Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 21 to 29 of 29

Thread: Abolishing medicare

  1. #21
    LSemmens
    lsemmens's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Rural South OZ
    Posts
    10,585
    Thanks
    11,867
    Thanked 7,061 Times in 3,338 Posts
    Rep Power
    3153
    Reputation
    132592

    Default

    When we first married we had private health insurance. Living in Darwin, it was useless. We'd visit a doctor who'd make a diagnosis that sounded a little off so we'd visit another for a second opinion. He'd ring the doctor, who was supposed to be the "expert" and who we'd just been to, for his opinion. There was only one hospital and the waiting time for elective surgery was much the same whether public or private. We gave up on private insurance as a waste of money. One of our children was badly burnt in a camping accident. so we were in and out of hospitals treating his burns, he then developed chronic glue ear, another son needed an op to correct a bone malformation issue. Wife became chronically ill in the end and we spent thousands of hours at doctors and specialists. I was then run over by a drunk in 2001. When we moved "South" wife spent much of her remaining life in and out of the high dependency Cardiac Unit. All in the public system, and all free!

    Were I in private health, I'd be broke with co-payments on top of my premiums, and no, we would not have had any better care for it! I cannot praise medicare enough! The issue with the public system is not the system, but the people who think that they need to visit a doctor, or A&E because they got a splinter. We saw a lot of it with the missus as I would be her "ambulance". As we live in the country often the ambulance would take half an hour or more to get to us - despite there being an ambulance based in our town. We'd arrive in A&E and despite being run off their feet, the staff were always helpful and respectful. Sometimes we'd have to wait in the public waiting area for a barouche (because we'd arrived by car and not by ambulance) so we saw all sorts, many drunk and disorderly who were under police guard. Again, these people did not "need" to be there but, owing to the "do gooders" the cops had to treat them "special" instead of just throw 'em in a cell to sober up.

    As to your "problem" Bazzy, you need to look around, my daughter lives in Ipswich and has none of your "issues".
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to lsemmens For This Useful Post:

    enf (30-11-22),fandtm666 (30-11-22),Keith (30-11-22),wotnot (30-11-22)



  • #22
    Premium Member
    Keith's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    1,080
    Thanks
    8,858
    Thanked 1,041 Times in 317 Posts
    Rep Power
    596
    Reputation
    18122

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by lsemmens View Post
    As to your "problem" Bazzy, you need to look around, my daughter lives in Ipswich and has none of your "issues".
    Well said Isemmens. From other posts I've read and now this one my opinion is its a case of I'm a victim. I don't think my opinion amounts to abuse to a member but if Admins think so I will apologise.
    You can learn alot using Google, and the search button.....

  • The Following User Says Thank You to Keith For This Useful Post:

    wotnot (30-11-22)

  • #23
    Super Moderator
    enf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Canberra
    Age
    70
    Posts
    17,753
    Thanks
    16,817
    Thanked 34,962 Times in 9,059 Posts
    Rep Power
    13677
    Reputation
    644449

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Keith View Post
    Well said Isemmens. From other posts I've read and now this one my opinion is its a case of I'm a victim. I don't think my opinion amounts to abuse to a member but if Admins think so I will apologise.
    .

    No Keith, it's not abuse. At least I don't think so.

    Bazzy, take on board the info related here by various posters and take a bit of time to come up with options. They are almost always there, but require some work. AND as a bonus, all advice here is free.....
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

  • The Following User Says Thank You to enf For This Useful Post:

    wotnot (30-11-22)

  • #24
    Premium Member
    wotnot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Scenic Rim, SE Qld
    Posts
    3,236
    Thanks
    1,462
    Thanked 2,934 Times in 1,510 Posts
    Rep Power
    1334
    Reputation
    58690

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Keith View Post
    I'm not talking Chinese here, although we maybe speaking it one day. My local GP is bulk billed, same as all the medical centres around my area. Whenever the wife or I go to a specialist, we pay the consultation and get reimbursed the medicare allowed amount. We get elective surgery, we pay the health fund excess and the rest is paid for by the fund but if we were not in a health fund, that surgery would be free from a hospital, only thing is you may have to wait a long time for the surgery.
    This is how I've always understood how it worked... certainly in real life that's how it pans out since medicare appeared. It fell apart earlier this year when my bank issued new cards -and- changed BSB number, so when I had to present card ; pay for consultation ; present card again to receive rebate... it proved impossible to do so, until I updated my 'preferred account' details via mygov->medicare->edit details or whatever.

    You should actually say 'elective surgery'....to save painting our health system with the wrong paint =) I myself am on such a list -- having an abdominal aneurysm that just slowly gets worse, if I paid $$ for health insurance/fund, surgery would be scheduled asap to install a stent to avoid the inevitable. As a disability pensioner without such private health cover, I am put on an elective surgery list, and my condition is monitored with tri-annual ultrasound examinations. If they note the aneurysm has distended to the point of -requiring- surgical intervention, as in becoming a life threatening condition, 'elective' becomes 'required' and I'd be scheduled for a session under the knife in asap time...in a public hospital, staying in a public ward, in the care of health professionals all being paid out of the public purse. If not for that, I'd likely die, and as for PBS, I'd be $30 per pension payment out of pocket having to pay full price for the medications I'm on, that simple.

    Going by OP's logic, we should abolish the ambulance levy too, just because we might never (individually) ever need one.
    Last edited by wotnot; 30-11-22 at 08:29 PM.

  • The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to wotnot For This Useful Post:

    enf (30-11-22),Keith (30-11-22)

  • #25
    Super Moderator
    enf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Canberra
    Age
    70
    Posts
    17,753
    Thanks
    16,817
    Thanked 34,962 Times in 9,059 Posts
    Rep Power
    13677
    Reputation
    644449

    Default

    Young people can gamble with their health and win most of the time. Sh!t, I sure did. Later when I had kids I forked out for private...now, by the wifes math, we have taken more out of the private system than we put in. It's not for everyone and certainly eats the f*ck out of our budget.

    On balance, I'd rather have to wait for elective than just die in America. And don't get me wrong here, I'd rather Americas shambolic system that say Chinas, or Botswanas. And I'd venture to suggest that the health system in Matabeleland is far from edequate....

    We should be grateful that as a nation we can pay for what we've got. I personally don't think it's sustainable, but that's a different argument....
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

  • The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to enf For This Useful Post:

    Keith (01-12-22),wotnot (30-11-22)

  • #26
    Senior Member
    Reschs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Outside a few schooners
    Posts
    3,080
    Thanks
    907
    Thanked 2,147 Times in 1,058 Posts
    Rep Power
    933
    Reputation
    33238

    Default

    Before Medicare I paid 70 cents a week and got 100% back.
    Gough Whitlam introduced Medibank and said it would be cheaper.
    Went to paying $2.00 a week and getting 70% back. Someone failed maths.
    No private insurance allowed. This was later revoked and I joined an Insurance type scheme which ceased when I turned 65.
    Although it did not match later Private Health Insurers, on benefits, it was significantly cheaper.
    After taking it out, when single, I gained a wife and then two sons.
    At the end of the day we were miles in front.
    Today we rely on the public health system and have had no problems yet.
    My wife shattered her ankle and had to have a bicycle type chain fitted to replace the ankle.
    All done in a Public Hospital (RNSH) by a top specialist.
    Would she have been better off next door in the Private Hospital ?
    Maybe nicer room and the TV would have been free.
    Worth the extra at our age, I don't think so.

    The system isn't the best but, way better than other countries.

    Do not have an accident or get sick overseas without Travel Insurance.
    Last edited by Reschs; 01-12-22 at 01:30 AM.

  • The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Reschs For This Useful Post:

    enf (01-12-22),Keith (01-12-22),wotnot (01-12-22)

  • #27
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Posts
    2,235
    Thanks
    2,822
    Thanked 1,514 Times in 835 Posts
    Rep Power
    795
    Reputation
    27703

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Reschs View Post

    The system isn't the best but, way better than other countries.

    Do not have an accident or get sick overseas without Travel Insurance.
    very true , I had to see a hospital in Japan a couple of years back - they said i had to go to a doctor first and even if the hospital did see me i would have to surrender my passport and $2 million JPY as a bond. Apparently my aussie private travel insurance was not enough , i had to buy a special local policy. Luckily the doctor i found nearby was able to help , and he was set up like a hospital anyway. Only cost me $100AUD including the antibiotics.

    we are very well off in this country , all you have to do is keep money aside for medical issues if they arise. There is no free lunch any more , unless you are a dole bludger of course

  • The Following User Says Thank You to VroomVroom For This Useful Post:

    Keith (01-12-22)

  • #28
    Premium Member
    Keith's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    1,080
    Thanks
    8,858
    Thanked 1,041 Times in 317 Posts
    Rep Power
    596
    Reputation
    18122

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Keith View Post
    " I feel that my tax dollars are wasted on medical services i am not the beneficiary of"

    Ah, seems you possess a victim mentality. Okay, lets take a wholistic view. You state your Doctor is aware of your medical conditions, so I'm assuming you would be taking a large amount of medication? So if your tax dollars are wasted on medical services you cannot benefit from I agree, the full, NON PBS cost of those medicines you take would mean it's costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars per month to buy them. Oh, you say your medicines are cheap, maybe that's because of the PBS scheme your tax dollars are paying for. That's just one thing. Suppose to don't pay for blood tests and other items that are directly billed to medicare but I expect you pay the full costs for those also. I think you initially came here to have a whinge. You are living in one the best counties in the world. Smell the roses buddy.
    Bazzy, I have reread all my replies and I have to say the "whinge" sentence I used was a little strong. We all have a whinge at times and my use of the word in this instance was wrong. You may have felt strongly about the subject you posted and your message may not have been clear. Whilst I don't take back any of my replies, if the whinge word offended you, it wasn't meant to.
    You can learn alot using Google, and the search button.....

  • #29
    Senior Member
    trash's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Tamworth
    Posts
    4,088
    Thanks
    148
    Thanked 3,229 Times in 1,451 Posts
    Rep Power
    1287
    Reputation
    47674

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by shred View Post
    That's incorrect.
    Yeah, sorry, A poor choice of words. I should have said, "a large amount" not a majority. I felt the burning desire to dramatise it comrades, lets not let facts get in the way of our emotions !!

    $26.8 billion turnover up 2.4% this year.
    Claims $22.4 billion
    Gross Margin 16.3%
    Management expenses $2.7 billion (9.0%)
    Net Margin 6.3%
    Net profit after tax $900 million (down from $1.8 billion last year)

    Medicare for comparison is about $40 billion turnover.
    Yes I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

  • Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •