Miaow (was Re: The best...)
Rachael Munns
In net.medicine.veterinary.general, Mark Atwood wrote:
>You can, but it's not really very cheap. It works out to be a bit
>more than the annual cost of shots and checkup (gee, I wonder why).
I suspect that most animals are generally healthy, and that the
healthy insured animals subsidise the unlucky ones.
I took out the policy primarily for peace of mind; too many of my
childhood pets were put down with treatable problems like a broken
leg, because my mother couldn't afford the vet bills. :(
>I love my cats dearly, and this summer spent US $3000 !!!on vet bills. I
>was getting ready to pay for a kidney transplant for the little
>monster[1],
>[1] She recovered without one. Yay!
Owch. I'm glad she recovered.
>but the LAST thing I want to have happen in the world of
>pet care is the spiralling costs that non-catastrophic medical
>insurance did for human health care.[2]
>Typical med insurance causes a positive feedback loop, as follows.
>It makes people act like health care is free, and so they consume a
>lot more of it, while the providers can hike their prices because they
>are not longer causing sticker-shock in the patients, and the the
>whole thing spirals out of control as the premiums go through the
>roof, until it reaches the point where only the wealthy can afforded
>even basic health care out of pocket.
Coming from the UK, this is something I find hard to understand.
I've recently been comparing what I know about the US system with
the UK system, and found it hard to decide which is least worst.
Over here, if you can't afford private care, you get *some*
medical treatment, but it may not be very good.
My partner and I are tossing around the idea of moving to the US
for work purposes; the issue of health care is one of the things
we don't like the idea of. What's people's experience of the system
like, especially if you enter it with an existing problem?
--
Rachael
Ryan Tucker
spewed:
>My partner and I are tossing around the idea of moving to the US
>for work purposes; the issue of health care is one of the things
>we don't like the idea of. What's people's experience of the system
>like, especially if you enter it with an existing problem?
Depends on your employer. For example, at my last job, I had very
excellent coverage for $1/wk. However, now, I have absolutely no
insurance... unless I wait a year and then pay $200-$300/mo.
So, basically, I'm hoping I don't get hit by a bus :-) -rt
--
Ryan Tucker <rtuck...@ttgcitn.com> http://www.ttgcitn.com/~rtucker/
GSM/VM/Fax: +15157712865 Box 57083, Pleasant Hill IA 50317-0002
This is where the regulary scheduled newsgroup posting runs off the rails.
-- A. Taylor Stanford, netins.soc
Jim Kingdon
> I've recently been comparing what I know about the US system with
> the UK system, and found it hard to decide which is least worst.
Roughly my own reaction. I haven't seen a system which I _really_
liked.... Which might just mean the problem is intractable or
something, I have no idea. I guess my latest pet idea is doctor-owned
HMO's. But I'm sure that if they become widespread people will figure
out a way to screw that up too :-). People being people, that is (am
I as cynical as rone yet?).
> My partner and I are tossing around the idea of moving to the US
> for work purposes; the issue of health care is one of the things
> we don't like the idea of. What's people's experience of the system
> like, especially if you enter it with an existing problem?
Well, find out what the employer in question offers. Things vary a
fair bit from plan to plan in the US.