Friday, April 16, 2010
Ryan Luepke, Guest, Patient
My name is Ryan Luepke and I have been a loyal customer to the US healthcare system for over 20 years. My experiences with this system have overall been very good, however I would not say that there aren’t any problems with it. As a Wisconsin resident currently living in Minnesota while I go to school I struggle with finding reasonable healthcare options when I need them. While in Minnesota I am not covered by my parents insurance for routine things like dental exams, eye exams, and yearly checkups and physicals. This leaves me pretty much high and dry when something goes wrong. The only solution that I have been able to exercise so far is to drive back to Wisconsin every time I need anything related to my health. As you can imagine this is both expensive and inconvenient when going to school full time and working over 20+ hours a week when not in school. This past school year alone I was forced to drive over 150 miles one way at least 4 times just for routine exams and checkups. This is both directly detrimental to my finances with paying for gas to drive all those miles, and indirectly detrimental with the added cost of missing work , wear and tear on my vehicle, and missing some classes(which certainly aren’t free) to make it to these appointments. Luckily I am a person that has had very few serious health problems in their lifetime, but I cannot imagine what a hassle this would be to someone that does have health problems and needs more frequent care. It would be very nice to at least have other healthcare options available to people such as myself even if they aren’t perfect. It would be nice if I could go to any hospital in the country for routine things such as prescriptions, checkups, and exams. My current coverage has too many restrictions on payment and financing to keep me from getting the care I need and deserve. My insurance company will tell me that I can go to any healthcare provider I choose for my medical needs, which is indeed true. I do have the freedom to choose any facility I want. However, upon going to this facility I may find out that this provider isn’t on their list of places that I am covered under. This would be extremely detrimental in an emergency situation where I may get taken to the nearest hospital on the basis of saving my life, only to find out that upon my survival none of my healthcare is being covered simply because I am in the wrong geographical spot. Conditions on coverage and payment such as this are hurting those who need healthcare the most and something needs to be done.
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My largest concern about health care is how to afford it in retirement. The cost is so high and I won't be covered under my employer's plan any longer once I retire so it will be expensive. Health insurance will be my largest expense when I retire.
ReplyDeleteI agree. That is ridiculous! That is my concern is well. I am the same way, luckily I live closer to Wisconsin than the Twin Cities, but it is such a hassle! The healthcare system neeeds soo much work.
ReplyDeleteThank you for authoring on this blog. I appreciate your thoughts about improving health care and hope you will comment on other postings in this blog or other blogs about health care.
ReplyDeleteI think its important to differentiate between health care reform and health insurance reform when discussing health care financing. The new health care bill is primarily a health insurance reform bill. The cornerstone of the legislation is an expansion of coverage by shifting costs to the already overburdened middle class and businesses. If we really want to affect health care financing we need to make some tough decisions. We need to have major Tort reform to reduce Medical malpractice awards to a reasonable level and reduce the practice of ''defensive medicine''. We have to elect a president with balls enough to quit smoking and practice what he preaches about wellness and health care costs. We need to penalize poor quality care and reward excellence. We need to make those who insist on eating, drinking, and smoking themselves to death pay a premium for the priveledge. We need to root out the fraud in DME and throw the book at the perpetrators. We need to promote wellness and reward it. Until we adress the underlying issues that are driving up health care costs we will continue this charade of ''health care reform''as its being called. Thanks. Chip
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