Author Topic: Wholly kerrap! Paying Cobra insurance rates! (Read 732 times)

LePaul · « **Reply #15 on:** June 16, 2003, 01:58:37 PM »

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Originally posted by gofaster
I dislocated my left index finger playing in a beach volleyball tournament on Saturday. I played through the pain and won 3rd place. Now its swollen so much that I can't move it, it feels like a vienna sausage, and my job requires extensive, accurate typing. You don't see me crying about pain, do you? Walk it off you slackers!

What I *really* want to know is

1) How long it took you to type this
2) How many times did you hit Backspace

and...horray for you...LOL

Dowding · « **Reply #16 on:** June 16, 2003, 02:17:05 PM »

Put it this way Syz, I've never been disappointed by the healthcare I've received from the NHS and I've used it for various stuff from CAT scans, ECG etc to casualty (ER). What I also know is that I don't have to pay $402 a month for it; in fact $402 is more than I pay in total for income tax and national insurance and that covers everything. AND I have private health cover as part of my job included! So, not only does LePaul have to pay these private insurance companies a huge amount of dosh, he then has to pay income tax. I'd say I've got a decent deal, comparatively speaking. Of course, every system has it's pros and cons.

Syzygyone · « **Reply #17 on:** June 16, 2003, 02:31:59 PM »

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Originally posted by Dowding
Put it this way Syz, I've never been disappointed by the healthcare I've received from the NHS and I've used it for various stuff from CAT scans, ECG etc to casualty (ER). What I also know is that I don't have to pay $402 a month for it; in fact $402 is more than I pay in total for income tax and national insurance and that covers everything. AND I have private health cover as part of my job included! So, not only does LePaul have to pay these private insurance companies a huge amount of dosh, he then has to pay income tax. I'd say I've got a decent deal, comparatively speaking.

Yes, but you have to live in England which is close to Siaf and France !:eek:

j/k

I am curious though, about some issues which your post raises. I'm not asking to be judgmental. I'm truly curious.

You say you have both private insurance and national insurance. Who pays for the private? You or your employer or a combination? Which insurance pays first and how much? Does the other one pick of any unpaid balance, i.e. supplemental insurance? Are you required to use state medical first and then go to private, or vice versa? Finally, what happens if you don't like what that government docs are doing? Can you go to a different doctor?

Really Dowd, I am just curious.

Thanks.

Furball · « **Reply #18 on:** June 16, 2003, 02:43:55 PM »

I was in hospital for over a month, both in the private ward and NHS ward.

The NHS is ok if you cant afford private healthcare, but there is no way i ever want to stay in an NHS ward again unless i have absolutely no option.

Private however is a different story, luckily i'm covered through my mum's job.

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Who pays for the private? You or your employer or a combination? Which insurance pays first and how much? Does the other one pick of any unpaid balance, i.e. supplemental insurance? Are you required to use state medical first and then go to private, or vice versa? Finally, what happens if you don't like what that government docs are doing? Can you go to a different doctor?

Company my mum works for paid for my operation and recovery. I even received from BUPA (private company) £50 compensation from them for each night i had to spend in the NHS ward.

Cant remember exactly how much my operation cost, think it was around £5,000 + £300-400 per night while in hospital.

For emergencies you have to go to A & E (accident and emergency) which is run by the NHS and then you can move to the private ward of the hospital, or go to a completely seperate hospital soley for private healthcare depending on the seriousness of the problem. I dont know if u can change doctors, its probable that you can change.

miko2d · « **Reply #19 on:** June 16, 2003, 03:08:26 PM »

Syzygyone: Actually Miko, I agree, and that frightens me something fierce!

In fact, when I lived in Soviet Union, I was extremely ignorant of many things I was missing too. If one has no access to the information but only to one-sided propaganda, it's only expected that people would have an opinion based on ignorance.

What frightens me more is how many people with access to information prefer not to use it, relying instead on pre-packaged opinions served by propaganda machines.

Dowding: Put it this way Syz, I've never been disappointed by the healthcare I've received from the NHS...

Because you do not know what you are missing because of existence of NHS and other socialist institutions - and I am not only talking about existing treatments which may not be accessible to you but those that never came into being because of policies detrimental to progress and research.

miko

Dowding · « **Reply #20 on:** June 16, 2003, 03:44:48 PM »

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In fact, when I lived in Soviet Union, I was extremely ignorant of many things I was missing too.

Because you do not know what you are missing because of existence of NHS and other socialist institutions...

Try making allusions to a Soviet British State all you like Miko2d. If that's the best argument you can put forward...

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You say you have both private insurance and national insurance. Who pays for the private? You or your employer or a combination? Which insurance pays first and how much? Does the other one pick of any unpaid balance, i.e. supplemental insurance? Are you required to use state medical first and then go to private, or vice versa? Finally, what happens if you don't like what that government docs are doing? Can you go to a different doctor?

I pay for the private, through my employer and wages - of course it is subsidised by my employer. Basically, it's up to me whether I use the private cover or go with the NHS. If I want quicker treatment, I can go private. There are no rules as to which I use, but since I get the cover I as part of my job (I'm not sure I could refuse it, and after looking at a tax statement the other day I'm sure it said it was worth only £122 - about $300 a year) I would use it. You can of course ask for a second opinion in a hospital - you could refuse treatment, you can do whatever you like. It's not a police state.

Personally, I think the NHS is a great institution. Not without shortfalls and problems, of course.

miko2d · « **Reply #21 on:** June 16, 2003, 04:25:08 PM »

Dowding: Try making allusions to a Soviet British State all you like Miko2d. If that's the best argument you can put forward...

You are a liar.

You pull a sentence from my conversation with one person about one thing, put it next to a sentence fron a conversation with another person, imply that they are related and make strawman rebuttal, how original.

I was talking to Syzygyone about how people without acces to information may not be aware of the opportunities denied to them - and sited my personal experience as an example. Anyone is certainly free to join the conversation but misquoting parts of it out of context is a low and deceitfull act.
Sure, if you do not have mental capacity to argue about what was really said, you can always string unrelated words together, attribute nonexisting point to an opponent and them proclaim "If that's the best argument you can put forward..."

Is misquoting and attributing nonsense the best argument you can put together, Dowding?

As for British socialism, I was not referring to propaganda or to any brits being unaware of something but to the fact that socialist policies of redistribution and regulation deter economic growth and technological progress.
After WWI and WWII britain was experiencing abysmal growth while other countries with less socialist policies went ahead by leaps and bounds. How much that non-produced wealth would have contributed to wellbeing of people and research into the new technologies?
Of course brits produced a lot of unneded coal in their state-woned union-run coal mines instead. Why have modern economy if people've never been dissappounted by the coal, right?

miko

LePaul · « **Reply #22 on:** June 16, 2003, 11:22:42 PM »

Well to bring us all back on topic....I paid the $822 today...I couldn't see paying $402 for one month, when there's a chance of a 2nd follow up surgery a few weeks later after the first (July 25 now).

Then, effective Sept 30, I go back to my day job insurance plan @ $110 a month

*sigh*