Comparison of taxes paid by a household earning the country's average wage (as of 2005):
Country Single Married
no children 2 children
Canada 31.6% 21.5%
United States 29.1% 11.9%
Figuring 45,053 for avg wage in Canada, 45,016 for USA (wiki stats)
Avg canadian family pays $9686 per year in taxes, some of which is healthcare.
($19372 in a dual-income family)
Avg American family pays $5356 per year in taxes, none of which is healthcare.
($10712 in a dual-income family)
Last paystub I show has $113 per week taken out for healthcare, that's $225 a month, $2700 a year. So for the less than 6 times a year someone in the house sees a doctor, I'm still spending less (adding $15 co-pays, and the rare $20 prescription) per year in the "broken" system, then the socialized one.
The people the Canadian system screws the most are the ones who need it(families with children), and there's no getting away from that cost each year.
At least in the US, if you want to take the shot at not carrying insurance (which I did while single for 4 years) you can.
To the OP though, hold onto all the paperwork, if nothing else, that $88 might be creditable towards the $255.
cant you see we are trying to derail here? stop staying on topic
Well, well well.
What do we have here.
how many people does your health insurance pay for since the "family average" would be paying for 2 adults and 2 children.
Also, <- n00b question. Does the free healthcare in Canada include Dental/Visual, if so did you include that in your calculation?
Added what's your deductible on your plan?
EDIT:
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtmlThe annual premium that a health insurer charges an employer for a health plan covering a family of four averaged $12,700 in 2008. Workers contributed nearly $3,400, or 12 percent more than they did in 2007.2 The annual premiums for family coverage significantly eclipsed the gross earnings for a full-time, minimum-wage worker ($10,712).
healthcare in canada does not cover eyes or teeth, however most companies small/large offer plans that will take care of this for you
since i own my own business i pay for my own dental coverage which is quite pricey (100++$ a month for fam of 3, 2000$ max a year each)
i would take government run medical over 1000's of choices that all end up fucking you somehow in the end anyway. i mean i've had an accident with my car and dealing with insurance for a dinged fender is a pretty big pain. how about a spinal injury or cancer
lol at you for having to wade thru that huge pile of shit you like to call "better health coverage"
edit: there are provincial plans/policies in place like OHIP that do cover alot of things including some eye related issues like glasses etc if they are needed to be productive (conveniently OHIP also covers vasectomy's which is a plan the US should REALLY put in to place with people like the goselin's and the octomom)
just wait until you get the 8,000 dollar one next week
it's not that 100$ is alot per month, but if you think about it for the next 10-20 years that i am going to have to pay for this it get's up there
not to mention thats just basic, i've been looking to upgrade to plans ranging from 200-350 just because the increase it will allow me to make on a per person yearly spend.
both my wife and i have dentist quotes for well over 2000$ each right now and with my daughter only being 3 she won't get any use out of the insurance until she's a couple years older, not even considering things like brace's and cavities
also point of reference for making 100$ seem up there is that fact that i also pay 45$ for disability to cover up to 60% of my salary if heaven forbid i get injured outside of the workplace. 35$ for one life plan for wife and me, 25$ for another life plan that covers my mortgage among other things
just pricey in the long run which i tend to look at a lot since the bottom line is the bottom line
I pay $335 a month for a family of 3 right now, but admittedly I have pretty good insurance.
The reason you got 2 bills was because you get one from the hospital and another from the doctor. Hell you should have seen how many individual bills I got from doctors when my wife had a baby. Each doctor that comes through on a tour, even if they don't actually look at you, can bill you for it. Its fucking ridiculous. The US healthcare system exists to fuck you as much as humanly possible.
People also need to stop comparing it to Canada's system, which is the worst socialized system in the world. Compare it to something like France and tell me our system is better.
About the credit report and collections thing, I'm pretty sure it won't affect your credit, seeing as I've had a couple bills in collections for several years now that haven't shown up on my credit report. I could be wrong though so don't quote me on that.
Yes, it's normal. You get a hospital bill and a doctor's bill.
my point about the eyelids is that most of you fools wouldnt go to the ER for something like that because it would cost you triple figure's whereas i can go there for a stubbed toe and waste everyone's time without getting multiple bills
i didnt want to go the wifey made me -.- thought it was an infection from the earwig poison i was spraying all day
Medical bills........anger rising......