Blogging has resulted in my drawing people to me with interesting proposals. Most of these involve an attempt to place various body parts into other body parts and would result in their incarceration if I took their offers seriously and notified the local constabulary. But then there are the real folks who ask me to review books, one who asked me to be interviewed for her CD series on dating after 50, and another who asked me to co-star in a major motion picture. I was, at that time, too busy blogging about my cat, and so the part went to Angelina Jolie.
The latest request was from a group that works with statistics in order to assess the state of our health care system. This request was especially of interest to me because as of January 1, I had been flirting with potential doom by not having medical coverage. I can hear your gasps all the way through the computer screen: You will be ruined if anything happens to you! Yes, I answer, I know! And isn’t it exciting? I haven’t flaunted danger to such an extent since I chose to secretly date non-Jewish boys against my parents’ wishes.
Why did I do this. You ask? I did it because I was getting a tad bit tired of paying $837 a month for medical insurance for just me.
Let’s look at the illustration above (taken directly from the www.MedicalBillingandCodingCertification.net website, which posted the researchers’ data), filled with many fascinating statistics about our health care system. This illustration is compelling evidence that I am completely unable to work with anything resembling basic technology. I am inept. If you want ept, I can send you a list of bloggers I follow who are able to turn their posts into veritable trips to Disney World (You know who you are, Jules). For now, you’ll have to take my word for the following:
The chart is titled “Americans Can’t Afford Health Care.” This is followed by “The average American family spends $19,393 annually for health care.” My individual care was costing $10,044. That’s a couple trips to Europe, an Alaskan cruise, and a lot of cute shoes. Or six months’ worth of mortgage payments, and maybe one pair of cute shoes.
Sixty per cent of personal bankruptcies are linked to medical bills. Fourteen countries, including most of Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia have lower medical costs than we do in the US of A. We spend twice as much on health care as the Japanese (and they go to the doctor 2-3 times as much as we do.)
Ah, you ask, where do you get all those cute shoes? Stand back, I’m trying to be serious here. Even more surprising is that we drink and smoke way less than some of these countries. Here’s the real reason medical costs are so high:
1. Hospitals overcharge for Visits: The cost of a hospital stay here is $3181. In the world, $1050
Prescription drugs: $125 vs $63
Routine checkup $59 vs $29
CT scan $950 vs $530
Giving birth: $7473 vs $3400
2. Hospital waste is massive (dollars, not the stuff put into bags) compared to other countries
3. Outpatient care costs are massive, compared to other countries
4. Medical and dental professions account for 14 of the highest paid professions in the US (Yes, I know that many nurses are overworked and underpaid. And many doctors aren’t getting rich, because of malpractice insurance)
The conclusion is that by 2030, medical insurance will exceed income for the average family.
All this data is from one publication, with a bibliography of 14 sources. I haven’t checked all the data, but the numbers I did check are cited in many other sources as well. So what does all this mean? You tell me. These folks want feedback.
As for me, congratulations are in order. As of today, I am covered by Medicare. I survived three months of no health insurance, and my monthly insurance bill will now be about a third of what it was before. To celebrate, I bought a pair of cute shoes.
Life in the Boomer Lane 
Running from Hell with El
May 1, 2012
::Sigh:: It means Medicare will collapse sooner than any of us really think and I reckon there is nothing we can do about it. Or so I fear.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Where did all the marches and armbands go? Sign me up.
Rob Rubin
May 1, 2012
Better watch out before the right wing crowd skewers you for promoting socialized medicine like those sub-human Canadian and French people have.
Don’t you know that the American dream has always been to work hard, buy a house, have 2 kids, and then move to a trailer park after you go bankrupt over a case of bronchitis.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Don’t get me started. We continue to delude ourselves that we are the greatest country on the planet. And while we are blowing smoke, a lot of other countries are happily marching past us.
benzeknees
May 2, 2012
We may have socialized medicine in Canada, but we rarely go bankrupt over medical care. I may have to wait a long time for a test or a surgery, but it won’t bankrupt me. Most of us pay for private insurance on top of what the government allows, so we don’t get stuck with huge ambulance bills, prescription costs or stupendous dental bills.
Snoring Dog Studio
May 1, 2012
Frightening and shocking. Even more shocking is the Republicans resistance to anything looking like health care reform. Status quo just isn’t working for the majority of Americans. It’s shameful that with all the “bright” minds we have in government, we can’t compromise and make affordable care a reality.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Because my daughter lives in London, I’ve seen the UK health care system up close and personal. I’ve even been a patient. My experience was so far superior than anything I’ve had at home and it was free (including the meds).
Lynne Spreen
May 1, 2012
I have shitty insurance. One day I got a CT scan, $2800 cash, related to upcoming surgery to remove my ovaries. When the result included an assessment of my 56-year-old uterus (“typical atrophy for patient’s age”) I was a little annoyed, as I had no uterus at the time and no plans to get one. They said maybe we should redo the CT scan. I said I can’t afford it. Look harder. So they did. And THAT, my friends, is the way to control the cost of health care in the US of A.
tanoshinde
May 1, 2012
I think you’ve hit on one of the major problems with the US healthcare system. It’s possibly the only consumer transaction in which the seller/provider of goods can completely hose up the product/procedure and still expect to get paid for a replacement or do-over.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Will, that was such a great comment. And Lynne, your story makes me sick. Years ago, I had to pay for my own hysterectomy because the insurance company called it a pre-existing condition. It wasn’t.
tanoshinde
May 1, 2012
Thank you for posting — concisely and humorously — some of the rather staggering details of one of our country’s greatest challenges.
I have no idea what we’re going to do about it, of course, Sadly, my brain seems ill-suited to generating useful solutions for societal problems; it’s enough to try to keep my bike upright and the million various forms of identification one needs to return from a trip to Canada straight (part of me thinks maybe I should just conveniently ‘lose’ my passport so I never have to come back to the US at all; come to think of it, though, I should probably finish my degree first).
The bit that strikes me as perhaps most ironic about the situation is that we have both higher costs and less favorable outcomes in the US than in comparably-‘developed’ nations. While lots of people attempt to justify the situation based on societal variables., the truth is that human anatomy and physiology are pretty much the same from one country to another.
DD works in the healthcare field (he’s a physical therapist), and mentions the same overcharges and waste that you cite. It seems like it’s beginning become a public secret.
As you did at one time, pays some $300+ a month for the privilege of not going bankrupt if he gets injured; his plan, meanwhile, is essentially useless in terms of preventative care (or should I say “even more useless than the average American health insurance plan”). This, I surmise, is why he still smokes and can’t sleep worth a good gosh-darn sometimes.
I, meanwhile, do my best to be extra-cautious on my bike even during races because I don’t have any kind of coverage at all and I’d rather not wind up with a whopping great hospital bill. I’m still debating whether the plan on offer at school is actually worth the cost ($2,227 a year — which would not, for me, be doable at all if it weren’t for the fact that I have essentially no living expenses).
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Yes, yes, yes. The price of medical care vs the quality of medical seems to be inversely proportional in this country. We are losing ground in most areas: infant mortality, life span, height, general health, compared to many other countries. And how horrible is it that so many people have to go uninsured.
John
May 1, 2012
I hope they were $837 shoes. Anything less would be wasteful.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Just about $100 with shipping. Now I feel like a fool.
K.L.Richardson
May 1, 2012
There are so many reasons that health care is expensive, little niggling things from how doctors are courted with perks from drug companies to inept reading of film. When I worked at a doctors office we were always being brought lunch by drug reps, and all kinds of trinkets from pens to clocks to play-off tickets for the doctors. I have heard since that is scaled back some but the drug companies still have their collective heads up their collective arses. Recently I was standing in line at the pharmacy while a couple was arguing with their insurance over a med that had just gone generic. Since they had a co-pay it was in their interest to get the least expensive med. Ironically the brand name was *cheaper* than the generic but since it was the companies policy to go with generic if available the company wouldn’t pay for the brand name. The couple tried explaining that in this case the brand name was actually cheaper (for them and the company) and it fell on deaf ears. So rather than look at it as an individual case they threw the blanket policy over it and cost everyone more money.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Our medical system is filled with so many rules that make no sense, even at the expense of the drug companies themselves. And I go crazy when I see the hot young drug reps batting their eys at the doctors.
K.L.Richardson
May 1, 2012
Oh yeah…one of the reps even admitted they only hire really pretty people….
Lisa Wields Words
May 1, 2012
Our country makes me weep.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
In so many ways.
Audubon Ron
May 1, 2012
My health care is bare-bones catastrophic insurance with a million dollar deductible in case I get mauled by a grizzle bear, which ain’t gonna happen, b/c they don’t got no grizzly bears in Mississippi, but, I’m covered for that.
Speaking of grizzlies, I had an arthritic attack in my hip recently, old ballet injury, and the doctor wanted me to get a CAT scan. Initially, my insurance company said they would pay the $1000 for the scan. Until, that is, they found out the MACHINE was on the second floor in another doctor’s office and not in my doctor’s office. Like what doctor has an extra computed axial tomography machine lying around? So, the company rejected it and said in that case they considered the scan an overnight hospital stay since the machine wasn’t actually in my doctor’s office and my million dollar deductible would have to apply. The only reason I can think of for that is some of the folks around here in Mississippi are very hearty eaters. It would come as no surprise to me if many of them get jammed-up in that machine and are left there until morning while they shrink a little overnight. In cases it could be a two night stay.
Angelina Jolie? Really?
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
I knew I would hear horrible, ridiculous, infuriating stories like this if i posted anything about medical insurance. So let’s talk about Angelina Jolie instead. I admit that was a bit of artistic license. The closest I’ve ever come to being on the big screen was when I tried out for a film called “David and Lisa.” They didn’t want me for Lisa or David.
The Sandwich Lady
May 1, 2012
The Boston Globe did a series last year comparing the costs of the same procedure at different Boston area hospitals, and the differences were shocking. Local community hospitals have much lower costs, and some have even become satellites for the big Boston teaching hospitals, which means patients are getting the same care closer to home at a lower cost. I think our health care system needs to provide free or low cost preventive and first-line care for everyone, to prevent people from going to the doctor or hospital only when they are so far-gone that the cost is sky-high.
I left my job in July 2011 and we are on Cobra, and the cost is astronomical — $1300 a month for a family plan; $100 a month for dental. After this runs out, we can get something on the open market at a similar cost but with a high deductible. Something has to be done.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
I hadn’t heard about that series. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me. Is that partly because teaching hospitals have to cover the cost of the big time doctors on staff? And I’ve never understood why Cobra is so high. And non-group insurance is crazy. I was paying $837, but there are realtors in my office paying $1000 or more per month.
pegoleg
May 1, 2012
Renee, Renee, Renee. I thought I taught you better than to go without health insurance. Thanks be the Boo-boo Gods didn’t decide to teach you a little lesson.
Not to be a killjoy, but the only reason you can now afford cute shoes is the rest of the country is paying big-time to cover most of Medicare, and we’re borrowing the rest of the cost from China. Happy Birthday.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Peg, you have burst my bubble. Of course I do know that people foot the bill for Medicare. In my case, because I am self-employed, I shot money each month out of my you-know-what for insurance, while all of my friends paid so little because their employers footed most of the bill. And now, when they are retiring they stick with their employer plan because it still costs them less than Medicare. So I don’t feel completely terrible. Can I wear my shoes now?
pegoleg
May 2, 2012
Wear them in good health!
gojulesgo
May 1, 2012
“Sixty per cent of personal bankruptcies are linked to medical bills.” Gah! It really is horrifying. I had to pay about $500/mo. for Cobra when I was out of a job in my early 20s. It’s madness. And I never needed it!
P.S. – Thanks for the shout-out! Would you find it funny that I’ve never been to DisneyWorld (or Land)? My mom took my sister when I was 4, and so I’ve now come to the conclusion that I’ve turned the last 26 years of resentment into a blog to make up for it. Man. I learn so much from you.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Jules, you are a living Disney World. But you MUST go there. Seriously.
Lynne Spreen
May 1, 2012
A relative of mine used to work for Blue Cross. One year he and his fellow executives enjoyed a corporate retreat in Paris. Paid for by your premiums, thank you very much.
Insurance people don’t so much as put a band-aid on cuts, yet they add greatly to the cost of “health care”. Their job is to ration health care, which theoretically we’re terrified of.
Okay, I’m done. Stick a fork in me. On second thought, don’t. I can’t afford the trip to the ER.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
I’m getting so depressed. If I still had Blue Cross, I’d call them now and yell.
Kathryn McCullough
May 1, 2012
I love that you went three months with no coverage. Gotta wonder what would happen if all of America agreed to boycott the insurance industry.
By the way, I want to see a photo of those well-deserved shoes.
Hugs,
Kathy
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
I should do a post showing all my cute shoes. I think I will. It would be amazing to boycott the insurance industry but then everyone’s coverage would lapse and the insurance companies would release toxic gas and we’d all be in the hospital and the entire country would go bankrupt all at the same time. It think that was actually a B movie made in 1973.
KM Huber
May 1, 2012
Almost two years ago, I dropped my health insurance coverage and even with chronic illness, I have maintained my health, perhaps from years of practice, as years of allopathic medicine was not helpful but costly. I have limited Medicare–no supplement as I do not use prescription medication–if the current trend continues, Medicare is much more likely to succumb than I am. I have great genes.
Loved this post, Renee.
Karen
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Wow, Karen, you have been blessed with an abundance of health genes and have supported that by healthy living. You go, girl!
Audubon Ron
May 1, 2012
OMG. Just realized. Is today your birthday? Are you a Taurus? Not that I believe in any of that. Happy Birthday!
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Cinco de Mayo. Medicare starts on the first day of the month you turn 65. I have a special post planned for May 5.
Carl D'Agostino
May 1, 2012
Granted social security disability in 2006 when I was 56 but chose to remain with private insurance through Florida Retirement at $400 a month instead of medicare. Will go on medicare when 65 but I understand the supplemental to cover that 20% not medicare covered will be about the same that full coverage without medicare was !
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
I do know people who had employer-supplemented insurance who are now paying the same or more. Gee, I guess I was lucky that my premium was so high that this seems free.
cindyricksgers
May 1, 2012
Great post, funny and factual at the same time. And sad. I, too, am without health insurance. I knew if I paid the 40% of my income it would cost for a $500.00 deductible plan, I’d be hoping for cancer, so that I could get some of my investment back. Better to spend my time hoping for continued good health!
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
I think so!
k8edid
May 1, 2012
I wrote about my little granddaughter Stephanie who is without insurance and in need of a tonsillectomy. Her mama could cover her on her employer-provided insurance (a really crappy policy with high deductible, huge out of pocket expenses, and “co-insurance” charges) for roughly 3/4 of her paycheck. The remaining 1/4 of the paycheck would go to those out of pocket expenses. There is only one word to describe our health care system (or lack thereof) and it is CLUSTER.
Our country allows powerful lobbies (AMA, pharmaceuticals, and insurance industries) to buy politicians and therefore, set policy. It sickens me and should sicken everyone.
On the other hand, I am glad you have coverage now – I hear those senior pajama parties can really get out of control.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
The lobbying industry is ruining this country. The dollar rules. I swear I sometimes feel like a Bolskevik prior to the Russian revolution.
Mike Beaumont
May 1, 2012
What a great insight into the clouded and mysterious world of medical care. I still say the best healthcare in the world is a good pair of athletic shoes and getting your ass off the couch and moving. The sedentary lifestyle a lot of folks lead is what’s killing us. And then we get to deal with the big pharma companies that are all too happy pay off the FDA to pass yet again the latest in fashionable pain meds or antibiotics. The government is so worried about the use of marijuana but the growing use of prescription drugs doesn’t seem to be cause for much alarm. Go figure. And then you have the type “C” persons, the ones that like to sue others, that are always coming up with new variations of medical malpractice lawsuits. And then they wonder why costs keep rising.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
All of your comments are right on target. It’s a downward spiral for health, an upwards spiral for cost. And with all due respect to healthy lifestyle (and it is hugely important), I have two friends who have been battling cancer. They are both fit, health-concious people. One is a yoga instructor, the other hits the gym every day. Sometimes people like that can get slammed. I just read that before the 1990s, Type 2 disbetes was never seen in children. Now it is rampant. And it’s very resistant to meds. And that is because of the crap (in vast quantities) we are feeding our kids. I fear for this next generation.
chlost
May 1, 2012
Wait! I am still wondering what happened when you decided to date non-Jewish boys.
Of course the health system here is a mess. I hear the thirty-somethings complain that the Boomers are trying to hang onto their jobs too long, and there aren’t any spots for the young ‘uns to move up. Yet I know there are many Boomers who are delaying retirement for lack of health coverage and many years until Medicare eligibility. It’s enough to make me long to live in a “second world” country like the UK, France, Canada………
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 1, 2012
Re the non-Jewish boys: I married one of them. It’s so true about people hanging onto their jobs because of the medical coverage. And yes, those “second world” countries are looking better and better.
tanoshinde
May 3, 2012
Hm. “Second-world” countries = best of both worlds, perhaps?
Denis and I are also forever considering a move to a “second world” country, in part because it would appear that many of those “second world” countries have gotten around to granting people like us full civil rights, while we in the US continue dickering over big orange distraction flags so as to avoid paying attention to the fact that our nation is failing.
notquiteold
May 1, 2012
I’d rather have new shoes than a CAT scan.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 2, 2012
Me too. CAT scans don’t make me look taller.
Betty Londergan
May 1, 2012
Wow, I am so depressed that I haven’t been propositioned or threatened or begged to sacrifice my integrity … what’s wrong with me?? So happy you’ve got your Medicaid but I still say, we need the health care reform like crazy … and even my Republican, physician brother agrees. The ONLY hope for containing costs is to do this… but who knows what will happen? Great post … obviously! So many comments because it’s just such a potent topic and affects so many of us!!
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 2, 2012
Please ask your Reublican physician brother to convince all the other Republicans that health care reform isn’t a ticket to socialism. (But I think they already know that)
Deborah the Closet Monster
May 2, 2012
Argh. I’d like to say something more eloquent, but “argh” is the best I can do at the moment. Truly.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 2, 2012
I know the feeling. Sometimes the only thing I can think of to say is another short word.
Sienna (@datingseniormen)
May 2, 2012
Some statistician should set out to discover what part of illness is the actual disease and what part is the agony of trying to get reimbursement for its treatment (…..well, and also what part is the too-often crappy treatment).
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 2, 2012
Good one, Sienna.
nrhatch
May 2, 2012
Maybe we should celebrate Cinco de Mayo (and your birthday), by moving to Mexico. 😆
Warren Buffett, in a not-so-recent interview with CNBC, offered some great remedies for what’s ailing the US ~ “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes,” he told CNBC. “You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.”
The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18-year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 – before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land – all because of public pressure.
So, here’s the Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
*** 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 1/1/13. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
ONCE WE FIX CONGRESS . . . ALL THE STUFF THEY BROKE WILL FOLLOW SUIT!
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 2, 2012
I’ve seen this. The answers are always so obvious. But those who make the rules refuse to give anything up. And they (and the lobbyists) are running the country into the ground. Most of the problems we have have resulted from the deregulation of the 1970s.
Laurie Mirkin
May 2, 2012
If you have 23 diseases and apply for medical insurance you have 23 pre-existing conditions and therefore are covered for none. Makes sense, right? Can you imagine? Diabetes runs in my paternal family. I didn’t ask for it. But I got it. So no medicine or hospitalization due to diabetes will be covered. I won’t go into the other 22 things. We don’t have that kind of time. Everyone else I know who is not yet 65 has a $5000 – $10,000 deductible; no bloodwork, medicines or office visits are covered until the deductible is met. Add joblessness, homelessness, and hunger to the equation and you now have middle class life in the USA. As I turn 62 in September, I will be taking my Social Security, strictly because it might not be there if I wait till I’m 65. And all this, in the RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 2, 2012
I hate hearing all of these stories. We can so easily remedy the health care system, and yet we don’t. Doctors want the status quo, hospitals want the status quo, pharma companies…. And we are no longer the richest country in the world. According to Forbes, I think we are actually down to #7 now (although a couple of those have some ridiculously wealthy people and the rest who have llittle), and several countries are coming on strong. The disparity between haves and have nots here is getting wider and wider. And our population is aging rapidly. It’s a tsunami of bad news, healthwise.
tanoshinde
May 3, 2012
This is one of the arguments our would-be ‘leaders’ in government seem to miss entirely.
If you take someone with asthma or diabetes, for example, and make them go without proper treatment, you wind up with a disabled person who cannot work and therefore cannot pay taxes.
If you offer someone with asthma or diabetes appropriate treatment, you’re fairly likely to wind up with a productive citizen who can work and can pay taxes.
Yet, somehow, we wait until people are well and truly disabled to extend medical coverage of any reasonable kind to them based on the outdated notion that employers will provide reasonable group coverage and that their conditions will not be excluded under some pre-existing condition clause. This approach might (MIGHT! — I wasn’t alive then, so I could be utterly wrong) have made sense in years past, when reasonable policies were not like needles in haystacks and when people tended to remain with the same employer throughout their careers … but it doesn’t make sense at all *now.*
Nobody asks to have a chronic illness, and most of us who do would simply like to be able to manage it so we can go about our business being productive people. I wish the powers that be would get their heads around those simple facts.
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 3, 2012
Yes, yes, yes. It is always amazing to me how many low income people have been shut out of the workplace because of conditions they couldn’t afford to get treatment for. And I have friends (middle class, educated people) who aren’t getting the surgery they need because they can’t afford medical insurance. It goes on and on. I keep asking why we aren’t marching in the street.
tanoshinde
May 3, 2012
That’s a very good question!
Life in the Boomer Lane
May 3, 2012
I still have my peace sign pin from the 60s, although I have no idea what happened to my armband. But I’m ready.
Rebecca Latson Photography
May 13, 2012
Yes, I’m a little behind in reading all of the posts I follow. After reading *this* post, I couldn’t help but feel pretty darned depressed. And I *have* health insurance. Sigh.