Australian Politics Forum - Guess where I am ............

UnSubRocky Gold Member Offline Crocodile Hunter: Origins Posts: 25751 Rockhampton Gender:	Re: Guess where I am ............ Reply #15 - Aug 16^th, 2026 at 11:02pm I had never heard the saying "bowels moving" in my life until I was in hospital at age 15. And I recall being constipated for 3 days until the nurse gave me a high dosage of some kind of laxative. I was in the toilet for a half hour making sure that the bowels were clear.
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Jasin Gold Member Offline Posts: 57285 Gender:	Re: Guess where I am ............ Reply #16 - Aug 16^th, 2026 at 11:02pm TRUMP
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Sprintcyclist

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Re: Guess where I am ............
Reply #17 - Aug 16^th, 2026 at 11:27pm

Sophia wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:56pm:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:40pm:

thanks lads and lasses.

it's been a rollercoaster week
a private hospital is good value

Do you have health insurance? We do and I often wonder if we should get out of it.
First thing hospitals ask when we go for surgery or emergency, “do you have private health insurance?”
They always seem pleased when I say yes!

yes we do.
wonder how much this would cost ?
surgery with team of about 9, private room for 10 days.
all the rehad.
shall we guess ? $40 K ?

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Modern Classic Right Wing

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Sophia

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Re: Guess where I am ............
Reply #18 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 5:25am

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 11:27pm:

Sophia wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:56pm:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:40pm:

thanks lads and lasses.

it's been a rollercoaster week
a private hospital is good value

Do you have health insurance? We do and I often wonder if we should get out of it.
First thing hospitals ask when we go for surgery or emergency, “do you have private health insurance?”
They always seem pleased when I say yes!

yes we do.
wonder how much this would cost ?
surgery with team of about 9, private room for 10 days.
all the rehad.
shall we guess ? $40 K ?

About 3 years ago I had an op, private hospital, private room with my own ensuite.
So my health insurance covered all that.

So many people say they don’t do health insurance and say that public hospitals do all that and are just as good. Except there’s a shared room and ensuite.

Sometimes I’m tempted. To let the insurance go. But I worry as we are aging.

Do we, as members of a paid health insurance, get better treatment?
And those that are not with health insurance, get covered for all types of medical treatment?

I saw an article recently somewhere that due to cost of living and finances being what they are, many have opted out of health insurance.
I opted out of extras. But kept a top tier hospital cover.
Which means I pay for annual ambulance cover separately.

I might look it up…. paid health fund VS non paid and what medical treatments are covered.

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If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand.

Milton Friedman

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Sprintcyclist

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Re: Guess where I am ............
Reply #19 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 6:12am

Sophia wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 5:25am:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 11:27pm:

Sophia wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:56pm:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:40pm:

thanks lads and lasses.

it's been a rollercoaster week
a private hospital is good value

Do you have health insurance? We do and I often wonder if we should get out of it.
First thing hospitals ask when we go for surgery or emergency, “do you have private health insurance?”
They always seem pleased when I say yes!

yes we do.
wonder how much this would cost ?
surgery with team of about 9, private room for 10 days.
all the rehad.
shall we guess ? $40 K ?

About 3 years ago I had an op, private hospital, private room with my own ensuite.
So my health insurance covered all that.

So many people say they don’t do health insurance and say that public hospitals do all that and are just as good. Except there’s a shared room and ensuite.

Sometimes I’m tempted. To let the insurance go. But I worry as we are aging.

Do we, as members of a paid health insurance, get better treatment?
And those that are not with health insurance, get covered for all types of medical treatment?

I saw an article recently somewhere that due to cost of living and finances being what they are, many have opted out of health insurance.
I opted out of extras. But kept a top tier hospital cover.
Which means I pay for annual ambulance cover separately.

I might look it up…. paid health fund VS non paid and what medical treatments are covered.

it's a hard decision.

i think in public you get whatever doctor is on duty that night. you might be lucky, you might not.
in private doctors are prob of a higher standard, else the company will fire them

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Modern Classic Right Wing

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Sprintcyclist Gold Member Offline OzPolitic Posts: 41950 Gender:	Re: Guess where I am ............ Reply #20 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 6:21am i cry a lot now.
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Jasin Gold Member Offline Posts: 57285 Gender:	Re: Guess where I am ............ Reply #21 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 6:55am Did Sprinty see Proctologist Dr Aye Aye from Madagascar?
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Sophia Gold Member Offline Posts: 9876	Re: Guess where I am ............ Reply #22 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 8:01am Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 6:21am: i cry a lot now. That’s a good thing! But for now it’s probably the anaesthetic wearing off. I recall day 2 or 3 after my op I had the biggest sooky session!
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mothra Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 36476 Gender:	Re: Guess where I am ............ Reply #23 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 8:06am I picked where you were from the OP. Sorry you've been through all of that but i was relieved to see it was but a finger as i read on. Not that that's not a horrible and life changing experience in itself, just that you are okay. Wishing you a speedy recovery.
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mothra

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Re: Guess where I am ............
Reply #24 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 8:23am

Sophia wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 5:25am:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 11:27pm:

Sophia wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:56pm:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:40pm:

thanks lads and lasses.

it's been a rollercoaster week
a private hospital is good value

Do you have health insurance? We do and I often wonder if we should get out of it.
First thing hospitals ask when we go for surgery or emergency, “do you have private health insurance?”
They always seem pleased when I say yes!

yes we do.
wonder how much this would cost ?
surgery with team of about 9, private room for 10 days.
all the rehad.
shall we guess ? $40 K ?

About 3 years ago I had an op, private hospital, private room with my own ensuite.
So my health insurance covered all that.

So many people say they don’t do health insurance and say that public hospitals do all that and are just as good. Except there’s a shared room and ensuite.

Sometimes I’m tempted. To let the insurance go. But I worry as we are aging.

Do we, as members of a paid health insurance, get better treatment?
And those that are not with health insurance, get covered for all types of medical treatment?

I saw an article recently somewhere that due to cost of living and finances being what they are, many have opted out of health insurance.
I opted out of extras. But kept a top tier hospital cover.
Which means I pay for annual ambulance cover separately.

I might look it up…. paid health fund VS non paid and what medical treatments are covered.

It is i! Your friendly champion of public hospitals!

First thing you want to know is that your private hospital has an ICU. Things go wrong. More than a few people have died being moved from private hospitals to public hospitals because something has gone very wrong.

I know i'm going to regret this but here's a personal anecdote. When i pregnant with my son, something went very wrong. I was a public patient in the care of the Women's and Children's Hospital, here in Adelaide. I don't want to go into details but it resulted in a 4.5month death watch for myself and my son. I walked around with 2 phones in my pocket when i wasn't in hospital.

I as told that the WMC didn't have an ICU for women so were i to hemorrhage severely at the time of birth, they couldn't care for me there. So they sent me to Flinders Hospital, over the other side of town which had a NICU and an ICU.

I was accompanied by an utmost specialist in the field of obstetrics. He had recently been on Australian Story. He worked out of Flinders, as is absolutely the case with our best and brightest. They may well work in private practice but the best still beat the path at the public hospitals. I was put in his hands by more hyper-concerned obstetrician from the WMC, who himself kept track of us throughout.

My new obstetrician even saw me in his private offices and bulkbilled me for every visit.

I had a private room and the absolute best care i could possibly have wished for. They set up a cot for my husband and he stayed the duration we were in hospital.

Anyway, worth noting is that the woman who had what i had before me died in the ambulance on her way from her private hospital to Flinders. Her child survived, thankfully.

That ICU saved my life. That NICU saved my sons life. My amazing doctor saved my life. All in the public system.

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If you can't be a good example, you have to be a horrible warning.

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mothra

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Re: Guess where I am ............
Reply #25 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 8:27am

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 6:12am:

Sophia wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 5:25am:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 11:27pm:

Sophia wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:56pm:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:40pm:

thanks lads and lasses.

it's been a rollercoaster week
a private hospital is good value

Do you have health insurance? We do and I often wonder if we should get out of it.
First thing hospitals ask when we go for surgery or emergency, “do you have private health insurance?”
They always seem pleased when I say yes!

yes we do.
wonder how much this would cost ?
surgery with team of about 9, private room for 10 days.
all the rehad.
shall we guess ? $40 K ?

About 3 years ago I had an op, private hospital, private room with my own ensuite.
So my health insurance covered all that.

So many people say they don’t do health insurance and say that public hospitals do all that and are just as good. Except there’s a shared room and ensuite.

Sometimes I’m tempted. To let the insurance go. But I worry as we are aging.

Do we, as members of a paid health insurance, get better treatment?
And those that are not with health insurance, get covered for all types of medical treatment?

I saw an article recently somewhere that due to cost of living and finances being what they are, many have opted out of health insurance.
I opted out of extras. But kept a top tier hospital cover.
Which means I pay for annual ambulance cover separately.

I might look it up…. paid health fund VS non paid and what medical treatments are covered.

it's a hard decision.

i think in public you get whatever doctor is on duty that night. you might be lucky, you might not.
in private doctors are prob of a higher standard, else the company will fire them

Sprinty that's just not true. No profession is more scrutanised and held accountable that doctors.

You may encounter a newbie in emergency but by the time action is required, you can anticipate absolute experts.

Sure it's not perfect but it's pretty damn excellent.

And most private doctors of high calibre also work in public hospitals.

The advantage of private over public truly resides in elective surgery wait times.

But please, i urge all Australians who can afford private health cover to keep it up. It takes the strain off of the public sector.

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If you can't be a good example, you have to be a horrible warning.

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Gnads

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Re: Guess where I am ............
Reply #26 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 9:52am

Sophia wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:56pm:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:40pm:

thanks lads and lasses.

it's been a rollercoaster week
a private hospital is good value

Do you have health insurance? We do and I often wonder if we should get out of it.
First thing hospitals ask when we go for surgery or emergency, “do you have private health insurance?”
They always seem pleased when I say yes!

Been contemplating that lately because it looks like the Albanese Govt is going to wipe the Private Health Cover rebate.

To me all that will do is chase people out of private health & into the public system...... which because of other governmental policy is under enormous pressure today in every state.

We are going to hang on to ours until we can no longer afford it.

At present our weekly direct debit to RTHealth (owned by HCF) for Gold Utimate Hospital &Top Extras is $137.11(I just checked)

That's $7,129.72 per year Shocked

if that's with the 32.158% private health insurance rebate then maybe we can't afford it. Angry

I hadn't checked this since I retired in 2019- it's 2 grand more than I thought.

Our local hospital has been turned into more or less a scratch & splinter clinic and Emerg Dept ....

all patients are assessed in triage & if warranting hospitalisation sent 20 mins down death alley(road) to Hervey Bay Angry

- the only private hospital is straight across the road.

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"When you are dead, you do not know you are dead. It's only painful and difficult for others. The same applies when you are stupid." ~ Ricky Gervais

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Gnads Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 33759 Gender:	Re: Guess where I am ............ Reply #27 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 9:54am Speedy recovery Sprint.
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Jasin Gold Member Offline Posts: 57285 Gender:	Re: Guess where I am ............ Reply #28 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:52pm Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 6:21am: i cry a lot now. Yes. Trump does that
Back to top	AIMLESS EXTENTION OF KNOWLEDGE HOWEVER, WHICH IS WHAT I THINK YOU REALLY MEAN BY THE TERM 'CURIOSITY', IS MERELY INEFFICIENCY. I AM DESIGNED TO AVOID INEFFICIENCY. IP Logged

Valkie

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Central Coast
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Re: Guess where I am ............
Reply #29 - Aug 17^th, 2026 at 1:07pm

Sophia wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 5:25am:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 11:27pm:

Sophia wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:56pm:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 10:40pm:

thanks lads and lasses.

it's been a rollercoaster week
a private hospital is good value

Do you have health insurance? We do and I often wonder if we should get out of it.
First thing hospitals ask when we go for surgery or emergency, “do you have private health insurance?”
They always seem pleased when I say yes!

yes we do.
wonder how much this would cost ?
surgery with team of about 9, private room for 10 days.
all the rehad.
shall we guess ? $40 K ?

About 3 years ago I had an op, private hospital, private room with my own ensuite.
So my health insurance covered all that.

So many people say they don’t do health insurance and say that public hospitals do all that and are just as good. Except there’s a shared room and ensuite.

Sometimes I’m tempted. To let the insurance go. But I worry as we are aging.

Do we, as members of a paid health insurance, get better treatment?
And those that are not with health insurance, get covered for all types of medical treatment?

I saw an article recently somewhere that due to cost of living and finances being what they are, many have opted out of health insurance.
I opted out of extras. But kept a top tier hospital cover.
Which means I pay for annual ambulance cover separately.

I might look it up…. paid health fund VS non paid and what medical treatments are covered.

I have been hospitalised 5 times in my life.
3 have been emergency, critical life threatening issues and resulting in days or weeks in the ICU.
The other two just basic injuries requiring some serious attention and a week or less in the hospital.

I have and have had top medical insurance cover most of my life.
But I have never been placed into a private ward, always public.

The most recent experience was a diverticulitis attack with a bowel perforation into my bloodstream.
Septis was having a good go at me, so I was ruched into ICU and the operations unit.
All good, great care and to be honest, I couldn't care less if I was in an open market at the time as the pain was somewhat....distracting.
But here I was a fully paid up private patient sitting in a ward with 4 other very sick men, one of who passed while I was in there.
The one opposite me had been there for 3 weeks, he had no family or friends and was probably not going to live long.
But I was out of it, dosed up on god knows what and getting antibiotics every 1/2 hour, with blood tests every hour.

The sad part was that they asked me if I had medical insurance and what level it was.
They knew I was top cover, but still lumped me in with everyone else.
I'm now thinking, do I need top cover?
I've never seen a private ward....ever.
And to be honest, when you are staring at the guy with the sickle, you really don't care.

But, and I must stress this with all sincerity.
I don't think it would matter one iota to the very professional and caring nurses and doctors I have come into contact with.
They have saved my life and cared for me through near death experiences.
And this most recent one could have turned very bad, very quickly.

I would be very happy if I never needed to see a hospital ever again.
But is thousands of dollars to a health fund that never has to pay out really worth the money?

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I HAVE A DREAM
A WONDERFUL, PEACEFUL, BEAUTIFUL DREAM.
A DREAM OF A WORLD THAT HAS NEVER KNOWN ISLAM
A DREAM OF A WORLD FREE FROM THE HORRORS OF ISLAM.

SUCH A WONDERFUL DREAM
O HOW I WISH IT WERE TRU

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