Quote:
Originally Posted by raymor
I pay about $3,000 / year for pretty good health insurance
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The truth is, everyone is going to get sick at some point, and the older you get the more expensive private health care costs. When you are young, even if you are a smoker, private health care is relatively cheap -- as only a small percentage of those young people paying into the fund are using the services. As you get older, the chances of getting sick increase, and so do premiums. If you get really sick -- the health insurers will look for ways of not paying out on the insurance, as paying out (for bone marrow transplant, etc.) eats into the profitability of the entire operation. Their obligation is to their shareholders, not the people they insure.
My wife has had two children in the Canadian health care system. We had private rooms for each birth, with 1-on-1 nursing and top notch obstetrics
doctors. We also have the kids going to a pediatrician for all there regular check-ups, and when we have had the misfortune to have to take one fo the kids to the hospital -- they have been seen with virtually no delay by dedicated emergency pediatric doctors at the pediatric emergency clinic. The only money that passed hands when our kids were born, was a donation we made to premature birth unit.