That's a hefty tag on health insurance. What happened to socialized medicine?This is socialized medicine: those who have more (that's us) pay more, so that people who can't afford health insurance can still get medical care - the price we pay for living in a healthy society, and mostly I think it's worth it. We are pretty solidly middle-class, but our rates are at the top of the scale, because there are a few flaws in the system. One is that costs are high in general because nobody ever tries to rein in the pharmaceuticals giants, who are laughing all the way to the bank, believe me. Another is that if you have even a little more money than we do, it's cheaper to go with private insurance, and a lot of people do that: they pay lower rates while they're young and healthy, and then when they get old, or develop a chronic illness, their private insurance drops them like a hot rock. Then they come back and sponge off the public fund that they couldn't be bothered to contribute to when things were okay.
What that means is that the many Germans who can't afford health care depend on ordinary middle-class families like us, because the people who have money don't pay into the system.
Melanie said...
And hey, haven't your cast of characters aged yet? (Still 11 and 5?)Nope, still 11 and 5. DrBob turned 40 in March, but the rest of us don't age. It's too expensive.
elemmaciltur said...
Weren't you allowed to knit in the hospital?Probably, but the placement of my IV needles didn't give the range of movement I would need for knitting: I couldn't use the fingers of my right hand for four days, then I couldn't use my left arm at all for another day. Plus the yarn would've gotten caught in the IV tubing, that woulda sucked.
Actually, the reason they let me out is not because I'm better, but because I'm ambulant - because I can take the meds in tablet form instead of needing them intravenously. Technically I'm still sick, and supposed to be taking it easy.
kimberlydi said...
Take every single antibiotic... You don't want a relapse.No, I sure don't. Last time, with the bronchitis, they didn't give me enough antibiotics, that's why the pneumonia hit me - because I stopped treatment before I was well (NOT on purpose, because they under-medded me).
Still, going on two weeks of antibiotics now, and it's doing bad things to my digestion and my teeth. I will take them all, but I don't know what condition I'll be in by the time they're all done.
Let me just take a moment here to state the blisteringly obvious: Being sick? Sucks.
Also, while I've got you here, I wonder if anyone has an instruction manual for husbands, as mine seems to be malfunctioning. He's sick, but refuses to go to the doctor, because he's sure the doc will only say he needs to cut back on stress, and he can't do that, so he's driving us all crazy swanning around like La fucking Traviata not getting better of course, and his mood is affecting all of us. Clearly, he needs a tune-up. Or a pipe wrench to the head.
Song du jour of the day: Machinehead, by Bush
3 comments:
Treat him just like any other malfunctioning device- curse at him for a bit, then give him a solid thwack. Should be good as new. :)
P.S. Don't tell him I said that!
hi, alala! Glad to see you back and up, if not running! That explanation on health insurance makes sense to me. In Ann Arbor, where the big university owned much of the land tax-free we had exhorbitant taxes that included paying for all the students children to go to public school, live in married student housing, etc. I never really minded because that was a big part of the quality of life there. Thanks for the explanation.
Knitting- yes! I'm just gearing up to start again and tomorrow I'll take a lace class at the little shop around the corner. I'll try to post a bit on that tomorrow evening.
Keep on the mend. (I thought all husbands came with glitches? He was nice to write about/for you while you were ill...and care for the little people)
Training manual for men? Give guilt & responsibility a try... He's the main financial supporter (I'm guessing) of the household and the family would be devasted if he got so sick that he couldn't work. Point to yourself as an example (hospital stay)... "See what happens when you don't take care of yourself!" (not blaming your illness on you but you can twist the situation to fit your needs).
I tell my husband that he owes it to his kids to keep in good health. He goes to the doctor now like he should. I still have to be his mother and keep track of his meds & prescription refils.
sigh.
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