Sick report: very brief

[icarus]

I should probably mention The Status of the Flu (been meaning to). Tendays later we're both still sick but at work and at school. Our coughs are worse from being out in the cold but we seem to be slowly recovering. I'm hating stairs these days.

If we were in Europe I bet we would have been allowed the time needed to get well.

Comments

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking I got what you have. Must be a NW thing.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sucks. Get well soon, and stockpile the juice right away. This even laid out the Mexican guy at WG's work who works through everything -- flat on his back for two days.

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

I've had a fever since Tuesday night, the cough since Monday. I'm feeling somewhat better today. Ugh.

[forestgreen.livejournal.com]

Your bet is right. I'm actually a bit freak-out that you don't have that in the states. Do you have like a limit to how many days you can be sick? How does the system work? *is morbidly curious*

[forestgreen.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, and of course, I hope you and WG get better soon :)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

It varies, but at WG's work he can't be home more than three days without a note from his doctor. At my last job I had a total of ten alloted sick days per year, which is unusually generous.

The United States has the worst health care system in the modern world, and the health of US citizens is among the worst in 1st world countries -- and getting worse. U.S. healthcare is outrageously expensive, and the byzantine health insurance system's refusals have caused many deaths. The system is intended to prevent paying any health care and excludes as many sick people as possible. People can't afford or are afraid of getting preventative treatment for fear of being denied health insurance benefits in the future for having a pre-existing condition. Energency rooms are overwhelmed and it's even reached the point where sick poor people have been dumped in the streets because they can't afford to pay. I've seen film of it. It's true.

The health care industry is the main reason why WG and I think the U.S. is one of the worst countries in the world to live, and we want to leave.

Icarus

[forestgreen.livejournal.com]

Germany's system is very good. I 'm not aware that there's a limit to how many days you can be sick. If you have your doctor giving you the days the work place accepts it without a problem. Everyone is obliged by law to be insured, so there are not cases of people not being insured. The fees are a fix percentage of the gross salary and the employer has to pay half of it.

I didn't know about the health system being so bad. The reason why I would never consider working in the States is that you guys have to little vacation time. My cousin told me that he only gets like 2 weeks a year and can't take them together. In Germany 25 days a year is the minimum by law plus a bunch of holidays. I couldn't leave without that. I love traveling way too much :(

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

Like many Americans, my own health insurance is through my workplace. If I change jobs or my hours are reduced from full time to part time, I will no longer have health insurance.

The company I work for allows twelve sick days per year. This is a reduction from previously. They used to allow five sick days per three months.

Since I've worked for the company for over ten years, I have the right to take four weeks of paid vacation per year, which cannot be taken consecutively. My coworkers hate me. : ) After one year working full time for this company, you get one week of paid vacation. Two years gives you two weeks. Five years gives you three weeks, and ten years gives you four weeks.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

And your healthcare is no doubt through an HMO. There's a movie I'd like you to see, "Sicko." No, it's not about people without healthcare. It's about what HMOs do in the U.S. You have no idea how bad it is compared to the rest of the world until you've seen that movie. This country sucks. Cuba has a better healthcare system.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

James and I talked about seeing Sicko, but decided not to. We're aware of how deeply grim the state of US healthcare is, and chose to avoid the harrowing accounts in Sicko because we did not want to find ourselves reaching for the razorblades while leaving the theater.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I found Sicko very uplifting. There was a great deal of coverage of what other countries have, such as Canada. It makes a decent healthcare seem as attainable as a public library system.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Americans are told that our heathcare system is great. That is we got universal healthcare the quality of care would go down, that doctors would be paid pennies. That's because HMOs make a huge stack of money for doing nothing but preventing people from getting care, and they have deep pockets. Everyone I know who actually has to use their healthcare has bills that are through the roof, and they have to fight to get coverage. The system is designed to wear people down so that they give up trying.

As for vacation time, it's one week if you've worked a year, two weeks afterward. Then if you're a "Superlifer" at a job it can go higher - my boss had been with our company 14 years and he had six weeks, though he couldn't take it consecutively. And, to be honest, you're given a lot of shit if you have more vacation than most people. He was treated like he was disloyal or lazy for taking his vacation time.

Most people only get two weeks vacation because "Superlifers" are very rare in the US, with downsizing, turnover, etc. Of 250 people we only had a few people who'd been there that long.

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

One of the few benefits of my dad having been in hospitals on and off since I was a preteen is that we learned how to navigate the vast ocean of suck that is US healthcare. My parents and I are all insured with multiple overlapping plans so the big expenses get covered pretty much in full. It's not cheap, but at least we know we won't be turned loose on the curb in an emergency, and finally found a primary care physician that might as well have floated down from heaven. (I imagine he'll practice as long as my folks are alive, but I'm probably going to have to scramble to find another decent doctor well before I hit retirement age.)

I feel horrible for friends that are in short-term jobs or have just moved and don't have recommendations to help them find a good doctor.