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gfrancieSo. our health premiums are going up again soon. I hate Aetna with the sort of passion that I usually reserve for bigotry, injustices in the world and the latter-day work of KISS. Now I suppose the CEO of Aetna (Ron Williams) gets a few points for saying in a recent Senate hearing that there needs to be healthcare reform all and Americans should be covered regardless of their health conditions and so on. But those sentiments don't mean dick when you are nickel and diming people to pieces. We pay these premiums and the co-pay (which they just upped); yet I still end up getting bills for stuff Aetna refuses to pay for. DON'T LIE TO ME. STOP LYING TO ME! Just for having this baby, there is a 1,000 dollar deductible for pre-natal care.
(loved getting the bill for nearly 500 bucks for the ultra-sound. That was fab.) Then? when it comes to labor/birth they will pay up to 80 percent of the costs for all of that. And it is a situation where you go hope to God that you have a straight-forward vaginal birth with no complications. I remember seeing what the insurance company (different insurance -the fun stuff) paid for when I had Senor Onion, it was amazing what the costs were. I was in the joint just barely over 24 hours. I did have an epidural, the OB only showed up for like...an hour at most. Showed up for like 20 minutes before Senor Onion actually graced us with his presence, made sure I was present and accounted for post-partum and then she was off. Were the nurses wearing solid gold outfits? I dunno. I didn't need anything extra. I was feeding the baby, recovering nicely and so on. I think of people who end up with emergency situations and what that might cost. Good lord... And imagine if you have no health insurance? It makes you scared. I know back in the bad old scary days, my Mother who had no health insurance when she had me. She was paying off the hospital bill (again barely a 24 hour stay) until I was like 12. Lucky her that I turned out to be a fairly decent kid. I told Mr. Jenner, "If we decide to be insane and have another after this one, we are having it in England, because this is too expensive."
I wonder about elderly people who often have chronic health issues at that point in their life and need regular medical care. What do they do? My husband's Grandfather who has some chronic health issues and seems to end up in hospital once a month for something. (usually pretty minor) It is a lucky situation that he lives in England, where there isn't the fear/anxiety about the hospitals bills. Or being forced to cut his pills in half to make them stretch because he can't afford the cost of his prescriptions. (because he has quite a few to take at this point in his life.)
Seriously... I would put up with the wait to see a GP or to get non-essential surgery if it meant that people in this country didn't have to decide between paying the electric bill or going to the doctor. Or fear losing their home because they became too sick, or try and figure out how to pay for their medications. My suspicions are that if we had some kind of nationalized healthcare system, that covered everyone regardless of their previous health conditions, that the collective stress of this nation would reduce so much. Maybe productivity would go through the roof (since we are known for being some of the hardest working people around) and everyone's general health would improve. Just a wild-ass theory.
But back to my original point, Aetna for once in your effin' life could you just answer a question straight about what you will bill us? Or is that too hard.
STAB STAB STAB
I... I am going to go and eat some baklava to calm me down.
(loved getting the bill for nearly 500 bucks for the ultra-sound. That was fab.) Then? when it comes to labor/birth they will pay up to 80 percent of the costs for all of that. And it is a situation where you go hope to God that you have a straight-forward vaginal birth with no complications. I remember seeing what the insurance company (different insurance -the fun stuff) paid for when I had Senor Onion, it was amazing what the costs were. I was in the joint just barely over 24 hours. I did have an epidural, the OB only showed up for like...an hour at most. Showed up for like 20 minutes before Senor Onion actually graced us with his presence, made sure I was present and accounted for post-partum and then she was off. Were the nurses wearing solid gold outfits? I dunno. I didn't need anything extra. I was feeding the baby, recovering nicely and so on. I think of people who end up with emergency situations and what that might cost. Good lord... And imagine if you have no health insurance? It makes you scared. I know back in the bad old scary days, my Mother who had no health insurance when she had me. She was paying off the hospital bill (again barely a 24 hour stay) until I was like 12. Lucky her that I turned out to be a fairly decent kid. I told Mr. Jenner, "If we decide to be insane and have another after this one, we are having it in England, because this is too expensive."
I wonder about elderly people who often have chronic health issues at that point in their life and need regular medical care. What do they do? My husband's Grandfather who has some chronic health issues and seems to end up in hospital once a month for something. (usually pretty minor) It is a lucky situation that he lives in England, where there isn't the fear/anxiety about the hospitals bills. Or being forced to cut his pills in half to make them stretch because he can't afford the cost of his prescriptions. (because he has quite a few to take at this point in his life.)
Seriously... I would put up with the wait to see a GP or to get non-essential surgery if it meant that people in this country didn't have to decide between paying the electric bill or going to the doctor. Or fear losing their home because they became too sick, or try and figure out how to pay for their medications. My suspicions are that if we had some kind of nationalized healthcare system, that covered everyone regardless of their previous health conditions, that the collective stress of this nation would reduce so much. Maybe productivity would go through the roof (since we are known for being some of the hardest working people around) and everyone's general health would improve. Just a wild-ass theory.
But back to my original point, Aetna for once in your effin' life could you just answer a question straight about what you will bill us? Or is that too hard.
STAB STAB STAB
I... I am going to go and eat some baklava to calm me down.
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Date: 2009-05-22 02:36 am (UTC)Our midwife will be 35 minutes/miles away, but I'm cool with that (hopefully!). Larry's sister says 50 minutes is the recommended max distance/time. (She's a nurse and used to work in a neonatal ward.)