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UHC soon? (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
Welcome to Universal Health Care.
According to a Swedish newspaper, "An 83-year-old woman from Östergötland in southern Sweden was forced to pay for back surgery out of her own pocket after doctors at her local public hospital told her she was too old for the treatment."
The woman, Marianne Skogh, reportedly has had "pain and numbness" in her legs since 2004, and waited more than a year before being rejected. She suffered from pressure on her spine, causing the pain.
"Without the operation, I might have lived another five years in incredible pain," said Skogh. "But what kind of life is that?"
According to the report, "...despite the lengthy wait for the diagnosis, Skogh was then told that, even though the ailment was treatable, she was too old for the surgery." Besides age, the fact that she had previously undergone heart surgery was another reason for denying the treatment, doctors said.
Instead of surgery, she was given painkillers. When they didn't help, she was still rejected.
Eventually, the woman traveled to a private hospital and financed the operation herself. "Less than a month after the surgery, she is living pain-free and says the price she paid for private treatment was worth regaining her quality of life."
Are you ready, America?
Comments
excuse me? we have that NOW! 47 MILLION people dont have health insurance. rationing is ALREADY going on in this country. how is it that you fail to understand that? the list of operations, procedures and tests that the private insurance companies refuses to pay for runs in the MILLIONS!
That 47 million can be broken into 10 million or so illegal immigrants, 15-20 million who make over $50,000 for their household, and many others who choose not to get insurance (like I did for awhile). None are people who can't afford insurance at all.
What exactly do you mean by "rationing"? Insurance companies aren't "rationing" and if they violate their contracts they get sued. 85% of people are happy with their insurance and only 3% of claims are denied. Hardly the insane third-world country you seem to think we are...
50% of the insurance industry is controlled by the government. The way to make this better is to get government out of insurance, not force them into it.
Socialtalker, of all those 47 million uninsured, how many of them choose not to be insured even though they can afford to pay for it? I know several young adults who don't want to pay for insurance.
It happens in the US too. Don't be disingenuous.
www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/stories
Postal Worker with Stage 4 Breast Cancer Fought Insurance Company for Life-Saving Treatment for Eight Months While Cancer Spread
"I am a 57-year-old woman with stage 4 breast cancer which has metastasized to my bone in the hip area," said Margaret Murphy of Millersville, Penn. "I had 15 radiation treatments and afterward suffered a very painful fracture in the same area. In testing for the source of the pain, the doctor found more lesions of cancer below the bone."
"I spent a precious eight months of my life fighting my insurance company to approve me getting into a vaccine study for metastasized breast cancer at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, where I am being treated. I appealed and was turned down three times, before finally being approved. They stated that they didn’t cover ‘experimental’ studies or treatments."
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