The Truth About Ruth - Part 4

[Black Aliss]

You can also get your prescription drugs a lot cheaper in Mexico. Also in Canada. So if you live near either border it can pay to get your meds there. I have a friend whose 1 y.o. lab got blastomycosis, which is thousands of dollar to treat. They took the script to Canada and got a year's worth of treatment for what 1 month would cost here.

The first time I went to Tijuana I was expecting, well I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't streets lined with dentists' offices and pharmacies. If you got off the main streets auto body repair shops predominated. The bus on the way back across the border was full of US citizens who had clearly spent the day in a dentist's chair. And because I just happened to have the pill bottle in my purse I was able to get a refill for less than the cost of my decuctible at home.

[FiddleDD]

Dental insurance is weird. A few years ago they paid 100% for some cosmetic work to my front teeth but last month I got a very necessary filling and I got a bill because the insurance didn't cover the whole thing, maybe because it was a back tooth?

[FJismyheadship]

Girlwind its the same here. I am on disability, but I had dental work done while I was pregnant. I had extractions, a cleaning, and ONE filling. I need to go back, but haven't had the time. That one filling used up my Medicaid limit so I was unable to get anything else done.

[Triplet3]

Wow. I really don't mean to feel smug, but I am SO glad to have NHS dentistry! Not everything is covered by it, but lots of things are. The are three bands of pricing - an examination, x-ray or scale and polish etc. is £18, fillings, root canals and extractions are £49 and crowns, bridges etc. are £214.

[Mama Mia]

Wow. I really don't mean to feel smug, but I am SO glad to have NHS dentistry! Not everything is covered by it, but lots of things are. The are three bands of pricing - an examination, x-ray or scale and polish etc. is £18, fillings, root canals and extractions are £49 and crowns, bridges etc. are £214.

There is never a health comment that comes up that doesn't make me insanely jealous with the quality of care that people receive in countries with universal health care. It is ridiculous how ass backwards and barbaric the U.S. is in this area.

[NurseNell]

...which, of course, played into my willingness to believe "Ruth" was really facing these struggles. They seemed believable to me, and in my mind, Ruth became a kind of eternal underdog.

That was what me wonder about her. Two summers ago my then 28 y.o. son was very ill with pancreatitis, which ended up to be secondary to gall bladder disease. Two weeks in the hospital, and gall bladder surgery after the pancreas quieted down left him with a huge hospital bill. He was self employed so was uninsured. His wife made an appointment with the business manager. He qualified for Medicaid to pick up the entire bill, it was a relatively stress free process. He got the Medicaid for only this illness and bill based on his income. If my son qualified then surely Ruth would.

[Mama Mia]

That was what me wonder about her. Two summers ago my then 28 y.o. son was very ill with pancreatitis, which ended up to be secondary to gall bladder disease. Two weeks in the hospital, and gall bladder surgery after the pancreas quieted down left him with a huge hospital bill. He was self employed so was uninsured. His wife made an appointment with the business manager. He qualified for Medicaid to pick up the entire bill, it was a relatively stress free process. He got the Medicaid for only this illness and bill based on his income. If my son qualified then surely Ruth would.

Does your son have minor children ? Because for Medicaid itself there are definite requirements to be a minor, the parent of a minor or disabled or senior, in addition to the income requirements. However many states and local areas have additional programs that cover additional people...but the availability and scope of those services vary widely.

Many county health programs will label all their health services under one umbrella, so the patient may not know what actual funding is used.

[NurseNell]

Does your son have minor children ? Because for Medicaid itself there are definite requirements to be a minor, the parent of a minor or disabled or senior, in addition to the income requirements. However many states and local areas have additional programs that cover additional people...but the availability and scope of those services vary widely.

Many county health programs will label all their health services under one umbrella, so the patient may not know what actual funding is used.

Yes, he had a 1 y.o. and 4 y.o.

[ladyaudley]

There is never a health comment that comes up that doesn't make me insanely jealous with the quality of care that people receive in countries with universal health care. .

I would put quality in quotation marks when it comes to the NHS. To actually get your wisdom teeth taken out, for example, you have to have been referred to them *three times* in pain to get an appointment. If your wisdom teeth are playing up for the first or second time, tough luck, buddy.

[Triplet3]

The NHS isn't perfect, but I am still incredibly glad we have it.

[NurseNell]

There is never a health comment that comes up that doesn't make me insanely jealous with the quality of care that people receive in countries with universal health care. It is ridiculous how ass backwards and barbaric the U.S. is in this area.

Well don't get cancer in one of those countries. I'm on email lists for breast cancer, ocular melanoma, and GIST. Our members are from all over the world. OM and GIST are both rare orphan cancers. Initial diagnosis and treatment is pretty comparable here in the U.S. and in countries with universal health care. But follow up scans and treatment for stage 4 metastatic disease is vastly better in the U.S. with only a few exceptions. Finland is one country that does well with follow up and treatment of metastatic disease. A lot of the English patients either go private to get scans or come here for follow up. The best known English doctor for OM has left the NHS and is now here in the United States (Professor Bertil Damato). I'm thankful I'm here in the U.S.

[Coconut Flan]

Nine month wait for gallbladder surgery vs two days. There are positives and negatives on both sides.

[boxedin]

Just checked in to check on Razing Ruth scam. I'm confused about all the dental posts. Can we have a dental cost thread somewhere? Sorry, hate to whine....

[polabear]

Nine month wait for gallbladder surgery vs two days. There are positives and negatives on both sides.

For many Americans, its 9 month wait vs no surgery. Or surgery only after it becomes a matter of life and death, leaving them in vast amount of debt.

[wild little fox]

I think one of the big things is the money aspect. If a person is just telling their story and not making a money grab, I find it a lot more believable.

Even on NLQ, the individual writers make no money, but Vyckie does, so where is her incentive to vet people. If their stories are compelling and will bring her clicks, which equals money. She's made it clear she doesn't care about the truth in her completely over the top reaction to my polite email. She doesn't know me from adam, but just the fact that I am a member her (the owner, trying to be nice and give her a head's up) was enough for her to completely discount me. She clearly does not use good judgment, IMO.

I won't be giving her anymore clicks as a result.

Here we come right out and say we do NOT vet anyone, but when things come to our attention we don't just let them go merrily along (neither did the past administration, btw) as though it's ok. When Alecto was given verifiable evidence that Elle was Aria_Star it was investigated and brought to the forum. When AD was found to have played similar games on other forums, it was brought out. When we had something we could finally actually verify that gave us reasonable proof that RR was not real, we investigated it and brought it out.

I, personally, feel that we (the administration) have a responsibility to our membership to do this. If people realize this is the stand we take, maybe they will eventually quit trying to run their schemes here. I'm sure there are much easier places where people just don't care ;)

Yep! We are a snark site but that doesn't mean we don't have integrity. I really appreciate how things are run here at FJ.

[Mama Mia]

For many Americans, its 9 month wait vs no surgery. Or surgery only after it becomes a matter of life and death, leaving them in vast amount of debt.

Yeah, since I know actual people who have died in the U.S. due to not being able to get health care....despite trying for every service possible....I would gladly take another system.

[Arete]

Just checked in to check on Razing Ruth scam. I'm confused about all the dental posts. Can we have a dental cost thread somewhere? Sorry, hate to whine....

The dental cost tangent has nothing to do with RR's scams. It came up in another post on TAR that reference a woman who was doing good social work but also had a fund asking for money toward dental work. This woman is clearly NOT RR. It was removed because it was mucking up issues at TAR.

[dawbs]

You can also get your prescription drugs a lot cheaper in Mexico. Also in Canada. So if you live near either border it can pay to get your meds there. I have a friend whose 1 y.o. lab got blastomycosis, which is thousands of dollar to treat. They took the script to Canada and got a year's worth of treatment for what 1 month would cost here.

we're not *to* far from the Canadian border...before we got married (my husband had crap insurance), he would go to Canada because codine is his med of choice for migraines and it's OTC there.

Which meant he didn't have to mess w/ getting a diagnosis (again) to be given a script (again) --AND it was cheaper.

(legalities aside)

[Verin Sedai]

Just checked in to check on Razing Ruth scam. I'm confused about all the dental posts. Can we have a dental cost thread somewhere? Sorry, hate to whine....

At least it's not about diarrhea anymore ;)

[wild little fox]

Yeah, since I know actual people who have died in the U.S. due to not being able to get health care....despite trying for every service possible....I would gladly take another system.

Me, too. My friend, who was like a second mother to me, had cancer. She knew there was something very wrong, but could not afford to get testing done. When she finally got Medicare it was diagnosed as late stage pancreatic cancer. With chemo they were able to extend her life another year so she could get her affairs in order.i miss her every day.

[boxedin]

At least it's not about diarrhea anymore ;)

My dh just changed jobs and we no longer have full family dental coverage. Maybe I should pay attention.

(If you can't beat them, join them)

[Lainey]

Damn, I'm kinda jealous of the UK if they have dental coverage under their NHS. We do not. I manage because I never go to the dentist unless my teeth hurt, because I am a big baby. I have skipped getting a crown on one tooth because of the cost. The other tooth was my very back molar, so I kind of had to. They let me do a payment plan, though. That's with my husband's health insurance covering half.

[Whipple]

My dh just changed jobs and we no longer have full family dental coverage. Maybe I should pay attention.

(If you can't beat them, join them)

Don't worry boxedin, the subject will get back to RR. It always does when people have had their say and something new happens regarding RR. I joined in during the IBS discussion because I was a latecomer to the RR debacle and wanted to put in my two cents but I'm always late to the party when it comes to threads. I used to call myself a thread-killer but now I know more about the life of these things.

Sorry about your loss of dental coverage. I don't get why dental is not covered in the same way as medical here in the States. I hope nothing happens but if it does, I'm glad you are taking careful notes.

[Lillybee]

California's version of Medicaid which we call MediCal will pay for a root canal but not the crown that is needed. Go figure.

[Arete]

That is probably because when any type of entity be it socialized or private is trying to save money on healthcare, dental is a pretty big target.