ALERT! Please Watch... Also Posted At GDP... Not Sure Where To Post

[ChiciB1]

but felt a NEED to pass it along.

My daughter who is now studying to be a Nurse Practitioner keeps me abreast of copious health care issues. Her husband who is a critical care nurse at one of our ER hospitals also keeps us informed about what is happening. My daughter also has her degree as a critical care nurse, and works part time while pursuing her higher degree.

Some may have seen this video, it IS long and perhaps one could wait and watch it later, but for me I feel it's a "must see" for all Americans. So, I'm putting it out there so many can watch and make decisions about health care from what this program has presented.

My husband and I consider ourselves VERY LUCKY for now to have PPO Health Care Insurance, but it DOES require us to make certain choices about doctors and labs we can use. However, we live close to a larger city and there are STILL many doctors to choose from, and for the most part we have been happy with our care.

I WILL say that our Primary Care doctor is VERY aggressive when it comes to testing and at first it concerned me because I've seen some of the bills that have been paid because of these tests. Both my husband and I just had a yearly check-up and the CMP (complete blood panel) cost was an eye opener!! I will also say that "other" tests were done that cost so much more. After consideration I'm glad we were "able" to have the tests and perhaps have some illness caught early. It is best to have preventative care, but it's OH SO EXPENSIVE!! But, as I said... WE ARE LUCKY, we didn't have to pay for it!! I'm so very sorry for those of you who don't have this opportunity!!

My husband retired early so we could care for his mother who had Alzheimer's, but we are lucky that he worked at a Union company, therefore we got good health care.

Will it change?? I don't know, but should he pass away I don't know if I'll still be covered, I have pre-existing conditions. So I may become one of the "stats" that this video highlights!

PLEASE WATCH...

http://video.pbs.org/video/1099857730

[Schema Thing]

1. so not even a tiny eeenie weeenie little hint?

[ChiciB1]

4. It's About Health Care In This Country... Sorry, My Bad! Highlights What

has happened to some people here in America and what happened to them when they either LOST insurance or didn't HAVE insurance.

[Schema Thing]

11. thanks :) that would be me, w/o health insurance.

[ChiciB1]

12. Yes, It's A Very Sad State Of Affairs! This Video Does Cover A Lot

and it also made me quite upset! Too many people falling through the cracks!

[notadmblnd]

2. if your husband was a Union employee for one of the big 3

you will have health insurance after he dies, unless of course you remarry. My husband died 6 years ago and medical and a small portion of his pension is what I have left. If I ever remarry, I'll lose it.

[ChiciB1]

6. Communications Workers Of America! Not sure If It's One Of The

BIG THREE! I'll have to check that out! Why don't I think it is??

[notadmblnd]

9. The big 3 are ford, gm and chrysler

but he should be able to call his union rep and they can tell him what your benefits would be if he dies.

[ChiciB1]

10. Now That It's Been Brought To My Attention AND There's Reference To

insurance loss in the video, I think I SHOULD check into it! Thanks for the clarification too!

[madmax]

3. Hearing impaired...

Gee, I hate videos. I wrote to MSN and youtube about closed captioning. Some are and some of those that are don't work. Not complaining to you - just sayin ;)

[ChiciB1]

5. I'm Very Sorry... Don't Know How to Make It Work For You!! You Are

correct, you miss out on a LOT of information and that's regrettable!

[madmax]

7. All in all it's a lot better with CC TV

and the 'intertubes'. My hearing loss started in my mid-twenties so it was hard to accept. Closed captioning is the one thing I will always be grateful to Poppa Bush. ADA was/is such a great thing.

It's an incovenience but, it's not fatal :hug:

[ChiciB1]

8. Still, Any Loss Takes Getting Used To! I Just Recently Had "Elective" Eye

surgery which cost quite a bit, but I was basically blind in my right eye. Here is ONE instance that my insurance wasn't covered because I WASN'T completely blind. My eye sight was 20/400, and the eye had a severe astigmatism. While I was unable to see out of the eye for all intents and purposes, it still wasn't something called "needed" surgery"! When I was younger they prescribed corrective lens, but as years went by the doctors said it wasn't all that useful, and besides the lens kept falling out of the frames. So they only corrected my left eye so I could see and drive!

For many, many years there was no corrective treatment for my problem, but now there's a lens called a Toric lens and I had the implant. It cost me around $1600.00 and because of a GE Money card with NO INTEREST unless I defaulted I decided to have it done! I'm AMAZED by what I NEVER saw, and I've laughed a bit when I began to think about what I may have missed when I tried to match different color combinations!!

Is your hearing so bad that there is no alternative treatment for it?? As I said, for years I lived with my blind eye, but FINALLY something came along! I have furrows/wrinkles from squinting for so many years. Now I don't even use "cheater glasses" for my PC!! I'm eternally grateful that the technology was perfected!

My husband has hearing issues, but has never lost complete hearing. He does have a problem with pronunciation of many words and I assume it's because he doesn't hear them correctly! As time has gone by it gets worse and someday he will NEED a hearing aid I'm sure... but at least he CAN think of that as an option! But maybe not, he hasn't been tested in quite a while! An example of just one word he gets wrong is Gator-Aid... he's ALWAYS called it Gator-Egg! There are many other words, and the kids used to tease him about it until they were old enough to understand. He would just say, "you know what I mean!" He was good about it! The TV does get kind of loud though!

Before I had surgery I would sometimes shut my eyes and try to walk around my house to get a feel for what it would be like to be blind! I never knew if I would or would not end up without my eye sight. I do plan to have my left eye done after I get the bill paid for the first surgery. I don't owe much now, and have a growth on the other eye. Still, I'm lucky to have the option!

I'm GLAD CC helps and that it's an added function these days! It's also good that it's a bit delayed too, because I've tried to watch foreign films and can't keep up with the scenes because the english corrections run too fast!

A wish for you that there may be new technology for the hearing impaired!!! Right back at ya... :hug: AND :pals: