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Jessa, Ben, and Spurgeon part 4


Boogalou

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3 hours ago, season of life said:

Maybe if politicians read about stories like these, they'd understand there are human faces behind the problem and treat healthcare seriously. I'm sure it's not easy to fix the healthcare system in the U.S., but you'd think some of these bigwigs could relate to loss and try to help out.

Sadly, too many politicians take big contributions from all sorts of corporations, including health insurance companies.  Money talks.  Plus, those big companies can afford to pay lobbyists to hang around Senate and House chambers, getting the ear of politicians and encouraging them to vote certain ways on bills.  Something has to change, but I'm not sure exactly what it will take. 

to Kjaerringa - stories like yours are all too common.  I had to do something similar following an auto accident when I did not have health coverage and had to pay all my own medical bills.  The state of health coverage in the U.S. is a disgrace, and too often the cards are stacked against us and in favor of the insurance companies.

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I have a strong hatred of insurance companies.  They sure love taking your money every month but it's like pulling teeth to get them to pay for anything.

I'm paying out of pocket for my insurance currently since I just graduated and haven't found anything full time yet.  My horrible insurance requires PCP visits for everything.  So even though my plantar fasciitis is acting up and I need to see a podiatrist, I have to get a referral first.  SO stupid, and makes me pay twice for something, when I can barely afford once.

I wish the US was like every other developed country in the world.  A person shouldn't go bankrupt because they got sick or injured.

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I'm so sorry for your loss VelociRapture.

The NHS is probably the best thing about the UK (I could rant on about the government trying to destroy it but I wont) and I hope it continues forever. No-one should worry about how to pay for a trip to A+E/the ER.

 

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13 minutes ago, CoveredInBees said:

I'm so sorry for your loss VelociRapture.

The NHS is probably the best thing about the UK (I could rant on about the government trying to destroy it but I wont) and I hope it continues forever. No-one should worry about how to pay for a trip to A+E/the ER.

Agreed. Non-Brit here, but I LOVED how the NHS was celebrated in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. My British cousins can't believe how much better off they have things than we do, even with our comparatively "good" insurance.

In fact -- and this is not at all an example of why the NHS is so vastly superior, but I found it amusing -- when I last spoke with my (much older -- past retirement age) cousin about this, he told me a favorite story. When the NHS was established and services made available, his mother, probably around 40 at the time, decided to finally see a dentist about getting dentures. She had always HATED her teeth, and always held her hand over her mouth when she smiled. As he told it, they weren't particularly damaged or decayed, but she was determined to have them pulled and replaced with dentures. She did, and didn't have to pay a penny. (However, her smiling habits never much changed.)

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If a certain person gets into the Whitehouse, I may be moving back to the UK.

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2 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

If a certain person gets into the Whitehouse, I may be moving back to the UK.

I might stay here. Though getting a job, new housing, and a new visa will be an interesting undertaking. Failing staying in the UK, honestly, I'll just look for a job in China again. Yeah, China is a repressive oligarchy with a pretty veneer of Communism, but at least the health care there is pretty cheap, IME. Though moving to Taiwan might be an option; their new president is pretty awesome.

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13 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

If a certain person gets into the Whitehouse, I may be moving back to the UK.

Take me with you!

Just a curious question: Do they have programs about

gi-normous families in the UK?

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10 minutes ago, ksgranola1 said:

Take me with you!

Just a curious question: Do they have programs about

gi-normous families in the UK?

They do, but they aren't usually fundie, from what I can tell... either "benefits scroungers" or just obsessed with kids, like this couple.

http://www.theradfordfamily.co.uk

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@VelociRapture, I'm so sorry to hear about that.

Take care of yourself, and try to do something you both enjoy to remember life still goes on.  Back when we were doing the infertility shuffle we had only one possible success, but Ms. Villain miscarried early.  We went to the zoo that weekend just because.

Hope things get better soon.

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8 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

Continuing the Insurance conversation -

I was in the ER on February 27th. Turns out I miscarried our first child, our little meatball. We're fortunate to have been given excellent care, have a great cushion in savings, and have insurance... But I'm really dreading the day we get the bill for the ER and my subsequent bloodwork in the mail. We have a HSA, so we can use that to pay for it... But it sucks so bad that this is going to put a decent dent in what we have in our account (especially because I doubt I'll be giving birth this calendar year, so it won't even help hit the deductible before I go into labor or anything.)

My sympathies go out to everyone in worse positions or who don't have insurance for any reason. I can't imagine how much more stressful this type of situation would have been. It takes an incredibly strong person to stay positive and focused during these stressful situations - I tip my hat to you all (or I would if I had a hat on.)

I'd love to see healthcare overhauled in this country - not sure how to do it, but I'd love to see more steps taken in that direction. Good health is one of those things that should be a basic human right in my opinion. Whether you live or die shouldn't be up to your insurance (or lack thereof.)

Just wanted to say I am very sorry for your loss. We lost our first little bean on January 16th, 10 days after we were told baby had no heartbeat. Nothing compounds the pain like medical bills. I ended up being charged an office visit, the ultrasound, a rhogam shot, 6 hcg tests (+1 if you count the test that confirmed the pregnancy originally and +1 the early pregnancy bloodwork), urine analysis, and what I  had to pay out of pocket for the cytotec pills. I have a pretty good insurance policy because I work in healthcare but meeting my full deductible in January and no baby to bring home just really sucks. 

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@VelociRapture I'm so sorry for your loss, big hugs to you.

One huge problem is pharmaceutical companies spend MUCH more on advertising than research and development on top of being able to charge whatever the heck they want for medicine (which is how we ended up with PharmaBro).

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1 hour ago, CoveredInBees said:

The NHS is probably the best thing about the UK (I could rant on about the government trying to destroy it but I wont) and I hope it continues forever. No-one should worry about how to pay for a trip to A+E/the ER.

 

I second that the NHS is the best thing about the UK. The recent stuff about junior doctors and Jeremy Hunt makes me so angry, but in my circle of friends the word Jeremy is now a euphemism as in 'that guy is a right Jeremy' (it implies he is something that rhymes with his surname).

This video is why we need the NHS, Harry Smith remembers a time before it and it is so harrowing. It makes me tear up because this guy is from Barnsley, which is the town where I live.

 

 

 

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8 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

Continuing the Insurance conversation -

I was in the ER on February 27th. Turns out I miscarried our first child, our little meatball. We're fortunate to have been given excellent care, have a great cushion in savings, and have insurance... But I'm really dreading the day we get the bill for the ER and my subsequent bloodwork in the mail. We have a HSA, so we can use that to pay for it... But it sucks so bad that this is going to put a decent dent in what we have in our account (especially because I doubt I'll be giving birth this calendar year, so it won't even help hit the deductible before I go into labor or anything.)

My sympathies go out to everyone in worse positions or who don't have insurance for any reason. I can't imagine how much more stressful this type of situation would have been. It takes an incredibly strong person to stay positive and focused during these stressful situations - I tip my hat to you all (or I would if I had a hat on.)

I'd love to see healthcare overhauled in this country - not sure how to do it, but I'd love to see more steps taken in that direction. Good health is one of those things that should be a basic human right in my opinion. Whether you live or die shouldn't be up to your insurance (or lack thereof.)

I'm so sorry for your loss. Sending hugs and good vibes your way.

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1 hour ago, JesSky03 said:

Just wanted to say I am very sorry for your loss. We lost our first little bean on January 16th, 10 days after we were told baby had no heartbeat. Nothing compounds the pain like medical bills. I ended up being charged an office visit, the ultrasound, a rhogam shot, 6 hcg tests (+1 if you count the test that confirmed the pregnancy originally and +1 the early pregnancy bloodwork), urine analysis, and what I  had to pay out of pocket for the cytotec pills. I have a pretty good insurance policy because I work in healthcare but meeting my full deductible in January and no baby to bring home just really sucks. 

:hug: I'm so sorry! I was a lot earlier than you were - probably about four weeks or so. It hurts to think about, but wasn't as bad as it could have been. Wish I could give you a real hug, but the awkward forced virtual one will have to do.

1 hour ago, guitar_villain said:

@VelociRapture, I'm so sorry to hear about that.

Take care of yourself, and try to do something you both enjoy to remember life still goes on.  Back when we were doing the infertility shuffle we had only one possible success, but Ms. Villain miscarried early.  We went to the zoo that weekend just because.

Hope things get better soon.

Thank you so much. I've been hanging out with our puppy a lot - we go for long walks, snuggle together, and do some training. Her first birthday is Saturday and I'm planning out fun stuff we can do; it's given me something fun to think about. 

Hubby has been fantastic throughout all this. He was so sad to lose the pregnancy, but he has been my rock. I made the family sauce this weekend (it's time intensive) as a way to thank him and show how much I love him - he said he's never been more attracted to me then he was when he saw me stirring that pot. :pb_lol:

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@VelociRapture So sorry for your loss.  I lost a pregnancy, years ago.  Many people at that time didn't acknowledge what a real loss it is.  Makes me smile that your husband and puppy are giving you the extra love and cuddles you need :D Please take care of yourself, and enjoy that sauce!

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16 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

Thank you so much. I've been hanging out with our puppy a lot - we go for long walks, snuggle together, and do some training. Her first birthday is Saturday and I'm planning out fun stuff we can do; it's given me something fun to think about.

Heh- back when we were adopting we had just moved into a new house with a large yard, and we decided we'd go get a dog that weekend.

Friday morning our social worker called and told us that we could come get our son.  Sadly, since #2 son has fairly bad asthma the doctors still aren't letting us get the dog...

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@Bushes of Love That video made me cry too. More people need to be reminded just how important the NHS is - and stop underpaying and overworking the medical staff, and overemploying administrative staff. I have always felt the breaking into regions, and then into individual trusts (with the consequent expansion of admin) was to facilitate privatisation when they thought they could get away with it.

ETA I remember a time when less than 3% of NHS money was spent on admin. Today, it is AT LEAST 14%. Think how many doctors and nurses that 11% could employ....

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13 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

\\Thank you. Physically I had an easy time. No intervention needed. I still need to do one last round of bloodwork, but it should be over soon.

I know how fortunate we are. We have insurance and my husband has maxed out his contributions to our account for a few years. Financially, it could be so much worse for us... And it is so much worse for so many people, which pisses me off.

Emotionally, this was tough to deal with. I can't even imagine what it's like when intervention is needed or your insurance isn't covering things or you don't have money to pay the bills. I will never be able to understand why it's ok for insurance companies to jerk people around like that in the middle of such horrible situations.

I'm so sorry you are having to go through all of this! <3 hugs <3 

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18 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

Continuing the Insurance conversation -

I was in the ER on February 27th. Turns out I miscarried our first child, our little meatball. We're fortunate to have been given excellent care, have a great cushion in savings, and have insurance... But I'm really dreading the day we get the bill for the ER and my subsequent bloodwork in the mail. We have a HSA, so we can use that to pay for it... But it sucks so bad that this is going to put a decent dent in what we have in our account (especially because I doubt I'll be giving birth this calendar year, so it won't even help hit the deductible before I go into labor or anything.)

My sympathies go out to everyone in worse positions or who don't have insurance for any reason. I can't imagine how much more stressful this type of situation would have been. It takes an incredibly strong person to stay positive and focused during these stressful situations - I tip my hat to you all (or I would if I had a hat on.)

I'd love to see healthcare overhauled in this country - not sure how to do it, but I'd love to see more steps taken in that direction. Good health is one of those things that should be a basic human right in my opinion. Whether you live or die shouldn't be up to your insurance (or lack thereof.)

I'm so sorry for your loss. Big hugs.

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13 hours ago, CoveredInBees said:

The NHS is probably the best thing about the UK (I could rant on about the government trying to destroy it but I wont) and I hope it continues forever. No-one should worry about how to pay for a trip to A+E/the ER.

Thirded, @Bushes of Love, we need people like Harry Smith to remind us all of just how lucky we are to live in an era where everyone has access to medical care when they need it, like I said in the other thread I am grateful we have the NHS, they saved my dad's life when he was diagnosed last year with lung cancer, they helped my grandpa's pass with dignity and respect, with pain killers to help keep them comfortable in their last months, weeks and days unlike the poor woman Harry remembers from his youth. 

I hope a times comes when everyone in all countries in the world have access to the help and care they need without having to fear losing everything or die because they can't afford to pay for a service which should be a basic human right.

@VelociRapture, I'm sorry for your loss.

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