Health Care in Retirement

[kcowan]

...A suggestion: Pick a provincial capital. The way things work here, the politicos make damn sure they get good care.

Or Vancouver in BC, preferrably Vancouver General which gets much of it funding from private contributions like the Diamonds and the Pattisons.

And to SWR: You can be out of Ontario for 212 days and still maintain your health coverage. Those remaining 153 days could be spent in a nice lakefront cottage in Muskoka or a number of other places in cottage country. Just make sure you have extra coverage for your time in Florida. If you get sick and are airvaced, make sure you have some way of getting your car back.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

This may be true in parts of Canada, but not all. Here's a study.

You are correct, I was referring to Ontario.

Kcowan:

Yup I know it is $700 for the US Rider for 6 months for both of us, and OHIP picks up the tab. But the car would present a problem. Guess the DW would drive it back or Visa Versa.

 

[Independent]

Anyone who has done any research knows that the health care cost per capita in the US is considerably higher than any other country, that's well documented. And there is no concrete proof that health care in the US is better (ie, worth it), if anything longevity and infant mortality stats suggest the US is well down the rankings. The US is the only remaining developed country that does not have universal and/or socialized health care for all it's citizens.

Lobbyists are a problem, but the mainstream population enables them because they don't resist - they could. The majority have health insurance through their employer, with the employer typically footing 80%+ and the employee 20% or less. What employees don't realize, is they pay the balance when they purchase goods and services - they only "see" the small contribution they have to make. So the mainstream population "grunts heavy and lifts light" when they talk about health care. They feel bad for those who don't have coverage, but they quietly don't want their current plan tampered with.

The information is all readily available. Let us know when you figure out how to get it to register with the mainstream population, until then you can expect the status quo.

This pretty well sums up my opinion.

The talking heads in DC identify two big problems with US health care - We don't insure everyone, and it costs too much.

But most of the public sees only one problem - We don't insure everyone. (And that isn't much of a problem to people who are covered.)

Most people don't pay for health care or health insurance out of pocket. The costs are hidden in a combination of taxes and lower wages. As long as the costs are hidden, there is no popular support for any meaningful changes on the cost side.

 

[Bikerdude]

I'm not interested in a health care system that the politicians say is good for me but exclude themselves from it.

 

[kcowan]

I'm not interested in a health care system that the politicians say is good for me but exclude themselves from it.

Yes anything universal should include politicians and civil servants at the same level of benefits as the genral populace.

 

[kcowan]

You are correct, I was referring to Ontario.

Kcowan:

Yup I know it is $700 for the US Rider for 6 months for both of us, and OHIP picks up the tab. But the car would present a problem. Guess the DW would drive it back or Visa Versa.

That is ok until it actually happens and you are airvaced and your DW is left behind to contend with that long drive back alone. Sometimes one of the partners no longer drives at night, etc.

 

[dgoldenz]

Shokwaverider,

I also had mountains of paper billing and numerous issues. A lot of claimed out of network was paid when I disputed it. A "year" after the surgery, I received a bill from an anesthesiologist for the surgery. Since I had already paid one I called the insurance company to complain. I was told that this anesthesiologist was "on-call" for the one administering for me, and that the billing was legitimate - they paid their portion and sent the rest to me to pay. One year later (and they have one year to file all claims), and this doctor wasn't even in the hospital.......

Your insurance company was probably right. Anesthesiologists are almost always "on-call" and billed as out of network, even if you are in a hospital that is in-network. This is by far the most common complaint I hear from people regarding out of network billing, and it really is screwed up. Hospitals should be required to make sure all of their physicians accept the same insurance that the hospital itself does. I always tell my clients to make sure everyone who plans on sending them a bill is in-network, never assume.

 

[eridanus]

But people live here who maybe don't have membership in 2 other systems, and maybe are still working so they might feel that they kind of like lower taxes so that they too might have a chance at a retirement.

You missed the part where Americans pay MORE but get EQUAL (and possibly LESS) care.

Of course, any reform would have to be done correctly. Too much gold in the game for that to happen.

 

[kevink]

Yes, and I think this recent column is a keeper to share with anyone (and there are many) still naive enough to think that cross-state competition or other such mechanisms will accomplish what only universal coverage can:

Op-Ed Columnist - California Death Spiral - NYTimes.com