Worldly Chatter

 ”In a new term, we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of children who are eligible but not signed up for government health insurance programs. We will not allow, he said, a lack of attention, or information, to stand between these children and the health care they need.” Fox News 

How quickly we forget our promises Mr. President!

I doubt I am not the only one infuriated with President Bush and his veto on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program’s expansion of funds the other day. Outraged and boiling mad when I think about that man and his inability to take care of the nation’s people and their problems. I simply cannot believe he can be so heartless! I could go on about the man and what I think of his policies in Iraq but for right now this veto has given me plenty of fuel to go on a rant ten pages long but I promise it won’t be that long.
SCHIP, as it is known, provides health coverage for roughly 6 million of America’s children whose parents don’t qualify for Medicaid but don’t make enough for private insurance. Congress passed a bill extending funds for the program to further aid children in the program but also enough funds to add an addition 4 million children in need; $35 billion over the course of five years is what was approved by Congress. Leave it to the wise leader to reject something to help so many and suggest that $5 billion over five years would be sufficient. No wait, if more money is needed, more than his 20% increase than he is willing to work with Congress but Congress wants to override his veto stating it isn’t enough. Someone needs to tell him the rising medical costs and the fact that more employers drop their coverage to employees because it is getting to be too much; either that or they are greedy. In either case who can afford the doctors bills, hospital stays or the rising costs of medical coverage.

After I left my father’s house, but before I moved here, I had one job that would give me benefits. That is six years of working and I had benefits for just shy of two years of that. There was a period where I worked two jobs and still couldn’t muster enough for insurance. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t think about such things. A roof over my head, food in my belly and some clothes were my main priorities. I lived with my ex and her family for a nice while and even then the two of us struggled. When we finally got a place of our own, life was by no means easy. I finally had that job that gave me benefits and they took my costs out of my pay but that didn’t mean life was peachy. I still had co-pays and things the coverage just wouldn’t cover and with food and rent expensive as it was, you didn’t always go to the doctor like you should. My point is this. People need this, I could have used it and so could have my ex. There are millions of people just like me and her who struggle everyday to make ends meet and don’t get medical because they simply cannot afford it.

Part of Bush’s issue with this whole thing is that he is afraid that the health care system will eventually turn into a government run system. CNN
Bush used his radio address to once again make the case that he believes the spending increase sought primarily by Democrats is a step “toward their goal of government-run health care for every American.” “Government-run health care would deprive Americans of the choice and competition that comes from the private market,” he said. “It would cause huge increases in government spending.”

Now this is where I have a big problem. What would be wrong with a system where the government made sure its people had what they needed. Take for example Canada, while their health care system is not socialized medicine, the government does pay for nearly 100% of the costs while putting in little for prescription drug costs, dental and emergency medical services. Even with the three not always fully covered it takes a lot of the weight off the Canadian. What the government doesn’t pay for the average person can still afford what it doesn’t, besides we all know how cheap prescriptions are in Canada, a lot of Americans get their prescriptions online through Canadian sites. The Netherlands at one point had the socialized medicine, or government run medical system where they monitor and cover the costs, making it affordable for its people. Dutchie actually had this once upon a time, not too long ago either. She paid every quarter for her coverage and it was €150 and that is including dental and extra insurance. However, she at one point only paid thirty. Do you know what happened? There were people who were rather wealthy who thought it was unfair that they had this system. The less you made the less you paid and the more you made, the more you paid. They thought it wasn’t fair because people with smaller incomes could get medical coverage through the government, people over a certain annual pay would get coverage through the private sector. They thought it wasn’t fair; make it a level playing field. So now Dutchie pays €100 a month, not a quarter and the coverage is less than what she had. If you make under, roughly €20,000 a year, you can apply for a tax break to help cover the costs. It isn’t much but at least they can get help right? This privatized coverage hurts a lot of people. Here in the Netherlands it is mandated to have insurance or else you are fined until you do and then you have to pay back coverage. So either way you have to pay for it and it hurts. Between me and Dutchie we pay €250 a month to have medical and dental coverage where before it would have cost us €200 a quarter and would have had better coverage. This is what privatization does. At least with the old system everyone could afford it. There is one good thing about the system we now have here and this was in practice even before it was privatized. Children from time of birth until they are 18 have full medical and dental coverage. It doesn’t cost the parents anything no matter what their child needs. I understand that privatizing things helps the market grow, in theory, and it gives the public options they otherwise wouldn’t have but one must consider the fact that almost 70% of the American public struggle to have coverage… Most don’t actually have any medical coverage at all and therefore either doesn’t go to the doctors when needed or pile on so much in the way of medical bills that they never see the light of day from it. How does that help the country? The fact that he has vetoed the chance for so many children to have the medical attention they so desperately need makes me sick. He is a selfish, ignorant man who can’t even see what he does to the people he is supposed to protect. Why veto money needed to take care of today’s children so they can have a chance to be the future? He says it would increase government spending. Does he think that if the poorer people had a chance, there might be a decrease in spending elsewhere? There is government spending for Medicaid and Medicare, if it was rolled all into one, wouldn’t that decrease spending. Besides it isn’t like Dutchie didn’t pay for her government controlled medical coverage, she most certainly did, it was just cheaper so if you make it nationwide, you would still get money coming in from the people but they could still afford it. Makes sense to me. Then again, I am just an opinionated American; they won’t listen to what I have to say anyway. People listen to good ol’ Mr. President who is all about the big buck and breaks his promises to poor children. Oh yeah, listen to him instead!

Read about coverage in Holland here and here.

SCHIPS, President Bush Vetos, American Medical coverage, State Childrens Insurance Program, Veto on SCHIPS, Worldly Chatter, Government assistance, Socialized Medical

In Yahoo news, there was an article on health care in the US verses four other countries done in this survey. Germany, Canada, Britain and Australia all have better coverage but with less money. It is well known that America has ridiculous prices, poor coverage with approximately forty million uninsured. “The U.S. health care system ranks last compared with five other nations on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and outcomes,” the non-profit group which studies health care issues said in a statement. Many people get their medications now via internet through Canada because the cost of prescriptions is so high that many people cannot afford the very thing that makes them well.

I had a conversation with a friend the other day from America about coverage and payment when it comes to health insurance. This person informed me they pay $280 every two weeks for health insurance. I gasped when I heard this! Now that I am insured, I pay €150 a month and because Dutchie belongs to the ANWB, the equivalent of AAA, I get a five percent discount on my payments. My coverage is more accessible, more extensive than my friend is and it is half of what she pays. I have a five-page list of absolutely everything covered and some of it I never even thought should be covered! Certain plastic surgeries I thought would be electives and discounts at participating gyms! Pain killers are covered where once I had to pay. I can recall, with good coverage through a company I was working for, having co-pay and I still had to pay for the braces for my hand. Here I do not have co-pay and any brace I may need is covered. I can recall having to pay for the ambulance ride with state funded insurance and yet even under the most basic coverage that ride is covered. How can it be so easy in countries like Holland, Germany and Britain and so expensive in America? It is a sad state when forty million Americans aren’t insured. Here it is required that everyone be covered and approximately 150,000 – 200,000 are not insured. Compare that to forty million.

Even the difference in the way patients are treated in America still gets to me. It all depends on your insurance and money. I know no one wants to say it but there is a difference in where you can go, whether you get the help you need and how they treat you. I have seen it and experienced it. Everyone is equal until you open your wallet. I understand that medical costs money but why turn someone away simply because their insurance isn’t adequate enough, why not tell them where they can go to get help? Reason is that there aren’t many places any more that take people who don’t have the means. When I lacked insurance I could not get seen for the bronchitis I had because there wasn’t a facility near me that would see someone poor like me. I had to drive forty minutes to see someone at a clinic that didn’t have the antibiotics I could take because I am allergic to so many. So if I don’t have the gas money to go and they aren’t are not able to give me what I need then what is the point? I am stuck with bronchitis and pray it doesn’t get worse. It did of course and I had to be rushed to the ER where I then received a bill for nearly $800 for the whole affair. Again, where was I to get that kind of money? The system isn’t fair, the system is flawed and inadequate.

It just seems astonishing to me the differences in benefits, coverage and overall treatment in Europe compared to America. I am covered when I travel where if I wanted that coverage that was extra. Of course, with the traveling done and klutz I tend to be this is a needed feature in my coverage! Remembering what I had and looking at what I have now it just blows me away. I cannot believe all the things I can take care of with little to no fuss now. I was once covered in America. Once through the state and once through a company I worked with. The differences in that alone were drastic but even with the good insurance I had it doesn’t beat this and I pay so much less! I suppose it is just one more difference I see along the way.

US Healthcare system, Medical insurance, European medical coverage, ORHA, Netherlands medical insurance

Last night I got a phone call from an insurance company. I now have liability insurance. I have so much insurance its crazy! I have funeral insurance, liability insurance, dental insurance and health insurance. I have to admit I have never had so much before! I can recall working in America and having health insurance and I did have dental, though it wasn’t much. I can also remember how much it cost coming out of my pay check every two weeks. 40 dollars every two weeks for just the health, then there was the 10 every two weeks for the dental. After I was let go my insurance was going to cost me 300 dollars a month to keep it! My insurance including dental and psychological coverage will cost 150 euro a month. I take a deep breath just thinking about that number! My funeral insurance is going to cost 8 euro a month and my liability a little under 3 euro a month. I like those numbers!
All this before I am working, how to pay for it all? Well, right now Dutchie is. The IND states that she is responsible for me and absolutely everything I need and I am not allowed to ask for government assistance for a minimum of five years. I can live with that, I remember what it was like not working and needing help at one point in my life. It didn’t last long but I remember it well. This is so much for Dutchie and I have sat by watching the paycheck get smaller and smaller due to things I needed. While Dutchie has never complained about all the money it has taken for my permit and all my needs I have complained. I want to help with the costs but the IND has stated I was not allowed to work while I was being processed.
Though I have to admit something; having full coverage and it costing less than what it would have cost in America and not fully covered is shocking to me, overwhelming even. I can sleep sound and know I am covered for virtually everything. I am a natural klutz you see and it is good to know that anything I get myself into will be covered. The burn on my arm is testament to the fact that I am a klutz. I did that with an electric kettle, steam and boiling water can leave a nasty burn when you aren’t careful but anyway. I used to be one of those 42 million Americans uninsured and now I have full coverage. It is definitely overwhelming.

I received my first rejection email yesterday; I received another email this morning stating they were unable to open my resume. So I resent them the resume in the format best after the issue with the first one. He got back to me again thanking me for my quick reply and now he can open it. I am sending my resume online at the moment because I still have to wait two weeks to pick up my sofi-number, the number that is the equivalent to a social security number, you can’t do much without it. So until I get it I cannot go to agencies in person or fill out applications because the first thing they will ask for is that number. I want to be able to help Dutchie with the bills I create and the home that we live in. I want to be able to stand on my two feet and contribute. Alas I must wait another two weeks. But I will contribute; I have to for my own sanity and to ease the weight off Dutchie.
My insurance papers came in this morning. My goodness! OHRA Zorgverzekering and Yarden have sent me paperwork on my policy and forms to fill out. Dutchie is going to sit with me and go over it all because some of the Dutch is so foreign to me. While I type this Dutchie reads off all the things I am covered for and the list goes on and on! Physical therapy, glasses, birth control, organ transplant, hospital stay, if something were to happen overseas I am covered. This is great! I even have some cosmetic stuff covered! Now all I have to is get off my suction cup and make some money!

OHRA Zorgverzekering, Yarden, insurance, health insurance, psyc insurance, dental insurance, funeral insurance, expat, netherlands, American expat

So yesterday was an interesting day for me. Now that I have my permit Dutchie and I have to get my life here in the Netherlands going. I made out a resume the other day and started applying for work. Learned two things in this; one, even though you have the latest edition of Microsoft office not everyone else does, so change the format. I applied to five jobs; someone got back to me and said they couldn’t open my resume. So I changed the format and presto, she can open it. Now I don’t know if the other four can open it but you live and learn so I move on with the format and send more out today! The second thing I learned is this. The expat world and the jobs within this world are competitive and hard to come by. Good to know I suppose. I know I will find work, where that might be remains to be seen but I have hope. I know all will be well with the universe! It’s only been two days since I got my permit. I need some patience.
Yesterday Dutchie called the insurance company so that I might finally be insured in Holland. Now because I am an expat, protocol requires that I have psychological coverage. Why? Expats have a reputation of getting depressed once they have moved and attempted to settle down. Not all mind you but enough for the government to say that we must be covered. Ok fine, plus I have dental so now my coverage is better than Dutchies. I find that kind of funny. Papers are being sent to me so that I can sign them, give them a copy of my permit and I am insured! Another thing scratched off our list of things to do.
What I was misled about when I received my permit was the thought that my sofi-number would be on my permit or at the very least, with it. No, not the way it works. Dutchie learns via the internet what we have to do. Since there are so many just like me wanting a sofi-number you have to call and make an appointment with the tax people to pick one up. I have an appointment to go to Utrecht in two weeks to pick mine up. I can wait two weeks right? I mean I have waited this long after all. In the mean time I can put my resume out there, continue to edit my book and write. I can get on the horn with the town of Hilversum to set me up with my integration courses. So far so good! Two days of owning a permit and I feel I am right on track, for the most part anyway.
Then came last night when a man from the company Yarden came to our door. He had an appointment with us to update Dutchies insurance policy. What policy might you ask? Funeral insurance was the topic of the evening! Just like in America you have health insurance and life insurance. Same here except that you also have funeral insurance. What this means is that every month Dutchie pays Yarden money and she is covered in case she dies. They step in and cover her funeral, flowers, coffee, cakes, casket (or urn) and everything that goes with the event of someone dying. It is not a part of life insurance.
So a man named John comes over, we offer him coffee and sit down to do some paperwork. We drink our coffee, have a cigarette and get down to business, sort of. Will I be buried or cremated? Cremated. Will you be cremated here or in America? Here I state. This is an extension of Dutchies policy and he revises it all to fit me and my wants. I can go onto the site, log in and go into great detail the things that I want. If I have any questions I can email or call John. Dutchie signed the papers and I was insured. I am now officially insured for life and death. Now mind you we chatted while doing all this. Discussing the same practices in America and how expensive they are and we talked about life insurance. We finished our coffee and shook hands. Dutchie and I will now pay 16 euro a month for both of us to be taken care of in the event of our death. I am insured and now I can ride in the front of the bus if I want! I am covered!
We talked about what would happen in the event of my death over a cup of coffee and finished off with a joke. I can tell you I have never had this kind of evening in America! The expat life is finally beginning and it starts off with the discussion of my death over coffee. What a way to start!

Insurance, Funeral insurance, Yarden, Netherlands, Expat