[ILUG] Re: ILUG Digest, Vol 30, Issue 45

[John Gay]

On Friday 10 June 2005 17:22, Bryan O'Donoghue <typedef at eircom.net> wrote:
> > On Fri, 10 Jun 2005, Niall O Broin wrote:
> >> I thought healthcare was supposed to be a !(killer)  ?
> >
> > It can be very expensive.
>
> Just to clarify.
>
> If you *don't* have healthcare in the States, but, you need
> medication(x), does the state pay for this or not ?
>
There are certain 'county hospitals' to cover those without medical insurance, 
but the bill will stay on your records until you are working and then screw 
up your credit rating for 7 years after you pay it. And they never contact 
you to tell you. You have to find out when you get rejected for credit and 
then pay for your credit report to find a county hospital bill outstanding.

True story.
I was an 18 year old Electronics student with no job and an inheritance paying 
for school. I was bit by an un-identified snake while drunk with friends in 
the local woods.

My friend insisted I go to hospital in case the snake was poisonous. I was 
given an I.V. of saline, submitted a urine sample and got a shot in case of 
infection, then told there was no trace of poison and I could go home.

5 years later, I'm an electronics tech in the U.S. Navy. I joined a credit 
union to develop a credit history, since I could not get credit outside the 
navy without one. After making regular payments for 6 months, I asked for a 
small loan. I got rejected for bad credit. Paid $50 for my credit report to 
find an itemised bill for my hospital stay:

Saline solution:	150.00
I.V. Bottle		75.00
I.V. Stand		25.00
Urine bottle		50.00
Blood test		275.00
plus $50 per year for non-payment.

> Surely, anecdotes of people being searched at the scenes of accidents
> for healthcare insurance and *left* on the sidewalk when none was found
> are /urban/ /ledgend/ ?

Another true story. I was stationed in San Diego. I knew some homeless people, 
being a rather friendly person. One day I found one of them unconscious in 
the abandoned doorway they slept in. I managed to wake them, but could not 
get much intelligent conversation from them. I called an ambulance. When it 
arrived, I was told it would be $600 for them to take my friend to the 
hospital, plus any medicines used in transit and would I pay this? I ended up 
getting a taxi to the hospital instead. They were treated, but I'm sure the 
bill will follow them to the grave.

Because there is 'no' national healthcare in America, and such extensive 
insurance plans, medical expenses are based on what insurance companies can 
pay, not what the government will pay. That's why it's so much more expensive 
in America than Europe. Governments wont pay a fraction of what insurance 
companies will.

Cheers,

	John Gay