Health Insurance Offer

If the plan is so good, why are the politicians proposing the plan exempting themselves from it the way politicians exempted themselves from the general social security program?

What I meant by Sweden being insular is that it really isn’t on the radar of most people. People don’t learn Swedish as a second language as they do English. People aren’t clamoring to get in to Sweden, and Sweden doesn’t have the influence as a global power like the U.S. does. I don’t have anything against Sweden – it sounds like a wonderful country. I’m half Finnish myself and would love to visit Scandanavia. But it certainly doesn’t face the same challenges that the U.S. does.

I do agree with you that it is a mentality issue. We Americans were raised with the idea that anyone can be successful. Our Revolution was based on a rebellion against British taxation, among other things, so the idea of higher taxes and the gov’t taking care of us from cradle to grave does go against the grain of the American psyche. Our Founding Fathers believed in less government, not more, and carefully structured the Constitution to keep government intrusion in our lives to a minimum.

As I said before, I am still conflicted about health care reform. I do need the help, and sometimes we can’t just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. I’m literally going broke and in danger of losing my home because of insurance premiums and co-pays.

However, when I think of health care reform, I think of the long lines and poor service provided by other gov’t agencies such as DMV, Post Office, DSHS. If the gov’t can’t provide enough staff to meet demand for something as basic as the Dept. of Motor Vehicles, how can it guarantee doctors and services for the increased demand of “free” health care?

My uncle is a dentist in Ontario, and he basically takes a month off every year after his quota is made. He is only paid a certain amount by the gov’t, and after that, any service he provides he is not paid for.

This is a very interesting discussion, and something that we are all intimately concerned about.

Lisa,
Yep, sweden covers everyone…illegal immigrants, exchange students.Like I said, they see health as a right.

Yes, Sweden is smaller, but that doesnt mean it wouldnt work. The problem is that Americans dont want to pay for it. It is a mentally issue. If I had a baby, I would get 18 months off of work at 80% pay with my job guarunteed when I returned. Hans gets over 6 weeks paid vacation. He got sick leave when I was rediagnosed so he could spend time with me. All these are paid through higher taxes. In Sweden, there is a deep belief in a good quality of life for everyone, not just those in white collar jobs. Taxes are roughly 50%, but you are truly taken care of cradle to grave. Free education including college. When you are older, the gov. supplies an equivalent to Meals on Wheels, a nurse that stops by to check and administer medicine, and someone to help do laundry and clean the house…all in an attempt to keep people in their homes and independent. When Hans dad became sick, the government installed ramps, took out the bathtub and installed a special shower, widened doors for wheelchair, installed a garage door opener, supplied an oxygen tank system which ran in the basement and tubes were connected throughout the house. They adapted the toilet and supplied a hospital bed and even supplied feet that his mother could attach to her bed so it would be the same height as the hospital bed so they could still sleep next to each other. When you need more care, you are placed in a nursing home that corresponds to the level of care needed.

Homelessness really doesnt exist except for people with drug issues. If you commit a crime while on drugs, you have the option of going into a year long drug treatment residental program to get off drugs instead of going to jail.

Everything is paid for by taxes. Americans would never go for this because we have the American dream in which we are told if you work hard you will be successful and the concept of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. We are more individualistic, not community centered. But how much do you think Americans pay out of their paycheck when you add taxes,insurance, deductibles, childcare, and education. The quality of life her is amazing. Though I do complain since it has made everything samey-samey. There is not much individuality here. The need to treat everyone the same and give the same quality of life means nobody whats to stand out too much so everyone has the same house, the same car, the same look.

And please let me defend Sweden as being insular. It has a very big global outlook. People are incredibly aware of what is going on in the outside world. In fact, Sweden is known for its diplimats in international circles…probably since any form of extreme emotion is very frowned upon here. And one town on the outskirts of Stockholm has actually taken in more refugees than the entire US has….each given the same medical attention and education as Swedish residents.

It isnt perfect, by any means and I cant wait to move back to the US, but I cant because of healthcare. I dont qualify for any programs unless I divorce Hans…no thanks.
Kris

Well, I am going to stop replying to myself now and go to bed, I promise!

Patty

There is a helpful feature on this site that lets you compare the plans being discussed:

http://www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cfm

Patty

Kris,
I am so glad that you are getting such good care in Sweden. But Sweden is not the US – the US has many times the population of that relatively small country. We have many challenges that Sweden – a relatively insular nation – does not have. And our politicians would not be caught dead (haha) on public medicine. They will keep their own gold-plated plans, as they keep their other gold-plated perks that are denied to us common folk.

I am certainly not saying that our health care system does not have problems. It does – such as the gap between COBRA and Medicaid.

The devil is in the details of the plan that apparently many members of Congress haven’t even read. One part that steams me is that citizens are required to pay into the plan in order to get benefits, but illegal aliens are not required to pay into the plan, but they will still be covered by it. How is that fair to the US, legal, taxpaying citizen?

By the way, I don’t care what race anyone is, but if a person is coming to this country to live here permanently, it is only fair that he or she does it leagally.

If I immigrated to Sweden illegally, would I get the same health care that a legal citizen or resident of Sweden gets? Just wondering!

I live in a country with socialised medicine and love it. I never have to worry about a thing. I am not being rationed. I get scanned so regularly that I know the radiologists at hospitals and they know me. I have had 2 major surgeries, loads of ercps. I get my gemzar and the nurse just hands me pills for vomiting…I dont even have to go to the pharmacy. Since cc is so rare, my doctor is working in conjunction with Sweden’s cc specialist and I will have meetings with her at the start of new treatments and when I request it. I am sent before the surgery team after every scan, without fail.

Sweden doesnt have a cyberknife machine, but if I get my tumors to a small enough size, I can be sent to france…everything from hotels, flights,and treatments paid for.

I found a phase II study about adding Erbitux to gem and cisplatin and brought it into my doctor. This was already being discussed as part of my new treatment plan, though they hadnt decided yet. Let me repeat…a phase II trial. Most insurance companies would deny coverage because it was only phase II. I had Avastin in my first chemo regime which is also a new and expensive drug that many cc patients dont get. All these new drugs are given without consideration to cost, just on if they could possibly help.

The overall thinking is that spending the extra money will pay for itself over the years through being a productive member of society. Keeping parents with their children, keeping people in the workforce, and having a healthier society will pay for more expensive treatment…or so they think in Sweden. Plus they see health as a right for everyone. They take pride in that everyone from politicians, royalty to autoworkers get the same treatment. You can go private, but it is so looked down on that rarely do people use private doctors.

I have never been told no to any treatment I have question due to cost, just no because it could not be used given my circumstances and tumor location and size.

I wish people would not be so scared of rationing through a government plan, because frankly insurance companies ration far more than the socialised medicine I receive. The one thing I will say, is that it also has to be far more cost effective. I have to go to a hospital 3 hours away for a PETscan. Theyrun the PET machine 2 days a week and cover a very large region. It is frustrating to have to make the journey, but think of the money that is saved by consolidating resources. I think many people are so used to wanting things NOW and in the hospital 10 minutes away from their house, they dont understand the absolute waste in duplicating services and how that impacts on prices.

Other thing I found out is that I often have ultrasound with contrast in addition to my MRI and CT scans. Doctors in the US have not heard of ultrasounds with contrast. But if you look on Pubmed, you find out they have the same diagnostic accuracy as MRI and CT scans but they cost MUCH less. Why doesnt the US use this technique, because they need us to use the more expensive equipment so every hospital can have the mri and ct machines no matter how small the hospital.

kris