Do you have health coverage in America?

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

With Obama's HC law being upheld by the US Supreme court as constitutional, how does Obamacare as a whole affect the Somalis in the US?

 

Do you know any Somalis who wil benefit from Obamacare?

 

How about you? Do you have coverage?

[Che -Guevara]

I live in Massachusetts. Almost everyone and everything is covered. Preventative healthcare is the corner stone of our healthcare here but the cost has been an issue as well. The state is figuring out way to curb the cost without adversely diminishing the quality of healthcare and access. Obamacare doesn't really affect us for the time being but I imagine it will once it goes into the implementation phase.

 

Kudos to Chief Justice Roberts for not siding with the conservatives on the bench!

[Alpha Blondy]

so how does this 'heathcare' work in the U.S? is it strictly for when there is a need for it? if you're not covered are hospitals gonna turn you away even if your situation is serious?

[faarah22]

^ i think he chickened out, the repercussions who have been nothing but the total discredit of SCOTUS had he voted against. The majority of the uninsured in america are blacks and hispanics that is why americans are against this law.

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

All Somalis benefit: have a "prexesting condition", you don't have to worry anymore. Under 26 years, u can still stay on your parents policy. Don't make enough income, you will either qualify for Medicaid ( most likely not if I live a red state) or the government will tax credit toward getting Insurence.

[raula]

***why not refer to it as the Health care reform law..& not Obamacare?

 

P/Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/22/health-reform-bill-summary_n_508315.html#s75260&title=Encouraging_Investment_In)

Some of the benefits from the Health Care reform law…

 

• No More Denials For Pre-Existing Conditions

• Small Business Tax Credits

• Seniors' 'Donut Hole' Rebate (Closes the donut hole in Medicare drug coverage)

• More Young Adults Covered On Parents' Plans (banned in 2014)

• Adults With Pre-Existing Conditions Covered

• New Insurance Plans Must Include Preventative Care

• The End Of 'Recissions' (insurance can’t no longer drop someone If he/she get’s sick)

• Transparency In Insurance Companies

• Customer Appeals Process

• Indoor Tanning Services Tax

• Enhanced Fraud Abuse Checks

• Medicare Expansion To Rural Areas

• Deductions For Blue Cross Blue Shield

• Nutrient Content Disclosure (listing of calories in both in-store & drive through menus of fast foods)….better think twice folks about that Big mac now…I aint loving it…

• Better Coverage For Early Retirees

• Better Consumer Information On The Web

• Encouraging Investment In New Therapies

 

***As for Minnesotan’s…..here is an excerpt from Former (bozo) Gov. Pawlenty..he had signed an executive order for MN’s not to participate in the expansion for coverage…

 

“Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty ® restricted his state's participation in the healthcare reform law.

 

On Tuesday, the possible 2012 presidential candidate signed an executive order directing state agencies to decline all discretionary participation in the new law.

 

As a result, none of Minnesota's executive branch departments and agencies can submit applications for grants or demonstration projects unless required by the new law or approved by the governor's office. The order also reaffirms that the state will not participate in an early expansion of the Medicaid program before 2014.

 

The Kaiser Family Foundation has calculated that about 250,000 Minnesotans would join the Medicaid rolls under the expansion. Pawlenty has said it would cost the state $430 million in the first three years.

 

"Obamacare is an intrusion by the federal government into personal healthcare matters and it's an explosion of federal spending that does nothing to make healthcare more affordable," Pawlenty said in a statement. "To the fullest extent possible, we need to keep Obamacare out of Minnesota. This executive order will stop Minnesota's participation in projects that are laying the groundwork for a federally-controlled healthcare system."

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/116663-pawlenty-restricts-participation-in-healthcare-reform

 

This has changed after Dayton took office..Medicaid coverage has been expanded thanks to some early legislations from the Affordable Care act (Part of the health care reform law..)the rest of the changes will take effect in 2014. Well whether you are somali or not...come 2014..you will have to buy insurance..otherwise face fine..(not much in early years..but could cost up to $2000+ for a family come (i think) 2016 or later years)...! Overall this is good-since for those of us that subsidize coverage for those who lack now..hence the detriments that we see is high costs of premiums, uncovered services/procedures..unless on emergency scenerios...in which you risk-still debt & medical bankruptcy in the end.

[Abu-Salman]

Down the years, it will looks like the lack of acess, of coverage or the institutionalised routine reimbursment denials by HMOs was akin to the segregation laws as highly uncivilised;

not to mention the disastrous costs of emergency services as the only care open to anyone (much more economical to prevent and treat outside emergency services).

 

Of course rednecks (most US citizens still think Obama is Muslim) will shout forced socialism by Hussein Obama and whatnot when the run away health costs is one of the key breaks on the economy and small-buinesses can't afford to pay employees insurance.

 

 

PS: I suppose Somalis in relatively progressive Minnesota get mostly medicaid and free primary or preventive care.

[Che -Guevara]

faarah22;846376 wrote:

The majority of the uninsured in america are blacks and hispanics that is why americans are against this law.

Proportionally more blacks and Hispanics are uninsured but in terms of numbers, poor whites make the highest number specially whites from rural areas.

[Che -Guevara]

On lighter note

Jon Stewart

 

Colbert on Chief Justice Roberts

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Thank Eebbe we have this and no maxkamadda sare's input needed for it:

 

[Nin-Yaaban]

Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar;846712 wrote:

Thank Eebbe we have this and no maxkamadda sare's input needed for it:

 

WaLaaLow, Canada ayaan u soo socdaa, oo waxaan u baahanahay, "Medical Procedure" Carkaada ma isticmaali karaa?

[raula]

Che -Guevara;846657 wrote:

Proportionally more blacks and Hispanics are uninsured but in terms of numbers, poor whites make the highest number specially whites from rural areas.

Indeed, & its they (Whites) that do consume & make up for most of the expensive healthcare consumption in USA.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Eebbaa mahad leh mar kale maadaama aan Kanada deganahay oo waxaan hoos ku xusan aan laga walwaleynin.

___________________

 

Boston Marathon bombing victims face huge medical bills

 

Cost of amputating a leg? At least $20,000. Cost of an artificial leg? More than $50,000 for the most high-tech models. Cost of an amputee's rehab? Often tens of thousands of dollars more.

 

These are just a fraction of the medical expenses victims of the Boston Marathon bombing will face.

 

The mammoth price tag is probably not what patients are focusing on as they begin the long healing process. But friends and strangers are already setting up fundraisers and online crowd-funding sites, and a huge Boston city fund has already collected more than $23 million in individual and corporate donations.

 

No one knows yet if those donations — plus health insurance, hospital charity funds and other sources — will be enough to cover the bills. Few will even hazard a guess as to what the total medical bill will be for a tragedy that killed three people and wounded more than 260. At least 15 people lost limbs, and other wounds include head injuries and tissue torn apart by shrapnel.

 

Health insurance, as practically anyone who has ever gotten hurt or sick knows, does not always cover all costs. In the case of artificial limbs, for example, some insurance companies pay for a basic model but not a computerized one with sophisticated, lifelike joints.

 

Rose Bissonnette, founder of the New England Amputee Association, said that the moment she heard about the bombings, she knew immediately that her organization's services would be needed. The advocacy group helps amputees navigate things such as insurance coverage for artificial limbs.

 

Bissonnette shared one group member's struggle to get coverage for artificial arms as an example of the red tape some bombing victims could face. The woman "got a call from the insurance company and the person on the other end said, 'How long are you going to need the prosthetic hands?'" Bissonnette recalled.

 

Bissonnette herself was in a horrific car crash 16 years ago that left her with injuries similar to those facing the Boston victims. Her mangled lower left leg had to be amputated and her right ankle was partially severed. Her five-month hospital stay cost more than $250,000. Health insurance covered all her treatment, rehab and her prosthesis.

 

Health economist Ted Miller noted that treating just one traumatic brain injury can cost millions of dollars, and at least one survivor has that kind of injury. He also pointed out that the medical costs will include treating anxiety and post-traumatic stress — "an issue for a whole lot more people than just people who suffered physical injuries," he said.

 

Adding to the tragedy's toll will be lost wages for those unable to work, including two Massachusetts brothers who each lost a leg, Miller said. They had been roofers but may have to find a new line of work.

 

Many survivors will also need help with expenses beyond immediate health care, including things like modifying cars for those who lost limbs or remodeling homes to accommodate wheelchairs.

 

Many survivors live in Massachusetts, a state that requires residents to have health insurance, "which should cover most of their required treatment," said Amie Breton, spokeswoman for Massachusetts' consumer affairs office. "The total cost of that treatment is impossible to calculate at this early stage."

 

Amputees may face the steepest costs, and artificial legs are the costliest. They range from about $7,200 for a basic below-the-knee model to as much as $90,000 for a high-tech microprocessor-controlled full leg, said Dr. Terrence Sheehan, chief medical officer for Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital in Rockville, Md., and medical director of the Amputee Coalition, a national advocacy group.

 

Legs need to be replaced every few years, or more often for very active users or those who gain or lose weight. Limb sockets need to be replaced even more often and also cost thousands of dollars each, Sheehan said.

 

Massachusetts is among about 20 states that require health insurers to pay for prosthetic limbs, but many plans don't cover 100 per cent of those costs, Sheehan said. "Most are skimpy beyond basic prosthetics and they have not caught up with current available technology," he said.

 

"The insurer will use terminology such as 'not medically necessary'" to deny computerized feet or knees that can often make the patient better able to function and more comfortable and safe, Sheehan said.

 

Some insurers may be willing to make exceptions for the Boston blast survivors.

 

"We will work to ensure that financial issues/hardship will not pose a barrier to the care that affected members' need," said Sharon Torgerson, spokeswoman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, one of the state's largest health insurers.

 

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, another big insurer, is changing its policy and will pay for some of the more expensive bionic limbs when there is a demonstrated need, said Dr. Michael Sherman, chief medical officer. He said that 15 blast survivors admitted to hospitals are Harvard Pilgrim customers and that the insurance company is discussing "whether we might absorb some of the copays and deductibles."

 

"This is a terrorist act, and our only thought here is about providing support," he said.

 

The 26 hospitals that have treated bombing victims have charity funds that will cover some of the costs, said Tim Gens, executive vice-president of the Massachusetts Hospital Association. Some injured residents may be eligible for Massachusetts' public health funds for the uninsured or underinsured. People with huge medical bills they can't afford are eligible, regardless of income.

 

Gens said hospitals are still focused on treating survivors, not on costs.

 

"It's an extraordinary shock to so many individuals. The hospitals are working very hard to make sure that each family gets the support they need. Billing is not an issue they're addressing right now," Gens said.

 

At Massachusetts General Hospital, where 31 victims have gotten treatment, chief financial officer Sally Mason Boemer said bills "create a lot of stress. Our assumption is there will be sources we can tap through fundraising." Boemer added: "Now is not the time to add additional stress to patients."

 

Bombings survivor Heather Abbott said Thursday she has already gotten offers of help to pay for an artificial leg. The 38-year-old Newport, R.I., woman was waiting in line to get into a crowded bar when the bombs went off.

 

"I felt like my foot was on fire. I knew I couldn't stand up," she recalled from her hospital bed. Surgeons amputated her left leg below the knee.

Sii aqriso

[Coofle]

Alpha Blondy;846362 wrote:

so how does this 'heathcare' work in the U.S? is it strictly for when there is a need for it? if you're not covered are hospitals gonna turn you away even if your situation is serious?

Being So used to the NHS ma is tidhi?

 

................

Sometimes third world countries have better and more reliable healthcare. This doesn't include sub-saharan Africa and specifically Somalia where there is no any mentionable form of Health insurance, even if you are ready to pay millions no healthcare.

Healthcare insurance scheme is costly but worth it.

[Haatu]

God bless the NHS where I don't pay a dime.