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MusicallyInspired · #26 Post by **MusicallyInspired** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:59 pm

Yeah, free healthcare rules and all, but your taxes are also through the roof and you've got stuff like that 6-hour wait happening. To top it off, doctors get paid less because of it so all the good ones go elsewhere. Still, though, for poor young people who need medicine it's a godsend. There are a lot of people with serious health issues later in life over here because they don't want to/can't spend the money to get better when the problem first occurs. I guess you have to pick your poison.

At least our decisions to have a child isn't based on how much money we make

(at least not as much, anyway). I have an uncle that lives in the States and he said he'd like to have more kids but can't because it's so expensive.

BrianR · #27 Post by **BrianR** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:20 pm

It isn't usally the cost of the birth, but rather the cost over the years. Right Parents?

MusicallyInspired · #28 Post by **MusicallyInspired** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:52 pm

Still, the cost of birth is more of a deciding factor, initially.

Angelus3K · #29 Post by **Angelus3K** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 10:00 pm

Over here in the UK obviously it costs nothing to give birth (I can't even imagine having to pay for that!! How much does it cost?) but it also doesnt cost that much extra in your weekly shop.

Steffi Evenstar · #30 Post by **Steffi Evenstar** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 10:04 pm

i'm insured, but it still costs me a ridiculous amount to pay for my prescriptions. under my old plan - when i didn't have a job because the so-called job market mostly consisted of jobs wanting IT professionals - i had to pay $88 for a 3 month supply of my medication. without insurance? it would have been $90. so i really didn't save anything. even with my company plan it costs me $72 for 3 months. my co-pays are ridiculous, and god help me if i ever have to go to the ER. i'm one of the many employed, insured Americans who can't afford to get sick. i'm very lucky that if, god forbid, i did get horribly ill, i know my parents would help out. but, if i didn't have that support system, i'd be screwed. i make too much to get government assistance, but i don't make enough for anything else.

so yeah. that's my rant.

Kurdt · #31 Post by **Kurdt** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:20 am

Yeah, some jobplaces have better health insurance than others. The plan I'm on is great. It's a $20 co-pay for a doctor's visit no matter what I get done there and medication is pretty cheap. Thankfully, I also hardly ever get sick so that's a bonus.

As for the cost of having a kid, that's overblown. There are such things as state-supported hospitals that let you have your kid for free. It's the 18+ years of clothes, food, school, and any other hijinks that cost so damn much. Then if your kid's sick all the time you've got doctors visits that add up, and if your insurance sucks (like you're on a -- God forbid -- HMO) you're pretty much screwed.

Truthfully, I say if your uncle wants a kid he shouldn't wait until he can afford it or he'll never have one. Kids are bottomless money pits and usually are for about 25 years or so, provided you raise them right. If you don't, then you're looking at supporting them for the rest of your life. That's a LOT of money. If you want a kid but don't want to spend the money, prepare to be childless forever.

But seriously, there's good health insurance out there. Some jobs don't offer it, but you can buy it for a nominal monthly fee. In my mind you get what you pay for, and there's nothing more important to your life than your health. I'm from a family of doctors and I just happen to have the insider knowledge as to which insurance companies are the better ones (in Houston, at least). I don't trust a doctor my uncle doesn't know/hasn't worked with before.

I don't even go to the doctor unless I'm really REALLY sick, and I've stayed pretty healthy all this time. I've had surgeries when they were needed and I've taken medicine when it was prescribed and I've been pretty healthy this whole time. If I get to a point where I can't afford the healthcare, I cut out something else in my life because I need that healthcare more than I need anything else. Like I said, you just can't mess around when your body is on the line. You've only got one body, so you need to take care of it despite the cost.

Angelus3K · #32 Post by **Angelus3K** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 8:25 am

I'm the same as Kurdt I never go to the Doctor unless I'm REALLY sick even though it costs nothing to go.

My old Doctor unregistered me because I hadnt been in over 5 years and he didnt know who I was when my medical form for my mortgage insurance went to him lol!