Tuesday, May 12, 2009

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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:07 AM

    I might comment that Germany still enjoys terrific healthcare in comparison, but that comes also at a high price. We shouldn't make it look as if the grass is greener on the other side. Especially Germany is very much America oriented, also when it comes to health care. Imagine they would make it mandatory in the US for everybody to carry health insurance, as it is in Germany. Now imagine you make too much money for medicaid, as with a minimum wage job, but you manage. Then you have to pay $300 in mandatory health insurance a month, yes, that is how much it costs for the average adult to have mandatory health insurance in Germany. Michael Moore in his movie "Sicko" did not mention Germany and I think for good reason. - Stefanie

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  2. Ellie Finlay7:14 AM

    Well, Stephanie, I would be THRILLED to pay $300 for health insurance. With my medical history, I'm uninsurable through any private plan. If I lose my job through which I have benefits (which is looking increasingly likely) I will be in a TERRIBLE predicament.

    No system is perfect, granted. But ours puts us completely at the mercy of insurance companies who care about nothing but profit. There's something fundamentally wrong with that. Their profits increase by DENYING care.

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  3. Anonymous7:37 AM

    Ellie - I hear you. It is misleading though to assume that just by paying for health insurance changes anything. The insurance companies there like here are in the business for profit only and as long that doesn't change we'll keep sitting in the same boat. - Stefanie

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  4. Ellie Finlay7:43 AM

    Okay. I get it. So maybe Germany isn't the way to go. (Still, if it's $300 and the insurance company is required to accept you, that's a VERY good deal!)

    I once lived in Ireland for several years and they have both a public and private system. I got supplemental insurance that would have given me some perks had I been hospitalized (mercifully I wasn't during those years) that only cost a few hundred pounds a YEAR. Nobody was terrified of getting sick and not getting treatment whether employed or not. My friends there were aghast when I described what it was like in the U.S. They thought it was completely uncivilized.

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  5. Unknown5:07 PM

    Ellie, Just read this post. I laughed at this comic strip as I am currently living in the "socialist hell hole," Germany. I've been to the doctor a few times and have tried to convince some friends in the States there is nothing to fear. Living among people who receive all the assistance they need and have no worries about receiving healthcare gives me a peace I've never before felt.

    Take care,

    M.J.

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