A question for Candadians and UK folks and the Universal Healthcare

[redhen]

Whats an expat.?.. i keep seeing it on here lately..
*sorry to hijack the topic..*

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
That's someone who has left or lives outside their native country (expatriated) and has not repatriated (gone home).
ETA An expatriate might also have given up citizenship in their native country.

 

[Dunkopf]

Quote:
They work. You just have to jump through a million hoops and do everything exactly right. Everything in the government is like that. They spend more money to be sure there's no fraud then they would lose if they didn't have so many measures in place. The usual red tape syndrome.

At least CHIP is there. It's just a full time job doing the paperwork. Another reason why emergency rooms are so swamped with non emergency issues.

 

[Dunkopf]

Quote:
That's too bad. My company is self insured and our monthly premium has stayed the same for 3 years now. Our premiums are placed in an escrow account and the escrow is used to pay for any claims. If the claims exceed what's in the escrow account, they raise our rates the next year. Yes they encourage healthy lifestyles but don't force it on us. I'm very proud of my company. They treaty us and our customers very well. They are a rare corporation. Of course they are not on the stock market so they don't have stockholders to answer to.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
That's someone who has left or lives outside their native country (expatriated) and has not repatriated (gone home).
ETA An expatriate might also have given up citizenship in their native country.

Ahhh.. thanks for the info, Joe!

 

[thaiturkey]

Some people, including a friend of mine, take the view that if they are healthy, exercise and have regular check ups they don't need to buy insurance. I think that's risky philosophy. Unless we die suddenly and unexpectedly we shall probably need some expensive treatment at some time in old age. There's also the possibility of serious injury where no one else is culpable. A few months on drips and in traction in hospital can soon empty the bank account if you don't have insurance.

 

[EweSheep]

I WAS pregnant, lost my job, had NO income, used up my 401K while I searched for work. Found work in one company but it was too high of a risk for a pregnant woman to be on ladders inventory but glad they gave me a job temporarily until I could not do anything in my seventh month. My then boyfriend was supporting me whatever he had, no insurance with his employer, they do not offer insurance for either one of us. My employer gave me a six month coverage and then I had to get on COBRA. No way I could afford COBRA after six months. So Medicaid was covered for me and my prenatal care after my insurance terminated. Glad for that! And we could not get any food stamps so we had to rely on boyfriend's two part time income but barely making enough to get any groceries. So the church and food pantry was helping us. Dept of Illinois said that we still make too much to get food stamps but eligible for medical insurance on me and unborn baby. Fast forward, dd was born, a month later, boyfriend and I got married...we were planning on getting married, making arrangements before I got pregnant and terminated from the job so dd decided to join us in the holy matronomy LOL!

My dd got All Kids Care coverage while hubby and I had the Family Care, based on income of three people in the family. So we had to submit check stubs, w2s and all that pretty data information for them and they DO follow up on it every six months. We were on it until I got Medicare, disabled and hubby still worked part time jobs but no employer offered it. Things have changed for us for the better, hubby found a BETTER job, with good pay but has excellent health insurance thru his employer that I encouraged him to be primary for himself and DD and me, secondary. So I signed up even it cost a bit more but feels good to "contribute for a change" and I notified the state the change of insurance and they thanked us for letting them know, put us on some supplement called "Stepped Down" coverage, we make too much for Medicaid but still not enough for full coverage of private insurance and they will monitor it for six months of usage. If we dont use it, they will drop us totally and we will pick up the tab that hubby's insurance does not cover unless it goes over our monthly income. We have been on Medicaid for six and half years and glad to pass that Medicaid to someone else who is in a bigger need than us. Thanks to all the food pantries in supporting us and now, this is our turn to contribute for those who are in need!

There ARE others out there that would abuse the system and it sucks. I never saw so many ****** in an office, wearing fancy clothes and going all out at a Kroger's, buying lobsters, fancy cuts of meats, etc. and going to food pantries when their Link cards ran dry for the month.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
I live in rural Guelph.. I waited about 6 months to get a family doc I called them once a month to keep my prioirty on the list... all of our walk in clinics were closed in town (fraud allegations against the owner) so when that ave closed we had to rely on the ER too

BlackBart:

the $16 that you mom pays is FREE her in Ontario. Its cart of CCAC (Community Care Access Center) the government (ministry of health and longterm care) pays for this care.. this is the area of Nursing I work in.. I go to clients homes and do the nursing care right in their home so they can stay in their home as long as possible or die at home if thats their wish

 

[True Grit]

Quote:
That's too bad. My company is self insured and our monthly premium has stayed the same for 3 years now. Our premiums are placed in an escrow account and the escrow is used to pay for any claims. If the claims exceed what's in the escrow account, they raise our rates the next year. Yes they encourage healthy lifestyles but don't force it on us. I'm very proud of my company. They treaty us and our customers very well. They are a rare corporation. Of course they are not on the stock market so they don't have stockholders to answer to.

You're right, they are rare. Mine isn't a public company either..

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
That's too bad. My company is self insured and our monthly premium has stayed the same for 3 years now. Our premiums are placed in an escrow account and the escrow is used to pay for any claims. If the claims exceed what's in the escrow account, they raise our rates the next year. Yes they encourage healthy lifestyles but don't force it on us. I'm very proud of my company. They treaty us and our customers very well. They are a rare corporation. Of course they are not on the stock market so they don't have stockholders to answer to.

You're right, they are rare. Mine isn't a public company either..

Self-insured schemes in your country are probably regulated by the government. At least, they should be. It might be worth your while checking the regulations and then finding out whether your employer is fully compliant. The government should be making sure that there are adequately protected reserves because medical bills will have to be paid even before rates are increased following a bad year. There's also a constant possibility that a very hefty bill might come in a seriously deplete the fund. They should also be making sure that no-one can skim money from the pot. Another issue is whether escrow arrangements protect the fund in the event of liquidation or sale of the business. Accounts for the scheme should be available to employees, the terms if the cover should be enforceable in law and there may be a legal requirement to have a scheme compliance officer who is obliged to report any irregularities to the regulatory body. That all might seem heavy handed but it could be important if you are in hospital awaiting a major operation and something goes wrong with the fund.

Insurance is a serious business and actuarial skills are need to ensure that today's income is sufficient for tomorrow's costs. Technical terms include 'unearned premium reserve' and 'catastrophe reserve'. It's not a game for amateurs and it's the employees' money and well-being that's at risk.