Careful What You Wish For . . . – The Reluctant Grownup

The back pain has settled into a dull, constant ache. So maybe I preferred the ache-free, sucker-punch-at-any-minute stage more. I don’t know. The dull ache sucks. But it’s an ache that aches in such a way that I know it’s healing properly (it also sort of tickly itches, in that way that major bruises do as they heal). I still get a minor twinge when I bend at the waist. It aches much more if after a day of activity. It’s getting better. I’m trying to be grateful: I could be paralyzed. It makes me grumpy.

I’ve attempted to contact my follow up neurosurgeon orthopedist guy a couple of times, with little success. Insert comment about how awesome market-based healthcare is, and what a relief that I don’t live in a country where healthcare is free (or rather, paid for with taxes by everybody instead of with debt by the few unlucky souls who need it most) and where the wait times for specialists are . . . just as long as here. And the doctors are . . . just as hard to get in contact with. And the care is . . . just as good, at least for the 97% of the population who are poor schmucks like me. I don’t have a million in the bank to get my name at the top of the list of the best surgeon in the land, cost be damned. So I wait at the back of the line.

I usually try to avoid political la di da on this site, but the health care situation is what most makes me want to move to France (that and our vacation and maternity leave policies). I was thinking the other day about how lucky I am that I’m not a worker who is paid hourly and gets no sick leave. How devastating it would be to fall, crack your back, not be able to work for two weeks (and thus get no pay), and then have thousands of dollars in bills on top of that. And anybody who wants to criticize an hourly worker for not saving up six months of pay in an account for just such emergencies needs to chickity check out how often that ole’ minimum wage has been raised, and what amount. Then compare the last time your rent was raised. Or the gas prices were raised. Or your grocery bill suddenly zoomed up into the stratosphere. And then try to live on twenty grand a year. And see how quickly your house of cards of a budget falls in on itself when you have a slip and fall (or your crappy car breaks down, or your kid brings home the list of school supplies that you have to provide now that schools have zero budgets, or you have the gall to try to send your kid to college and then gag when you realize each year of school costs more than your annual salary). And then get back to me on how “lazy” and “stupid” people are the only ones who live in poverty, and people who smoke cigarettes are the only ones who abuse our healthcare system, and the grasshopper who sings all summer is the only one caught without enough money to live on in retirement.

See. Grumpy.

5 Comments

New Kid on the Hallway

August 1, 2011 at 1:17 pm

Amen on the health care. My sister is in what is basically an hourly wage job (even though I think technically she’s salaried). It’s also high-risk for physical injuries. In a previous iteration, she didn’t get health care, and my mom shelled out for her health care just because she knew she’d be paying much more if my sister got thrown from a horse and broke her neck. Now my sister has health care, which would cover catastrophic stuff, but is still pretty crappy.

And the thing is, my mom could AFFORD to buy my sister’s health care. We’re very very lucky; I’m not really complaining on our behalf. It’s just that it makes you think how ridiculous it is for so many people who aren’t so lucky. My sister has worked with a lot of (possibly) undocumented immigrants who I’m sure didn’t have health care in a very physical job. I do not understand how people can think this is more “efficient” than having a national healthcare system.

Jax

August 1, 2011 at 2:46 pm

I spent my winter quarter in France and fell down some stairs, breaking my toe. I went to the hospital there (which took just as long as going to a hospital here!), and, when I went to check out, the woman kept asking me if I had my French card so that I wouldn’t have to pay for the bill. I kept telling her no. She seemed quite worried. She kept trying to offer suggestions for how I could deal with the bill. She suggested that I leave, try to get a French card, and then come back the following week to get the bill. By this time, I started worrying about how much this bill must be if she didn’t want me to have to pay it. So, I asked her what the total was. She reluctantly told me that the total was 40 euros. For my hospital visit, x-rays, and consultation. 40 euros! I happily handed her my credit card. She suggested I submit the bill to my U.S. insurance company so that they could reimburse me. I had to stifle a laugh. The following day, I had to go to the pharmacy to get the pain pills. I went through the exact same conversation with the pharmacist and started to become worried that I didn’t have enough cash on me. When I finally got him to tell me the total price of my prescriptions, without my French card (*gasp!*), he sadly told me it was 8 euros. Again, I happily paid. The care I got was just as good, the wait time just as long and the price was significantly less than any deductible I’ve ever paid in the States. It was a wonderful change and I would certainly sign up for the same health care in the U.S.

Jennifer

August 1, 2011 at 4:15 pm

Couldn’t agree more. Our “healthcare” system is terrible. And insanely expensive.

My husband’s well paying State job ended, and despite clipping coupons, saving as much per month as possible (considering we pay $1000/month in child support for ONE child, while our family of four has to live on what’s left…don’t get me started about how unfair that is…), we certainly don’t have 6 months saved. And when his job ended unexpectadly, and he was going to have a 10 day break in employment, we’re going to shell out $1200 for COBRA for one month….until our new policy starts. Insane. And financially crippling for us. It’s frustrating, but with two kids, theres little option but to pay up. Argh. I’m not looking forward to writing that check…

Proto Attorney

August 1, 2011 at 4:26 pm

It’s really frustrating working in the clinic, where a big part of my job is helping people fill out Medicaid and SCHIP applications. You really have to try to not make money at all to qualify for Medicaid, it’s ridiculous. Even the requirements for SCHIP allow a large number of hard-working people to fall in the cracks, just struggling to scrape together enough to pay their bills. And if you actually have private health insurance, good luck with that. Ridiculously expensive premiums, copays and deductibles, and when you file your claims, you get the finger.

And I hear you on the doctor’s appointments thing. It’s just as bad with the PCPs as it is with the specialists. Like, if I call today and say I’ve got a fever and whatever, and I need an appointment, and the response is, I can see you a week from Thursday… uh, I’ll either be better by then or dead. Thanks.

RG

August 1, 2011 at 6:29 pm

Proto Attorney – why then, just go to urgent care! I mean, it’s only a $250 co-pay. Come on, what’s stopping you?

Healthcare costs were spiraling out of control for years before the health law was passed. I attended many a seminar, as an HR Manager, on what exactly to do. The typical answer was – lower your employees’ salary raises, raise their health care deductibles and premiums and co pays, lower their coverage, and put a yearly (or lifetime) cap on their benefits. In this way, corporations, you can still provide “healthcare coverage” to your employees, and also keep enough room in your budget to afford to pay way out of line bonuses for yourselves! Pats on the back all ’round!

By the end of my tenure as an HR Manager, over half my employees were literally taking home less dollars than they had in years prior. Their pitiful raises were completely swallowed up by our health premium hikes. And, do note, I left only a couple of months after Obama took office, so this has nothing to do with the new law.

My final comment – I lived a year in Australia and a year in England, and had to utilize a physician’s care in both countries. And it was awesome. The experience felt exactly the same as in America, with similar wait times, similar bedside manner, similar quality. The only difference was I walked out without worrying a thing about billing. It was totally free. I paid for it with the taxes taken out of my wages in both countries. And I’d vote to do it here in a hot minute.

New Kid on the Hallway

August 1, 2011 at 1:17 pm

Amen on the health care. My sister is in what is basically an hourly wage job (even though I think technically she’s salaried). It’s also high-risk for physical injuries. In a previous iteration, she didn’t get health care, and my mom shelled out for her health care just because she knew she’d be paying much more if my sister got thrown from a horse and broke her neck. Now my sister has health care, which would cover catastrophic stuff, but is still pretty crappy.

And the thing is, my mom could AFFORD to buy my sister’s health care. We’re very very lucky; I’m not really complaining on our behalf. It’s just that it makes you think how ridiculous it is for so many people who aren’t so lucky. My sister has worked with a lot of (possibly) undocumented immigrants who I’m sure didn’t have health care in a very physical job. I do not understand how people can think this is more “efficient” than having a national healthcare system.
Jax

August 1, 2011 at 2:46 pm

I spent my winter quarter in France and fell down some stairs, breaking my toe. I went to the hospital there (which took just as long as going to a hospital here!), and, when I went to check out, the woman kept asking me if I had my French card so that I wouldn’t have to pay for the bill. I kept telling her no. She seemed quite worried. She kept trying to offer suggestions for how I could deal with the bill. She suggested that I leave, try to get a French card, and then come back the following week to get the bill. By this time, I started worrying about how much this bill must be if she didn’t want me to have to pay it. So, I asked her what the total was. She reluctantly told me that the total was 40 euros. For my hospital visit, x-rays, and consultation. 40 euros! I happily handed her my credit card. She suggested I submit the bill to my U.S. insurance company so that they could reimburse me. I had to stifle a laugh. The following day, I had to go to the pharmacy to get the pain pills. I went through the exact same conversation with the pharmacist and started to become worried that I didn’t have enough cash on me. When I finally got him to tell me the total price of my prescriptions, without my French card (*gasp!*), he sadly told me it was 8 euros. Again, I happily paid. The care I got was just as good, the wait time just as long and the price was significantly less than any deductible I’ve ever paid in the States. It was a wonderful change and I would certainly sign up for the same health care in the U.S.
Jennifer

August 1, 2011 at 4:15 pm

Couldn’t agree more. Our “healthcare” system is terrible. And insanely expensive.

My husband’s well paying State job ended, and despite clipping coupons, saving as much per month as possible (considering we pay $1000/month in child support for ONE child, while our family of four has to live on what’s left…don’t get me started about how unfair that is…), we certainly don’t have 6 months saved. And when his job ended unexpectadly, and he was going to have a 10 day break in employment, we’re going to shell out $1200 for COBRA for one month….until our new policy starts. Insane. And financially crippling for us. It’s frustrating, but with two kids, theres little option but to pay up. Argh. I’m not looking forward to writing that check…
Proto Attorney

August 1, 2011 at 4:26 pm

It’s really frustrating working in the clinic, where a big part of my job is helping people fill out Medicaid and SCHIP applications. You really have to try to not make money at all to qualify for Medicaid, it’s ridiculous. Even the requirements for SCHIP allow a large number of hard-working people to fall in the cracks, just struggling to scrape together enough to pay their bills. And if you actually have private health insurance, good luck with that. Ridiculously expensive premiums, copays and deductibles, and when you file your claims, you get the finger.

And I hear you on the doctor’s appointments thing. It’s just as bad with the PCPs as it is with the specialists. Like, if I call today and say I’ve got a fever and whatever, and I need an appointment, and the response is, I can see you a week from Thursday… uh, I’ll either be better by then or dead. Thanks.
RG

August 1, 2011 at 6:29 pm

Proto Attorney – why then, just go to urgent care! I mean, it’s only a $250 co-pay. Come on, what’s stopping you?

Healthcare costs were spiraling out of control for years before the health law was passed. I attended many a seminar, as an HR Manager, on what exactly to do. The typical answer was – lower your employees’ salary raises, raise their health care deductibles and premiums and co pays, lower their coverage, and put a yearly (or lifetime) cap on their benefits. In this way, corporations, you can still provide “healthcare coverage” to your employees, and also keep enough room in your budget to afford to pay way out of line bonuses for yourselves! Pats on the back all ’round!

By the end of my tenure as an HR Manager, over half my employees were literally taking home less dollars than they had in years prior. Their pitiful raises were completely swallowed up by our health premium hikes. And, do note, I left only a couple of months after Obama took office, so this has nothing to do with the new law.

My final comment – I lived a year in Australia and a year in England, and had to utilize a physician’s care in both countries. And it was awesome. The experience felt exactly the same as in America, with similar wait times, similar bedside manner, similar quality. The only difference was I walked out without worrying a thing about billing. It was totally free. I paid for it with the taxes taken out of my wages in both countries. And I’d vote to do it here in a hot minute.