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It has saved me tens if not hundreds of thousands of $ compared to a US system. And has given me and relatives world class service and treatments!
I have NO fear of getting sick or anybody else I know, because I know our Socialized healthcare will help them, no matter what costs or treatments.
Right now a elderly relative is using pills that costs $800 each day, to fight his cancer. As are hundreds of others.. And medications here are FAR FAR cheaper then the US, because we have collective bargaining power!
Socialized healthcare is GREAT!!
Where are you from? I was born and raised in The Netherlands and moved to the US 15 years ago. I still have family in The Netherlands so I know both systems pretty well.
Let's talk about my brother, who still lives in The Netherlands:
Yearly physicals? Unheard of.
Annual melanoma screenings? Both him and I have a lot of moles and fair skin (thanks mom and dad!). I get screened once to twice a year and had numerous moles removed for testing. He hasn't seen a dermatologist in his life.
My brother has indigestion problems. He went to his primary care physician twice. Average wait time for an appointment is 10 weeks. His physician told him twice to reduce caffeine and alcohol and refuses to send him to a specialist for testing. And yes, you can't see a specialist without a referral. He still has the same issues.
And that's the system we want in the United States?
So for people that can't afford healthcare, screw em, right?
That's how you feel.
You might as well just say it.
Show who you really are.
Is this that "secular humanism" that those people were talkin about?
My wife's sister and her loser husband had no healthcare...none, nada ...so it is safe to say they couldn't afford it (actually in their case they didn't want to) yet when one of her kids was born, premature and spent a couple of weeks in ICU it all got paid for somehow.
Now my wife and I pay close to $700 a month for our healthcare, I had a surgery 3 years ago, spent two weeks in the hospital and a night in ICU, and we are still making a payment on that visit, I think it is down to $1100 now.
Seems to me that those that can't afford it are the ones making out...and we are the dumb ones for paying.
My wife's sister and her loser husband had no healthcare...none, nada ...so it is safe to say they couldn't afford it (actually in their case they didn't want to) yet when one of her kids was born, premature and spent a couple of weeks in ICU it all got paid for somehow.
Now my wife and I pay close to $700 a month for our healthcare, I had a surgery 3 years ago, spent two weeks in the hospital and a night in ICU, and we are still making a payment on that visit, I think it is down to $1100 now.
Seems to me that those that can't afford it are the ones making out...and we are the dumb ones for paying.
The hospital wrote off you relatives bill and boosted the charges on everyone else that can pay.
Kinda why people complaining about paying for other people aren't grasping the fact that we already are.
I have had pretty good insurance for over 25 years via work and I've pretty much come around to supporting single payer.
The Netherlands has Universal Healthcare. No two countries do it the same way.
The Netherlands does not use a Single Payer model. All primary care, hospitalization and medications are privately insured. Insurers are required to be Guaranteed Issue and charge a fixed premium to all, regardless of age, medical history and current medical condition. Insurance is mandated. Exemptions exist to accommodate religions that do not believe in insurance. These people are required to maintain the equivalent of a Health Savings Account. 99% of the people are insured.
50% of the premium is paid by employers. 45 % is paid by the insured party. Government picks up the tab for minors, long term care, hospice and mental illness.
Many people have Supplimental Plans to pay for that which is not covered by basic insurance.
Most hospitals are private and not for profit. Like in the US, not for profit organizations are not prevented from profit. They simply cannot use profits to declare dividends.
The OP’s link said the reason these two hospitals filed for bankruptcy is because they could not afford to cover payroll.
There was major healthcare reform in 2006 with and increased focus on decentralization, competition amongst providers and choice of providers for the people. Some providers do well in a competitive enviotnment and some do not.
I remember reading that hospitals were formed because a religious community would gather and have fund raisers so they can raise the money to send their brightest and best people of the communities to college to become doctors and study medicine, then they would come back to the communities and build hospitals so the sick can go there and heal. It's why so many hospitals today are named after some religious saint, and will have the Jesus Christ cross as the official emblem of healing centers.
Back then, doctors became doctors because they wanted to heal people, and hospitals were raised to help communities in their most desperate need. When did our medical industry go from wanting to heal to wanting to bankrupt the world with outrageous costs of medical care?
Back in those days, many of the diseases that were fatal are now treatable and increasingly curable.
It has saved me tens if not hundreds of thousands of $ compared to a US system. And has given me and relatives world class service and treatments!
I have NO fear of getting sick or anybody else I know, because I know our Socialized healthcare will help them, no matter what costs or treatments.
Right now a elderly relative is using pills that costs $800 each day, to fight his cancer. As are hundreds of others.. And medications here are FAR FAR cheaper then the US, because we have collective bargaining power!
No, maybe it's time for the government to stop robbing from Peter to pay for Paul's expensive life saving surgery that in the end just makes Paul's doctor much more wealthier, and instead, maybe it's time for the government to start looking into regulating the costs of medical care to begin with. Maybe start with the colleges that ask for way too much money to become a doctor, so that only the rich can afford it, or those who are on student loans, have to charge their patients double to pay back the loans. What about the cost of medicine? Most medical miracles are a combination of government grants and voluntary donations for research. You ever hear about these fund raisers that the rich go to, to donate a large sum of money so they can write it off on their taxes, these are the kinds of fund raisers that fund the medical research institutes, so basically there is no reason why all of these medicines have to cost as much as they do.
Just saying, look all around you. The more control you give the government over what you are allowed to spend your money on, the worse things get. Especially the United States government, which is full of corruption.
You and I pay high taxes for education, but yet, where is it going? We are one of the worst educated countries in the world. You can throw all of the money you want towards education, but if our government is taking the money and using it to fatten the pockets of contractors with no bid contracts to build more schools, no bid contracts on who gets to write and publish the books, which companies get to sell their desks, lockers, security systems, uniforms, pencils, pens, notebooks, etc, you get the picture, and then finally using what is left to pay teachers that may not be the absolute best teachers we can find for the job, it just seems to me that the education system is just another Ponzi scheme to steal from the poor to pay for the rich and well connected.
You and I also pay high taxes for our defense, and isn't it amazing, ever since the government started to enforce the confiscation of gold from the public, the US has been in some kind of war. The poor keep getting killed in these wars while the elite get richer with every private defense contract that is drawn up. And the world is definitely not any safer.
Heck, our taxes are even supposed to go to roads and infrastructure, but why is it again, the money goes to no bid contractors, and the roads always need to be worked on? To me, forcing the people to pay taxes to a corrupt government that will use the tax money to fatten their wallets and make sure their family and friend's companies are benefiting the most from the taxes is just a failure all around. You don't see the correlation with the constant mergers and monopolies of major corporations are rising with the increase of taxes, regulations and fees????? Are you not seeing that these policies are benefiting the extremely wealthy and well connected mega corporations while the small businesses are crumbling under all of the weight of bureaucracy?
The US people are not the most poorly educated in the world. Ever wonder why China only submits test results from 2 cities instead of the entire country. Ever wonder why China denies education beyond 5th grade to certain ethnic tribes. Ever wonder about how most countries divert those deemed to not be college bound to vocational schools and don’t permit them to participate in tests that are subject to international comparison? Are you aware that vocational training includes food service and retail workers- not skilled jobs.
The Constitution makes clear the Federal Government’s ability to tax for defense and just about anything else that can be justified as common welfare. Why don’t states take care of their own infrastructures instead of milking the Federal Government? Congress critters who bring home the bacon are rewarded by votes.
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