POLL - Do you have Health care coverage? If you are one of the "lucky" Americans that do, is it adequate?

Question

According to Filmmaker Michael Moore,50 million Americans, 9 million of them children, live without health care coverage. takes on the U.S. health care system in a new film.

In his new film "SiCKO",Michael Moore takes on the U.S. health care system as he turns his attention to questions like this and WHY while those that are insured are often driven to poverty by spiraling costs or wrongly refused treatment at all.

Please indicate YES or NO - on health care coverage.

Then feel free to share you story - postive or negative about the "American" health care system.
Additional Details

1 hour ago
Read more about the issue here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070519/hl_n...

With this question I'm not "endorsing" the Michael Moore film "siCKO" - (I haven't seen it b/c it isn't out yet)
The article just hit a nerve with me because my family has been without Health care for years due to a variety of reasons.
Stay healthy!

Answer 1

Yes I feel "lucky" to have health insurance even though it still cost over $300 a month for premiums and another $300+ for medicines and then there is the co-pays. But with the medicines we are on if we didn't have the insurance, I couldn't afford the medicine. The $300+ I pay is only 20% of the cost of the meds. When I get my meds refilled I see people that doesn't have any insurance and has to put it on a 'bill' and pay for it 'later'. At those times if I can, I pay for it for them. Sometimes I can't afford it though.

Answer 2

YES
Some people CHOOSE to not buy health insurance. Sometimes it's the price, sometimes they just feel they'll take the gamble of not having coverage. Some people I know decide to not purchase health insurance because they want to be able to live a more expensive lifestyle. I personally think that's too risky of a gamble. And then something happens and they want sympathy and government aid. I don't think that's right.
I have excellent coverage through my husband's employer. I have regular co-pays for office visits ($15-25) and prescriptions ($10-50), and also an out of pocket max deductible of $1000, then things are covered at 100%, plus co-pays. I am very thankful, since last year my medical expenses were over $120,000. This year, I will be having a major spinal reconstruction surgery and will likely have total medical expenses of $250,000-300,000.
We chose the highest level of plan that was offered by my husband's company. We pay more for the premiums, but less out of pocket overall. We also have the choice of doctors we see since it is a PPO. We may have to live a little lower lifestyle to afford these premiums, but it is worth it.
I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity to have this excellent coverage. My husband and I both worked hard to get to where we are today.
The American health care system isn't perfect, but it is far better than what you'd find in some countries. And socialized medicine can have serious problems as well, from what I have heard from friends in Canada.

Answer 3

Yes have it and have had coverage everyday for over 37 years. it's quite adequate with the exception of a couple things it wouldn't cover which almost no carriers do anyway. I know many people like to complain about the system and it will help line Moore's pockets some more to bash it, but having lived in other countries our system isn't bad at all. Try going to say Guatemala or or Honduras and checking out the quality of their health care systems. That would be a story for him, having used each before while abroad I know those systems are laughable at best. But that wouldn't be sensational enough for him to make money. All I can say is that as a person requiring regualr care I've never had a problem any bigger than a waiting longer than I wanted to to be called into to the exam room for my appointment.

Answer 4

Currently I have great health coverage through my husband's work. Before that I had insurance, but it wasn't adequate. I developed narcolepsy in college-- 20 is the average age of onset. But my insurance wouldn't cover anything sleep related so I couldn't afford a sleep study or anything until I got married. For years I didn't know I was narcoleptic-- I had no idea what was wrong with me because I couldn't afford to find out and the bills from my copays were always too high. Now that I can get health care for everything, my health is improving. But what if we ever wanted to start our own buisiness or something? I could never get private insurance due to my preexisting conditions, but without good health care including prescriptions, I couldn't be functional enough to hold down a job. There is one resource for prescription costs for low income individuals that helps, www.needymeds.com.

Answer 5

I do have health insurance however ,its not that good.I remember when i first came to America i am not an American ,i was sick roasting with fever a blood vessel in my eye burst .I went to the health department and said i would pay in cash and they turned me away.So put it like this without health insurance in America a dog is better off than you.Intersting enough i wonder why since this supposed to be the greatest nation on earth then why health care is not free ?.Why wont the Government care about the health of its Citizens?. Because everything is about money and thats the way the world works.

Answer 6

I have healthcare coverage through work. I opted for a PPO instead of an HMO so I could have more flexibility in choosing doctors and services. One downside to this plan is that I pay more out of pocket. I just hope nothing major happens because I don't think I could afford it and I don't want to depend on hospital care to stay alive. I'm sure there are a lot of positive and negative things to say about the healthcare system. The only thing I can say for sure is that it shouldn't be about making drug companies rich.

Answer 7

Yes have health coverage.
Must remember that many people CHOOSE to not buy health insurance. I personally think that corporations should not be responsible to give health care to employees since all it does is raise the price of their product for the rest of us.
I love Michael Moore but there is not enough tax money in the world to pay for the kind of high tech medical care the US offers. So that means there will have to be caps just as we have seen with medicare. So I am pessimistic.

Answer 8

No- I do not.
My employer cannot afford to pay the outrageous costs involved in providing medical insurance for her 5 employees - dental insurance is out of the question too.

The insurance companies need to be regulated and forced into making medical coverage affordable for the average working class persons.

Go get 'em Mr. Moore - I'm a BIG fan!!

Answer 9

I dont have health care

I am 27 and I live in NYC

Further more I know alot of people in my age range who dont have healthcare either... the lack of a decent living wage in NYC as well as the expense of healthcare its not something people in my age group can afford the only friend I know who does have healthcare is paying 250$ a month for it... as far as the rest of us we are spending an arm and a leg on rent and bills so we have a home to come home too and at the end of the day money for insurance is just not there... I would love to have healthcare that I could afford but I dont...

Answer 10

Yes- I have healthcare coverage, and I would say that it's accurate, but it's a bit of a pain. Having to commit to a primary care doc, then having to double check which kinds of doctors I'll need referrals for and which I won't. I wish I could just visit the docs I want to and let their offices handle the paperwork. I hate dealing with insurance companies, but it's certainly better than the alternative. I've lived without health insurance and it isn't fun.