First and foremost…HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA and Happy Independence Day to all Americans.
I think being in the USA even though people maybe uninsured there are possible ways you can obtain some kind of health care…if you scream loud enough or work the system hard enough.
Being on this website, I have heard of horror stories from other countries about lack of aid the sick and diabetic. I am glad I am in the USA. I am helping a member of this site to obtain a pump that he can not get in his own country by no other means… I am more than happy to do this but it makes me sad that he doesn’t have the access that I have…
You know, considering all, Its not bad when considering insurance to help pay for this stuff (If your lucky enough to have a job that helps cover it or whatnot) but as far as government run entities like Medicare/Medicaid…Don’t even get me started.
I have heard this before!!! My ex boyfriend is a veteran and he complains about those services as well as Medicare/Medicaid.
I just at other countries that don’t even act like they care about some of their nations ill and sick.
First of all many people from other countries have commented on here and on other sites I’m on about how shocking they find it that the insurance companies in the U.S. have so much control over what does and doesn’t get covered, and about people being turned down due to " pre-existing conditions" such as…yep, diabetes. Many countries have universal healthcare and don’t understand why a country as rich as the U.S. does not. Many people in the U.S. are uninsured or underinsured and private health insurance is out of the economic reach of all but a very small number so if we are not covered through our work we are in trouble.I was lucky enough to have worked for a poor rural county that gave good benefits to make up for their rate of pay being lower than similar jobs in wealthier areas. So when I retired I got to keep my insurance for which I pay no premium. I realize how lucky I am; I don’t know how I would have managed my health conditions on Medicare (which I don’t qualify for for another three years, and if I had to buy my own insurance (if anyone would give it to me) it would probably cost my entire monthly retirement income.
I find the comment that other countries don’t care about their nations’ ill and sick both uninformed and ethnocentric. Lack of resources is not necessarily synomyous with lack of caring. In many third world countries families care for their own in a way that has become virtually unknown in the U.S.When I lived in Guatemala people there were horrified when I told them about the nursing homes where many of our elderly are dumped. They asked where were the families of these elderly.
I am ethnocentric.
Still there are nations that do not do a whole for their sick and ill for varies reasons. This is mainly the problem with several African countries. I have heard this from people on this site and friends. Money and aid stays with the government or the ruling family and never gets down to the actually people. My sister is in Ethiopia right now doing research on malaria has seen this in action.
Someone just posted a thread similar to this about government health care systems in different countries and the USA sucks in comparsion. Esp. when it comes to people who don’t have insurance. Other countries seem to have a better blanket of coverage for those people where as America has gaps galore. I am a person without medical insurance and, for some pretty dumb reasons, don’t qualify for anything like medicaid. The people living in other countries were hating the US because it sounded so awful.
I can be proud of anything this country is doing for health care right now. And I don’t believe that those gap were just “oopsie” mistakes.
Sounds like you have insurance Christalyn. Believe me when you don’t have it, you will realize how horrible the system here is. And no, there ISN’T always a way to get what you need. Take it for me or the others on here who live in the US - it is NOT always possible. I have exhausted ALL my avenues. I just have to be careful not to go to the doctor often and be grateful that, so far, my D is pretty normalized and that is mostly my doing. I still have to worry about how to pay for strips etc. I was diagnosed 4 months ago (with no insurance - went to low cost clinic where I was diagnosed) and I still haven’t had my eye checked or teeth (I haven’t been to either or these sorts of doctors in years because of no insurance). I am still trying to find places to go that won’t cost me anything or has a very small sliding fee.
Access is easy if you have insurance here in the USA - otherwise, it is a struggle every day. I still worry about something happening that I might have to go to the doctor for The only thing that is great about the health care in the US is places like Planned Parenthood -which in most of them you can qualify for free womens services. I am part of a program for Breast and Cervical Cancer and I have been getting free women services for this but other medical problems - forget it.
I find the comment that other countries don’t care about their nations’ ill and sick both uninformed and ethnocentric. Lack of resources is not necessarily synonymous with lack of caring.
And I find comments like this totally out of touch with reality. Come play in my yard for a bit, and allow me to explain. Come back to reality and you will see that the world isn’t always this “Hunky Dory” place where everything goes right. Sorry, I just don’t share your take on the situation. We have “uninformed and ethnocentric” views like this because we live the situation EVERYDAY. Your right that some 3rd world countries may have better elderly care, etc…but what makes you think for a second that family knows more about diabetes than my endocrinologist? We are speaking of diabetes care here, not elderly care. Two totally different realms of thought in my mind…unless your elderly with diabetes. Then you just have a full plate.
I stand by my comment though you of course may have a different experience/opinion. I find that most Americans don’t know too much about other cultures and countries and tend to assume the U.S. is better than everywhere else at everything which just isn’t the case.
I have travelled in a few different countries and lived in two, plus spoken with people from various places. So I don’t have extensive international experience, but I do have some. My experience in one third world country (Guatemala) where I lived with diabetes, was that it was better for some things and not as good for others. Doctors, tests, specialists, etc were all very cheap. Prescription medications were cheaper than they would be if you paid full price for them in the U.S. (by far), but in the U.S. I have insurance, so in the long run they cost me more there. Access to care if you could afford it was FAR easier than in the U.S. Medications could be purchased in any pharmacy without seeing a doctor first, you just asked for what you wanted and could buy anything from one tablet to several " boxes". Sometimes, though, they were out of things I needed and had to order them which doesn’t happen here. Ditto my GP who had office hours M-F 3-7 and you just appeared and waited. I could walk into the lab and order any test and assuming they knew about it (not GAD for example which is pretty obscure) they would give it to you and you would come back in a day or two and get your results. Cost: about $15. Returning to the U.S. I was apalled at all the control the medical community and the insurance companies have: Needing prescriptions for everything, not being able to get tests if doctors didn’t want to order it, all my medical records/lab results going to the doctor and having to argue to get it. It felt infantalizing.
Quality of care? Knowledge not as up to date, equipment older. On the other hand my GP in a medium sized town knew more than my GP here about insulin use because most people there can’t afford specialists. I had to go into the capitol to get better care, specialists or if I wanted a quality hospital. My endo there was not as up to date and didn’t know about LADA. On the other hand she was very open to my knowledge and didn’t treat me like a total idiot.
So, no, I don’t think the world is a " hunky dory place where everything goes right", but I also don’t think the U.S. has superior health care than other developed countries or even developing ones. And for a supposedly " classless" society, we have become very much " haves" and " have nots" in terms of access to and quality of care.
Thanks for backing me up.
you are right. at this point I do have insurance and I cringe at the thought of not having it. I am on a open layoff order with my job. For your knowledge I have shared meds with people that didn’t have insurance so they could get by. Yeah this is not the norm. But I was willing to help another person. How people on this site are doing the same?
My point was not to cause a deep debate but to look at the U.S. in comparison with other countries and make a quick judgement.
not to beat a dead horse but I found this article of the world’s poorest countries non of which would include anything in north, central or south america. most of these are in african nations where most governments are instable due to civil war and invasions, colonization. even right now the country of Sudan may be going war soon as if there needs to be another war. please think about why these countries have lack of resources and are war torn…at a time of war is a country going to care about its sick and elderly?
http://247wallst.com/2010/07/06/the-twenty-poorest-nations-in-the-world/