Ribh's D'Coopage

[rjohns39]

Well done, Bob! Hope they also enjoyed it!

I do too. We don't do well by them as a company, so they often feel a bit isolated. I'm hoping to change that.

 

[MaryJanet]

Well John was saying ['cause I had no idea] that they've set up the wait stations as an extension of the hospital so they can treat patients in the waiting bays. It's madness but what do you do? Demand exceeds resources.

I don't think we've got wait stations in SA. I've never heard the term until now.

 

[Ribh]

I don't think we've got wait stations in SA. I've never heard the term until now.

Probably because that's not what they're called. I don't know the proper term.

 

[Ribh]

Ah, yes. Everyone likes to feel appreciated.

I do too. We don't do well by them as a company, so they often feel a bit isolated. I'm hoping to change that.

 

[Grammy60]

Good evening everyone

Sounds good! Hope the applicants have been truthful and are adequately skilled.

Me too one is a parent-which we get often and the others I don't know about. We need people who are going to be there and not call out all the time

 

[BY Bob]

Ok, so it's my turn to wake up to thick smoke cover. I think it must've blown it over from Yorkes. This is very unusual for the suburbs. The cool change is in so I expect everything will be back to normal by the end of the day.

https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019...strophic-fire-danger-day/11719590?pfmredir=sm

Thanks for posting the link. That helps a lot in understanding the extent of what is happening. Wow. All of you please stay safe.

 

[BY Bob]

How doees it work for people who can't afford it? Eg if someone is homeless and they need an mri, can they get one?

My brother works with homeless and mentally ill in our area. Here they have access to free care provided they choose to take advantage of it. They even give them free cell phones so my brother can reach them. Usually they do not get regular checkups by their own decision.

The real issue is the gap where you have insurance but you can't afford the deductibles and copays as @CrazyChookChookLady pointed out. These days they are pretty steep and many healthcare organizations are more than happy to take your house and ruin your credit to get their money. It's not great.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes. There's a socialistic system for those who can't afford health care. Part of everyone's taxes go to support the system. Certain medications are subsidised by the government as well. Same for Dental ~ only you wait forever & you may not get the best care available but it will get done!

I find America's system quite barbaric. I heard of someone dying of diabetes because they couldn't afford either the Drs visit for their script nor their medication. That should not happen in a 1st world country.

There are many programs for diabetics that can't afford their supplies. My company actually will provide supplies for free to those who cannot afford it. One of our divisions is in that business. The problem with most of this is that people have no idea there is help available to them. Instead of spreading the word about these kinds of services our healthcare organizations are too busy touting how they have the best technology and #1 heart program so as to steal the profitable patients from each other.

The flip side is that people don't usually die while waiting to have heart surgery here because there is no capacity. The government does not decide if you can have a knee replacement or not. I have worked with many Candians who always take the US health insurance and then come to the US for their healthcare. That means they are willing to pay to get out of the system they pay taxes for. Essentially paying twice for healthcare.

There are many things to dislike about our healthcare system but I have yet to see the perfect system anywhere and I have been in the healthcare business both as a provider and a vendor for over 30 years.

I wish our politicians could concentrate on fixing the gaps instead of wasting time trying to overhaul the whole thing. It just makes no one happy, they get nothing done, and in some cases have made it worse. Come on, a tax if you can't afford insurance, how insane is that! Kick someone in the teeth when they are just trying to get by.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

How doees it work for people who can't afford it? Eg if someone is homeless and they need an mri, can they get one?

That's a big problem here. We do have medicaid, which is subsidized healthcare for low/no income people. However a lot of people don't even have that.

Some people go to the ER like a family doctor and then the bills just get written off for charity. However it does not solve the problem, it's just a band-aid.

There was recently a new story about an illegal immigrant who needs kidney dialysis but she can't get health insurance because she's illegal. So she waits until she is so sick that she goes to the ER and they do the dialyses, but then she goes home to wait until she's sick enough and goes back again and again.

 

[Ribh]

There are many programs for diabetics that can't afford their supplies. My company actually will provide supplies for free to those who cannot afford it. One of our divisions is in that business. The problem with most of this is that people have no idea there is help available to them. Instead of spreading the word about these kinds of services our healthcare organizations are too busy touting how they have the best technology and #1 heart program so as to steal the profitable patients from each other.

The flip side is that people don't usually die while waiting to have heart surgery here because there is no capacity. The government does not decide if you can have a knee replacement or not. I have worked with many Candians who always take the US health insurance and then come to the US for their healthcare. That means they are willing to pay to get out of the system they pay taxes for. Essentially paying twice for healthcare.

There are many things to dislike about our healthcare system but I have yet to see the perfect system anywhere and I have been in the healthcare business both as a provider and a vendor for over 30 years.

I wish our politicians could concentrate on fixing the gaps instead of wasting time trying to overhaul the whole thing. It just makes no one happy, they get nothing done, and in some cases have made it worse. Come on, a tax if you can't afford insurance, how insane is that! Kick someone in the teeth when they are just trying to get by.

Now that is really, really interesting, Bob. I got my information from the horses mouth [so to speak] & they obviously had no idea help was available.

It is much more straightforward here. Even people who can afford private health care often use the Government system because it's simple & straightforward. You may have to wait quite a long time for non emergency surgery but eventually your name will come up. And of course cosmetic surgery isn't covered. It's not a perfect system. As MJ pointed out we have a shortage of hospital beds & ambulances have lost patients while waiting but it's reasonably fair.

We also have excellent emergency services to isolated areas provided by the Flying Doctor Service & here they'll helicopter you out if needed.