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Thank God, that my husband is in military!!!

June 9th, 2005, 01:58 PM
I have just got a notice that Childrens has sent TriCare (military health insurance company) the bill for Judiths last surgery. It was more than I would ever want to pay. She is only 5.5 months old, and her medical bills (not including labor and delvery, or regular check-ups) is well past $400,000. That price is coming just for her surgeries, and hosopital care after the operations! I couldn't imagine having to pay that ourselves!!!

June 9th, 2005, 02:56 PM
Another reason why I could never move to the canada all that is free. We joked sometimes about moving there because BF would get better paying jobs, but getting insurance to cover something like that 100% would be hard, wouldn't it? And I didn't want to risk it.

You are lucky to be in with the military though! I can't imagine being faced with that if I didn't have coverage. When I was in Hawaii we stayed with BF's uncle. He was a pediatrician, and he gave us his older car to use to drive around the island. He left a copy of a bill for some woman's delivery of her baby, it was $10,000!! I couldn't beleive that!

June 9th, 2005, 04:21 PM
Holy cow! I'm so very thankful that I live in Canada!!!! :ca:

June 9th, 2005, 04:24 PM
Raingirl what do you mean all that is free in Canada? I am not familiar with the way you all do things over there? :D

June 9th, 2005, 04:25 PM
Yes, be grateful. And while I do live in Canada, and we do have our healthcare system, regrettably it would not cover many of the costs you have had to incur - you need company plans that will pay a portion of special services. Glad for your sake that these bills have been covered - a big relief.

June 9th, 2005, 04:30 PM
God bless Canada, My home sweet home ! :D

Yes Princess, we do not pay for our medical care here.
All medical Check-ups =free
necessary medical procedures =free
specialist vistis =free

basically we only have to pay for medication (but if you work, alot of places have medical plans for medication)

June 9th, 2005, 04:33 PM
How do you all manage that. I have great insurance but still have to pay some. So you all do not have to pay to have a baby or nothing. You have to pay more in taxes or what. I know there is some kind of catch! :)

June 9th, 2005, 04:39 PM
Taxes taxes taxes! All 3 levels of government tax us. We are taxed to death.

June 9th, 2005, 04:41 PM
No, we don't pay to have a baby, and we don't pay if our babies are sick and require medical care.

We just had to start paying a health care premium, which is based on income, and the maximum amount you pay is $900.00 per year.
About 30% of our income goes to taxes. and we have 8% sales tax and 7% Gst tax (both are added on to the things we buy)

June 9th, 2005, 04:42 PM
See I would kind if see that as unfair you all are taxed out the butt and than you say that it is free. It is not free you are still paying for it just in differant ways. We have insurance here that pays most of my stuff but it is not free we pay evey month and insurance premium. I would hate that because you pay a ton of taxes and than what if you never us the hospital your whole life. You are paying for nothing. I mean I would like the fact that if you have a baby you do not pay for it but you will be killed in taxes. :D

June 9th, 2005, 04:46 PM
We also get a year off maternity leave (55% of your income is paid to you) which does not sound like much, but the only deduction is tax, there are no other deductions, so it's pretty good.

June 9th, 2005, 04:54 PM
But Princess I would MUCH rather pay a little bit here and there for "free" health care then worry about seeing a bill like Judith's appear in my mail box!! All emergencies are covered, birth of a child - any care the child may need after birth... that's a God send IMHO! Those can be very very expensive items and to KNOW that you're taken care of is really comforting... we don't have to worry about sitting in a waiting room with a gun shot wound to fill out our insurance papers... what if you don't make enough to have insurance, then you're left out in the cold and can potentially lose everything you have if an emergency should arise.

One thing that I do think we should do differently is provide people with a cost outline of what their services would have cost. Then maybe people would be less likely to take advantage.

June 9th, 2005, 04:55 PM
all these taxes, just to have a baby. . . man. . . that birthcontrol enough for me!!! :p :p :p hahahahaahha

lilith_rizel, you could write a book with all your shinanigans! (I suggested this on other one of your threads)

But why not start a blog. . .

Then your stories would all be in one place, and in cronological order. . . I'm new to your stories, and since there are lots of them - I don't know what order they go in. . .

If you do a blog or an MSN 'my space' people can even reply! :)

I have a blog I use to keep in contact and up to date with family and friends in England! :)


June 9th, 2005, 04:57 PM
Princess,our healthcare is definetly not free,but our taxes make sure that everyone,rich or poor will have healthcare.Unlike private insurance as in the US,you can never be dropped because you cost the insurance-company too much.
Even if you do not use the system very much now,you are young,eventually you will need a doctor.We've had the same family-doctor for 25 yrs,who sees to it that I go for a mammogram every year and hubbie gets the needed tests for his age and it's all covered.
My one son had 2 open-heart surgeries,the other brainsurgery and I can just imagine how much it would have cost in the states.
We also have very good coverage from my husbands employer,but it's for meds,private room in hospital,dental etc...
In the US,40 million people have NO insurance,because of cost and lowpaying jobs,hence could only dream of surgeries and other treatments when they get I for one think paying taxes is just part of life,to ensure nobody will ever be denied healthcare.

June 9th, 2005, 04:58 PM
I read somewhere, the the US has the highest bankrupcy rate, and the number # reason for declaring it in the US, is medical bills.

June 9th, 2005, 05:40 PM
I agree that our taxes suck, but I would rather pay that way and never be turned away, then risk my insurance cancelling me in the states. My asthma alone precludes me from most insurance carriers in the states.

Basically princess, anything essential is covered (emergencies, cancer treatment, xrays, having a baby), with the exception of medication/prescriptions. I could be wrong about this, as I think that to an extent medication is free if you are in the hospital at the time (like things like anesthetics and drugs are included in the hospital stay. However, if I go to my doc, and need antibiotics, I have to pay for them. Anything non-essential like cosmetic surgerys, mole removals, wart removal, are not covered. I dunno, I only was ever in the hospital for 24 hours for pneumonia to get IV of prednisone, but I never got a bill for it.

June 9th, 2005, 05:57 PM
yeah im sure glad i live in australia, that si all free here to. its caleld public health care, it covers everyuthing including IVF tretment, any illness you have is covered, if you wat a private hospital and private treatment you have to pay a little bit for it but not very much..

and to have a baby here is free, which is only fair... i heard it can cost 10000 dollars to have a baby in the US, wow your government gets it cheap dont they, (like many other things :D :p ) sorry but i had to say it, i jsut could not say it, lol lol lol lol lol :angel:

im jsut glad the military is paying, not they cover teeth and such????

June 9th, 2005, 06:48 PM
Really, your taxes don't sound so bad to me. The average person in the US pays 26% Federal taxes, as well as State taxes. And we also have a 7.25% sales tax. Many people aren't fortunate enough to work in jobs that provide medical benefits so they pay taxes PLUS all their own medical bills.

June 9th, 2005, 06:54 PM

Actually, I REALLY need to get to the dentist. Have a cavity. But can't go till I get insurance, which is only $25 per month for me, and James is free.... I think I get free eye exams maybe, or it is the same way with dental, either way, it is alot better than paying for it all right out of my pocket!!!

I really need to go to both places though. But right now, there are far more important things I have to worry about paying for, before we have this next baby, and before Judith gets much bigger....

June 9th, 2005, 10:33 PM
There is also the Trillium program in Ontario (not sure if it covers all of Canada or is just a Provincial plan) that you can apply for to cover your medication costs if you are in need or unable to pay for life saving medication.

A friend of mine is HIV positive and Trillium pays for his medications which would cost him a couple of thousand dollars a month. There is a yearly amount that you have to pay (I think it's around $1000) and then Trilliium kicks in and covers all expenses after that.

I hate paying so much in taxes but I'd much rather we have the resources out there to save our lives and our friends lives when needed and our tax dollars are funding that!

June 10th, 2005, 11:28 AM
melanie: in Australia, do you have one public health care system or 2 parallel systems: both universal and private? How does that work?

I support universal health care in Canada, however I don't believe that our system is sustainable in the long run, particularly with an aging population. Did anyone pay attention to the development of the Quebec supreme court ruling on the denial of private hip replacement deemed "unconstitutional"?

I worry that by the time I get old, there won't be enough money left in the pot for me.

June 10th, 2005, 07:58 PM
Ireland has a great system too. Here in Canada it's awesome because if you travel anywhere within Canada and you have an accident, it's free. I've been to hospitals all over and I have to say British Colombia's are the best. It you want to travel back in time to the 50's, come to a Quebec hospital.

I have to say though, I am FOR the two tiered health care. Here in Qc, blood tests and CT scans were already two tier and nobody said anything, but I feel you get what you pay for. And the lines for the free will be shorter too. Only real problem is if the govt can't pay the doctors the same amount as the private practices can...

June 10th, 2005, 09:04 PM
We do have to pay for medications, but over a certain amount, based on income, is a write off, you put it on your taxes and get some of the money back at the end of the year.
write off is the wrong word but can't think of the right one.

June 10th, 2005, 09:10 PM
We are fortunate. Luckily my meds are covered or I'd be paying $400 a month not to mention the fact that the government even covers most of the cost of my cpap machine.

My girlfriend (from MA) got caught short on a prescription here (honest it wasn't intentional!) and one of the doc's gave her a month prescription. It was less than her co-payment! Whew!

However, I'd like to see the actual amount the govnmt gets put on the paystub. The last position I heald we were paying 18% plus now they get the additional "user fee" portion in Ontario.

June 10th, 2005, 09:11 PM
tax deduction. But it's so high! It has to exceed something like $3000 or a percent of your income, whichever is higher. And that is after any drug plans you have.

June 10th, 2005, 09:16 PM
*bows* thank you raingirl. Deduction. And NUH UH!!! It doesn't have to be that high. ... I know my sitaution for last year, without getting specific more than $10 000 and less than $20 000 made in the year and my medications over $400 were a deduction.

June 11th, 2005, 08:26 AM
Most of the western world has a national Health-Care system,the US being one of the few exceptions and in my view a shame,whether you are rich or poor should never be an issue when it comes to health.
Sweden worked out a system where you pay a small amount for every doctors-visit(something equal to $5).For meds,the same,you never pay more than a set amount,it's the same if the meds are $100 or $1.
Now,in Ontario we are paying health-premiums and it should cover everything,but we're still in trouble :evil:

June 11th, 2005, 10:04 AM
WHAT?? I spent over $2000 on meds last year and none was deductible! However, almost 100% of it was covered by my health plan i guess that's why. I will have a lot this year to claim on taxes next year though because I don't have a medical plan right now.

June 11th, 2005, 10:28 AM
My son was on a lot of meds,being epileptic and when he was no more covered by us,had to pay his own.
The deductable in those days was a joke,I believe he payed about $1.700/year for his meds,a lot of money for him...but got nothing back!
A certain amount was deductable and then only a procentage of that amount.

June 11th, 2005, 12:40 PM
I spent $1200 on meds last year, and anything over $400 was deductable ... For part of the year I had medical coverage from work, but then lost that job ...
AHA! Went searching for all you folks on how it works now:
Starting with the 2004 tax year, there is a separate calculation for the medical expense tax credit for children 18 years of age and older, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces or nephews.

Medical expenses for the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse or common-law partner, and dependent children under 18 are claimed on line 330 of the federal tax return. Only expenses in excess of the lesser of $1,813 (federal, for 2004) or 3% of net income can be claimed. The lowest tax rate is applied to the medical expenses to determine the amount of the tax credit.

Medical expenses for other eligible dependents are claimed on line 331 of the federal tax return. A separate calculation is done for each dependent. Only expenses in excess of the lesser of $1,813 (federal, for 2004) or 3% of net income of the dependent can be claimed, up to a maximum of $5,000 per dependent (maximum $10,000 proposed by Feb 2005 federal budget). The lowest tax rate is applied to the medical expenses to determine the amount of the tax credit.

June 11th, 2005, 12:47 PM
I could never imagine spending that much on meds. We get all that though the military too.

June 11th, 2005, 02:02 PM
The last year I worked I had over $6000 in medical expenses (mostly meds) and still paid over $15k in taxes. It's funny I live on less than that now!

I don't begrudge paying taxes it's just I'd like to see things better spent or at least have more input. It baffles me why we still have children and single mothers virtually living in poverty while our politicians have dinners in the hundreds/thousands of dollars?