New immigration procedures

What happens in the US if you have previous medical conditions?

In the UK it can be quite expensive for a private individual to get
medical insurance if they have a previous medical condition. Many
insurers will refuse altogether. (Employer-run schemes can be much
better in this respect.)

Sounds like the USA and UK are similar in that respect. If you
work for a large employer, pre-existing (that's the word they use, isn't
that redundant?) conditions are covered. If you apply for individual
coverage, it is almost guaranteed to be excluded for your lifetime.
Small to medium employers' coverage depend on their lawyers'
negotiation skills.


Casey

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 09:07:16 +0000, Simon Elliott
wrote:

Gregory Morrow writes
BTW, here is a good article I found US healthca

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/...077230,00.html

Interesting. How would you rate it for accuracy?

A Chicago hospital saved Mrs Shaffer's life but she feels it is now trying
to take it back. Since that frantic October night three years ago, the
hospital owners, a Christian, non-profit foundation, have hounded her for
crushing bills she could not afford, partly because as an uninsured patient
she had been charged double.

In UK private medicine the reverse seems to happen. I've heard of cases
where the hospital has worked to reduce the bill for patients who are
paying cash. It's a bit like getting your car repaired.

I guess it depends on the hospital. My experience in the US has been
very good, even without insurance. At a time when I had no insurance,
I had an unexpected pregnancy. We weren't poor enough to have
Medicaid, but did enroll in a special program for low-income
families that paid for the birth and delivery, hospital and doctors
fees in a "package deal." Unfortunately, my baby was ill when he was
born, requiring a couple of weeks in the NICU, which was not part of
the package. So we started paying off the large bill in small monthly
increments and after a couple of years, the hospital informed us that
they were "forgiving" the still considerable balance. (This was a
very large metropolitan private hospital.)

Not long after that, I became ill myself and required 10 days
hospitalization and major abdominal surgery. When I spoke to the
billing department about making payments on the huge bill, they
informed me that they were not a "charity hospital" but asked how much
I could comfortably afford to pay monthly. I was surprised when they
agreed to accept $50. That was 14 years ago and I'm still paying my
$50 a month. (This was a medium sized Catholic hospital in a smallish
city.) But there's been no hounding or hassling, and it hasn't
ruined my life. I have no idea whether this is normal in the US or
whether I've had extraordinary good luck, but it's my experience.

Karen

....A clean house is the sign of a broken computer.

Simon Elliott wrote:

Gregory Morrow writes
BTW, here is a good article I found US healthca

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/...077230,00.html

Interesting. How would you rate it for accuracy?


It's spot on.


A Chicago hospital saved Mrs Shaffer's life but she feels it is now trying
to take it back. Since that frantic October night three years ago, the
hospital owners, a Christian, non-profit foundation, have hounded her for
crushing bills she could not afford, partly because as an uninsured patient
she had been charged double.

In UK private medicine the reverse seems to happen. I've heard of cases
where the hospital has worked to reduce the bill for patients who are
paying cash. It's a bit like getting your car repaired.


Some doctors will do that here too, for office visits (even for
insured patients). They get their money right up front instead of
having to haggle with the insurance companies to get reimbursed.

--
Best
Greg

On Tue, 04 Nov 2003 23:40:53 -0800, Go Fig wrote:

It calls her a *nurse*... not LVN or an aid.

An LVN is a nurse. Hence the "N".

On Tue, 04 Nov 2003 18:46:04 +0100, Sjoerd wrote:


"AJC" schreef in bericht
...

Hmm, well the forecast for Minneapolis is Max 2, Minimum -8, tomorrow,
so obviously not a sun sea and sand destination. How is the shopping,
the theatres, museums, theme parks, etc..? :-)

Don't they have the largest shopping mall in the world? (or is that
Edmonton?) Not that I would ever travel more than 4 miles for
shopping.....:-)


That's Deadmonton all right.

On Sat, 01 Nov 2003 21:08:57 +0000, mrtravel wrote:

Sjoerd wrote:


Which proves that Americans even don't know that residents of several other
countries have more freedom than Americans.


Yeah, like the ones that require

1. Carrying your national id at all times
2. Notifying the govenment whenever you move

Not that I particularly approve of these.

But I am much more concerned with the privacy issues associated with
collection of personal data on private citizen by private organizations
such as credit bureaus, credit card companies and the like.

Whatever you say Greg.....but I've lived in Minneapolis for 25 years
now, born and raised in New York.

This city is SUPER......

Friendly people and clean as a whistle!!

Don't know where you're from but I'd rather be here with Mary Tyler
Moore!!!!

Regards,

UFDAH, from Minnesota

MSP is a fun destination, especially with Mystic Lake so close by :-)



"Jimbo Minn" wrote in message
...
Whatever you say Greg.....but I've lived in Minneapolis for 25 years
now, born and raised in New York.

This city is SUPER......

Friendly people and clean as a whistle!!

Don't know where you're from but I'd rather be here with Mary Tyler
Moore!!!!

Regards,

UFDAH, from Minnesota

On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 17:57:22 GMT, "None" wrote:

MSP is a fun destination, especially with Mystic Lake so close by :-)



"Jimbo Minn" wrote in message
...
Whatever you say Greg.....but I've lived in Minneapolis for 25 years
now, born and raised in New York.

This city is SUPER......

Friendly people and clean as a whistle!!

Don't know where you're from but I'd rather be here with Mary Tyler
Moore!!!!

Regards,

UFDAH, from Minnesota