Archive for September, 2009

California Individual Health Insurance Gap What Is

Not only is have enough moneyable health insurance tough to come across, save for additionally trustworthy corporations as at any rate. Ever since Richard Nixon thought that HMOs were a right thing for Americans, hard-working folks have had to make slews of phone cthe whole things and send angry letters.

If you have insurance, whether its Blue Cross, Aetna, or some other large provider, youve probably received hostile group letters savours doctors in the mail inquiring when you (or your insurance company who are always on time deducting your pay) are going to shell out the cash you owe them.

It discuss withms that insurance companies battle to circumvent payment whenever possible. This maximizes profits. One way they accomplish this is the dreadful category for your illness: The Pre-existing Condition.

When my five-year-old daughter started to develop a cough we took her in to see the doctor. The doctor said that she was developing bronchitis, a relatively common condition that is easily remedied with antibiotics. The doctor also noted that we caught it pretty early so there shouldnt troth any complications with getting rid of it quickly. Just entire the antibiotics and she would be fine.

The doctor was right. We gave our daughter the antibiotics and there werent any interests at all. Except for with the insurance company.

We received a letter from the doctors place of work a few weeks afterwards asking for their money. We encourageed the office and said that we paid our co-pay when we visited the office and didnt realize what money they were talking about.

Apparently, the insurer denied our claim. The doctors office said that we have to get in touch with our insurance and discuss it with them.

When we called the insurer, they told us that they had denied our claim given that of a pre-existing condition.

“A pre-existing condition?” I asked.

“Yes. Thats what it says here.”

I should note here that we have had this precise insurance for nearly two years.

“Excuse me, but how can bronchitis be a pre-existing condition? Weve been with the company over two years and I dont think my daughter has had this cough since she was three.”

“Im sorry sir, Ill have to transfer your call.”

After being bandied about the phone lines and talking to several different people of numerous countrysidealities, we were no closer to solving our problem.

As it turned out, they would not change their position and we were forced to pay the bill ourselves.

Sadly, this is going on to thousands of hard-working wage workers across the nation. If we had the money to hire a lawyer, we would have.

But, thats what made us easy targets for higher profit margins. We couldnt afford a lawyer. If we could, we would have a medical expense account in its place of an HMO.

So, be wary. If your claim is denied, dont be afraid to call and find out why. Sometimes, a company will save money by denying every claim until you call and complain.

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***WHAT ON EARTH IS TEMPORARY homeopathic INSURANCE?

Many if not more, people have on no account heard of temporary health insurance until suddenly they need it. Into most lives a give vent to must dropped. People are in trothtween defys, on strike; working but benefits have not further kicked in. Or they may be recent graduates who older health insurance all through college and nowadays they are now they are out pounding the pavements without any health insurance. For these reasons temporary health insurance is there for all those in between times. It will cover you cherish only to twelve months.

***IS TEMPORARY HEALTH INSURANCE LIKE common INSURANCE?

Yes and no. For starters, it never ever covers pre-existing conditions. No, nyet, no course, nada, and N.O. Nor does it cover preventative, routine health care. That means no physicals, no routine blood work, no mammograms. There is no monetary benefit whatsoever to a temporary health insurance company for permitting this kind of coverage. Other than these exceptions, temporary health insurance is pretty a large amount of like regular health insurance.

***ARE THERE SPECIAL COMPANIES FOR TEMPORARY HEALTH INSURANCE?

Do you mean something like Temporary Contemporary or Memp Temp, headquartered in Memphis Tennessee? No, its the same old companies that you adore, hate, or are indifferent to. Blue Cross, Aetna, Humana and many others offer a wide range of plans. There are a number of sites on the internet where you can get quotes and details. ceaselessly go to your library and understood the back issues of Consumer Reports that rate insurance companies.

***HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Lets say you are a 40-year-old woman. If you hold no deductible, your rates will be near to $200 a month but they go all the way bringing up the rear to $100 if you take a $5000 deductible. There are also co-pays going from 20% to 50%.

In other libretto, it aint low-priced. If you are flat broke and have no wages or assets-no savings, stocks or adhesions, no little chalet in Vale-you can go to your local welfare office and get your states version of Medicaid.

***DO I REALLY NEED TEMPORARY HEALTH INSURANCE? IM VERY HEALTHY.

Youre out job looking and youve acquired on your classy pair of spike heels. Your feet are killing you but you bravely pound the pavement. Suddenly that little heel catches in a crack and you twist and fall. There is a sickening “thunk” as your head strikes the pavement. Now you have a spiral fracture to the leg and a brain injury. The medical experts have to operate on your leg and drain the slick from your brain. You are now thousands of dollars in debt and your salary from any job you get will be used to pay off this debt. You verify. Do you need temporary health insurance?

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In the United States, people without therapeutic insurance and variegated inclined populations depend on a loosely arranged health fondness safety net for access to care. Three specificors threaten to plague this safety net: the increasing size of the uninsured segment of out population; the slowly dwindling fiscal assistance for subsidized care providers; and intensified competition for Medicaid patients below managed care.

Cant have enough money to Get Sick: A Reality for Millions of Working Americans, a study by the Commonwealth Fund found that a few under the median income of $35,000 set out uninsured without procuring focal care having vagrant health and trouble paying their health care bills. The same study showed that two of five recruits earning less than $20,000 are not offered or eligible to participate in employer furnished plans.[1]

federal governmently, loves 1990 to 1994, the uninsured population grew from 13 portion to 15 percent while the percentage of people obtaining coverage by the use of their employers dropped. Without any ensuing Medicaid coverage expansions, it is estimated that the percentage who are uninsured will grow to 24 percent by 2002.[2] As Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H., acting administrator of the Health Reorigins and Services Administration, stated, “Widespread access to primary health care for uninsured, underserved people simply cannot be achieved without more health centers and outreach such as the voucher programs.”[3]

The 1994 National Access to Care Survey by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examined the opening of having a normal source of care, inability to obtain involved care, and number of medical expert visits for persons with private insurance, Medicaid coverage, and no insurance. Medicaid participants were found to be half as potential as the uninsured and twice as likely as the privately insured to solutions difficulty with health care. Access for those on Medicaid closely resembled that of the privately insured than that of the uninsured.[4]

A basic question in health care access is insurance. However, as Joan Jacobs, a strategy analyst at the Office of Minority Health states, “We have to look at the fact that when there is coverage or when care is nearby, many Americans still arent getting it. Access to insurance doesnt unavoidably mean access to care, or even high-quality care for that matter.” 1 Other barriers include fear of infection, fear of monetary loss, cultural insensitivity, and linguistic barriers.[5]

References:
1. Meadows M. The Problem of Accessing Health Care. Closing the Gap: A Newsletter of the Office of Minority Health, US Dept. HHS. Washington D.C.: Sept. 1999.
2. Larkin H. Employed But Uninsured: Why business is Cutting Back on Health Insurance. Advances. Winter, 1996; 1: 1-2.
3. HRSA mangle Office. HHS Expands Access to Health Care with $18.2 Million for New Health Centers and Voucher Programs. Oct. 6, 1997.
4. Berk ML and Schur CL. Access To Care: How a lot of Difference Does Medicaid Make? Health Affairs. May – Jun 1998.
5. Landers SJ. Commission looks at ways to reform Medicare. Am Med News. 1999; 42: 1.

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A blog of ones own

Uninsured in the United States

Blogging is a relatively new technology that has helped shape how people communicate. With the help of the internet, minority growide awakes have been able to gain public support and thought from their blog posts. The internet has gained mass popularity in the previous 15 years growing at an exponential rate; it allows us to reach anyone anywhere at the speed of light. Blogging is important because the average in keeping withson can now project their message to millions of people online just about instantly. Blogs have become a key tool for minority groups to get their opinion across without spending a lot of money. They have empowered and set a voice to, people without adequate health insurance, and will be able to help more people in the future if the trend of blogging continues.

More than 44.8 Million people in the United States do not have health insurance (Wattenberg). This causes a great deal of concern for the average person living in the United States. The question is whether or not health insurance is worth the amount of money they will have to spend or if they even have the money to spend on it. They then will look at the opportunity cost; this is what they will have to give up if they dont buy health insurance. stilly time struggling to make this decision they often look at themselves as healthy and wont need or cant manage to pay for health insurance. Health insurance costs on average of $10,880 dollars per family, however most companies cover a large portion of ,this cost, thus making it cost on average $2,713 per year (Appleby). These numbers are staggering for the average family in America who make only $48,201 per year.

The uninsured in the USA are a seemingly invisible group to political elite and law makers. The problem with Universal healthcare is that it would, in theory, give everyone an equal opportunity at who gets what doctor. In other words there would be no “better” hospital to visit if you were wealthy or had some sort of influence. The documentary Sicko Michael Moore outlines what happens to people without health insurance in the USA, and it also largely covers what happens to people who have health insurance but their plan limits how much care they can receive. The documentary also includes what happens to people who live in countries who have universal healthcare. The documentary was an extreme bias towards Universal Healthcare, but it outlined many facts. The following quote comes from the Institute of Medicine, was featured in the movie Sicko, and indicates the severity of the US healthcare problem.

According to the Institute of Medicine, “lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States. even though America leads the world in spending on health care, it is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage.” (“Insuring Americas Health: Principles and Recommendations”)

This is a scary number of people that die each year from the lack of financial means in the United States. With the institution of Universal Healthcare that number would be down to zero.

The scary facts about United States greenhorn healthcare system are that the United States Government is doing youthful in the way of making this number go down. Hillary Clinton, one of the biggest supporters of Universal Healthcare, was bought out by the drug companies and doctors in the form of campaign money. She is the second highest recipient of money from the current healthcare system; thus causing a puzzler (Christensen). How can the government fix the current problem when the candidates themselves are in the pockets of the healthcare system and large drug manufacturers? Most view it as a problem, but do not know the extent of the problem; the healthcare companies are spending more and more money employing people to fight congress over healthcare plans. In fact, there are 2,084 lobbyist and only 535 members of congress (Mayor).

The uninsured are a large marginalized group in the United States that are not being represented by the government with adequate representation. The drug companies have the most to lose if the United States government adopts universal healthcare. They will lose the most because right now they are making their fortune off the current health insurance plan in the United States. They make their money off not treating everyone and from their high premiums. The current Bush administration has been urged by the drug companies to not agree to a universal healthcare system. They offer payouts to high political figures such as George W. Bush himself. This money is just a fraction of the amount of money that these drug companies receive every year from American families.

The uninsured American has no way to argue with the insurance or drug companies over how much their care will cost them. To put it simply, they cant. The following is a quote from Kuro5hin.org which posted this argument about bargaining rights of the uninsured:

“An individual who needs medical care has no bargaining power whatsoever with a hospital. He can either agree to pay whatever he is charged, or he can die. There are no other choices. In some cases, the government will force him to accept medical care – if he is a minor infant in a family that does not wish to get him any for religious or financial reasons, or if he is considered not to be in possession of reason – but he will still be billed. Refusing medical care for a dangerous or fatal condition is something most people wont do – and may, in fact, be considered evidence of insanity which takes away the patients right to refuse treatment at all. He cant walk out because the price seems unreasonable. In some cases negotiation is fruitful, but often it isnt.”

This following scenario is a real situation that far too many Americans confront who are uninsured. They have no way to pay off their bill so they can only choose to refuse care as an alternative, often doing this to help their families financially. Their bills often accumulate so high that if they chose to die, it would be better financially. So are we putting a price on human life?

Stunned by the cold shoulder that the U.S. Senate shows the uninsured, I looked into real life accounts of uninsured persons in the United States and their chilling stories. The following story touched me because it is of a hard working miner named Lenny who worked all his life in unforgiving conditions. He survived a mine fire which killed 91 of his co-workers. This didnt stop Lenny from returning to work, because after all he had three kids and with his job great health care. Unfortunately for Lenny he had health care up until the mine he worked for laid everyone off. This left Lenny with serious health problems from working underground for twenty years. He would eventually need medical care; so he applied for a job that offered medical assistance, and the only catch was that it took 60 days to go into effect. The following comes from (Sered and Fernandopulle):

“The luck that had made Lenny one of the survivors of the 1972 mine fire had run out. Only 30 days after he began the job, he fell down onto the pavement in full cardiac arrest. Paramedics flew him to Spokane, Wash., to a cardiac unit. His recovery was far better than anyone expected, but he was saddled with enormous medical bills. A year later, he was sent to the hospital for angioplasty and eventually open-heart surgery. The doctors saved his life, but Lenny is still suffering acute headaches as a result of falling to the pavement when he experienced the initial cardiac arrest. The cardiologist sent him to an otolaryngologist, who then sent him to other specialists for treatments; none has eliminated his headaches.

The bill for his various surgeries, consultations, medications, and treatments is more than $140,000—it might as well be $1 billion in terms of Lenny ever being able to pay it. His sole income at this time is the $400/month pension he receives from the mining company.

The second ending to Lennys story is a bit different. chatting with feeling about the first time he had to ask for public assistance, drags come into his eyes, which seems incongruous for a man who went back down into the mine as soon as the smoke from the deadly fire had markeded out. “We have worked all of our lives, even went to work sick,” Lenny refers. And now, instead of the dignity of automatic access to care, he depends on the golden heart of the county indigent assistance program.”

Lennys case is not an isolated one by any means; many people are uninsured and share similar stories about how the flaws of the current healthcare system.

Recently the blogging phenomenon has allowed many people with internet access to be able to share their healthcare stories with the world. Many people who cant afford insurance cant afford the cost of high speed internet which is required in order to blog. However, many public libraries offer this service and this allows many to have a voice when they wouldnt previously. Healthinsuranceblog.com offers many different facts about the benefits of healthcare and what could happen if you dont have it. The blog does not give real life accounts of people who are uninsured, but they help raise awareness of what it means to not have insurance. The blog brings up a good point about why Universal Healthcare in the United States is unlikely, we dont have the money to provide healthcare for everyone. The government currently does not have the allocated funds to cover insurance for everyone. With a tax it might be able to afford healthcare, but currently there is not enough money. Over 55% of the uninsured dont pay taxes (healthinsuranceblog) and there would have to be higher taxes for everyone while only some people benefit. Health Insurance Blog is a political blog that outlines what the upcoming presidential candidates support for health care.

Healthcare is often a matter of life and death for many. Without health insurance, the uninsured cannot afford routine doctors visits so if there is something wrong with them it is not detected until its too late. Most of the illness that people derive can be easily treated with proper care, but since most people fear the cost of a doctors or hospital visit they are left untreated.

Uninsured persons use political candidates to help get their message to the public about how critical their situations are. On the website healthinsuranceblog.com the democratic author talked about how politicians are getting the public aware of what it is like to be uninsured:

“In the Democratic Party primaries of 1988, for example, candidate Michael Dukakis talked about a teenage single mother who had two jobs and still could not afford medical insurance for herself and her children. In 1992, Bill Clinton did the same, changing the story only slightly. This time it was the case of a woman with diabetes who could not get health insurance because of her chronic condition. And now, in the 2008 primaries, Hillary Rodham Clinton (whom I worked with on the White House Health Care Reform Task Force in 1993) describes a similar case. This time it is a single woman, with two daughters, who cannot pay her medical bills because her congenital heart defect makes it impossible for her to get medical insurance coverage. And Barack Obama describes similar cases, with the eloquence that characterizes all of his speeches. He frequently refers to his own mother, who had cancer and had to worry not only about her illness but about paying her medical bills.”

Healthcare cannot wait much longer. Americans are dying every day because they cant afford to go to get a routine doctors visit or they cant afford their medication. I looked at the earning of the CEO of GlaxoSmithKline which is one of the larger providers of health insurance, Jean-Pierre Garnier the CEO made $9.4 million dollars last year. How is it fair that many people in the United States are uninsured and cant afford to get the help they need, and the CEOs of the companies that are denying them affordable healthcare are making a large salary. When people have to work two jobs just to be able to afford to pay for their medications, why should insurance and drug companies continue to be making such a large profit?

Internet savvy users who happen to be uninsured illustrate their hardships over the internet. Oftentimes, people without healthcare who have problems have a hard time expressing their feelings about their situations because they either cant afford to use the internet or are too frustrated. The internet, along with blogs, has become a tool for people to voice their opinion without the censor of mainstream media. Blogs are written by people who have a voice and without an agenda (for the most part anyway; there are also corporate blogs).

Health care blogs are written by numerous people including, doctors, people without health insurance, and supporters of healthcare for everyone also known as universal healthcare. The commonwealthfund.org is an internet site that describes stories of people without healthcare and their hardships. The site is made for people to gain awareness of how bad it is to not have healthcare, and even tear down the stereotypes of people without health insurance. One stereotype I used to have is that people without health insurance are lazy, and or did not work hard enough to be able to afford it so it was be their fault for not having it. After looking at this site that gives minorities a voice, I learned that even college-educated men and woman have a hard time getting health care.

One profile on commonwealthfund.org was of a college graduate named Ryan who had to choose whether or not to accept a job based on income or healthcare. He was a healthy young individual who did not mull over he would need healthcare so he decided to take a job teaching which did not offer good benefits. Ryan fell down on his apartment stairs and slighted his knee, he now has very high hospital bills to pay off. He later had to take a job that paid less but offers health benefits. Ryan ended up getting care for his knee in Chili because they did not charge as much and offered equal or better service. The question I have to ask after reading Ryans story that he told was why should anyone have to choose between a career or a job that offers health benefits? What happened to what we were told as kids: “we can be anything we want to be?” The truth is with our current plan many Americans are discovering themselves working for adequate health service.

Blogs have become an excellent form of education for people who did not know about what is happening to the uninsured. With the recent popularity of blogs, many are using their voice to disprove common misconceptions about what is it like to not be fully covered by their insurance company when they need care. After reading all the Profiles of the uninsured on commonwealthfund.org I wanted to know more about how we could get their stories across to more people. The upcoming election for president has given the most power to the uninsured. The biggest problem that is being addressed besides the Iraq war is the matter of affordable healthcare for all. The fact is that healthcare is only affordable for the average American making under $50,000 for a family is one that is mostly covered by their employer. But with the economy falling without or little growth since 2001 has not made it within sight for small companies to provide healthcare for their employees.

Small business owners are finding it increasingly difficult to afford the cost of healthcare for employees. Small businesses have to deal with high taxes by the government on their income (this number is usually around 35% but can very state by state), this is a high number so the amount of funds left after paying for overhead is very little. The goal of small business it to expand and grow, but how can they afford to do that with all the costs they have? If healthcare cost less for business owners the economy would follow suit. It would grow, and I dare say we would be out of the recession that we are currently in. There is little in form of growth in the United States compared to other coming up nations.

Universal Healthcare to many Americans is not important to them because they are already covered; however I am concerned about it because the United States is doing so poorly economically. Blogs have been important in addressing the issue of how much money in being spent by individuals every year. In 2003 1.3 trillion dollars was spent on healthcare by the American people. This is an alarming amount of money that is going to something that is under regulated as far as price goes. The drug companies and insurance companies are taking a large portion of all Americans income each year. Healthcare blogs have played a big role in getting the publics attention at this issue. They often make issues aware to us that we may not have known about; blogs unlike mainstream media are not censored and do not have a corporate sponsor. Americans who do not have health insurance get their stories about their hardships on blogs or others write about them on their behalf.

I found a family member in my family who did not have health insurance. I learned last year she had a major operation on her back, and I often wondered how she was going to pay for it. I conducted an interview with her and what I found out was disturbing. I have to say I am slightly bias towards this because she is a family member; however it does not make the facts any less chilling.

My female family member Lisa Herbert is a working class woman who did not finish high school or attend any formal schooling after she dropped out. She got pregnant at the young age of 15 and had her first child at the age of 16. Lisa had a tough life from her teenage years. She had a hard time raising a kid at her age; she went through multiple husbands and boyfriends who would promise to take care of her children but left her financially ruined. Lisas story regarding medical insurance starts two years ago in 2006. From all aspects she had a hard life but she wanted to still make something of herself, she got a job at a Dunkin Donuts as was promoted quickly to manager. She was enjoying for the first time in her life financial freedom even if it was small; she had the sense of independence. She went to work just as she has always done one day in the winter; she fell on the ice leading up to the Dunkin Donuts she worked at. She fractured one her vertebras, however not life threatening, neither were her injuries threatening enough to make her become a paraplegic. However she was still injured. Lisa could not walk or be mobile for over 6 months; now imagine this as she described to me, she was finally becoming financially independent and was proud to become a manager, then after one misfortune she landed in the hospital. She did not have good insurance; she had what Dunkin Donuts provided for her. She was “lucky” in the sense that because she did not have the financial means to sue them. Dunkin Donuts gave her the pay for the 6 months that she was not working. She took this as a gift, but from my point of view she could have got more out of them if she had money. Lisa then had to pay overwhelming medical bills (the actual amount was not disclosed) that mounted on her already oppressed situation.

Lisas story is not an isolated one or even a rarity in the United States. Many workers who are working either retail or chain restaurants are not making it financially. The rising cost of healthcare that is not provided from the companies that they are working for is overwhelming and often times unaffordable. The blogging community is just starting to pick up issues of social injustice that is being done to marginalized groups such as the medically uninsured in the United States and giving them a voice. These groups should not be silenced because they do not have enough money to pay for proper care or routine visits.

I want to address one important issue that the readers of this paper may be having; I have talked a lot about universal healthcare and how the uninsured need care as well. Many Americans that I have spoken to said that they dont want inferior quality care if we decided to do universal healthcare. I have a personal story I want to share to clear up any confusion with the quality of nonprofit hospitals or hospitals that offer free care. When I was the age of 15 I had a severe flat foot problem, with health insurance that covered nearly 99% of all medical bills my parents had to pay over $3,000 out of pocket for treatment in order to get custom made orthotics for my feet and other care. They did not work. I ended up going to a hospital in Springfield Massachusetts that offered free orthopedic care to anyone under the age of 18; we did this only because all the “specialists” we visited did not help my condition. My doctor I had was the top orthopedic surgeon at the hospital and could rival any at a paying hospital. He suggested a new treatment for my feet without surgery and gave me free orthotics that actually helped. My family had the money to get nearly any doctor that would help me however this was the only doctor that knew what he was doing that we visited so far. He was still paid but by donations (he drove a 7 series BMW so he was getting paid a lot). I think that Americans that are opposing universal healthcare have a twisted view on what it means to not have insurance pay for their care. I want to address one more thing, I found out about this hospital from a healthcare blog (cant take into consideration which one) which had other patients inscribing about their care and how they were helped by this hospital.

Universal healthcare to many is something that we want and strive for in America; but the question we have to ask is can we afford it? A study was done on the National office for Political Analysis website outlining what would happen if we adopted universal healthcare today. According to the site if we were to look at another universal healthcare plan such as Swedens, America would suffer far beyond what it is suffering today. Due to lower funding to hospitals through taxes instead of the healthcare providers, we would experience the following, a lag in new staff for hospitals, reduction in staff at hospitals and clinics, reduction in beds at hospitals to house patients, undertrained people taking on higher tasks such as surgery (Larson,1). This makes it hard for us to consider universal healthcare in America when there are so many negatives. However should the voices of the uninsured that are dying simply because they cant afford their premiums be silenced?

Many of the uninsured living in America now are between the ages of 20-30, these by all means are young healthy individuals who feel like they will never need insurance until times of yore the age of 30. They think, what are the odds of getting sick? They are classified by the insurance agencies as “young invincibles” these are the people who do not have the average $3,000 a year to spend on health insurance let alone if their employer even offers it. Jake Hollner is by all rights a young healthy individual who at the age of 24 is working for Home Depot and is an artist part time. He missed the insurance that Home Depot offers as it is only offered once a year in a two week time frame. He thought to himself that he did not have the money to afford insurance (he was only making $6 an hour) so why bother? The money he would save from the insurance could be put to his medical bill if he had a onetime accident. He suffered from stomach ulcers since his undergraduate years in college, these ulcers just starting coming back so he decided to bite the bullet and go to the doctors for help. He paid $200 for the visit and $73 for the prescription. This was his entire paycheck for the week but he was tolerable right? The ulcers did not go away after he took his medication; he had to do the unthinkable for an uninsured person, he went to the emergency room. He lost his gamble with not having insurance he ended up paying a fortune for his ulcer coverage because he was without health insurance. The actual costs were not disclosed. Jake before the doctor visit could barely afford rent and other living expenses including health insurance (Amsden, 1).

There are other stories such as Jakes out there, where young people who are rarely sick do not have the coverage they need in case of an emergency. The healthcare providers commented on this blog which Jakes story was on. They gave him a link to get affordable healthcare through them, the provider is Blue Cross Blue Shield. Even if there was “affordable” healthcare to many, how could someone like Jake who was only making $6 an hour be able to fix his other expenses? There is no cutting corners in his case, he has no money and is living on necessities.

With the institution of universal healthcare people such as Jake would not have to pay a lot to get coverage since he does not make a lot. Why is it that in America the better off richer class doesnt want to help everyone else? Universal healthcare redistributes the wealth that we are not getting a piece of. When the majority of our wealth is going to the 1/10 of the top 1% in our country how can the rest of us afford to live? In theory, their money would help fund everyone else with healthcare from their taxes. Wouldnt it be better to live in a community where everyone helps each other, and there is no one who has to choose between eating or taking their child to the doctors office?

Universal healthcare is a topic that cannot be ignored any longer. We have too many people living amongst us who simply cannot afford the absurd premiums that the insurance companies are charging. The people that are dying because they cannot afford regular doctors visits are real people who have families and people that rely on them. This is a change that will need to be addressed as our new president comes into office in the year.

Amsden, David. A Generation Uninsured. 26 March 2007. 10 4 2008 .

Appleby, Julie. USA Today. 12 February 2004. 2008 .

Blarney. Kuro5hin. 30 October 2003. 2006 .

“Blogging it.” Modern Healthcare 34.37 (13 Sep. 2004): 42-42. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Keene State Library, Keene, NH 26 February 2008. .

Dalmia, Shikha. “Saying No to CoerciveCare.” Wall Street record – Eastern Edition 31 Jan. 2008: A16. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Keene State Library, Keene, NH. 26 February 2008. st-live&scope=site>.

Devore, Chuck. “Schwarzeneggers Universal Healthcare Suffers Setback.” Human Events 64.5 (04 Feb. 2008): 7-14. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Keene State Library, Keene, NH. 26 February 2008. .

healthinsurance. Health Insurance Blog. 25 March 2008. 2008 .

McCabe, Patrick. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 27 April 2005. 2008 .

Moore, Michael. Sicko check up the facts. 2008 .

NCPA. Lessons from Swedens Universal Healthcare. 24 4 2008. 24 4 2008 .

(NCPA)”Outliers.” Modern Healthcare 37.34 (27 Aug. 2007): 68-68. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Keene State Library, Keene, NH. 26 February 2008. .

Susan Sered and Rushika Fernandopulle, M.D. The Common Wealth Fund. 2 February 2005. 2008 .

Thielst, Christina Beach. “Weblogs: A Communication Tool.” Journal of Healthcare Management 52.5 (Sep. 2007): 287-289. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Keene State Library, Keene, NH. 26 February 2008. .

“Wanna play politics, kid? D.C. welcomes you to the big leagues.” Modern Healthcare 37.41 (15 Oct. 2007): 36-36. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Keene State Library, Keene, NH. 21 February 2008. .

Wattenberg, Ben. PBS. 2003. 12 4 2008 .

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Many given thatsociated Content producers wonder about the viability of making interrelated Content a full era duty. If you have health problems or family obligations it could be a great option. The benefits of working for yourself are many but health protection indemnity is not one of them, if you work as a writer, artist, freelancer, doing paid surveys from home, mystery shopper, merchandiser, contractor, or are otherwise self-employed, getting health insurance can be difficult. If you have a health problem it is practicthe inclusive thingy impossible or at least often especially expensive. Then you have to worry about insuring your family. How can you ensure you will get insured? What if you have a health problem?

One option is taking a class or two per semester at your local college. It is mandatory for a full time student to have health insurance, but optional for part time students to buy the health insurance available through the college. This is often available if you take one or two classes per semester. It is a large mix pool of mostly college age students, so there is computerization enrollment. This insurance is generally a few hundred dollars a semester and you can enroll your spouse and dependants for an extra nominal charge.

The caveats are this:

You will desire to take a class or two per spring and fall semester to be protectioned the whole once a year, but it can be a fewthing easy or enjoyable like an art workspace class, or yoga or Pilates or dance. If you are trying to work as a writer, you can above course always take a writing class. It is also a great way to make connections and have an exit for others to review and critique your writing. There are many classes in college that looked like they would be fun but you just didnt have time to take them anytime you were a student before. This is an prospect to do so.

You need to take departod academic standing to qualify for the insurance, generally meaning, dont flunk out of all of your classes.

The insurance can often be very basic coverage and many standard health checkups and exams or the flu view might need to ensue through the school clinic. However, if you go to a school affiliated with a hospital, the clinic may take place there. The clinic generally has a aggregate of basic services (like the flu shot or a routine ear infection checkup) for free if you are a student at the school.

You need to stay a student to keep the insurance – if you decline the class within the add/drop timing that you get some of your money back, you will not qualify for the insurance.

The perks are this:

If you are generally not insurable for some alibi this option gets you insurance because it is a large group pool. In many states, if you are insured for preexisting when you go on a new plan, then the pre-existing non-coverage timing does not apply. Check in your state. A policy may waive pre-existing but not be of much use to you for other reasons – such as it covers prescriptions but only $1000 worth a year. This is more than enough for some, but not enough for others.

It is really cheap to get school insurance for you and your family.

There are other perks to being a student such as you have access to the school gym, the cyber web, the library, and discount software via the school store. You can often get student discounts at restaurants and stores around town with your student ID.

School insurance policies vary greatly, check the insurance policy in advance to see if it works for you; it is generally found online at each schools respective website. Some are very good for accidents and fully cover hospital costs, but are really light on the needs of older aged, like if you need routine screenings. Others are excellent for women with great OB/GYN care but not good for prescriptions (other than birth control) or if you need physical therapy. However, if you save hundreds a month on your health insurance, you might be enthusiastic to forgo the services you would rarely use anyways to save money.

The quality of the policy has little to do with the quality or cost of the school. Shop around for the policy that works worthwhile for you and the school that has a convenient class schedule for you and your family.

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