Health Care reform explanation not tainted with partisan BS

Non-Phish General
#1

anybody got one?

in plain english?

you see, my issue is this. I’ve been experiencing a disturbing chain of health issues the past couple weeks and I do not have insurance. But i feel I am in need of a full physical as it has been a few years since my last one and my body seems to be breaking down more often than my Volvo at the moment and i’d like to see if i’m allergic to something or if its something more serious to catch it in time.

Blue Cross/Blue Sheild of Florida offers this thing (seemingly like a phone card) that you buy for $59 and then call an 800 # to activate and then pay somewhere between $23 and $59 per month for it for basic coverage and discounts.

All I want to know is, is that a better/equal deal than this whole “Obamacare/socialism/fall-of-civilization” thing that is supposedly going to kick in within the next month. But when I google for information about the details, its hard to find basic info and details on what it is, how to get it, and if its worth waiting for while going to get a one-time $89 check up in the meantime. All I find is partisan bickering and an endless sea of bullshit and gibberish and I don’t know who or what to believe.

Being that this is the only site i trust on the internet at this point, i figured I’d ask i anybody here can explain all this to me, or link me to a site that can without resorting to political partisan bickering instead.

Please and thank you.

-jaw

#2

I wish I had one for you. I came in here thinking this thread offered one, because I need it too. Good luck with your health issues though. I hope you get everything taken care of and without a mound of debt afterwards.

#3

You can get some good answers here:

healthcare.gov/

Don’t know if its what your looking for.

If all you want is a physical though, I’d look into a free clinic or something for right now.
It will mostly be just service fees to get you checked out at least.

I don’t think most of reforms take place until next year.
(Other then prescription drugs, etc, which are in effect now.)

#4

this plan from Blue Cross seems like it basically puts $50 towards anything that costs more than $50 and there’s a bunch of doctors in my neighborhood that get down with it.

I’m thinking that might be my best option for now.

this is all just giving me a headache. And Blue Cross is giving me much less of a headache than the Federal Government.

:crazy: :sick: :confused:

#5

I thought the reform doesn’t take full effect until 2014?

#6

^that’s what i’m starting to find out.

typical. And that’s probably just the date where the legislative branch is going to start discussing plans to decide a date where they can meet and figure out the best time in the next 1500 years to actually move to propose a plan to actually at some point before 10 years after Jesus walks the Earth again they will set a course of proposed action to actually do something about something.

#7

Here’s a site that will help you determine if you are eligble for Florida Medicaid benefits:

http://www.myflorida.com/accessflorida/

It looks like the Blue Cross program you’re looking into is part of the Cover Florida Health Care program that was created in 2009. There are (27) other plans that compete with the Blue Cross plan. Here’s a PDF that outlines the different plans. You have to have gone without health insurance for at least 6 months to qualify.

http://www.coverfloridahealthcare.com/docs/Comparison%20Grid%20-%20Full%20Matrix.pdf

And here’s the CFHC site:

http://www.coverfloridahealthcare.com/#

#8

Well for those of us that own or run small businesses and do pay for health insurance (whether it be conventional or a Health Savings Account) I have seen my premiums go up $400.00 a month in two years. :open_mouth: All Obamacare does to me is @^&% me right in the ass! Now I get to pay for people that get sick and do not have health insurance. Sounds incompasionate, but it’s God’s honest truth and damn it hurts the pocket!

Brady, I definitely suggest you get the medical card man. Some kind of coverage is better than no coverage. DO NOT wait for the government. Nothing is happening fast with this healthcare BS. I hope you feel better!

#9

^i wish my boss was as responsible as you are.

^^thanks zoot- that Cover Florida chart is very helpful. You seem to be a better Florida resident than I am!

I wish i was as responsible as either of you.

#10

healthcare reform = massive unpaid expenses furthering bottomless deficit + degradation of health services + huge dildo up our collective asses*. Bend (O)ver.

*fine for not buying insurance, 17,000 new IRS employees to make sure dildo goes as far up our asses as possible.

All this leads to inflated proctologist costs.

#11

I wouldn’t count on healthcare reform. It takes long enough for insurance companies to pay up and take care of your expenses. Its gonna take the government YEARS to help you out.

It’ll take effect in 2010 and my good friend Brady might get coverage by 2020. I’d just do that Blue Cross thing.

#12

is it too far fetched to hope and pray that Canada invades us?

#13

^Canada has its own problems with health care despite what you might hear. Their doctors are all salaried, thus they have no incentive to work any more than the bare minimum. I had a friend who lived up there for years and when his wife was pregnant he literally couldn’t find an obstetrician within 150 miles that would see his wife. Luckily they ended up finding one because he had a friend that was good friends with a doc and the friend hooked him up.

While health care in the US is expensive, its the best in the world in terms of quality. People are fine with paying 30k for a new car, but they think paying 10k for a new hip is outrageous. Which one do you think will increase their quality of life? Health care is an interesting subject because it is the most valuable thing that no one wants to pay for.

Oh and if you are young, and don’t anticipate major health problems that card sounds like a great deal. I’d look into what kind of coverage it provides.

#14

^i got the card but haven’t activated it yet.

the coverage is limited- pretty much gets you in the door and puts $50 on doctor visits and covers all lab work (which was really the deal closer).

so its ok for now unless i need some kind of heavy ER/ICU type of care and then i’ll be in debt for the rest of my life.

the card is only good for a couple months though so I’m not tied to anything if i wind up landing a job somewhere that actually takes care of its employees.

#15

^jaw you can also look into alternative healthcare… which you will have to pay out of pocket but is less expensive and, in my experience, very effective. For instance I had carpal tunnel syndrome bad in my mid-20’s. I saw a doctor and he said my only option was a $10K surgery. instead I saw a trager therapist for $75 who helped and showed me what to do… took about a year but I cured it.

I’d investigate acupuncture, chiropractor, ND’s (natropathic doctor’s), herbalists, nutritionists etc before worrying about all this insurance crap. Most peoples problems can be helped with a change of diet. You’re the vegetarian right? And you’re sick? In my experience that right there could be part of your problem. The first place to look with sick people is their diet.

#16

for alternative therapy bring a few bucks and an open mind…

#17

^earlier this year I was experiencing a lot of back pain and other muscular problems and I went to this place in downtown Ft Lauderdale that is a school of Oriental medicine and got the full acupuncture, far east treatment and have had no problems since. Cost me a grand total of $60 for 3 treatments. Meanwhile the guys i work with are at the chiropractor once a week shoveling out hundreds per month and getting no results. But they laugh at me when i suggest the Oriental place. Oh well.

So yeah, if it was just me feeling bad with identifiable symptoms, I would have already gone. But since its more mysterious and shows the signs of a new allergy or something like that, I’d like to get some lab work done.

But I hear you. I get really frustrated with “Western Medicine” (greedy doctors), when you go in feeling bad and they just start throwing pills at you that you don’t need but they make you think you need it because the company that makes the pill bought lunch for the whole office that day and then they don’t tell you any useful information about your health or make you feel better (and you’re usually worse off with that pill) and then a year later you get a bill in the mail saying you owe them another $3,000! :angry:

/rant

I am generalizing of course. There are lots of good doctors out there who can be very helpful and make good use of modern science to investigate what’s happening inside our bodies. And that’s who I’m looking for right now. A doctor who actually knows something about the body and science (and isn’t a money hungry animal).

#18

huhhuh you said taint.