Great to hear.
So are you a LEO, or retired LEO?
Wife retired NYPD Det...
Great to hear.
So are you a LEO, or retired LEO?
HSA are only available in conjunction with a Qualified High Deductible Health Plan. When folks are Medicare eligible HSAs are no longer available. Unfortunately. So I have another 4 years to contribute as much as possible. Since there are two of us, that is is $8,000 a year.
Wife retired NYPD Det...
Day-um!
I hope you bought your buddy a bottle of the best whatever-he-drank you could find.
We worked together for 11 years and like any good crew looked out for each other.
Not on Medicare yet. On company plan which does not offer an HSA to retirees.
Must do s bit of Googling on HSAs to see if I can get one separate from the health plan.
I will say I only read the first page of this five page thread. I want to add that you need to consider the urgency as well. I hear a lot of people on this first page that took themselves or a taxi to the ER. I know of 2 different cases where they did that and died on the way to the ER. So do consider an ambulance as well. I know it is another step up on the "pride scale" or the surrendering of your pride to get hauled away in an ambulance when you are not even sure if there is anything wrong. But it might be the wisest choice.
I will relate this to a boat topic. We were on about a week long boat trip and on day 6, I did not feel right. Let's just say dehydration compounded by miserable windless high humidity Texas heat. I was fixing the dinghy that morning about 9 oclock. Boardshorts, and nothing else on. Once dinghy was fixed of course I had to take a test ride. I rode around the anchorage for a bit and saw a friend and stopped by to talk for a bit...again in the direct sun. When I got back to the boat I breakfast was ready. I didn't feel right....faint and light headed. I pondered going to the ER for awhile. AMongst our boating flotilla we had a nurse and a nurse's assistant. Of course they were saying GO. I finally did when my vision started blackening around the edges. And I went in an ambulance. Was in the ER for about 4 hours and got a couple of bags of IV fluid and off I went. You never know....I was ultimately fine. But you never know until you end up like me or end up dead.
PS...working for a YUGE company and unionized, my health insurance is excellent. The entire bill on this day was under $300...ambulance included.
And you still didn't listen to her!!
You are correct about one thing - you are no expert.Yes, there are individual locations within the VA system that do pretty well. However, the system as a whole is totally bogged down by govt incompetence and bureaucracy. I have a friend who waited a year for an appointment for eye surgery. The news has been rife with horror stories over the years about the overall level of care within the system. I don’t know how to fix that. My observation is that this is the reason the govt shouldn’t run our healthcare.
As to the costs of healthcare in general, the first thing that has to happen is that we have to remove the 20,000,000 people who are here illegally who are receiving free care that the rest of us are paying for. Medicare and Medicaid fraud costs billions per year and needs to be dealt with. Single payer healthcare would be a disaster and the only way to combat that is to elect a govt that doesn’t use free giveaways to buy votes. Programs such as Health savings accounts and tax incentives to people who purchase their own health care might help as well. Honestly, requiring a little personal responsibility for people who can afford healthcare but choose to buy TVs, trucks or other things instead might help as well. If you use the healthcare system, you should have to pay for services received. If hospitals didn’t have to eat the costs of providing care to so many people who don’t pay then maybe the cost to the rest of us wouldn’t be so high.
I’m no expert but I can see many problems with the cost. But the cost has nothing to do with the quality and my original point was that people from all over the world come to one place for serious health care and it ain’t Timbuktu.
Not factual, well somwhat but, hey you got yours and you earned it all by yourself and no one ever helped you get there.I’m simply replying to the thread as it progressed. If that upsets you and Wifey B, then buh bye.
And yes, what I’ve said is factual and true. Sorry if it hurts your feelings.
You are correct about one thing - you are no expert.
Bryant, The VA has had issues certainly. I have to tell you though, that I’ve been practicing near a large VA facility as well as a large DOD medical facility. The care they provide is generally excellent. Issues they have had with timeliness of service to vets have been a major focus and they are improving. I’ve also been involved with accrediting VA specialty residency programs and every one that I reviewed, was simply outstanding.
So your claim that the VA “is the worst healthcare available anywhere” is so blatantly off base that it calls into question your other blanket statements. FWIW, I have never practiced within the VA system.
However, I would be interested in hearing, from your perspective, what changes if any should be made? You have stated that US healthcare is excellent, and for very good reasons. You have also said that it is too expensive due to government interference. So what specifically, if anything, would you like changed?
Visiting Canada a couple of years ago, I needed oral antibiotics for an infected finger. A GP visit was $300! A pharmacy consult was free except of course the prescribed medication cost. I didn`t have the benefit of the Canadian subsidised medical system, but was amazed the subsidised value of a GP visit is $300, here it`s around $80. How does that compare to USA?
Nevertheless, my perception is that I've paid, and continue to, much more than my share. And perception is reality.
There`s perception, and there`s reality. If they are the same, it`s just reality.Nevertheless, my perception is that I've paid, and continue to, much more than my share. And perception is reality.
Dave,
Bryant does not have to use the VA. As a retiree he has Tricare for life. This means that he pays 20% until he reaches the max deductible -- i think about $1500/year. He is able to choose any doctor that will accept Tricare. The government pays significantly less than the doctors charge, and doctors who accept Tricare must agree to not charge the patient for anything Tricare does not pay.
When i reach 65 i will be required to pay Medicare part B, about $130/month and all my expenses will be paid.
Most of my military retiree friends are against public health-care, even though they have it and it works well. They will give me some example of a country with a poor functioning health Care system (allegedly). I ask them why they would copy such a bad system. We are at liberty to design the system how we want. Why not pick the best of breed.
The only people benefiting from the current system are health insurance company stock holders and corporate officers.