- - Financial & other assistance for the aged, in several countries. - - -----Original Message----- From: ann connolly [in Dublin, Eire.] Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 2:41 AM To: LessIsMore@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: Fw. Global Living Project Book and Tour (via LessIsMore): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/10672 - What happens in America if you don't have the money and become ill? At 05:31 PM 2003-07-09 -0000, Gary wrote {title: "Re: Fw. Global Living Project Book and Tour (via LessIsMore)" at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/10674 } :- Unless you can qualify for something like Medicaid, you somehow come up with the money, or else you go untreated and/or die (and I am only half exaggerating.) And of course, Medicaid is being slashed in every state these days due to the Recession. People outside these United States wonder why Americans work so hard and are so focused on money. Well, IMO **here** you are largely on your own. Run out of money, and you hit the street. The helping hand of others is usually one reaching for your wallet. And of course, because this is the way things are (when availability of money can mean life or death), Americans often cry to high heaven over the paying of the least amount of taxes to big, bad government. They instead seem to prefer paying big bucks to big, bad corporations -- like medical insurance companies and drug firms. Americans want all that money in their own pocket instead of paying for government services. So in essence, Americans thereby choose their own lot -- believing that a "free market" based on personal profit is somehow going to supply them essential services in times of need. It is a logical non-sequitur IMO. Gary - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - At 08:31 AM 2003-07-10 -0500, Diane wrote {at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/10682 } :- To answer your question, seniors also qualify for assistance. I don't know many of the details, but I can tell you that the general consensus among most is that there is no way that Medicare (government health care for the elderly) would cover all of one's care. I also know that the cost of pharmaceuticals is the big hot potato in our country today. Just today I heard a story about how the top 10 pharmaceuticals used by elders have risen in cost at a rate three times higher than inflation. What do people do? They either call upon family for help, or rely upon their savings or insurance, or suffer along on subsidies until they die. While we have an average long lifespan in our country, we also have people who die from easily preventable causes, usually related to poor diet or habits such as smoking. Diabetes rates in our country are skyrocketing, also contributing to health problems. These are examples of problems that could be assisted by better front-end health care. Last year my (then 3yo) daughter got a stomach flu that required a trip to the emergency room for hydration treatment. The guy in the next cubicle was suffering from some kind of chronic disease. From what I could tell through the curtain, this guy was in pretty bad shape but had no insurance. Emergency rooms are required by law to treat anyone who presents him/herself, regardless of ability to pay. So this guy was continuing to come to the ER when he was in really bad shape, hoping that doctors would eventually declare him so near death that he would be rushed to surgery for the operation he needed (but couldn't afford). But once again doctors patched him up again enough to send him home and recommended he seek out further care from a private doctor. In our country, opponents to socialized medicine tell horror stories about rationed health care, incompetent government doctors, etc., in countries such as yours, as well as bad stories about government health care facilities in our country such as veterans' hospitals and American Indian clinics, and people then prefer to keep the poison they have. Diane Fitzsimmons Norman, Okla. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - At 01:19 AM 2003-07-11 +0100, Ann Connolly wrote {at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/10709 } :- hi gary gosh it's really interesting reading about different cultures. do none of your politicians campaign on better health facilities? and if people are paying relatively low taxes, do they not take out medical insurance - at least you would be paying for it over a lifetime and not to have to worry about old age. and do people not take to the streets in protest? we have had many public protests over health issues over the years and in particular before a general election. ann - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - At 08:55 PM 2003-07-10 -0500, Jill Taylor Bussiere wrote {at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/10710 } :- Here, people do not seem to believe in the public good - they are more, these days, into individual freedom (to go it alone - through poverty, sickness, whatever). Our system is so terribly corrupt, that few politicians who do advocate for the public good can make it. You can not believe the attitude that has grown here in the last 30 years. It is very, very different than when I was young. HOWEVER......I see some change. Folks are strapped with health care costs, and with many health problems that are not taken care of by our society. And I hope that there will be a change of awareness brought about by the goings on of this current administration. I am ever more hopeful than I have been for many a day, as I listen and read the news. Of course, I haven't checked out the local media yet - that may bring me down to the ground quickly... How I envy you, Ann, living in a country where the general good is an important consideration! We are doing our best to make it so here, but as our nation has just been bankrupted, it may take several years to turn around. How is the local media in other US cities - are folks looking? Is the WMD coverage everywhere, or still just patchy? Jill - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - At 06:36 PM 2003-07-09 +0100, Ann Connolly wrote {at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LessIsMore/message/10707 } :- in dublin, private nursing homes cost $3,000 per month for a private room and $1,8000 per month sharing. our health department would pay a certain amount. then the person would have about $600 a month state pension. so to make up the money for a shared room is feasible. for the private room you would need some other income or people who own their home would rent it out. they would also be entitled to the other subventions above. however these nursing homes would be more for the feeble or those wishing to go into a nursing home, the ill would be entitled to hospital care. we also have sheltered accomodation, which are both state-sponsored or private depending on your means. up to 20 years ago the elderly were cared for in family homes, but that is getting less and less as people become more busy in their daily lives. ann