What many young people don't know about health care

[SoCalDem]

There was a time when you went to the doctor, you paid a very affordable office call charge when you left.

You went to a drugstore and filled a prescription (again very affordable)

Your boss did not even KNOW you went to the doctor (unless you asked for time off). He did not care (excepts as another human being being concerned about your well-being)

Your boss' bottom line was in NO way, affected by your medicine cost, or your illness, or your general health (unless you needed a lot of time to recuperate).

If you had insurance, you paid out of pocket until a deductible was met...usually $500 for a person. Once the deductible was met, they just sent you a check monthly for bills you submitted. (usually 80% reimbursement).

Your health care was PRIVATE, at each venue.

you-doctor
you-drugstore
you-insurance

It's ironic that now, after all the "privacy legislation", you have less than ever of it. Every visit to a doctor usually involves you signing a paper that RELEASES you from many of your "privacies".

There are few independent pharmacies left, and the ones we all have access to these days are connected to many corporate entities through their corporate structure.

Banks have partnered up with insurance companies too, so at some point in a loan application, it;s entirely possible that your "health history" could come into play, when it's time to judge your creditworthiness.

This is not "black helicopter" stuff. It's reality. Your boss gets his premiums "rated", depending on the "quality" of his group..got "too many" 45> employees?..everyone pays more, gets less.

In the Age of Internet(s) , there is no more privacy, and with the proper "tools", your bosses can (and probably do) find out a whole lot about you.

When you sign releases at the doctor's office, and your insurance company "pays" for you at the pharmacy & doctor's office, and then uses that information to determine what your boss can or cannot afford for your benefits package, your privacy is gone baby gone.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Sad but oh so true.

[TexasObserver]

2. And that was destroyed by (1) Big Pharm, (2) Big hospital corps, and (3) health insurance industry

Those three have stood between the doctor and his or her patient, not the government.

[SoCalDem]

3. I don't recall the medicine, but back in 1970-something

I had a bad kidney infection, and the medicine for it was FIFTEEN DOLLARS.. I was HORRIFIED.. I remember telling my husband that I would surely take EVERY pill, since it was costing me $1 a pill

[DemReadingDU]

4. I remember bundling up all those receipts

and sending to the insurance company for reimbursement. What a hassle.

[SoCalDem]

5. No hassle for us.. I just pre-addressed 12 envelopes

and every bill went straight into the current month. at the end, my husband xeroxed them and mailed them off..and a week later we got a check

[madrchsod]

7. you said xeroxed....lol...

[onyourleft]

8. I believe just yesterday she also said...

...mimeographed.

[SoCalDem]

9. I actually said "mimeo"

yes.. I am an "oldster"



I once worked at a place that had a Thermo-fax..stunk UP the place

I also still have an 8-track player..and it works & I have tapes too

We still have our original Atari

and a Hitachi portable videotape machine that weighs about 40 lbs The camera would kill-ya if hit with it

and regularly use a pressure cooker that quit being manufactured in 1953

Our house is a "scavenger-hunter's" dream

[onyourleft]

6. As do I remember that. However, the insurance...

...companies came out ahead in a lot of cases because people just didn't save the receipts and do all that bundling up and mailing.

[SoCalDem]

10. And if you are young and healthy, you often never met the deductible, BUT

you had the coverage, in case you had an accident, or fell & broke something..or had a baby