Health Care

I was curious how PM care works in the countries with socialized medicine. Are you happy with the care?

I am self employed and pay a lot for health insurance. But I wasn't billed much at all for either of my two PM surgeries. I chronically miss my PM appointments and am always rescheduling as my work is very dynamic. This has never a problem. I have also been able to go in as much as I want during the "tuning" phase of my PM...the first few weeks after implantation to tweak the settings.

Here is the biggest issue for me. I was able to schedule my PM surgeries in between big jobs so that I wouldn't miss an employment opportunity.

My question is, do you in the UK, Canada and other countries have this kind of flexibility?

15 Comments

Germany again

by golden_snitch - 2009-09-06 03:09:02

Hi!

No, it's not paid through taxes. But health care insurance is obligatory in Germany, you have to have it, there is hardly anyone who does not have this insurance, except for some people who are self-employed and have a certain income. When you are unemployed the federal employment office pays for you. Students like me pay around 55 euro/month for health and pension insurance. What a normal employee has to pay depends on his income. All social insurances are equally paid by employee and employer. With the fees you pay, it's all covered. You don't get any more bills from doctors, hospitals etc., except for some dental stuff (for some dental treatments there is a co-pay).

Best
Inga

canada

by jessie - 2009-09-06 04:09:08

not a cent did i pay for implatation and checkupsfor p.m. also had 2 caesarean years ago and at the time it was under physician services inc. and i ended up doing a few shifts to pay for my babies as hubbie was between jobs. once payed for i took lots of time off hehe different system then. i have had mri's catscans 2 hip surgeries all free. 2 days after my firstborn was born i was called to work if i possibly could work it in. lol big shortage of nurses then like now. of course i said no chance, i have someone to take care of right here. the pay is lousy but the benefits are the best. lol hugs jessie

UK

by Lotti - 2009-09-06 04:09:29

I paid nothing for Childbirth, Heart surgery or PM surgery.
I am able to swap my appointments around to suit not work, but school holidays so that childcare is not a problem. There have been things go wrong in some of my appointments but not the fault of medical staff. I have always had fantastic caring care from the hospitals and think our NHS is great.

Lotti

Re: Flexibility and peace of ming

by jm48 - 2009-09-06 06:09:26

As you can guess I probably pay higher taxes than you do, but its worth it, and probably works out to be about even, considering that I will never have to pay health insurance premiums and will never pay a cent as a deductible.

I have family in the U.S. who are quite well off and pay huge premiums (probably more than I pay in taxes, mind you I don't make a lot of money). One of them recently had pneumonia and took maybe two weeks to have it diagnosed, I suspect because the insurance didn't want to cover an x-ray. They wound up having to pay for part of their treatment out of pocket. I've had pneumonia and it took about 10 minutes in my GP's office for her to send me to get an X-Ray. By the next day the diagnosis was confirmed and I was on my way back to health.

Jesse

Flexibility and peace of mind

by jm48 - 2009-09-06 06:09:48

I live in Canada and can tell you that I have just as much flexibility, AND I don't need to be concerned about the constraints of a private insurance policy, premiums, deductibles, copay or any of that nonsense. I went in to get my settings adjusted about a week after leaving the hospital. I called at 9am and they fit me in for 11:00am the same day. I still wasn't feeling right and called again three days later. Again I was able to come in on the same day that I called.



Jesse

Australia

by Blueaustralia - 2009-09-06 07:09:10

Here we have two systems Public which is free and private. If you don't take out private insurance you pay a bit more in taxes to cover free medicare But everyone pays for medicare in their tax levy.

We have always had private insurance which is subsidised by the government to assist in keeping the public system a bit more free.

I was told by my pm clinic that no one will pay for their pm implants. Mine was done on the private system and I only had to pay the co payment of $50 for one night's accommodation. My insurance now says that there will be a difference of $7500 for pm's I will not have to pay and indeed will not as I can opt for the public system. The hospital then accepts whatever my private insurance will pay.


I am fortunate that my tech will let me contact his dept anytime if I wish to have my pm checked if I feel I need to. My specialist is the Assoc Professor of cardiology and each time I see him I am given an appt for the next time which can be 6 - 12 months ahead.

As we live in the country, if I experience any problems I just go to the hospital er and am seen immediately on the public system. Any admission at this hospital would be on the free system as the private section does not have the monitoring equipment needed for cardiac cases. I can elect for the hospital to be paid by my insurance if I wish to.

Our payments for private insurance are about $220 a month. If you pay tax then you pay the medicare levy. As we are now pensioners we do not pay the medicare levvy. Our medicines are $5.50 per prescription until we reach a max then they are free we are also paid an amount in our pensions for each fortnight for prescriptions. Not much but it means that basically our meds are gratis depending what you need.

Do we have a good system? Yes, I think we are
extremely lucky in Australia. I hope Mr Obama can get
his head around a decent system for his people.

Hope this is of interest. Cheers Blue

Germany

by golden_snitch - 2009-09-06 10:09:45

Hi!

No problem here at all, at least I have never had any difficulties in getting what I needed. I'm very satisfied with our health care system, though it's definitely a very expensive one that needs some reforms. Even got into an inpatient cardiac rehab (three to four weeks) for the third time (in ten years) this June. The insurance also covers half of the costs for my cardio training.

Best,
Inga

Wie gehts!

by heckboy - 2009-09-06 11:09:30

Hi,

So you have insurance from the Govt that you pay through taxes? Is there a deductible similar for care or some kind of co-pay?

I'm skeptical of the proposed plans here in the U.S., but we do need some kind of reform. What's so broken about it in my case is that while I must keep my private plan because of my condition, sometimes I have double or triple coverage depending on what jobs I have. Having triple coverage may sound great, but the companies fight over whose responsibility it is to pay...all saying that the other company should pay first.

For my last surgery, I think I paid about 10k for a 80-90k surgery. It was for a PM and lead extraction and replacement.

Thanks!

by heckboy - 2009-09-06 11:09:49

What great and thoughtful comments...thanks for the education. While my insurance works well for me, the U.S. should have some kind of safety net and a way to make one's insurance portable from employer to employer.

Obama hasn't specified anything yet...he's just spoken in generalities. There's a 1000 page doc in Congress that relatively no one has read, but it's doomed to fail...as it should since little effort has been made to explain it.

We do need some reform..the employer based system of private insurance just doesn't apply to today's environment.

-Chris

Obamacare

by J.B. - 2009-09-07 05:09:53

I don't think anyone can question the need for many to have better healthcare. But why stop at healthcare? Many of those same people need affordable and adequate housing, better and more nutritious meals, more dependable transportation, lower utility costs, etc. Take care of those needs and then we can get the sharecropper out of those hot cotton fields down South, because that certainly is not a healthy way for someone to earn a living. I know because I've been there.

In many cases the need for healthcare may not be so great if one or more of the other needs were satisfied. No everyone needs to go to see a doctor nor have surgery. Some people are perfectly healthy and see a doctor every few years, but a climate controlled house would certainly make life better for them. Also I've not seen nor heard anything about Obamacare covering dental care, or eye care. Are those 47 million people Obama keeps telling us that have inadequate healthcare coverage going to have fend for themselves on dental and eye care?

I saw someone say "I hope Mr Obama can get his head around a decent system for his people." What Obama is trying to do is all he knows. That fellow has had his healthcare provided by public funds all of his life, with the exception of the few months he was employed by a private law firm. So what he is proposing is all he knows, that is something for everybody that is paid for by the taxpayers.

Mr. Obama is such a neophyte that I'm not sure he even has an idea of where the government gets its money. My guess is that he recalls hearing it said that in the beginning God said let there be light and there was light. Now that he has been elected president of the most powerful country in the world, he apparently thinks he can say "let there be money" and there will be money.

Like I said, at the beginning, I don't think anyone can question the need for many to have better healthcare in America. My question is how will the government pay for any program instituted? I have a plate full right now and I can't afford to take on the cost of others when I still have an unfilled list of my own needs.

J.B.

Um...

by heckboy - 2009-09-07 06:09:16

I was hoping to avoid a political argument with this thread. I was merely trying to educate myself since so much generalizing is done in the media trying to demonize those with opposing points of view.

I get where you are coming from J.B. and don't entirely disagree with your point of view, but the employer based system of health care in the U.S. isn't practical anymore. Some kind of change is coming.

Sorry

by J.B. - 2009-09-07 09:09:07

Sorry abuut that Chris. But to me, any way you cut it, Obamacare is political. Hereafter, I'll keep my thoughts on this subject to myself.

Canada

by Brantfordmuscle - 2009-09-09 04:09:39

Hi All,
had my pacer installed July/09. I didn't have to wait to get the surgery. I had all the stress tests, tilt tests and visits to cardiologists etc. Surgury was a breeze. Cost to me $.00 Public health care is best for this. I never have to worry about losing my coverage or when I get old and need more care. We pay a payroll tax (about $750/yr I believe but it's based on income). Everyone should be able to obtain proper health care without worry or concern of being able to pay. It's a touch insane to allow private hospitals and drug companies to drive up the cost of care and medications. We have fast, efficient care in Canada. You may hear of the odd problem with wait times.. that does happen in some areas but when it's urgent care..it doesn't generally occur. All in all, I really can't complain. I feel very lucky to have health care that's good quality and free to all. The dual systems like those in the UK are not great since you drain the system of doctors and waiting list get longer. Health care should be like education for children. Free and accessible to all.
It works well. Canada is not an overly wealthy or largely populated country. Our population is spread over a very large area yet we make it work. There's really no excuse for any of the industrialized countries to supply health care to their citizens. Also, when you get to age 65 you get free medications (most of them are free with a small co pay - .. seniors pay a few dollars $5 or so).
At least you don't lose your home when you get cancer.
Best of luck to all.

Healthcare In The USA

by Bill-2 - 2009-09-09 11:09:22

I'm glad for you Canadians. I don't think you will find many Americans that think our healthcare system does not have some very bad short comings. Even those protesting the current proposals so loudly know it needs improving. However, many of us do not think the programs proposed are workable plus our government is too deep in debit from helping too many people around the world for too many years and it simply can't afford the proposed Obamacare.

universal health care

by Brantfordmuscle - 2010-03-10 10:03:51

What I can't understand is that the US pays more per capita for health care than we do it Canada (and we have 10% of your population). You should by sheer numbers be able to get bulk savings etc. It doesn't make sense to me to have such a small percentage of people covered for a higher per capita cost. Something is wrong with that picture. In Canada we do have some issues at times (like any system it needs tweaking periodically). For the most part though, it's a good system that doesn't make you wait when care is needed on an urgent basis. There is excellent follow up and after care as well.
I hope the US comes to some sort of arrangement that benefits more than the small percentage that currently get coverage.
It works in most countries so why not the US. You're right Bill-2 when you said the US can't keep helping all over the world especiall with such a huge deficit and still do all that's needed at home. The money supply isn't endless.

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