My take on Obama care - long Healthcare in Australia As many of you know, I live in Australia and would like to share a bit about the health care system here in Australia. Before I start, let me say most things in Australia cost more than in the US and the income tax rate is much higher (read ‘socialized medicine’)! All I know about ‘Obamacare’ is what I see on TV, so I’m certainly no expert. I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything. But from what I’m seeing on TV there is a lot of people unhappy with the so called ‘Affordable’ Health Plan! Everyone that is a citizen or permanent resident of Australia is entitled to Medicare. It is supported by the Australian tax system. When I go to the doctor (a general practitioner of my choice), I pay part of the office visit cost (usually around $25.00), the remainder is paid for by Medicare. If my doctor orders blood work, X-rays, scans, etc. it is paid for by Medicare. Any emergency room visit is paid for by Medicare. Any hospitalization is paid for by Medicare. Medicare does not usually cover prescriptions or dental. If I were a ‘pensioner’ I would have no out of pocket medical care costs. I also have ‘private health insurance’ which is entirely voluntary. Private Health insurance basically moves me to the front of the line if I need an operation or hospital stay and covers some of the items not covered by Medicare. Private Health insurance helps defray the cost of dental care, glasses, physical therapy etc. For a hospital stay my policy has a $500.00 per year deductable. Premiums for my wife and I are $212.00 a month total. A few years ago I was visiting my daughter in Texas. I woke up one morning and try as I might, I could not pee! Finally, we decided to go to the local hospital emergency room before I exploded! I was immediately catheterized, received IV fluids (not sure why) and had an X-ray. I was in the emergency room about 3 hours with one doctor and one nurse in attendance. The health care was superb. When I returned to Australia I needed by ‘problem’ surgically repaired. I was in the hospital for two nights. My total medical bill (including the surgical fee) was around $3,700. I only paid the $500.00 deductible. I later received the bill for my emergency room visit in Texas, over $5,500 for no more than 3 hours in the emergency room. I couldn’t believe it!! My point(s) – health care is expensive, but more often than not, much more expensive than it should or need be (e.g. greed). Sometime in the future when America goes back to the drawing board and looks at ‘socialized medicine’ again, rather than trying to reinvent the ‘public healthcare wheel’, they might look at other countries (e.g. Australia, England, etc.) as a model and adopt the ‘good’ and not the ‘bad’. I also offer this suggestion, try the plan out in a few states to see ‘how’ and ‘if’ it is going to work before a launching country wide. Have you ever bought a car without a ‘test drive’??
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 05:45:06 +0000