“What’s a Co-Pay?”
by: Lauren Reichelt on September 3rd, 2009 | 10 Comments »
Please check out this diary by Connecticut Man1 at ePluribus Media, a great site for original collaborative citizen journalism.
Connecticut Man1′s friend, Matt Black of Shoq Value, took his video camera up to Canada and interviewed real Canadians about their health care system. Though Matt tried to find people with horror stories to report, everyone seemed beyond satisfied. Nobody talked about long lines or rationed care. Everyone interviewed chose their own doctor.
But the best part was their collective response to a question about co-pays.
Connecticut Man1 also presents a terrific graphic juxtaposing the American “mainstream” opposing the public option (22%) against “the left of the left” (72%) who clamor for one.
Connecticut Man1′s diary is a perfect complement to Craig Weisner’s Tikkun article below. Please read both over coffee and wonder how it has become possible for the average American to be completely inundated by misinformation.
One would almost think we have resurrected Pravda.
You can follow me on Twitter at @laurenreichelt.
You do know that you are welcome to steal part of it or all of it if you want to? Like you don’t give us some great material at ePM all the time. lol
Thank you very much for your offer to filch your work.
In the interest of collaborative journalism, which I definitely believe in despite the capitalist (uh-oh! I feel a german word that I don’t know how to spell coming on!) weltanschauung under which we suffer, I would prefer to give credit where credit is due. It is definitely due to you!
I am planning to do diaries about Tikkun and its mission for ePluribus Media, streetprophets and Daily Kos, and to do articles for Tikkun about these other sites. I suspect there are different folks with similar passions who don’t know eachother. I am hoping that by crossing over, I can provide an introduction. I want to introduce Tikkun readers to the concept of collaborative journalism as it was developed at ePM.
(Thank G-d for dictionary.com.)
Lauren thanks for the great resource… I think collaborative storytelling and story sharing is really important in bringing reality and humanity to the health care discussion. As we found out yesterday at the San Francisco rally, everyone has a story to tell that they are bursting at the seams ready to share with anyone who cares to ask.
I thoroughly agree with that sentiment. The only way we will ever loosen the grip of the ultra-capitalist weltanschauung on our collective perception is to continue to come together and share stories derived from personal experience. We erode the legitimacy of ideology imposed from above when we share and validate experience.
Good on you for being at the rally and facilitating this kind of sharing. One day, our efforts will pay off.
Thank you for sharing ePM’s CJ’s. I’ve never heard of them. And thanks to sites like this and Tikkun Daily for spreading real news and information.
This is a prime example of how most of the U.S. is so misinformed by corporate media and political pundit sound bites. and are being used as pawns for political greed.
Massive disinformation campaigns are being financed by the very industry which benefits the most by not providing healthcare for everyone, ie the healthcare industry complex. Not to mention the supposed ‘Christians’ who are also financing and promoting the propaganda.
We sorely need more citizens, like this journalist, who are not willing to go along with the status quo and seeks to get to the truth. Rather than let the propagandists spew the vile they call ‘information’.
Thanks for enlightening me once again.
This year I got to add “co-insurance” to my vocabulary thanks to my health insurance company. It used to be (like, until December 31 of last year) that, at least for basic lab (blood) work, I never saw a bill. Now, every time my doctor orders some tests, in a month or so I get an “explanation of benefits” that describes how much was charged by the lab and how much they pay, and they call the difference not a “co-pay” (they have that too, but not yet for lab work) but “co-insurance”).
Of course, there isn’t any other insurer in my case, the “co-insurance” means “my pocket”.
The last time I went for blood work five tests were ordered by the doctor. The price for each test was different, but the “co-insurance” averaged about $10 for each. Thus, just to make sure that some previously prescribed medicine wasn’t killing me, I will get a bill in another month or two for the approximate $50 difference.
Keep the coverage I have if I like it? Ha! I was not offered that choice.
Bob
Co-insurance sounds so co-oppy. Maybe we should demand that they pay a premium to us to purchase our co-insurance.
Thank you Bob and Mona for your comments. The very best insurance surprise I ever got was about four years ago. I had been paying premiums for years. My husband was required to carry cheapo catastrophic coverage through his insurance but we were carrying the family on my plan which was far better. I filed a claim and it was rejected because of the “birthday rule.” According to BCBS, since we carried two different policies, they could require my husband’s (basically non-existent) insurance to cover because according to the birthday rule, the company carried by the member whose birthday fell first during the calendar year has to pay. Actually, mine falls before his so this still didn’t make sense. I spent hours arguing with them and finally called the state insurance commissioner who I happened to know. I got a call back from the VP of BCBS explaining the rule again but magnanimously agreeing to wave it. I don’t know how they can take thousands of dollars in premiums and then invoke this stupid rule. Who would have thought to check out the order of birthdays when filing a claim?????
calzazp- Thank you,itdvngu.Great site.
rcmekii- Thank you, hnbktjx. Great site.
Is that a code?