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If no one had insurance then the lines for healthcare would be down and around the block.
Do you think it's right that someone who is very sick has to wait in the waiting room for up to 8 hours?? That's what's happening now, and I'm sure it will only get worse. A trend has started where a lot of people who don't have insurance go to the ER for minor ailments. So the really sick people don't get the care they need. I was told by someone in the ER, the only way to get seen right away is to come by ambulance. That's not fair.
Yes, I agree prices are way too high, but that is the way it has to be. If you want to have top doctors, top machines, and top research somebody has to pay for it. Our country isn't ranked highly in the medical world for nothing.
I was talking to someone that was from Canada where they have the healthcare for everyone. Which at the time I thought was the answer. I was willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have insurance. However, she said it's not all that it's cracked up to be. She said because of that, they may only have one MRI or CT scan machine at a hospital or county. So patients end up waiting months for tests and treatment. Say you get diagnosed with cancer. Well when you get cancer they send you for a PET scan. Well if you lived in Canada, you might have to wait months for that PET scan, which during your cancer is growing and spreading. Then once you get the test then you could wait more months to get the actual treatment. You could die before you even get treated.
If you don't want healthcare then fine, don't get it. I didn't have insurance for years and it worried me everyday. I'm one who thinks it's worth it, if you get a PPO or a higher insurance. I don't know why anyone would pay for a high deductible plan anyways. They won't drop you because you will be paying your high deductible before they have to pay. Something like that may not even be worth having. You pay so much out of pocket before they even pay. It's worth it to have a plan where you may pay a higher premium but they will cover a lot more things and for a lot more money with a smaller deductible. Anyone have any questions about health insurance, I've been a medical biller for 10 years, so please feel free to ask.
If you want to have top doctors, top machines, and top research somebody has to pay for it. Our country isn't ranked highly in the medical world for nothing.
These assertions are highly disputable. Doctors in the US are no more intellectually capable than doctors from anywhere else on planet earth. Furthermore, the US system, as least concerning how it is financed, is actually the laughing stock of a good part of the world.
Pointing up the weakness of other systems is no defense for the weaknesses of the US system.
The fact is, for example, that many European countries spend half as much on medical care as a percentage of GDP for twice as much coverage.
There are success stories and horror stories on all sides, so, again, pointing up the weaknesses of the "other" system is not a valid argument in defense of "our" system.
I was talking to someone that was from Canada where they have the healthcare for everyone. Which at the time I thought was the answer. I was willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have insurance. However, she said it's not all that it's cracked up to be. She said because of that, they may only have one MRI or CT scan machine at a hospital or county. So patients end up waiting months for tests and treatment. Say you get diagnosed with cancer. Well when you get cancer they send you for a PET scan. Well if you lived in Canada, you might have to wait months for that PET scan, which during your cancer is growing and spreading. Then once you .
#1 - This is the incorrect propaganda that is being spread. If you have a life threatening condition, you are put on the top of the list. VERY rarely, does someone die waiting for treatment in Canada, the UK, or France. It actually happens much more often here in the US.
#2 - Sure Canadians love to complain about their healthcare system but when you actually ask most of them, they sure as heck wouldn't want the US system.
And who says we have to have a system just like Canada anyway. Why can't we figure out something that works for US? Are we that incapable?
I just don't understand the whole 3rd world mentality of why should I pay for someone elses medical treatment. We HAVE to take care of our people or it will be the downfall of the United States. We are paying for it anyway, but we are paying for a crappy system where people die when it could have been prevented and we don't have much if any choice in treatment options anyway. Doctors don't decide treatment. Unless we have millions of dollars in the bank if the insurance company won't pay or approve a treatment, guess what we won't get it. This happens way more than people realize.
The new systme may not have to be exactly like Canada or the UK or France, but it has to be something drastically different from what we have now. It doesn't mean free handouts but medical care is something that should be guaranteed for everyone, regardless of ability to pay. The same concept as school for children, police, and firefighting.
similar to what is done in Singapore and I noted that some US lawmakers are looking at their system.
personal pay for the minor stuff, contribute to a personal 'social service pool' (SS type retirement, healthcare...part of this is leverageble for needs such as buying an apartment) and have ins for the catastrophic. Another significant difference is in the costs... they are not a litigious society and Dr.s get paid a decent wage but not top $$ (nor have to pay $$$$ ins themselves)
The politicians get the big $$ there, but are purposed to serve the people, not the lobby. The country has come a long way in 40 yrs of independence tho the rules are a bit stiff for some. I've met many who choose to live their BECAUSE of the rules and security it gives their family.
US could us some intelligent direction in Healthcare, but not politicized... we seem to focus on making noise and blaming rather than actual solutions. (as usual, there is more said than done...)
This does sound like a good idea. I personally don't expect healthcare to be 'free' - I just don't like our insurance system as it is.
And why is it that it is always just assumed that the U.S. will end up like Canada if we go to a new system? I think it is a way to generalized of an assumption, and likewise I have known Canadians who do claim to have gotten good healthcare in their country. And there are Americans who have complaints about care they have gotten here in the U.S.
And it isn't like Americans never have to wait for procedures......just recently I had to wait 1month to get my DD into an appt for a well child check up.
The pediatrician I take her to is a very kindhearted socially responsible individual who also sees children who are on medicaid and the federal child health plan....some MD's won't.
For sake of the argument - should my DD be seen first since she is on private ins that I pay an arm and a leg for??
The United States medical system is regulated by the Government, excessively. Then it is profit-driven in many areas. Yet those same Government regulations limit competition while doing little to preserve the quality of care. The current system of closed-ended medical training for doctors is designed to increase costs while decreasing the quality of care. While I support "free market" pricing I am against excessive Government regulation. Entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid have increased the incentive to inflate prices. The legal system and it's "ambulance chasers" have devastated medicine. The current system is not salvageable and needs to be scrapped. My ideas? Get rid of Medicare/Medicaid, make it illegal to provide care to non-citizens unless they pay, reform the system for training doctors, eliminate the FDA and create a new system for drug testing that encourages competition, require all medical records to be electronic and have the CDC or other Government agencies keep a public database of diseases, and most importantly-allow patients to dispute all costs and require up-front pricing.
And it cracks me up when people act like there aren't wait times in the US for tests etc. Heck I live near NYC & I know someone who had Stage IV cancer that could NOT get in for test in a timely fashion. I'm going to presume it wouldn't have made a difference since she was dead within 3 months but...The only difference is that in Canada someone who is rich can't buy someone else's spot with a more dire need, from the Dr or medical establishment. In the US you can feel free to step on the carcass on your way out the door.
And btw for a country that is so well reputed medically why are our infant mortality rates ranked at around the same spots as some 3rd world countries. Why do places like Sweden beat us when it come to medical care (you know with their horrific universal medical care)? I'm not saying this is a bad place to be if you get sick, but let's not let nationalism get in the way of reality here.
The United States medical system is regulated by the Government, excessively. Then it is profit-driven in many areas. Yet those same Government regulations limit competition while doing little to preserve the quality of care. The current system of closed-ended medical training for doctors is designed to increase costs while decreasing the quality of care. While I support "free market" pricing I am against excessive Government regulation. Entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid have increased the incentive to inflate prices. The legal system and it's "ambulance chasers" have devastated medicine. The current system is not salvageable and needs to be scrapped. My ideas? Get rid of Medicare/Medicaid, make it illegal to provide care to non-citizens unless they pay, reform the system for training doctors, eliminate the FDA and create a new system for drug testing that encourages competition, require all medical records to be electronic and have the CDC or other Government agencies keep a public database of diseases, and most importantly-allow patients to dispute all costs and require up-front pricing.
The government actually doesn't regulate hospitals that heavily. Any "burdensome" regulation is due more to JCAHO than to any government oversight.
Electronic medical records are a good idea and nearly every hospital is moving in this direction. However, it is increasing the cost of healthcare in the short term do the expense of implementing the new systems. It also won't help everything since the EMR systems are not typically compatible with each other. They are all proprietary. The hospital that I work for is spending over $100 million to implement our EMR system for four hospitals and twenty primary care and specialty clinics. Another problem with EMRs is training physicians to use them - a doctor I know that works exclusively in Bend, OR has to learn five different systems in order to do his job at various area hospitals.
The CDC already keeps massive databases on disease statistics, and has for decades.
The problem is the combination of for-profit hospitals and for-profit insurance companies with the primary mission of increasing shareholder value. Non-profit insurance companies and hospitals are in the business of staying open and providing care rather than guaranteeing returns to investors, and it makes all the difference.
So why are you all such conditioned sheep into never questioning the over-priced medical bills? That is where the problem lies -- not in the need for nor lack of insurance. The bills have been ran up to gouge US and medical, pharmco and insurance industry all profit from this. They have paid Congress and rest of the related government hundreds of millions to make this all possible.
I work for a large non-profit hospital in Seattle, and we only bring in about 3 cents on the dollar to reinvest in new equipment and capital improvements. Most of our major capital upgrades are funded through fund-raising rather than by reinvestment.
Hospitals are not doing well financially due to the skimming of profits by the insurance industry and the pharmeceutical companies as well as increased competition to attract consumers with the latest, greatest equipment.
#1 - This is the incorrect propaganda that is being spread. If you have a life threatening condition, you are put on the top of the list. VERY rarely, does someone die waiting for treatment in Canada, the UK, or France. It actually happens much more often here in the US.
#2 - Sure Canadians love to complain about their healthcare system but when you actually ask most of them, they sure as heck wouldn't want the US system.
#1 I have seen stats showing the opposite, ie, the number of people who die in Canada and the UK because they had to wait so long for MRIs or Cat Scans when they had cancer that the cancer was too far advanced to do anything once the imaging was finally done.
#2 Is that why there are Canadian companies dedicated to helping Canadians arrange medical services from the US?
And btw for a country that is so well reputed medically why are our infant mortality rates ranked at around the same spots as some 3rd world countries. Why do places like Sweden beat us when it come to medical care (you know with their horrific universal medical care)? I'm not saying this is a bad place to be if you get sick, but let's not let nationalism get in the way of reality here.
The infant mortality rate in the US is skewed downward. This is due to the fact that many babies that would be aborted due to a medical condition or born stillborn here are delivered and an attempt is made to save them. Since many of them die in the course of treatment it affects our infant mortality rate. In countries with less sophisticated care the babies would not have been born alive.
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