On Feb 25, 9:22*am, honda.lion...[at]gmail.com wrote:
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No. In many other countries there's no health insurance or other
gimmicks to hide the true cost from the patient, so they use more
discernment when going to the emergency room because of a sore throat
or getting an MRI because of gases. So doctors and hospitals don't
have insurance companies to milk.

"Elizabeth Richardson" <erichktn[at]worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:l6fpl.400690$Mh5.397467[at]bgtnsc04-

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That's not evidence; that is an unsupported opinion that does not address
the original claim.

Consider the claim again: "many other countries' health costs are so much
lower than the United States's" because of preventive medicine.

The claim that 65% of deaths in the US due to diabetes, etc. can be
prevented says nothing about health-care costs in other countries.
Moreover, I'm not willing to believe that claim without evidence either, nor
am I interested in shifting the discussion from the original claim in order
to address it.

As a reminder: The claim under discussion is that health-care costs are less
in other countries than in the US is that other countries practice more
preventive medicine than the US. I am skeptical of that claim and asking
for concrete evidence that supports it.

HW "Skip" Weldon wrote:

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I missed the festivities, but last year was their 50th anniversary.
Ross Bagdasarian was the creator and voice of Dave Seville, as well as
all three chipmunks. Time does fly.
Ross passed away in 1972.
Joe

"Andrew Koenig" <ark[at]acm.org> wrote in message
news:7Ddpl.400534$Mh5.235596[at]bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
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65% of all deaths in the US due to diabetes, heart disease, and stroke can
be prevented. Exercise, eat a healthy diet, see your physician annually.
That's your prescription for reducing health care costs. I doubt the
government will come up with one better.

Elizabeth Richardson

<nonsense[at]mynonsense.net> wrote in message
news:6cb245f7-8e5c-49ae-acc0-99d9758308dd[at]g38g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
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Obama's new stimulus package included an interesting Cobra provision -

The new law allows an individual who is involuntarily separated from
employment between 09/01/08 and 01/01/10 to elect to pay just 35% of the
cost of COBRA coverage and be treated as paying the full amount.

The former employer will be required to pay the remaining 65% BUT they are
supposed to be entitled to a credit on their payroll tax returns. So the
net impact to the employer is ZERO and the FED is actually picking up the
balance of the COBRA payment.

My understanding of this new provision is that the EMPLOYEE is the one with
control. The EMPLOYER cannot refuse if the employee wants to invoke this.

This could actually make the final cost to you considerably less than if you
need to pick up your own individual health insurance. Even with a high
deductible, you may be better off with COBRA under the new stimulus package.

Good luck,
Gene E. Utterback, EA, RFC, ABA

There are plenty of quote-comparison sites on the web.
You can get a good idea of costs in minutes.
Beware of scam agents and health insurance companies here.
You should use "brand names" like Blue Cross as a reference.
Too-good-to-be-be true prices often never pay out or have
low lifetime ceilings in four figures.
See the Matt Damon movie Rainmaker for how the scam
health insurance companies operate.

"HW "Skip" Weldon" <skip5700removethis[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:kflaq4t5elei6cra55f0fqe4c0le09fncn[at]4ax.com...
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Different Alvin. My signing would chase me out of the shower.
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/COBRA.html

<honda.lioness[at]gmail.com> wrote in message
news:26aeb30b-592f-4e7b-825e-f7c779257ade[at]r27g2000vbp.googlegroups.com...
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Evidence? I have seen claims from people whom I respect that this widely
held belief is false--instead, that countries with lower costs have them
because they simply refuse to pay for expensive treatments.

For example, a recent story points out that in the UK, they will not pay to
treat macular degeneration until the patient has become blind in one eye and
has started to show symptoms in the other eye. It's easy to reduce costs
with policies like that.

nonse...[at]mynonsense.net wrote:
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Last I read a few years ago, the highest deductible possible was on
the order of $2k-$5k.

Start reading about how health care providers are now accustomed to
negotiating bills way down. The "advertised price" of the typical
medical service is bogus. Like on the streets of Mexico, health care
providers expect consumers to haggle. This includes bills to those
with insurance but who, naturally these days, have many medical
expenses that insurance does not cover.

- quote -

Practice preventive medicine. This is key to why many other countries'
health costs are so much lower than the United States's.

On Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:43:18 -0600, "Alvin" <acorn[at]muncher.com> wrote:

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At one point there was some discussion about including a COBRA
extension in the stimulus plan. I haven't had reason to follow it, so
perhaps someone else could comment.

Incidentally, are you the same Alvin who cut a record a few years
back?

-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

<nonsense[at]mynonsense.net> wrote in message
news:6cb245f7-8e5c-49ae-acc0-99d9758308dd[at]g38g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
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Very often your answer could be state specfic. For example, in Massachusetts
insurance is mandatory and can be purchased through the state. Premiums also
vary from state to state.

Kiplingers magazine printed a buyers guide, maybe it will be helpful:
http://www.kiplinger.com/basics/mana...insurance.html

Start with your doctor, find out which plans he/she accepts.

Things at my company are looking a little shaky. If I get laid off I
wonder how would I go about acquiring health insurance? I can afford
high deductible, upto around $40,000. I also read that one can use
401k assetts to pay for insurance premiums without any penalty. I am
in my early 30's, excellent health.