Sicko and the USA public health ?

Question

I was watching Opera last night , and they were talking about the movie Sicko , and i've completely changed my mind about my countrys health care system .

I live in Portugal , and 23% of my income goes to the state (IRS) and 11% goes to social security . For along time i believed i should be able to choose between public health care and private health care ... this movie changed my mind completely .

Public health care isn't perfect , the waiting lists are long , the hospitals don't look like 5 start hotels ... but so what ? In case of an emergency i know that treatment won't be denied . I know they won't make an excuse like "this treatment is experimental" .

What to you think about this ?

For USA citizens , if you have to stay at home because you're sick , does yous health insurance covers you're every day life expences ? Do you receive any kind of financial support ? In portugal , if we have to stay at home , social security pays us a "health leave" equal to our monthly income (free of taxes) .

Do you believe there is a solution to this problem in the USA ?

Thank you

Answer 1

I am the perfect example as to why the USA has health care problems. I'll try to sum it up and make the long story short. Nurse for 37 years. Got hurt on the job (had back and knee replacement surgery that workmens comp paid for). Could not go back to work. Kept COBRA for the 18 months they would let me have it at a ridiculous $1200/month premium! Tried to get insurance coverage and no company will insure me because of previous and current health problems including my back and knee. Blue Cross/Blue Shield will insure me for $2400/month!! (That's the highest any insurance co can charge by law. They do that now instead of rating you)

Therefore, I have no health insurance! I finally got on disability and will be eligible for Medicare......

There are so many USA citizens that are in the same boat and have no insurance for the same or different reasons. It's ridiculous what they can charge you. We need something done to provide coverage for every citizen!

Answer 2

It looks like you feel really screwed up by this problem. Hope you may found helpful here.http://health-insurance.onlinebestoffer....

Answer 3

The U.S. does have a healthcare problem. It isn't nearly as bad as most people make it out to be. The problem is insurance companies denying coverage to those with terminal illness. The system in the U.S. is still the best. Quality of healthcare in the U.S. is by far the best in the world.  Universal Healthcare is NOT THE SOLUTION. Our current system only needs to be tweeked, not overhauled.

--I am a lower/middle class working man, but I have health  insurance. My wife also has health insurance and makes less money than me.

--Wow, that's terrible. Like I said though, I agree that our system needs to be fixed, but I don't think it needs to be completely overhauled

Answer 4

I have friends from Canada who moved here, and I can say with absolute certainty that our health care is worse than theirs.  

Here in the US, the health care is better than anywhere else only if you can afford the best of the best insurance plans.  Which your average middle class person does NOT have.  

There were some statistics floating around a while back, that about half of all bankruptcy filings were due to medical bills, and about 75% of those that filed HAD insurance.  It did not help them one bit, because either their claims were denied, or they couldn't even afford to pay the reduced amount that insurance would not cover (a small amount of a huge number is still a huge number).