Comments on: I Didn’t Know Oakland was “Remote”

By: Spinny Liberal

Spinny Liberal — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 01:34:30 +0000

Exactly! Preventive care is the key, and if you don’t have insurance, you’re not even going to get that.

By: nonnie9999

nonnie9999 — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 01:32:58 +0000

it’s shameful that this is happening in america. we need universal health care so that people can get preventive care. that will cut costs in the long run, because prevention is a helluva lot cheaper than emergency care and/or long-term preventable illnesses.

By: Spinny Liberal

Spinny Liberal — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 01:27:30 +0000

Yes I can definitely see why people would love to move but can’t because of the health thing. I’m one of them. Hahaha

By: lyttleton

lyttleton — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:07:30 +0000

I’m a waiter, so there’s no insurance. I’ve had a job with insurance before (managing at Barnes & Noble), but I so rarely get sick/hurt, that it actually wasn’t worth paying into it.
Of course, moving every year makes it pretty hard to maintain any sort of insurance. This is what I have found in my years moving, that many people would “Love to move” but they just can’t because of a job/health situation.

By: Spinny Liberal

Spinny Liberal — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 19:05:53 +0000

That’s true – especially those Scandinavian countries. I wonder why we can’t replicate that here. I don’t know.

By: Terrance H.

Terrance H. — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 19:00:48 +0000

The system does seem to work well in certain countries. And I don't know if this is coincidence or what, but those same countries seem to have a superb education system as well.

While the pundits on the Right say how great our system is quality wise, it doesn’t matter if you can’t experience it.

Spot on.

By: Spinny Liberal

Spinny Liberal — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 17:38:41 +0000

See now that’s completely messed up. You’re in pain, and you can’t even go to the doctor for it. Ugh. Your job doesn’t provide health insurance?

Being in between jobs is the scariest for me – especially if there is a possibility that COBRA runs out or if I’m on my partner’s insurance, and they switch jobs. My med cocktail alone would be around $600/mo if I had to buy retail. Once I almost had to go through that, but my doctor had samples that were able to tide me over until my insurance kicked in.

Some jobs the benefits kick in from day one. Others it’s 3 months. My job now was the 3 months kind. The day before, I joked with my boss. “So tomorrow I can crack my head open and be able to go to the ER?”

By: Spinny Liberal

Spinny Liberal — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 17:30:35 +0000

Absolutely – especially since they got that bailout and found their way around the taxes.

By: Spinny Liberal

Spinny Liberal — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 17:29:16 +0000

The universal health care system works pretty well. I don’t know if the quality is directly proportional to population numbers? It seems to work well in those Scandinavian countries?

Single payer would be cool. At this point, anything is better than what we have now. While the pundits on the Right say how great our system is quality wise, it doesn’t matter if you can’t experience it.

By: lyttleton

lyttleton — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 15:51:12 +0000

I have to deal with this concern all the time because I can’t ever afford health insurance. Right now, I have a pulled muscle in my chest or a bruised sternum, and it hurts like hell, but I can’t afford to check it out, so I just live with it.
It’ll go away eventually, but it’d be nice to just be able to have it checked out without having to give up rent for a month.