Corona questions for US forum members

[gordo]

Have you/family member/coworker/friend been tested for the virus? How easy was it to get the test?
Do Americans have to pay for the test or does your medical plan pay or is it free (tax payer funded)?
If you need to be hospitalized, does your medical plan cover the cost? Or do you pay a deductible and insurance pays the rest?
Would your medical plan consider getting the virus a pre-existing condition should you get a related disease in the future?

On a related side note:

Canada's population: 35,585,953
California's population: 39,937,489

Canada's population is 90% of California's
But Canada's death rate from the virus is just 59% of California's

California 7,482 corona cases and 153 deaths
Canada 7,708 corona cases and 89 deaths

I wonder why the difference.

 

[AP90]

Have you/family member/coworker/friend been tested for the virus? How easy was it to get the test?
Do Americans have to pay for the test or does your medical plan pay or is it free (tax payer funded)?
If you need to be hospitalized, does your medical plan cover the cost? Or do you pay a deductible and insurance pays the rest?
Would your medical plan consider getting the virus a pre-existing condition should you get a related disease in the future?

On a related side note:

Canada's population: 35,585,953
California's population: 39,937,489

Canada's population is 90% of California's
But Canada's death rate from the virus is just 59% of California's

California 7,482 corona cases and 153 deaths
Canada 7,708 corona cases and 89 deaths

I wonder why the difference.

Cant answer them all, but Ill do my best.

1. I only know of 1 person being tested. They came back negative. They did the drive thru testing and said it was easy.
2. I believe that we have since enacted a law saying insurance must cover the testing. Not sure exactly how much, but it's covered. I saw an article about someone who got tested before the bill passed and their insurance refused to pay and it was $9000 for the testing and ER visit.
3. My assumption with my own medical insurance is that if I was to be hospitalized that it would be covered as any other sickness. I would have to cover my deductible ($600 yearly) and then my max out of pocket ($6000 yearly).
4. Pre-existing conditions are covered in the US by insurance companies now.

Im not sure what the discrepancy on deaths would be. Maybe the time frame from 1st case to now could be off by a few days, which would in turn put Canada behind on deaths? Or could be simply who has it? Canada might have more younger people positive for the virus vs. California. Just a few thoughts.

 

[curiosity]

People I know were told not to get tested until approved by a tele-doctor.
IMO, I believe there are way more infected because of this.
I've heard there is no cost, but I haven't read the latest relief bill. (I think it's a gazillion pages long)
Doesn't directly answer your question about the death difference, but could be that Canadian's have a less restricted opportunity to get tested (?).

 

[gordo]

People I know were told not to get tested until approved by a tele-doctor.
IMO, I believe there are way more infected because of this.
I've heard there is no cost, but I haven't read the latest relief bill. (I think it's a gazillion pages long)
Doesn't directly answer your question about the death difference, but could be that Canadian's have a less restricted opportunity to get tested (?).

The infected rate - i.e. the number of folks tested and determined to have corona - is nearly the same. It's just the death rate that's different so I wouldn't think that, even if there was a difference in the opportunity to get tested that it would be relevant.

 

[smalloffsetpressexperts]

My state is no symptoms no test unless your doctor orders a test. Some are free I hear. My insurance once deductible of $2000 is met, very good insurance. Pre-existing once vaccine is created should not be needed. We in the US started getting more cases of old diseases when the flood of illegals started. Remember both the East and West coasts of the USA are port cities.

Why Quebec’s coronavirus cases have skyrocketed

 

[OffsetStorefront]

Father-in-law had to get tested. He had shortness of breath to the point of driving to the emergency room. They triage him outside in a tent, administered the test, then admitted him to a room in isolation. He stayed there 5 days waiting for the test results (they all get sent to a single lab that had hundreds of thousands of tests and couldn't handle them), then sent him home after he was breathing pretty well on his own again, and then two days later called him at home to tell him he had a negative test result. (don't these things have a false-negative rate?)

I'm sure the insurance will cover the test because they all promised to do so at the outset to look like they were part of the solution. I know they'll make him pay for the 5 days in the hospital. Even if the insurance companies get bent into paying 100% for COVID treatment, his test was negative so even though his treatment walked and talked like COVID treatment, the test was negative so you know what that means...

Can only get tested here if you have symptoms or were in close contact with a confirmed positive. Which means you've been walking around for 4-9 days without symptoms spreading it, of course. This is due to limited test availability.

 

[Craig]

My issue with the testing is the miss information regarding the number of people tested vs the number of positive results. The last the numbers were given it was only 5 to 7 percent of the people tested were positive. Healthcare workers are higher because they are disproportionately tested at a higher rate and multiple times than normal people. The numbers just don't add up, especially compared to other "pandemics".

 

[gordo]

My issue with the testing is the miss information regarding the number of people tested vs the number of positive results. The last the numbers were given it was only 5 to 7 percent of the people tested were positive. Healthcare workers are higher because they are disproportionately tested at a higher rate and multiple times than normal people. The numbers just don't add up, especially compared to other "pandemics".

This video by Dr Pam Popper might shed some reality on the issue: