vishvm
02-25-2008, 04:59 AM
Living down under in Australia, I can't help but notice how damn expensive healthcare is in the U.S.
Here in Oz, we pay $30 per week for our Bupe/Sub and that entitles us to 6 doses plus 1 bonus dose (You can pay $5 per day, so weekly payment is better). We have to dose at the chemist, however those on Suboxone are allowed take home doses. Bupe is generally administered at the pharmacy. There is the option of single, double or triple doses. I pay $30, and this lasts me 2 weeks as I have a double dose and go in every 2 days.
It seems that Bupe/Sub is a lot more restricted in Australia than the U.S. Like methadone, we are dosed under supervision, so the United States has an advantage in that sense for those on Sub. The cost however seems exorbitantly high.
At the moment in Melbourne most of the dope around is complete crap and very expensive as well, so bupe is a lifesaver financially. From what I can see, in the US, dope looks fairly cheap and of pretty high quality in a lot of places. It appears in some States that gear is cheaper than Bupe. For me to maintain a habit in Melbourne I would need to spend $1 K+ per week, and just to stave off WD's from bupe at least $100 per day would be required.
I'm amazed at the cost of seeing doctors and getting scripts in the U.S. We have a system called Medicare which is more-or less-free. We show a card at the doctor and get 'Bulk Billed' where the government foots the bill. The system is pretty good (there is private healthcare), especially for those on a low income, but the previous government chipped away at what was once Universal healthcare, and it is not as good as it once was. They gave a lot of incentives to change to private care and I think their aim was to move towards a much more American system.
In comparison our dental system is shocking if you are poor. Long waiting times and inadequate care is the norm. The new govt made an election promise to change this, so poor old me is hoping as my teeth are getting worse and I have no money to fix them.
If you are on a low income you also get a Healthcare card which entitles a person to cheap med's. A friend of mine gets 10 Oxy's a day and I think he pays something like $4.20 per week. Not all medication is available on the PBS (healthcare card). Bupe/Sub is not available, but is dispensed to the pharmacies for free and we pay a dispensation fee (the $5 daily/30 weekly). In essence we are paying for the pharmacist's time.
I'm not a socialist, but I do believe that good quality healthcare (and education and housing) is the right of every citizen regardless of ability to pay. For a 1st world country to flaunt it's riches to the world and claim to be a great nation (Australia, U.S.A, Great Britain etc) it is beyond negligent not to have 1st world healthcare. The U.S appears to have some of the worst healthcare for those without insurance, but our dental system is probably on par.
We're lucky in Oz that harm minimisation is the (semi) accepted policy towards addiction and there is maintenance available easily for those who require it. There was a move in the early 90's towards looking at other options (heroin on prescription, injecting rooms), but the election of a very conservative right-wing administration throttled a lot of discussion, and aside from the introduction of Bupe/Sub treatment, a lot that could have been done, has not. A nationwide heroin drought in 2001 lowered the amount of deadly overdoses, and as a result heroin has slipped from the public consciousness. Of course the govt claimed responsibility for this, due to more policing and arrests, whereas the reality was that less good quality heroin on the streets meant that a habit was financially out of reach of most people and forced them onto maintenance programs (not necessarily a bad thing).
The reality is that we do have affordable maintenance programs, but most people I know continue to use (albeit on a much smaller scale) and one of the few things governments will respond to is negative public opinion. Eventually dope will become cheaper and better quality and politicians can either adopt a zero-tolerance attitude, or face reality and look into alternative methods of treatment instead of relying on internal and external forces beyond their control reducing supply (Taliban, price of the Oz $, big busts in SE Asia, improved surveillance post 9-11), and claiming it as their own .
Here in Oz, we pay $30 per week for our Bupe/Sub and that entitles us to 6 doses plus 1 bonus dose (You can pay $5 per day, so weekly payment is better). We have to dose at the chemist, however those on Suboxone are allowed take home doses. Bupe is generally administered at the pharmacy. There is the option of single, double or triple doses. I pay $30, and this lasts me 2 weeks as I have a double dose and go in every 2 days.
It seems that Bupe/Sub is a lot more restricted in Australia than the U.S. Like methadone, we are dosed under supervision, so the United States has an advantage in that sense for those on Sub. The cost however seems exorbitantly high.
At the moment in Melbourne most of the dope around is complete crap and very expensive as well, so bupe is a lifesaver financially. From what I can see, in the US, dope looks fairly cheap and of pretty high quality in a lot of places. It appears in some States that gear is cheaper than Bupe. For me to maintain a habit in Melbourne I would need to spend $1 K+ per week, and just to stave off WD's from bupe at least $100 per day would be required.
I'm amazed at the cost of seeing doctors and getting scripts in the U.S. We have a system called Medicare which is more-or less-free. We show a card at the doctor and get 'Bulk Billed' where the government foots the bill. The system is pretty good (there is private healthcare), especially for those on a low income, but the previous government chipped away at what was once Universal healthcare, and it is not as good as it once was. They gave a lot of incentives to change to private care and I think their aim was to move towards a much more American system.
In comparison our dental system is shocking if you are poor. Long waiting times and inadequate care is the norm. The new govt made an election promise to change this, so poor old me is hoping as my teeth are getting worse and I have no money to fix them.
If you are on a low income you also get a Healthcare card which entitles a person to cheap med's. A friend of mine gets 10 Oxy's a day and I think he pays something like $4.20 per week. Not all medication is available on the PBS (healthcare card). Bupe/Sub is not available, but is dispensed to the pharmacies for free and we pay a dispensation fee (the $5 daily/30 weekly). In essence we are paying for the pharmacist's time.
I'm not a socialist, but I do believe that good quality healthcare (and education and housing) is the right of every citizen regardless of ability to pay. For a 1st world country to flaunt it's riches to the world and claim to be a great nation (Australia, U.S.A, Great Britain etc) it is beyond negligent not to have 1st world healthcare. The U.S appears to have some of the worst healthcare for those without insurance, but our dental system is probably on par.
We're lucky in Oz that harm minimisation is the (semi) accepted policy towards addiction and there is maintenance available easily for those who require it. There was a move in the early 90's towards looking at other options (heroin on prescription, injecting rooms), but the election of a very conservative right-wing administration throttled a lot of discussion, and aside from the introduction of Bupe/Sub treatment, a lot that could have been done, has not. A nationwide heroin drought in 2001 lowered the amount of deadly overdoses, and as a result heroin has slipped from the public consciousness. Of course the govt claimed responsibility for this, due to more policing and arrests, whereas the reality was that less good quality heroin on the streets meant that a habit was financially out of reach of most people and forced them onto maintenance programs (not necessarily a bad thing).
The reality is that we do have affordable maintenance programs, but most people I know continue to use (albeit on a much smaller scale) and one of the few things governments will respond to is negative public opinion. Eventually dope will become cheaper and better quality and politicians can either adopt a zero-tolerance attitude, or face reality and look into alternative methods of treatment instead of relying on internal and external forces beyond their control reducing supply (Taliban, price of the Oz $, big busts in SE Asia, improved surveillance post 9-11), and claiming it as their own .