Brilliantly put Phaewryn. I can practically see my own blood pressure rise whenever "healthcare" is mentioned in US. No one has to worry about how they pay in UK, for everyone who's employed contributes towards the universal health kitty. Whether you're employed or not, you get the health care you need at no extra cost--healthcare is not tied to job. The only charge is for prescription drugs. And for elderly or disabled folks there's a ceiling of $80 a year to pay. After that the drugs are free. Kerry M.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 11:23 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: Antonio A well know chiropractor in this area (human chiropractor) charges only $60 for x-rays. He owns his own machine in his office. His office visits are only $15 (about a dollar a minute). Prices in health care are high because pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies have driven up the costs of the drugs, and insurance companies are willing to pay inflated fees to health care providers. Because insurance covers almost everything, the prices have gone up so much no REAL person could not afford to get healthcare on their own. Economy is driven by people's willingness to pay for the things they want. The more people want something, the more it costs. Supply and demand. When you factor in a way for someone ELSE to pay the bills, then you can offer MORE and MORE money for the service. Insurance has caused our medical system to reach an unsustainable point. The price shifts we are seeing in the veterinary field are in direct relation to the prices in the human medical field. Because lots of the drugs we use in veterinary medicine come from the same drug companies and from the same pharmacies as the human drugs, we have to pay the highly inflated price. Because the same x-ray machines and the same ultra-sound machines used in vet hospitals are the ones also used by human hospitals and doctor's offices, we pay the inflated fees for them. INSURANCE has made health care unaffordable, for everyone, humans and animals both. Just to clarify my point, say you go to the grocery store and buy a banana. You pay maybe .20 cents. Now, out comes a new insurance, called grocery insurance. You pay a flat fee of $50 a month, and you can get all the groceries you want with a small co-pay (this might work in today's society because let's face it, how many Americans buy food at a grocery store... insurance companies are banking on the fact that we eat more fast food than home cooked, LOL! Health insurance companies are banking on more people not needing the services than needing them, that's how they make money). So, you pay your grocery insurance bill, and go to the store, You get your banana. The grocery store then bills your insurance company for the banana. Because the grocery store has to file paperwork, they have to increase the cost of the banana, plus a small processing and paperwork fee, of course. Now bananas cost .70 cents each. Now do this a hundred times... and you get the picture of why health care is so expensive. Someone who doesn't have grocery insurance can no longer afford bananas! Not exactly the same, but the same concept. Phaewryn http://ucat.us The easy way out has a bad reputation. Why would anyone take the hard way out? "The door? No thanks, that would be the easy way out. I'm jumping out the window." Quote by: Les U. Knight IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE. Any advice expressed above as to tax matters was neither written nor intended by the sender or Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP to be used and cannot be used by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed under U.S. tax law. If any person uses or refers to any such tax advice in promoting, marketing or recommending a partnership or other entity, investment plan or arrangement to any taxpayer, then (i) the advice was written to support the promotion or marketing (by a person other than Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP) of that transaction or matter, and (ii) such taxpayers should seek advice based on the taxpayers particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor. This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
