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#21
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
RobGN wrote:
Jennifer, I sympathize with you on your frustration on your job; my sister-in-law is a nurse in Ottawa and I hear her complain about the shortages constantly. However, I must mention that our healthcare system, with all its faults, has one advantage we cannot take for granted: Should anyone of us have a serious accident which would cause us to be hospitalized, our healthcare system pays for our stay, our Doctors, our Therapists, our Nurses, our medications while in hospital. I cannot imagine the cost I would have had to incure when I was involved in a highway accident last winter and was in the hospital for 3 weeks. Jennifer, yours is a wonderful job. RobGN I live in Quebec. I needed a shoulder surgery. The waiting list for this type of surgery is months, if not a year or two. One call my mother made to a doctor we know and I had it done within a month. With the amount of taxes I pay because of my high income, I'm in a my right to expect this level of services without having contacts. Somebody i know is a nurse. Because there is a shortage, he decided to work only part time, knowing that he will be asked to do overtime every week. This way, because of the overtime bonuses, he makes more money than working full time from the beginning. This is only possible because of the bad administration and over the top unionization of the healthcare systems. A doctor I know, a specialist with 20 years of practice, just recenlty told me that for every 1000000$ government invests into the system, we're lucky if 50000$ end up being spent on the services to the population. And we do have the highest taxes in North America. 50% income tax, 15% sales tax, gas taxes etc. |
#22
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
On 10/17/05 7:02 AM, in article , "Scott Schuckert" wrote: In article .com, RobGN wrote: However, I must mention that our healthcare system, with all its faults, has one advantage we cannot take for granted: Should anyone of us have a serious accident which would cause us to be hospitalized, our healthcare system pays for our stay, our Doctors, our Therapists, our Nurses, our medications while in hospital. I cannot imagine the cost I would have had to incure when I was involved in a highway accident last winter and was in the hospital for 3 weeks. A few years ago, a friend of mine was hit by a bus while crossing the street in Denmark. It was probably even his fault; no one asked or cared. They scooped him up, took him to the hospital, and fixed him. It's clear you've never been to one of those hospitals located in the socialist paradises of Europe. We give better care to cocker spaniels in Veterinary clinics here..... I had occasion to go to a hospital in England a couple of years back for a minor injury - the place was dirty, poorly staffed and you had to wait far longer than you do in America..! The care given was just plain inadequate...! The level of care is abysmal and the quality of care is worse - a dear friend of mine died of cancer in Denmark just about two years ago. The hospital was a disgrace, filthy and you could smell it two blocks away. Her husband, a clergyman, pays 70% in taxes, not 50%. I believe if she had been treated in America, she would be alive and well today....! I have a Canadian friend whose mother was denied a hip replacement - too old, they said. She was eighty at the time. He brought her down here and had it done under his private health insurance. She's 91 now, still walking around without pain....health care in Canada is great unless you get sick....! As he tells it, there was almost no paperwork - they only asked his name and address so they could let his family know where he was. If government is going to run healthcare, THAT'S how it should work. Of course, they have a 50% income tax to pay for it - but I'm told it's the ONLY tax, so it's probably equivalent to the total tax load we have in the US. Their tax load is much higher..... IMHO, our biggest problem with our current system in the states is the insurance industry. Aside from the incredible cost of the paperwork to track it all, there's no reason to find ways to make it affordable - the consumer is never really faced with the cost. My fathers (unsucessful) cancer treatment was over half a million dollars! If we routinely charge more for services than ANYONE could pay, it can only come crashing down on us eventually. The problem with our system is government intervention and bureaucrats. Private insurance, competing for dollars, would and will provide better care at lower prices. That's how competition works... That's why our system, in spite of government interference, is still the finest in the world....bar none! PC |
#23
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
Paul Bielec wrote:
And we do have the highest taxes in North America. 50% income tax, 15% sales tax, gas taxes etc. It could be worse ... you could live in Europe. ;-) |
#24
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
"Paul Bielec" wrote in message ... In Quebec, we do have the public healthcare system. And we do pay the highest taxes in North America. If the service was good, it wouldn't be a problem. But the service is crap. People are actually dying while on waiting list for a surgery. That's because they already have your money in their pockets, so there is no incentive to do the work. We have the same problem with the HMO's here in the states. For 40 years I worked and paid into my health insurance plan. I was never sick. I was young and healthy as are most young people. Now, I am retired, and getting old and sick. But after 40 years of paying into their plans, they already have all of my money they are going to get, and there is no incentive for them to take care of me. So the service I get is lousy. The insurance companies refuse to pay the providers unless they are billed correctly, and I have to do most of the paperwork in order to make that happen. The drug companies refuse to pay for certain medications.....Especially the more expensive ones. They force me to go to the doctors of their choice, which are new doctors that are just getting started, and willing to work for less money. I am "forced" to be in Medicare (a government sponsored plan) even though my own personal insurance should (and would) pay for everything, and the providers refuse to bill the private plan, but are only willing to bill the Medicare government people. The list goes on and on. I fear the day when I am too old to protest, and to do the billing correctly.....At that point the money will all have to come out of my own pocket, because I will be too old to know that I am getting screwed. The rest homes here are the same way. You should see the food they serve the old folks. You wouldn't feed food like that to your pet dog. If you are diabetic, or have some other diet sensitive disease, you are a goner. They serve nothing but starch..... |
#25
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
In article , William
Graham wrote: ...The insurance companies refuse to pay the providers unless they are billed correctly, and I have to do most of the paperwork in order to make that happen... I have it on good authority (I maintain some of their computers for them, and a girlfriend works in billing) that at least one very large medical insurance company randomly refuses properly submitted claims. Aside from the number that are refused for improper paperwork, roughly 20% are kicked out just to see if they can get away without paying. Of these, about half are not re-submitted. The extra claims selected are not really random; my friends JOB is to select those whose refusal is least likely to be challenged. All in the name of optimizing investor returns, of course. |
#26
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
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#27
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
Paul Bielec wrote:
RobGN wrote: Jennifer, I sympathize with you on your frustration on your job; my sister-in-law is a nurse in Ottawa and I hear her complain about the shortages constantly. However, I must mention that our healthcare system, with all its faults, has one advantage we cannot take for granted: Should anyone of us have a serious accident which would cause us to be hospitalized, our healthcare system pays for our stay, our Doctors, our Therapists, our Nurses, our medications while in hospital. I cannot imagine the cost I would have had to incure when I was involved in a highway accident last winter and was in the hospital for 3 weeks. Jennifer, yours is a wonderful job. I live in Quebec. I needed a shoulder surgery. The waiting list for this type of surgery is months, if not a year or two. One call my mother made to a doctor we know and I had it done within a month. With the amount of taxes I pay because of my high income, I'm in a my right to expect this level of services without having contacts. Drive across the border with $30,000 in your checking account. You can get all the service you want. What? You don't want to pay $30,000? Then wait. -- Ray Fischer |
#28
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
"Thomas T. Veldhouse" wrote in message t... In rec.photo.equipment.35mm Scott Schuckert wrote: All in the name of optimizing investor returns, of course. And for this reason, MN has a law requiring Health Insurance companies to be non-profit. The Attorney General in this state LOVES to dig through the accounting of these companies. Heh. I'm not exactly sure what "non-profit" means, other than not showing anything on the bottom line I suppose. So there are no shareholders to pay dividends to, but they can spend all the money they like on high salaries for executives and a lot of other lavish perks, and generally do. A friend of my dad's once told him that the best and surest way to get rich was to have a good position in a non-profit company. There still ain't no free lunch. And people still build companies to make money for themselves. Neil |
#29
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
"Scott Schuckert" wrote in message ... In article , William Graham wrote: ...The insurance companies refuse to pay the providers unless they are billed correctly, and I have to do most of the paperwork in order to make that happen... I have it on good authority (I maintain some of their computers for them, and a girlfriend works in billing) that at least one very large medical insurance company randomly refuses properly submitted claims. Aside from the number that are refused for improper paperwork, roughly 20% are kicked out just to see if they can get away without paying. Of these, about half are not re-submitted. The extra claims selected are not really random; my friends JOB is to select those whose refusal is least likely to be challenged. All in the name of optimizing investor returns, of course. Yes. And the older you get, the more difficult it is to challenge these refusals. At some point, the geezers money is just taken from him/her without protest. Surely your friend knows that the, "least likely to be challenged" is going to be in the oldest group of subscribers. |
#30
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Nikon D70 issues/questions Vs. Canon
Tony Polson wrote:
Paul Bielec wrote: And we do have the highest taxes in North America. 50% income tax, 15% sales tax, gas taxes etc. It could be worse ... you could live in Europe. ;-) I actually did, for nearly 16 years and still have two passports... |
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