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My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

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Re: My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

#51

Post by silverlight »

joshmn wrote: post #33
agumonkey wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember reading your comment on R.Lynch thread. As written before, do you have a paypal account ?

It's hard for me to accept handmeouts, but if anyone decides to be insisting, I'll vow to pay it forward (I always do). I made the account under ilovemymomjeanine@gmail.com and I'll follow up with you with pictures of the paid invoices. I know there are trolls that do this, but for all that I have, I'm not one.

Sent you a little. Hope it helps. Best of luck with everything.

Re: My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

#52

Post by joshmn »

heidijavi wrote: post #4

Sorry to hear about this. Do you have a portfolio/github where I can check your ruby on rails previous code?

I don't, I actually have everything with Beanstalk (private repos)

inb4 someone says "that's $$$ that you could be spending on yo momma" -- I used to sleep with one of their execs and put me the plan they give their employees.

Re: My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

#53

Post by joshmn »

rjammala wrote: post #13

Sorry to hear this. Do you have an account where we can donate money?

It's hard for me to accept handmeouts, but if anyone decides to be insisting, I'll vow to pay it forward (I always do) and even start a blog about the course of the treatments (with pictures of paid bills, etc.) I'm a big believer in full-disclosure.

I made the account under ilovemymomjeanine@gmail.com and I'll follow up with you with pictures of the paid invoices. I know there are trolls that do this, but for all that I have, I'm not one.

Re: My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

#54

Post by mikeyouse »

danielweber wrote: post #21
grecy wrote: post #12

Will it take every single voting age person in America having a first-hand experience like this to change health care? How can any sane person prefer this over the alternative offered by Developed countries?

You say "the alternative" as if every other country on Earth has one system, and the US has a second system, and that first system is what we should have. Whereas all those other countries have a bunch of different systems (compare Canada to the UK to France to Singapore). And each of those systems has real tradeoffs for real people. (To be clear: I'd be fine with many, even most, of those tradeoffs, but people who a…

   You say "the alternative" as if every other country on
   Earth has one system, and the US has a second system,
   and that first system is what we should have.
That's actually fairly accurate. We have a system with 15% of the population without any sort of insurance, whereas 'the other' system provides universal coverage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_health_ins...

The payment details may vary widely from country to country, but it's unconscionable that tens of millions of Americans are an accident or diagnosis away from permanent financial ruin.

Re: My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

#56

Post by delluminatus »

thatthatis wrote: post #18

Serious question: Why were these bills paid by the son who would have no financial obligation in the case of his mother's bankruptcy? America's health care safety net is bankruptcy and the 'cannot refuse critical treatment based on ability to pay' role of emergency rooms. Seems the right course to take in these situations is to string along the hospitals until it ends up in bankruptcy and only pay out of pocket from…

The problem is that cancer treatments are extremely expensive and not usually very effective. Believe me; the hospital is not pulling these charges from thin air.

The right course to take is avoid contracting cancer for as long as possible, and if you do get cancer, to find and treat it ASAP. If you do get late-stage cancer, you can pay for a drug and treatment regimen that may provide you with a few more months of life at great expense to your wallet and your body. This is an American phenomenon; nowhere else in the world do people spend so much money on caring for terminally ill patients.

Re: My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

#57

Post by btown »

grecy wrote: post #39
danielweber wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say "the alternative" as if every other country on Earth has one system, and the US has a second system, and that first system is what we should have. Whereas all those other countries have a bunch of different systems (compare Canada to the UK to France to Singapore). And each of those systems has real tradeoffs for real people. (To be clear: I'd be fine with many, even most, of those tradeoffs, but people who a…

All developed countries (excluding the US) share similarities, that when painting with a broad brush, can be called the same. Namely: People pay taxes that pay for healthcare for every single citizen. No person is without care. (end of comparison). (You can tell people it's exactly the same as how they pay for Elementary and High School, how they pay for police and firemen, etc. etc.) EDIT: Implied in my broad statem…

You should note, however, that in OP's case his mother does have some amount of health insurance; her case would very much fall under "no person is without care." It's the fine print of how much care is given in which the problem lies, and there is a fundamental tradeoff here that all countries implement slightly differently. Is the U.S. at the Pareto optimum, if such an optimum exists? Almost certainly not. But there's no guarantee that any other country is at this optimum themselves.

Re: My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

#58

Post by tptacek »

pessimizer wrote: post #24
thatthatis wrote: post #18

Serious question: Why were these bills paid by the son who would have no financial obligation in the case of his mother's bankruptcy? America's health care safety net is bankruptcy and the 'cannot refuse critical treatment based on ability to pay' role of emergency rooms. Seems the right course to take in these situations is to string along the hospitals until it ends up in bankruptcy and only pay out of pocket from…

I don't think you can get treatment for your terminal cancer in the emergency room unless somebody stabbed you in it.

No, this is false.

Re: My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

#59

Post by whyleyc »

altero wrote: post #28
EGreg wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I hope there will be some discussion around this!

I would say naive folk fucked by the system. In Europe it is kind of similar, but not as bad. My relative has non-lethal cancer. It was diagnosed by private doctor and waiting list for operation is a few months. So he called ambulance and went to public hospital with 'unknown pain'. The very same doctor (who also work in public hospital) diagnosed cancer second time and bumbed him on top of the list, since it is an '…

Where is "here" for you ?

Europe has a pretty diverse range of healthcare facilities, varying greatly depending on which country you are in.

Re: My mom is dying, and my bank account is dry. I need help

#60

Post by DanBC »

one consequence of the US system is that treatment ends up on the bills.

How can children have confidential access to a doctor when that doctor visit will appear onthe bill?

This prevents young people from seeking help for a range of problems including sexual health and self harm.

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