"Honey, where's my sparkly silver suit ?!"

Genius, Ms. B! This would no doubt allow me to be an identifiable alien and regain my lost fashion sense. Win.

Okay, so let's talk health care. It's been very -erm- interesting living here in the US during the "great health care debate." By now I'm sure you are all aware that President Obama has signed the Health Care Reform Bill into law. But just try and ask someone how they feel about that. Entering into a discussion about the merits of a universal health care system is just about as contentious as entering into a discussion about organized religion. It's the proverbial elephant in the room. And it's hard not to see the value in universal health care when you've spent most of your life living in a country that has it. But it flies in the face of the American ideal of "that's mine, this is yours."

Despite our college woes, our family has what is considered to be excellent health care coverage. Of course, we haven't really had to test its upper limits (thankfully.) Not like families that have had their coverage canceled in the midst of cancer treatment, or those that have their newborn infant denied any insurance coverage for a pre-existing condition--just because it was unlucky enough to be born with a heart defect.

There are definitely things I found I had to get used to (some good, some not so good):

(1) Co-payments: A fee that you pay at each and every doctor and/or ER visit. The fees vary depending upon the coverage you have. Ours is $15/office visit and $40/ER visit. Need crutches or splints? That'll cost you the full amount "out of pocket". (FYI it's $115 for a pair of crutches -- but that's a story for a future Blog entry.)

(2) HMO's: Your health insurance provider. There are many since the Health Care system is privatized. They hold the power to say "yea" or "nay" to any and all procedures or coverage. If they say "nay" you are on your own. The average, basic ER visit can be as much as $1000.

(3) Referrals: You can see pretty much any specialist any time you want by making the appointment and then having your "Primary Care Physician" - that's "Family Doctor" for all you fellow Canucks - fax a referral to the HMO saying they know about it and they are okay with it. Amazingly, when you have a good insurance plan you can have an appointment with, for example, a top neurologist at Mass General in a week's time (or sooner.)

The Reform Law is, among other things, designed to prevent HMO's from dropping patients who are in the midst of treatments and to ensure that no one can be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition. To be honest, I'm not sure how this will affect the cost of premiums. I know that we pay over $12000 a year in premiums (via payroll deduction) and that is considered "not too bad". Except when you think about the percentage of the paycheck that represents. It's been long enough that I cannot recall what the full monthly premium for health care is in Canada, but according to the Alberta government website there are no longer premiums payable for Alberta residents. Wow.

Now, I realize that there are wait lists for specialists in Canada, but I still think that's better than an "I can afford to go see the doctor and you can't" mentality. (I have no doubt someone out there will have an opinion that contradicts this one.)


What do you think?