D, will you have access?

To me, this is the alpha and the omega to the debate about health insurance that isn't single payor.

 

[BikerEd]

Oh and hands up if you can get Kaly at all, ohhh, USA only, again? Bill, at 72 are you on private insurance or Medicare, oh wait Taxachuttes, my home state, Rommeycare those are Guberment directed healthcare compianies. my private ins 23.00 copay for Kaly......

 

[Printer]

Ed:

Read my post on page 1 of this. FYI. in addition to copays between $10and $50, I also have a $2,800.00 DONUT HOLE. Medicare is not free, my wife AND I, each pay just a bit under $300 per month plus copays plus 2 DONUT HOLES.

Bill

 

[saveferris2009]

But Bill, at least you can have Kalydeco if you wish. It's available here, and no other country on the planet. And you can get it off label.

It's expensive for some, but if you can pay, it's available. Any other country, even if you can pay, it's not available.

Still eager to see if anyone can get it off label once it becomes available in Canada, Australia and Europe. If I were a betting woman, I would bet it's only available for G551D unless you want to pay cash.

I know dozens in the US that get it covered by insurance for off label.

To have access to the greatest development in CF treatment in history.... well.... that trumps anything else. Bar none

 

[AUG19DW]

The only thing about Obamacare I do like is the fact that my son can stay on our private health ins. thru my husbands work till 26. Even if he is married or not living with us he can still be on till 26. Also just to give all of you a hint. My son was able to pick up his insurance at his work and we kept him on our ins. as secondary. Now he doesnt pay a dime out in copays or meds or anything!! It is awesome!! This is finally giving him a chance to catch up on previous bills before he did this. He has Anthem thru his work as primary and we have Optima as secondary. Now it really doesnt matter what ins. carrier you have it should be like this no matter if he had optima and we had optima they said they will pay for all of it. Dont know why I didnt think of this earlier. We only pay $15 extra a week to keep him on ours so that is fine with me to save him a h--- of alot of money in copays. I think as of right now he is swimming in $3000 in medical debt that he is trying to pay off. He is only 21 so that gives him a few more years to keep it like this. Then he is on his own. Now my daughter on the other hand I would put her on my work ins. but our maximum out of pocket is $3000 and I have averaged it out it will cost me more to put her on than the maximum out of pocket. My husbands ins. is cheap and mine isnt!

 

[DrRoe]

Here's my 3 cents..

I've taught courses in Health Care Admin for over 20 years, am a former nurse and lab tech, so from a professional standpoint have a little understanding of a very complicated field. Personally, I find myself in a fight for some type of service at least once a month as along with having a son with CF my husband has had a quad bypass... etc etc. I work for the state, and it has a good plan, but the deductibles and the premiums are rising each year, as are my out of pocket costs. So my opinion is based on all of my personal and professional experiences, and listening to the candidates, and of course its just my opinion subject to change 8*) .

First Romney - he seems to change his opinions about health care depending on which way the (political) wind blows (of course this is true for most politicians). Sentorum.. given some of his stranger comments his chances of being nominated are DOA. Ron Paul seems like a nice guy, but the few times I've heard him talk about the health care system, I ended up concluding that his understanding of how the system works is 20-30 years out of date. Obama's policy seems to be moving in the right direction, but he's got too many of the 'big' stakeholders (ie big pharma, insurers etc) sitting at the table. By the way I think we should say call the bill HOUSEcare as Obama just signed the bill, he didn't write it.

Having said the above, the system (pre Obamacare) was/is in a state of near collapse, the cost of care and insurance had been rising each year. Hospitals were/are closing in rural and inner city areas. With the recession, companies begin opting for higher deductibles, shifting more of the premium costs to the worker, putting caps in place and some companies dropped coverage in whole or part. Some of you may not be aware by a few years back a guy was diagnosed with HIV, after working for a company for 6 years. The company offered a self-insured health care plan with a one million dollar cap for its employees. The company decided to cap care for HIV/AIDS at $5000 after his diagnosis. His doctor sued for him under ADA, but the courts ruled in the company's favor due to the high cost of caring for HIV/AIDS and ERISA. In one hearing there was a comment that this ruling could also be applied to other high cost diseases (Greenberg v. H & H Music).

If you look at the stats the government is providing a higher and higher percentage of coverage each year. Do I like Obamacare? Not entirely, but then again its a lot better that what we have now UNLESS you work for a non-ERISA company that provides you with a 'Cadillac' health care plan which is guaranteed not to change.

 

[Printer]

Roe Roberts, you could not be more correct. The House of Representatives, along with the drug companies wrote this bill. It may not be perfect but it is a big step in that direction.

In Massachusetts, we are represented by US Senator Scott Brown. He HATES OBANACARE so much he campaigned statewide, two years age, promising to vote down the bill. OBAMACARE is bad for everyone, so he said. UNTIL his 23 year old daughter, a 2011 college grad, didn't have a job or health insurance. Using one part of OBAMACARE, he added her to his health policy.

I guess it is only bad for the rest of us,

Bill

 

[Vampy]

From what i heard if they socialize medical care, wait time for hospitals, ers and most of all getting a Transplant will be near impossible. O.O

 

[static]

Personally I think Obama has done alot for the CF community.

The big question is will you put your faith in the almighty dollar, or people. Both can be good, both can be evil. For me, it is too early to predict. The OP's arguement isn't exactly new, but it changes your perspective when you see how hard others' have it as well.

 

[LReyome28]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>Printer</b></i> Roe Roberts, you could not be more correct. The House of Representatives, along with the drug companies wrote this bill. It may not be perfect but it is a big step in that direction. In Massachusetts, we are represented by US Senator Scott Brown. He HATES OBANACARE so much he campaigned statewide, two years age, promising to vote down the bill. OBAMACARE is bad for everyone, so he said. UNTIL his 23 year old daughter, a 2011 college grad, didn't have a job or health insurance. Using one part of OBAMACARE, he added her to his health policy. I guess it is only bad for the rest of us, Bill</end quote>

Another reason to get Brown out of office......

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I noticed that those of you that are replying to this post that do not live in the US are trying to tell us to not complain about our healthcare system. We have just as much right to complain as you guys have to gloat about how great your healthcare systems are. Sure I would like to live in the UK where they have their own specialized health centers for CF but I can't. Sure our current healthcare system is screwed because of insurance companies and doctors, but every country that has a healthcare system that is flawed in some way or another. Do not flame Americans for complaining about theirs, we do not flame you for complaining about yours.

 

[ONELIFETOLIVE]

My belief is in health care for all. I have lived in Canada & Europe under several different systems, but the underlying fact is everyone is covered to a minimum standard. You don’t worry about your heath because you know you will be taken care of as a human right. Your only concern health wise is your actual health, not” how I am going to pay the bills, eat & keep a roof over my head! “
On this website I see so many threads about CF’rs trying to get on Medicaid. It is very sad that you have to get an attorney who then takes part of your $ to get you approved. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all CF people, where ever they lived, New York, Tennessee, Texas, California, and Washington – all got the same level of care? Besides fighting for an answer about CF, we should all unite to fight for Health Care for EVERYONE.
When the recession hit in the fall of 2008, I along with so many others lost my job. I was able to get COBRA – however it was really expensive – over $1000. a month. Having CF & Pancreatitis & several other smaller problems, I could not afford to give up my insurance, however, I could barely afford the payments. I worried constantly about getting another job before the COBRA expired. I am healthy enough to not be eligible for Medicaid. There were weeks that I stayed inside my house, never going out, very depressed. My stress level got very high. Last ditch planning was discussion about selling my house( and the value of my home dropped by $100,000.) and moving to Canada so I could get health care. After 6 months I was lucky enough to find another position with some health care. So In the end I took a position for a whole lot lower wage, by $25,000. a year . I now pay about $300. a month for a $2,000. deductible plan and feel lucky. I know stories like mine are not uncommon.
We should not be afraid to lose our jobs or take any position just to have healthcare. People should not go bankrupt paying hospital & Dr. bills. We do not have the best “health care” in the world if only the very rich can afford it. We in the USA have a shorter life span and spend way more money on our profit making health care system. I don’t want to have someone make a profit on my illness because they decided I need to take one drug over another.