[living destiny]

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[Callace]

TFTNT

[living destiny]

No problem! Hope it was okay that I started.

[Callace]

I bet it was the thread needed to be restarted. And you saved the rest of us from needing to come up with a title

[living destiny]

Oh this isn't much of a title.

Btw are you all voting? This is the first time I can vote so I am STOKED.

[TheAngel]

Yep, I'll be voting Tuesday. Our local elections are pretty big this year and I want to make sure to vote for a couple people. I'm really not happy about either candidate for senate but I guess I have to pick someone... I think both of them are pretty wothless so I'll probably go with the one who I think will do the least harm.

[living destiny]

What state are you in ?

[sunnykerr]

Thanks for starting the new thread, Sheils.

And I'm Canadian, so no state for me.

[vc318]

Originally Posted by slowly fading (View Post) What state are you in ?

Yes, I'd like to know too.

Thanks for the new thread.

[living destiny]

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post) Thanks for starting the new thread, Sheils. And I'm Canadian, so no state for me.

Lucky you. Can I ask how the universal health care works there and taxes, etc. I really would like to know the differences.

I'm in Cali btw.

[sunnykerr]

I don't really know the specifics of how the Canadian system works, to tell you the truth.

What I do know is this. Everyone has insurance. If your employer doesn't provide you with insurance, than you are automatically qualified for the government insurance. And just because it is the government insurance, it doesn't mean that it sucks. It's good.

When you're younger, you're on a parent's insurance. Just like married couples are typically on one of the spouse's insurance (they choose which, so typically it's whichever gives them the better benefits for the most affordable contribution). If your the kid, you stay on that insurance... I'm not sure till when. I was in university till 25, so I was still on it till I graduated.

Typically, a portion of your salary is culled towards the insurance pot, if you will. I couldn't tell you how much, but it's not THAT much. For all I know, it may be that our spending taxes also contribute to the governmental insurance, but I doubt it.

The crux of how insurance works is this. When you have to buy medications, the insurance pays you back a large (80-85% percent at least) portion of it. I've never once seen a bill from a hospital. And I've had brain surgery seven times because of a childhood illness. The insurance also covers dental health, although there are sometimes disparities between what the dentist will assure you is completely necessary and what your insurance deems so.

For instance, I have one tooth that is/was pretty badly decayed. It had three separate seals (is that the right word?) on it. When one of them fell, my dentist recommended I do a ceramic treatment on the whole tooth to seal in all the cavities and prevent leaking of bacteria inside the tooth. That was the second guy I saw. The first one wanted to kill the tooth and just give me a root canal since that seems where that tooth is headed. I went with the ceramic treatment. The insurance did reimburse me some, but not nearly all of the expenses that were incurred there.

And my insurance doesn't cover eye health.

But, and this is probably the same for you guys, whatever the insurance doesn't cover, and I mean whatever, you can declare on your income-tax thing at the end of the fiscal year. And that goes into consideration. So, the 15-20% leftover from the medications, the dental health stuff you were screwed on, and the eye doctor appointments... you get them back with your tax return.

It's not a perfect system by any means. Most people have waited at least one time in their lives in overcrowded emergency rooms at the hospital. I never have, because of that childhood illness I mentioned earlier. That pretty much guarantees me a bed any time I need to go to the hospital.

But that's also part of the point. No one is denied care. Ever. No one goes home with a bill asking you to reimburse the hospital because they wouldn't let you go home for X amount of days. If you have to get a cast, you're not gonna be billed for the materials on top of the services.

[living destiny]

That sounds like a great system. I had a few nerve operations when I was a kid that required serious physical therapy and the insurance only paid 25% of it, which wasn't much. My question is why do people like Sarah Palin make it sound like the government can decide who lives and who dies ? I remember that being a big thing during the election of '08.

Is your system considered 'socialism' ?

[Callace]

I'm Norwegian. And we don't have health insurance at all. We just pay high taxes, and when we get ill, the government pays for everything. If I need surgery or other hospital care, its all covered, and the topic of money never even come up. We just wait till the hospital has time to treat us (which admittably often can take q while) and get all the medical care we need for free.

If I need a doctor appointment I only pay a small fee, equalent of perhaps $ 20 or so, and if I need meds, government will usually cover 90 % of the costs. The government health care system does not include dental care though, other than for children, so going to the dentist can be horribly expensive

[living destiny]

Wow. That's not too bad of a deal though. Here there are SO many systems it gets way to confusing.

[sunnykerr]

Sheils, of course our system is considered socialist.

The United States is about the only place in the world where socialism is considered a bad thing without taking into account any factors or context.