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I know people say things like "but what if something happens to you". It's a risk I'm willing to take. I've mitigated those possibilities with my lifestyle.
Lifestyle or no (Jim Fixx), it's a risk to the rest of us that you're so willing to take. When (not if) something happens, you will get care, and everyone else will pay for it out of their pockets. On behalf of everyone else, thanks a lot for being so responsible...
I don't agree with socialized benefits. There are plenty of ways to lower healthcare costs:
1. Stop the stupid lawsuits. So many of them are over ridiculous things. This drives up insurance for the doctors and the public pays the price.
Myth. Americans are among the least likely populations to sue in the world. There is no significant relationship between medical lawsuits and malpractice insurance premiums. These vary in relation to two things -- the degree of competitiveness in malpractice insurance markets and the general direction of the stock markets.
On the other hand, Items 2 through 5 are at least pretty much true.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jco
What scares me the most about socialized healthcare is the government having a say-so in my medical care. I want the ability to choose and I want drug companies and doctors to have an incentive for providing great care and advancement. Basically, I don't believe I should pay the price of a corrupt system.
Under single-payer systems, the government does not necessarily have any say at all in your medical care, and certainly not to the degree that it (and cost-cutting HMO's etc.) already do today. Single-payer systems deal with the means of financing medical care, not necessarily with its provision.
Location: Ohio, but moving to El Paso, TX August/September
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Quote:
Single-payer systems deal with the means of financing medical care, not necessarily with its provision.
That's not necessarily true. In Holland, they do no life saving procedures on kids born under 26 weeks gestation (at least that's how it was about a year ago when I was there and watched a tv program about it). As a society, they've decided it's too expensive because there are high risks of long term health problems before that time.
Yes, I'm satisfied. I could take advantage of the VA Health Care system because I have a service-connected disability. Yet, I choose to instead use private doctors because, in spite of the efforts by the good people at the VA, the care is substandard in most cases, as should be expected from a government-run service.
More government involvement is NOT the solution. Let the free market solve this problem by removing current government controls.
I'm still trying to get my fist VA appointment and am not exactly happy with them right now. Called to make an appointment in April and couldn't get in until June. They called the day before to say the doctor was sick and rescheduled. No biggy there, even doctors get sick. Bad part was I took time off work to go to the rescheduled appointment and they told me, while I was there, that the doctor was still sick and wouldn't be in. like that really helped... worst part was they called me a few minutes later to tell me I needed to reschedule and it was the same lady I just talked to and rescheduled with....
yeah, that's how I want my health care system ran..
I am retired military though and have Tricare for life. I pay something like $438/year and that covers everything. Many people say the military system sucks, but I've had nothing but good out of it. I saw the bill for my son's birth (c-section) and it was almost $30K, I paid $25. Right before I retired my wife went to the hospital because she thought she was having a heart attack. luckily it was a digestive thing, but an ambulance, 5 days in the hospital and a buttload of tests cost almost $40K, I paid absolutely nothing.. they did send me a bill for $25, but returned it because they were mistaken
so yeah, I'm happy with my medical coverage..
edit- forgot to ask the people who want socialized medicine why they like communism.. or doesn't anyone ever notice who supports these far left wing ideas? Kinda hard to not notice that hammer and sickle at all the protests...
At least we get to vote for the politicians though - if we don't like them, we vote for new ones. We don't get to vote for insurance companies, or for all of those lobbyists. Our current system is actually taking democracy away from us, because we're having less and less of a say in something so important as our own healthcare and the healthcare of the nation as a whole. To me, healthcare should be about "health" - everything else should be secondary. We should all have a right to healthcare, regardless of our position in life.
In England, even Margaret Thatcher (England's biggest "Conservative") didn't abolish the National Health Service. You don't have to be a socialist to agree that healthcare should be a right for all.
I know that the healthcare situation in the US cannot be fixed overnight. We should start by doing the following though:
1) Introducing a law to make it illegal for insurance companies to deny treatment/coverage due to pre-existing conditions
2) Let's start by guaranteeing free healthcare to those under 18 and over 65.
3) Putting a cap on the cost of prescriptions, say a $40 max (it's $10 in the UK, for god's sake!).
4) Making it illegal for hospitals to turn anyone away for "financial" reasons. If this means hospitals having to bite the bullet and treat people, knowing that they won't get the money back, so be it.
I think it would be almost impossible to fix our healthcare system nation wide. The fix will eventially happen, but it will happen first on a state level. Probably in California first.
It really is sad we live in the richest country in the world and yet we allow insurance companies decide whether or not we will be covered for procedures and treatments. In effect, we allow people here to go bankrupt and lose everything they have because insurance companies donate money to crooked politicians.
ha ha ha, I can see it now, California's the first state to institute a 50% income tax bracket to fund yet another failed attempt at socializing the masses..
ha ha ha, I can see it now, California's the first state to institute a 50% income tax bracket to fund yet another failed attempt at socializing the masses..
Actually California SB840 would have done it and it would have eliminated huge insurance overhead costs. It would have saved billions, but Arnold vetoed it after receiving huge amounts of campaign finance monies from the insurance industry.
Although it would have been universal coverage financed by businesses, it wouldn't have been socialized medicine. A bit of a difference.
good point, good point indeed. I never thought of it that way..
I would personally love to be my own police force, but can see how that might be taken advantage of Just call me Judge Dredd..
If there was an ideal medical system then I would support it, but there's no way I want to pay for one like they have in places like Canada and the UK. I worked with quite a few of their military people and they pay obscene amounts of tax and have nothing good to say about the health care system.
and thinking like michael moore is just crazy. anyone trying to claim cuba is superior in anything is automatically dismissed in my book. They proved communism was a failure many moons ago. and no, I don't even like their cigars
good point, good point indeed. I never thought of it that way..
I would personally love to be my own police force, but can see how that might be taken advantage of Just call me Judge Dredd..
If there was an ideal medical system then I would support it, but there's no way I want to pay for one like they have in places like Canada and the UK. I worked with quite a few of their military people and they pay obscene amounts of tax and have nothing good to say about the health care system.
and thinking like michael moore is just crazy. anyone trying to claim cuba is superior in anything is automatically dismissed in my book. They proved communism was a failure many moons ago. and no, I don't even like their cigars
Maybe you should try the French system, free to all including the poorest , and the best healthcare system in the world. ( according to the W.H.O not exactly known for its bias towards France). Oh and they're not communist either . Not even remotely.
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