Good morning to all of you again! The pick of this week is: Health Insurance or Russian Roulette. This topic has been weighing heavily on me as long as I have been here in the country of unlimited opportunities. I am fairly positive that to lots of Americans this is no big deal at all, and God bless you for that because you guys apparently don't know any better or rather any differently and therefore accept it the way it is. I for my part, however, consider myself blessed as health insurance in my country is definitely no issue whatsoever. This being said, I guess, I did not appreciate what I had had until I lost it, or should I rather say before I gave it away to live here instead.
In most European countries medical and dental are both included in your employment plan as long as you are in the system and part of the work force. Only if you are self- employed or part- time as well as minimally occupied, a monthly fee is required, but we are still talking about rather reasonable rates. Sure, we also have insurance companies that ask for co- pays as far as prescriptions and special treatments, but still nobody gets robbed or runs the risk of being bankrupt.
Here in the States, however, the clocks tick very differently to what I was used to overseas.
Of course, health benefits are mainly granted to those who are employed, but often times these purely cover the most basic medical services. Millions of folks have to work two or three jobs on average to get themselves and their beloved ones covered because unlike five or ten years ago still, today one job does simply not cut it anymore. What's more, these people have to pay between 30 and 50 US $ up front for every doctor's appointment! That's just ridiculous! Wait, it gets even worse than that. Dental is entirely excluded from people's health plans and thus regulated and priced just as poorly if not worse. Should you be self- employed, you have to somehow see to getting medically insured yourself, and believe me, getting through this horrendous jungle of bureaucratic obstacles makes the guys here worthy recipients of the Medal of Patience. In the end, no matter how you look at it, medical insurance will rob you of your last nickel. I have heard of many couples trying to find a delicate balance in regard to insuring their families. As a rule, contractors - usually males - work free- lance whereas their spouses pursue careers in retail in order to get at least a little bit out of health benefits. It's no secret that 48 million US- citizens are not in the loop at all, and that is outrageous! Those men and women just like my husband and I truly play Russian Roulette every day that they take the chance of getting sick or even worse of suffering an accident while working in self- employment jobs. We rather wait and see what may or may not happen than commit ourselves to paying up to $12.000 a year just to be basically covered -just in case. How sad is this?
I personally refuse to pay a dentist thousands of dollars just because a basic evaluation revealed that I supposedly need a couple of new caps plus whatever it takes to stop my gums from receding any further and to fix a few cavities. Oh, and I forgot all about the implants. You see, people here are not just fooled with respect to choosing the right medical and dental plans but are furthermore burdened with additional services that are often just not needed. However, this I am going to talk about some other time. Have a great and most importantly a healthy day!
In most European countries medical and dental are both included in your employment plan as long as you are in the system and part of the work force. Only if you are self- employed or part- time as well as minimally occupied, a monthly fee is required, but we are still talking about rather reasonable rates. Sure, we also have insurance companies that ask for co- pays as far as prescriptions and special treatments, but still nobody gets robbed or runs the risk of being bankrupt.
Here in the States, however, the clocks tick very differently to what I was used to overseas.
Of course, health benefits are mainly granted to those who are employed, but often times these purely cover the most basic medical services. Millions of folks have to work two or three jobs on average to get themselves and their beloved ones covered because unlike five or ten years ago still, today one job does simply not cut it anymore. What's more, these people have to pay between 30 and 50 US $ up front for every doctor's appointment! That's just ridiculous! Wait, it gets even worse than that. Dental is entirely excluded from people's health plans and thus regulated and priced just as poorly if not worse. Should you be self- employed, you have to somehow see to getting medically insured yourself, and believe me, getting through this horrendous jungle of bureaucratic obstacles makes the guys here worthy recipients of the Medal of Patience. In the end, no matter how you look at it, medical insurance will rob you of your last nickel. I have heard of many couples trying to find a delicate balance in regard to insuring their families. As a rule, contractors - usually males - work free- lance whereas their spouses pursue careers in retail in order to get at least a little bit out of health benefits. It's no secret that 48 million US- citizens are not in the loop at all, and that is outrageous! Those men and women just like my husband and I truly play Russian Roulette every day that they take the chance of getting sick or even worse of suffering an accident while working in self- employment jobs. We rather wait and see what may or may not happen than commit ourselves to paying up to $12.000 a year just to be basically covered -just in case. How sad is this?
I personally refuse to pay a dentist thousands of dollars just because a basic evaluation revealed that I supposedly need a couple of new caps plus whatever it takes to stop my gums from receding any further and to fix a few cavities. Oh, and I forgot all about the implants. You see, people here are not just fooled with respect to choosing the right medical and dental plans but are furthermore burdened with additional services that are often just not needed. However, this I am going to talk about some other time. Have a great and most importantly a healthy day!
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