I'm sure that following our health care bill on the news is difficult. It's hard over here to make any sense of it.
A lot of our senators and congressmen have been holding what they call "town hall meetings." At these they discuss the healthcare bill in a public forum. Some of them have gotten pretty wild. A lot of people are unhappy, partly because you have both sides saying different things about what will be covered. To make matters worse, unfortunately, it seems like a lot of the politicians do not know all the details of the bill. That's the problem when these things run into sometimes hundreds of pages. Nobody reads them, nobody knows all that they cover, they just put more and more into it.
They want to please everyone and so dilute the bill it ends up being useless.
Doctors aren't the ones making medical decisions. It's insurance companies now and soon will be the government. That is what I think most people are afraid of.
A lot of our senators and congressmen have been holding what they call "town hall meetings." At these they discuss the healthcare bill in a public forum. Some of them have gotten pretty wild. A lot of people are unhappy, partly because you have both sides saying different things about what will be covered. To make matters worse, unfortunately, it seems like a lot of the politicians do not know all the details of the bill. That's the problem when these things run into sometimes hundreds of pages. Nobody reads them, nobody knows all that they cover, they just put more and more into it.
They want to please everyone and so dilute the bill it ends up being useless.
Doctors aren't the ones making medical decisions. It's insurance companies now and soon will be the government. That is what I think most people are afraid of.
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Life and death in the hands of insurance companies. Almost the theme of a horror film. They hate paying out at the best of times, always trying to find a loophole. How do they sleep at night if they say no to lifesaving medication or surgery etc. Probably why I don't work for an insurance company, they'd go bust cause i'd be paying out for everything!
Did I read somewhere Dan that your a paramedic? Been a while ago I could be wrong. If I'm right can I ask who pays your wages? Is it the government or insurance companies?
Did I read somewhere Dan that your a paramedic? Been a while ago I could be wrong. If I'm right can I ask who pays your wages? Is it the government or insurance companies?
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You have a good memory. Yes, I am paramedic.
I work for three different services. Two are "volunteer" but you do receive a stipend for doing shifts. These are run by individual towns and I am paid by the town government.
The other service is a full time private company. We are contracted by and the company is paid by the towns/city that the call was in.
Sounds simple? It's not. Each town will bill the patients insurance company. The two "volunteer" towns each use a billing service. I do not know how the other towns handle a claim but it is probably similar. The "volunteer" towns will also waive claims for some individuals if they can not afford to pay or if it is a firefighter or emt. So, to best answer your question my pay comes from the government but the government is reimbursed by the insurance company.
This is just the ambulance ride. A basic ride of 7-8 miles, we bill by the mile, starts at around $350. Any procedure or intervention adds to the cost. A typical ride is at least $600. If this is a high priority call, it could be over $1500. The "volunteer" towns won't bill if you don't go in the ambulance - refuse transport.
Does that make sense?
I work for three different services. Two are "volunteer" but you do receive a stipend for doing shifts. These are run by individual towns and I am paid by the town government.
The other service is a full time private company. We are contracted by and the company is paid by the towns/city that the call was in.
Sounds simple? It's not. Each town will bill the patients insurance company. The two "volunteer" towns each use a billing service. I do not know how the other towns handle a claim but it is probably similar. The "volunteer" towns will also waive claims for some individuals if they can not afford to pay or if it is a firefighter or emt. So, to best answer your question my pay comes from the government but the government is reimbursed by the insurance company.
This is just the ambulance ride. A basic ride of 7-8 miles, we bill by the mile, starts at around $350. Any procedure or intervention adds to the cost. A typical ride is at least $600. If this is a high priority call, it could be over $1500. The "volunteer" towns won't bill if you don't go in the ambulance - refuse transport.
Does that make sense?
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Yeh that sort of makes sense to me. Really expensive ain't it. Is all that money really just covering costs or is there someone making a huge profit? Glad to hear they'll waive the fees if you can't afford it though. Does everybody get access to this service for free if they need it? At least theres some medical help available if they do.
I think all paramedics do a wonderful job. Keep it up Dan! :-D
On a side note, yes the long term memory is good thanks, short term is where the problem is XD Have to scroll back up my own posts sometime to see what I've written, in the shower I can't remember where I've washed so have to start again %-) I'll put it down the stress I think, just dont concentrate on things at the minute.
I think all paramedics do a wonderful job. Keep it up Dan! :-D
On a side note, yes the long term memory is good thanks, short term is where the problem is XD Have to scroll back up my own posts sometime to see what I've written, in the shower I can't remember where I've washed so have to start again %-) I'll put it down the stress I think, just dont concentrate on things at the minute.
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Thanks Kingfreze,
At least in Massachusetts if you go to an emergency room they can't refuse treatment. They do have a "free care pool" to cover for those that can't afford it. In the ambulance we don't ask at the scene if a patient has insurance or can afford us either. Getting reimbursed is not my job, patient care is.
I know my town isn't making a profit. We're one of the "volunteer" towns. If I remember correctly the town spent about $350,000 on ambulance staffing, etc. and has only received about $80,000 in billing. The problem is that it can take many months for an insurance company to reimburse us, so I don't really know how far behind in receipts we are. I do know my town isn't making a profit. The private company, oh yeah. He makes a nice profit, all from the taxpayers who subsidize what the insurers don't pay.
Not sure where you're from but I've been to Manchester and Huddersfield several times each. Great country!
At least in Massachusetts if you go to an emergency room they can't refuse treatment. They do have a "free care pool" to cover for those that can't afford it. In the ambulance we don't ask at the scene if a patient has insurance or can afford us either. Getting reimbursed is not my job, patient care is.
I know my town isn't making a profit. We're one of the "volunteer" towns. If I remember correctly the town spent about $350,000 on ambulance staffing, etc. and has only received about $80,000 in billing. The problem is that it can take many months for an insurance company to reimburse us, so I don't really know how far behind in receipts we are. I do know my town isn't making a profit. The private company, oh yeah. He makes a nice profit, all from the taxpayers who subsidize what the insurers don't pay.
Not sure where you're from but I've been to Manchester and Huddersfield several times each. Great country!
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Good to know there's help out there for even the poorer people :-)
I'm from Birmingham in the Midlands actually. Its quite a nice place, you'll have to pop down next time your in England, the Americans seem to love the history like Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford etc. Are you one of those? :-D
Strangely enough, I've never been to Huddersfield, Manchester once. You probably know more about that area than I do :-D
I've always wanted to go to America, never actually been though. Where do you recommend for a nice quiet break? don't really fancy the sound of Florida and the likes.
I'm from Birmingham in the Midlands actually. Its quite a nice place, you'll have to pop down next time your in England, the Americans seem to love the history like Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford etc. Are you one of those? :-D
Strangely enough, I've never been to Huddersfield, Manchester once. You probably know more about that area than I do :-D
I've always wanted to go to America, never actually been though. Where do you recommend for a nice quiet break? don't really fancy the sound of Florida and the likes.
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HOnestly I'd say you should head to NYC so you can see all the craziness of it, and then head on a train virtually anywhere else to see how quiet and peaceful the rest of the country is. NYC is incredible, and then the rest of the country with a few exceptions is much quieter. Massachusetts is lovely, as is Rhode Island if you've never been.
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NYC being New York City? Forgive me I'm still trying to get the hang of the abbreviations :-D
Thanks for the input, I'll bear it in mind. :-)
Thanks for the input, I'll bear it in mind. :-)
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Hah, sorry. Yes, NYC = New York City. Do you know when you're going ot be visiting?
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Hopefully next summer. All depends on the money though and whether I can keep my job between now and then with all this recession and all.
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Well don't forget that for every pound you have you get almost two dollars. Coming to even an expensive place like NYC can be cheap for a British person. :) Keep me posted!
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Will do healthguy. Thanks for your help :-D
By the way, where are you located? Anywhere nice?
By the way, where are you located? Anywhere nice?
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A post I just read reminded me of this thread.
Is there any news on that healthcare bill? Its gone quiet over here for some time now.
Is there any news on that healthcare bill? Its gone quiet over here for some time now.
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Yes, actually! The healthcare bill passed the House of REpresentatives which is one major step but now it has to pass through the Senate as well before the president can sign the bill into law. It is...well, we're halfway there, I guess. Do you read CNN?
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That's good news :-) No CNN for me, I stick to BBC News :-)
I don't know how it works over there but is this half more difficult than the first half? How much chance do you think it has of getting passed?
I don't know how it works over there but is this half more difficult than the first half? How much chance do you think it has of getting passed?
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