Alec had open heart surgery about 4 years ago and so he is on meds for that.
I have adult onset epilepsy (7 grand mal seizures since 1998) and I was recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. I take medications for those.
And both of us have claudication. “a circulation problem that causes pain during exercise. It’s usually related to peripheral arterial disease.” Claudication: When circulation problems cause leg pain from MayoClinic.com (No meds for this one ~ walking is supposed to help and we try to do some every day ~ but it is painful.)
And we don’t have health insurance because we are self-employed. We are private pay when we see doctors which is expensive. We order our medications from a Canadian pharmacy which saves us some money.
At any rate, I thought this article was interesting:
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Has Canada Got the Cure?
Since 1970, Canada has had a publicly funded, single-payer health system. Today, all Canadians are equally healthy, regardless of income.
Should the United States implement a more inclusive, publicly funded health care system? That’s a big debate throughout the country. But even as it rages, most Americans are unaware that the United States is the only country in the developed world that doesn’t already have a fundamentally public–that is, tax-supported–health care system.
and
The United States spends far more per capita on health care than any comparable country. In fact, the gap is so enormous that a recent University of California, San Francisco, study estimates that the United States would save over $161 billion every year in paperwork alone if it switched to a singlepayer system like Canada’s. These billions of dollars are not abstract amounts deducted from government budgets; they come directly out of the pockets of people who are sick.
read all of Has Canada Got the Cure? by Holly Dressel ~ posted on Alternet on August 29, 2006.
reprinted from Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures
In the UK we have the NHS, funded through taxation with care free at the point of delivery and free medication (there is a small charge for drugs prescribed to those working), the unwaged receive completely free care and medication. I can’t imagine living in a country where you have to pay a Doctor as you see them, and pay for all the medication, it must be a real worry for people on limited budgets and for people who can’t afford insurance. I think a publicly funded health care system would be a good system for the US to adopt, and lead to healthier citizens, saving money by less sick days off work and less disabilty if illness is caught and treated earlier.