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No, other elective surgeries and yes they are people I talk to on a regular basis and I was responding to someone else that was talking about Canada...that and much of the US touches Canada so that is probably why they use that to compare and some some other country 1/2 way around the world.
We do know that Canadian health care is a little over 10% of their GDP. Health care in the USA is about 17% of our GDP. So, no matter how you slice it taxes and the cost of Canadian Medicare (that's what they call it) are going to be a third less of what they are in the USA.
The other issue that is not addressed in these discussions is that the reason that taxes are as high as they are in the USA has to do with the percentage of our spending going towards the military and defense. If we were paying a percentage of our budget similar to what Canada and many other countries pay for defense needs, taxes would be significantly less.
It has little to do with health insurance. However, a real discussion needs to take place in America about exactly what our needs and responsibilities are when it comes to defense. Currently, our military budget is paying for a military that is larger than that of the next ten nations combined. A reduction in military spending could correlate with more ability to spend on matters like health care for American citizens.
The GDP figures are somewhat misleading. Because they include things like botox and other "lifestyle" health expenses (everything from Viagra to Latisse). It's kind of like comparing infant mortality rates from country to country. We define a live birth as X - most other countries as Y. So our infant mortality rates look worse than those in other countries. Whenever you compare apples to oranges - your comparisons are often inaccurate.
As for defense - I reckon that depends on your view of the US as it pertains to the world at large. I don't think we can afford to be the only guardian of all the people in the world. OTOH - I don't want to see us pull back into the shell of total isolation and ignore everything that goes on outside our borders. On my part - I am much more willing to pay for us fighting for freedom/liberties/extinction of genocide/etc. for people outside the US than paying for another 5-10 million illegitimate kids inside the US. I still think of the US as "a shining city upon the hill". Although I am perhaps part of a dying breed. Robyn
Perhaps is generational. No offense, but I believe that I am younger than you in my mid-40's. I have never been without health insurance. It is the first thing I budgeted for when I got out of school and my parents taught me that it was an important thing to have.
My best friend from high school was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer when she was a freshman in college, and another friend had lung cancer (she did not smoke) at 29, so I saw firsthand the importance of health insurance, even at an age when many people feel invincible.
No offense taken. I think there are a few important differences between now and then. First is the range of medical treatments available - and what they cost. Ever see a movie from the 1950's or so showing a heart attack patient in a hospital? The treatment then was basically "bed rest". Fast forward to today - and you're talking about lots more - that often costs a lot more.
Second - and no offense to you or your generation - is the proliferation of certain diseases. There are tons more STDs today than existed when I was young. AIDs - herpes - Hep C - etc. - etc. In all honesty - when I was 20 - the worst anyone worried about in terms of sex was getting pregnant or getting a disease that was cured easily by antibiotics - not something that required a fortune to be spent on lifetime treatment (although - in my age group - most of the people I know who got AIDs died before the lifetime maintenance drugs were developed).
Third - I think a lot of people in your generation are just ridiculously cautious. People in my age group threw caution to the winds - and the next generation reacted (perhaps overreacted). Robyn
No offense taken. I think there are a few important differences between now and then. First is the range of medical treatments available - and what they cost. Ever see a movie from the 1950's or so showing a heart attack patient in a hospital? The treatment then was basically "bed rest". Fast forward to today - and you're talking about lots more - that often costs a lot more.
Second - and no offense to you or your generation - is the proliferation of certain diseases. There are tons more STDs today than existed when I was young. AIDs - herpes - Hep C - etc. - etc. In all honesty - when I was 20 - the worst anyone worried about in terms of sex was getting pregnant or getting a disease that was cured easily by antibiotics - not something that required a fortune to be spent on lifetime treatment (although - in my age group - most of the people I know who got AIDs died before the lifetime maintenance drugs were developed).
Third - I think a lot of people in your generation are just ridiculously cautious. People in my age group threw caution to the winds - and the next generation reacted (perhaps overreacted). Robyn
Or we were just more responsible....
There were plenty of STD's back in your hippy days...but no, AIDS was not a concern. I think it was just you that didn't care about health insurance. My parents have always had it, it was something I was taught never to go without. I've seen what happens to those without health insurance, even at a young age given we have friends that have had cancer very young, 12, 29, 35, etc.
We do know that Canadian health care is a little over 10% of their GDP. Health care in the USA is about 17% of our GDP. So, no matter how you slice it taxes and the cost of Canadian Medicare (that's what they call it) are going to be a third less of what they are in the USA.
The other issue that is not addressed in these discussions is that the reason that taxes are as high as they are in the USA has to do with the percentage of our spending going towards the military and defense. If we were paying a percentage of our budget similar to what Canada and many other countries pay for defense needs, taxes would be significantly less.
It has little to do with health insurance. However, a real discussion needs to take place in America about exactly what our needs and responsibilities are when it comes to defense. Currently, our military budget is paying for a military that is larger than that of the next ten nations combined. A reduction in military spending could correlate with more ability to spend on matters like health care for American citizens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal
No, other elective surgeries and yes they are people I talk to on a regular basis and I was responding to someone else that was talking about Canada...that and much of the US touches Canada so that is probably why they use that to compare and some some other country 1/2 way around the world.
There was an hour long report on a recent global health care study on the radio about a month ago. It made the point about Canada that the US Medicare system is patterned after the Canadian system and nearly identical. It said that the wait times in Canada are in fact longer than US Medicare times, but that this is not because of the system. It is simply the result of Canada's political and policy decisions to fund their health care system at a relatively low rate. The wait times would be the same as Medicare if they chose to fund at the same rate as Medicare.
Kind of hard to write a bill that cover people with pre-existing conditions and then deny it for others in future. Since no other option; its likely they will just have to take those who apply afterwards as really that is what happened in this bill it does not contain a penalty that builds up like not joinng Medicare part B when 65.
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