Biatch Session

Yup, this is a biatch session. I know that when I wake up thinking about something negative that it's obviously bugging me. I am not a negative thinker and especially when I wake up in the morning!

How in the world do people who live in the U.S. deal with the medical insurance here!!?? It absolutely SUCKS!!! And, since when are insurance companies allowed to make up thier own rules as they go along and only pay out whatever the heck they want?? I realize that we don't have the best insurance policies with Chad being a student and with me owning my own business but c'mon!! What's the point in even having insurance when it costs WAY more for you to pay for it than what you actually use... WAY MORE??!! I'm sure for some people who are sick or have problems it's good but definitely not with our insurance policies! I guess you get what you pay for... or not!

So, this is the story with my policy. I go to get testing done - preventative. The nurse calls my insurance to verify coverage and tells me my insurance will cover up to $1000. A month or so later I find out that they are only going to cover $350. I'm glad I paid $2000 for that policy (for only 6 months of coverage)... I could have not gotten insurance and paid out of my pocket and I'd still be way ahead! With that said, Chad and I will unfortunately not be getting any insurance coverage from now on... please pray that nothing happens to us! I'm a healthy person, I never go to the doctor so I basically only chose to get insurance in case of an emergency... like a fatal car accident or something.

They say money is the root of all evil. To be more specific, it's more like the huge corporations taking advantage of people who simply want thier health covered so they can simply exist as effectively as possible.

The doctors here seem good. The clinics and hospitals seem good - except some of the clinics in Las Vegas where you feel like part of a herd of cattle and the clinics look like they're 100 year old morgues. It's really hard for me to come to this "new concept" when in Canada where there is socialized medicine, it is just as good if not better than here. You pay for healthcare based on your tax bracket and whether you have dependents but it's still extremely cheap. Alberta is the richest province in Canada and relatively independent from the rest of the country so as of 2009, healthcare will be absolutely free... for EVERYONE... rich, poor, sick, healthy, etc.

Despite what anyone thinks, the healthcare in Canada is great. The hospitals are clean, the clinics are nice, there is no waiting - not anymore than here. When I was in the hospital for 3 days in Alberta after the fatal car accident I was in, I was seriously treated like a celebrity. I had 3 nurses tending me at all times and an option to stay in the hospital for much longer than I did. My head was literally the size of a basketball from taking out a street light and then bouncing around in the truck and rolling down an embankement however many times. I was rushed to the hospital after being "cut out" from the vehicle with the "jaws of life" and as soon as I arrived there, the doctor called a plastic surgeon from Edmonton (I was at the hospital in Red Deer which is 1 1/2 hours away from Edmonton) at 12:30 in the morning. A surgeon was immediately on his way in case my face bones were crushed. My face was so messed up, they couldn't tell if I'd need surgery and they had to wait until I was stabilized and get priority x-rays done (in case I had a broken back/neck) before they could take me to get more x-rays done. Thank goodness I didn't need plastic surgery! They have to perform plastic surgery right away before your face starts trying to heal because if you wait the results could be much worse. I think that was the proper thing to do by having a plastic surgeon come right away and I'm not trying to say that the doctors were going out of thier way. I was just very appreciative of how amazingly I was taken care of and knowing that I had that medical care with me in such a time of need was the best thing that could have happened to me at that time.

I am highly appraising socialized medicine in Canada and I truly do think that the U.S. should follow suit whether anyone thinks so or not but I have had the opportunity of experiencing both sides. That's my rant for the year. I feel much better now!