I dont want to offend any body with my comments, but when i saw the statements about people struggleing to get their medications because they were uninsured i was very shocked because over here getting all your medications isnt even an issue you have to think about, and any diabetic in this county seeing those comments would be.shocked too. So im sorry if i upset any body ill be more careful in the future. stevie
the truth is there is no such thing as free markets, the closest thing to a free market economy is somalia where there is anarchy. a counry like the united states which has a huge public infrastructure , military, agricultural subsidies, medicare, medicade,cia fbi stae and federal govern,ents prison system ects. and even more since the banks were bailed out could never be a totally free market econnomy, so that spirit of freedm is misplaced .
No one should be forced to go with out meds. I may not be happy with the way the reform was handled but its a start.
Don’t come to the US Steve. It is totally horrible for health care. There is a huge gap. You have to basically be an Octomom to get any sort of aid here. All affordable insurance is given through a good employer (if you have one and we all know what the economy is like now). No job with insurance - you are in for some trouble.
I started the Uninsured Diabetics group on here. We are a-sufferin’. It is like a big juggling act to find places to go where I don’t have to pay alot for health care. Tomorrow I have appt at low cost clinic where I will probably pay $15 for a visit but first time there so not sure how it will be. I just pray nothing else goes wrong with me.
For the health care reform, it won’t effect most unisured Americans until 2014. Geez, why so long of a wait, eh? I could be dead by than! (or I’ll probably have a job with good insurance and I won’t need it!)
i cant belive this situation kim kat. how do people put up with this, people over here just take it for granted that they will get their medication without cost. and i belive their is no such thing as good empoyer sponsored private health insurance. because if you get so ill you cannot work then you lose your health insurance then its no use at all. the truth is only the state can provide universal health insurance. at the moment im not working and all my medications are fully covered. private health insurance should be taken out of the equation.
An ex girlfriend got deported from the country a while back she was from jamaica she had to go to new york to find work, unfortunatley she got sick there had to stay 3 days in hospital she now has huge medical bills.she asked me for the fare to come back to the uk so she can coninue her medical treatment over here, but i just dont have the cash. she is very desparate . any way god bless you kim kat take care
by the way what is an Octomom?
i still cant belive that a country like the usa hasnt got universal health insurance even the uk has it and we’re not the best country in the world by a long stretch.
There you go Stevie.
Please name another country where you can have the freedoms and the potential to at least get 1st rate medical care? I have heard from people on Tudiabetes the state of health care in some African countries and it makes me cry. England’s healthcare is not all that great either. If this is your attitude then please only come to the US for a visit.
I am so tired of people bashing the US but they dare not leave here are go live in other countries that are so much more wonderful. At least Johnny Dep had fortitude to move and raise his family in France. He openly says he doesn’t like the policies in the US. He makes his money and lives in France.
Every time I think of the fantasy called “universal healthcare” I have the image of the fat man in England that purposely made himself overweight. It was reported that his care costs more than $100,000 for his nurses to make sure he is comfortable with is video games.
Universal healthcare is just going to be like going to the VA hospital. You have to weight 3-5 months for an appointment. There will be foreign doctors as internists because most American doctors will be going into specialties. I doubt you will have free will to see the person you want.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1221592/Worlds-heaviest-man…
THanks Terrie!
I just looked that up too and was going to post it! I was surprised that the Octomom made it to Wikipedia! LOL!
Steve, the Octomom is this American woman who keeps having babies she can not afford to take care of (has no job or money and got artifical semi for octuplets) and takes care of them by living off the governement. But she still wants to keep having more babies she can’t afford! They wanted to give her own reality TV show.
Point is that I didn’t qualify for Medicaid because I didn’t have any kids! 
I see you are in London Steve? I have an English doctor friend who did her medical studies in the UK and now she is here and she was horrified at the medical system here - they give bills to people who can’t pay for them. Her sister has no medical insurance and has the same problem. I was able to get medical bills (ER) bills waived because I have no money to pay them (charity case) - they won’t get their money anyhow so they figured why bother? But they will still send you bills and bug you. It is the American way for debt collector to torture us - I think they enjoy it.
I have had really good insurance though my past employers here and when you have a good job (this doesn’t cover all the jobs here in the USA of course) - you will have sick leave etc.
My point was more that if you are uninsured that there are gaps here and they seem strangely missed and I think on purpose (how could you miss coverage for single people with no kids?) I am a single woman with no kids not married - it is just little old me but I don’t qualify for Medicaid or anything else. I have to go to low cost clinic and shop around for deals - I qualify for nothing! (unless I want to pay for my own insurance that costs more than it would for me to pay for drs visists by myself!) But even now - I was DXd with D without health insurance so now I have that “pre-exisiting” condition and even if I wanted to buy my own I probably couldn’t now until 2014.
I believe he is saying that even the UK had universal health care, and he feels that they aren’t even the best country. It’s implied that it’s unbelievable that the US doesn’t have it when they are a very advanced country. So you should probably calm down a bit. As for the fat guy, well, there are idiots everywhere. One bad apple doesn’t mean universal healthcare is bad.
(Lewis’s wife talking here)
No offense taken. When I was uninsured I didnt fill my rx as often because it was expensive for me. And I am now on kidney medication to stop my kidneys from failing further. Now that I have state insurance, I can get it and not worry about suffering. I agree that we need a healthcare reform. If we can get a reform that works, we no longer have to suffer.
I’m not offended at all. The US is wealthy country & it’s tragic that universal healthcare has not been a priority. In 1945, President Truman proposed a government role in healthcare. That’s how long it’s been discussed!
A friend visiting Spain passed out on the street. She was taken to ER by ambulance, had blood tests, X-rays & an exam. Her bill, as a foreigner, was less than $200. In the US, it would have been several thousand.
The real tragedy of capitalism is that while it is BY FAR the most efficient economic model in use, it is not the most equitable market. Capitalism always produces the most efficient outcome, but it doesn’t always produce the right outcome. The real problem is that we, as diabetics, are not efficient to keep alive. At the most fundamental level, we don’t “fit” into our own economy, and the results are truly tragic.
Maybe we have not seen anything this bad yet …hate to sound this negative, TU friends . Having lived in the Netherlands till 1963 , folks there complained about the high taxes one has to pay …and they still do .Free enterprise as known in the USA is much different from a Social structure known elsewhere …regardless the $$$ have to come from somewhere .
Alan, that’s priceless. LOL!
Way to go, Lewis’ wife.
There appears to be the belief that civil rights & freedom only exists in the US. Interesting belief system in an era when US civil rights have been eroded.
Love you, back. I spend half of my life shaking my head in despair & disbelief as Americans smile while living in a police state.
Makes me remember when my mother broke her foot in the UK didn’t cost her a dime. They even called her Dr in the states a few weeks later to check up on her. Thank you UK tax payers
Would be more then happy to pay a bit more in taxes for socialized health care and university or just cut defense spending by 20%, I think that is the figure I saw that would cover healthcare and schooling and we would still have the worlds largest military.