I can’t believe this guy was still running around spewing this horseshit as recently as 2000.

That’s crazy.

A. Public health looks at everyone from all over. We (I'm an epidemiologist) are concerned with things that may be coming down the pike and hit all of us (like bird flu, etc.). Community health mostly involves doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals that tailor interventions to a particular community's needs, and they generally don't plan out for "the bigger picture", although they do a heck a job in their locales, since they know it better.

When you get health insurance, there is what is called a premium. This is the amount you pay on a scheduled basis. For instance, if you get insurance through your employer, you would pay your part of the premium each payday.

If you pay your premiums on time, you get to keep your insurance. Now, when you use your insurance, there is what is called a deductible. This is an amount of money you must spend before the insurance starts paying anything. A typical deductible might be $250/year for the policy holder and $500/year for the family. So, if your dad had the policy and went to get a prescription, if it was his first prescription of the year and it cost $100, he would pay $100. Every time he used stuff under the plan, he would pay everything until he hit the $250 deductible, then the insurance would kick in. (the same goes for the family coverage, until the $500 was met by everybody in total – not separately – you would pay 100%).

Now, once the deductible is met, the insurance starts picking up some of the costs…usually the costs are based on what doctor or provider you use. If you use someone who is called "in network" the insurance company pays more of the bill. They do this because they have negotiated lower costs with that provider. For example, let's say you need to have some tests done and your family has met all your deductibles. Let's also say the tests normally cost $200. If you go to an in network provider, the insurance would cover 80%. If you go out of network, the insurance might only cover 70%. Now the nice thing is, by going in network, you get the discounted price, let's say $160. So, if you go in network, you would pay $32 for the tests and the insurance would pay $128 (totaling $160). If you went out of network, you would pay the 30% of $200 or $60 and the insurance company would pay $140. So, by staying in-network, both you and your insurance company save money.

Also, there is something called an out-of-pocket maximum. This just means that if someone in your family gets real sick or injured, the most you can pay for that year is the out-of-pocket max…say $5,000. Once you hit that, everything after that is covered 100% by your insurance and you don't pay anything.

Last, there is a co-pay – what this means is that if you go to the doctor for a routine visit, it is usually covered without worrying about the deductible and you pay just the co-pay. usually this is $15 or $20 on say a $100 office visit and the insurance company pays the rest (based on a negotiated amount).

And that's the short version of how insurance works.

You can use this site.
http://top-usa-health-insurance-comparator.blogspot.com/
to compare various health insurance providers at your place.

You've asked a very broad question. There is no simple answer.

In truth, health insurance works a little differently in each state.

To answer your specific questions:
1) No, health insurance is not compulsory for everyone. If you're lucky, you are able to join a group policy at work. (If you're really lucky, it's a good policy and the employer pays at least half of it.) Some states have recently made it compulsory, but that's such a recent change that there's no clear cut answer yet for how that's going to work.

2) What happens if someone can't afford it is… they don't get it, usually. Except if your income puts you below the "poverty level", in which case you qualify for Medicaid. (In some states there are programs that typically provide assistance with insuring children, though they are few and far between for covering adults.)

3) Health insurance rarely covers all the bills when you have a procedure done. Most plans cover 50-80% after you meet your deductible. The deductible amounts vary widely (but the trend is that the deductibles are getting higher and higher to keep the premiums down.) If you're really, REALLY lucky, you don't have a deductible (which is only an option on group plans), and you may only have to pay 10% of covered charges. (These plans are few and far between. As in, you might have them if you're in Congress.)

4) Yes, the patient has some say over procedures. However, if the patient opts for an "experimental" procedure, or one that isn't deemed "medically necessary", then health insurance may refuse to cover any charges at all.

In the end, as with most things, the middle class takes the brunt of these costs. This has become such a problem that more than 50% of all bankruptcies are as a result of medical bills (and of those, more than 75% had health insurance.)

** Edited to add:
It's not ALL about the money when a procedure is involved. If it is, the state keeps track of complaints filed on behalf of consumers with "managed care" (ie. any type of network arrangement including Preferred Provider Organizations, Health Maintenance Organizations, and Point of Service organizations — also known as PPO, HMO, and POS) and may very well revoke a company's charter to do business in the state should the company be turning down too many legitimate claims.

However, insurance companies are sticklers for following the "standard" for medical care. This is what makes it difficult to answer your question. Because they should not deny anything that's considered standard for care in the given circumstances (should not and will not being two completely different things, of course.) And there may be several options that would be considered "standard." If the patient wants treatment that isn't yet considered "standard", they would balk. Period.

Well, if she's 40 and perfectly healthy, it's going to cost her about $500 a month to have a low/no deductible plan that covers checkups.

You BUY it on a month to month basis. If you want low monthly payments, you have to cut the coverage – like take a $10,000 deductible. Or higher. That would cut payments down to maybe $200 a month or less.

The older she is, the less healthy she is, the more it costs.

Your best bet, is to find a local, independent agent, who can help you balance cost with coverage.

What about some books from a health store?

An even better start is a web search in Yahoo for "alternative health techniques" that will yield at least 412 results including overviews of alternative health techniques and stacks of other useful information for you.

Another useful search in Yahoo for "alternative health practices" will yield at least 2,888 results.

Ok, Mr Douchenberg, let’s make science:
You use the same needle used by someone with AIDS.
We wait and see the results.
What do you say?

Your nobel awaits!

This perfectly reasoned video applies to so many situations, since the jerks and the scientific method are at war in so many different venues but in exactly the same way.

Once again, fantastic work C0nc0drance. Your videos make the world a brighter pla-

Health insurance can be very tricky. Since I live in Utah I'm not sure about Florida laws and regulations, so I suggest you contact a nearby insurance agent. http://www.goodinternetdeals.com/Health-Insurance.html They will be able to assist you.

Just because someone says they are vegetarian or vegan doesn't necessarily mean that they are healthier. It depends on the protein sources they are eating in place of meat. You can do it right, but most people dont, and I have found that veg eat way too much sugar.

Key reasons: benefit to the planet, it takes a lot less resources to grow vegetables for food consumption than it takes to grow cows (also responsible for disappearing rain forests), plus, it doesn't support factory farming practices which are not only horribly cruel to animals in that they have horrible living conditions, but also, this type of farming is environmentally destructive.

I was veg for about 6 years. Health benefits (if you do it right with nutrition focus), you can find a better pH balance. Most people in our culture are too acidic, meats, dairy, animal products, and even beans and brown rice are all high acidity pathways in metabolizing in the body. Because the body needs to maintain a balance, it draws Calcium from the bones to counter the acid levels of metabolizing these proteins. A main cause for Osteoporosis is this high acidity level (if it were just about getting calcium, US would not have the highest rates of milk consumption and osteoporosis).

America would do better to eat less meat, and more fruits and vegetables. We need only a fraction of the protein we are getting daily.

I see what you did there.

Duesberg = Cargo cult scientist, after Richard Feynman’s talk. The danger with nutty scientists is that some people without scientific knowledge listen to them. Then you get the embarrassment of people like Mbeki spouting his stuff on AIDS. Massive idiot. Politicians will take whatever sounds good to them. Scientists must take responsibility, but even they can’t do anything without other people backing them.

Hai,

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