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As long as the middle class is willing to pay 50%+ in income taxes, I see no problem with it. The money has to come from somewhere, and there are not enough "rich people" to pay. Check out the tax rates of the above countries
The US certainly seems to find the money to maintain a defense budget bigger than the next 8 countries combined, and incarcerate more people than any other nation on earth, though.
Last edited by ohhwanderlust; 03-08-2016 at 01:09 PM..
Like another poster above, I've had experience with both the US and UK healthcare systems and my observations are similar.
All of this from the perspective of a relatively healthy person with no chronic conditions.
Notably:
1. In the US, office visits, lab work, tests etc seem to be ordered for almost anything, including an ordinary 'wellness' exam.
2. In the US, its hard to leave a Drs office without a prescription for *something*. Using allergies as an example, my US Dr sent me home with 3 different medicines to sample and figure out what worked best. My UK Dr gave me a pamphlet on lifestyle modifications I could make to reduce allergens in my home environment as well as a suggestion for a cheap, over - the - counter option. If those didn't work after a month, I was welcome to discuss 'other options.'
3. If your Dr *does* prescribe something in the UK, the max you pay is something like £7, which can be waived in the case of economic hardship. In the US your prescription costs can vary dramatically depending on what you need. Often the Dr will prescribe a 'name brand' drug which costs far more than the generic equivalent (if one is even available).
4. The obvious difference between the two is no bills, co-pays, insurance headaches in the UK. You just call the Dr in your 'catchment area' where you are registered as a patient and schedule an appointment. Also, I was far less terrified of ending up in the emergency room/A&E in the UK because the costs wouldn't bankrupt me.
5. Being a student/unemployed/underemployed doesn't mean you have to worry about no insurance, high deductible plans or getting coverage on your parents' policy. Everyone gets the same access.
6. The UK has private hospitals, but they often don't get the same research funding as the NHS hospitals, so people often prefer the public hospital (kind of a reverse from the US where oftentimes privately-funded hospitals have the most innovative technologies, etc).
7. The attitude I got from my UK doctor was one of sympathy when I mentioned I was returning to the US. He wrote me a 'bulk' prescription for several months of a particular medicine that would have cost hundreds of dollars back in the US. Fortunately, I paid £7 for the lot of them before going back home.
Number one is due to liability. Drs. are covering their rear ends just in case something was not diagnosed correctly without a thousand tests. If we redid our tort system in this country, their insurance would not cost and arm and a leg.
Can't speak for England, but I have plenty of relatives in CAN who will tell you that their health system is not what it is cracked up to be.
If you are sick with a cold, you break your arm, you stub your toe, all is great. Need a knee replaced, expect to wait six months or maybe longer (my cousin waited just under six months). And if their health system was so great, why do their really rich and politicians come over to the USA for serious health problems like heart surgery?
Someone needs to show me, where in the Constitutions, it says healthcare is part of your rights. Of course, those screaming for free healthcare don't understand the word FREE, or they are low income, or not even working and they want everything for free.
As long as the middle class is willing to pay 50%+ in income taxes, I see no problem with it. The money has to come from somewhere, and there are not enough "rich people" to pay. Check out the tax rates of the above countries
We pay for healthcare right now just not in the form of taxes. Almost 18% of my gross pay goes to health insurance right now. That's crazy. And as others have points out we're paying more than most Western countries where healthcare is guaranteed to all. There are ways to do it without "50%+ in income taxes" if you could get past the political rhetoric and healthcare company marketing/lobbying.
Why do we need to follow other countries in their social issues? In other words, I could care less what type of healthcare systems are in other countries.
Right....how could ANY of them be smarter than 'Merica?
This issue is too big to chalk up to "I don't give a crap about what anyone else is doing". I would love to see an objective compilation of the pros and cons of universal health care - based on the past experiences of other countries and taking into account their differences. We can do far better than relying on opinions - there's a lot of information we can use if we can get past the emotion.
I thought that's what we had? I mean, that what obama ran on, right?
Quote:
"My plan begins by covering every American. If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change for you under this plan is that the amount of money you will spend on premiums will be less," Obama said. "If you are one of 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance, you will after this plan becomes law."
Number one is due to liability. Drs. are covering their rear ends just in case something was not diagnosed correctly without a thousand tests. If we redid our tort system in this country, their insurance would not cost and arm and a leg.
Can't speak for England, but I have plenty of relatives in CAN who will tell you that their health system is not what it is cracked up to be.
If you are sick with a cold, you break your arm, you stub your toe, all is great. Need a knee replaced, expect to wait six months or maybe longer (my cousin waited just under six months). And if their health system was so great, why do their really rich and politicians come over to the USA for serious health problems like heart surgery?
Someone needs to show me, where in the Constitutions, it says healthcare is part of your rights. Of course, those screaming for free healthcare don't understand the word FREE, or they are low income, or not even working and they want everything for free.
For heart surgery, they should go to France. Living with dignity is part of your rights as a human being in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, "
Access to healthcare is one condition to fulfil to guarantee that dignity and the equal and inalienable rights. Isn't it?
if you switch jobs and get sick during the 3 month gap before the new employer covers you gofundme is your only option.
That does happen. My cousin's husband changed jobs while she was pregnant with her second child. They figured it would be fine, because they expected a healthy baby and he would be getting a huge income increase by changing jobs. But the baby was born with very severe Down's Syndrome. The insurance through his new company would not provide coverage for the child, because they considered it a preexisting condition, because he was born before the father's insurance kicked in. The father had to quit his job so they could get government assistance, because the boy's medical bills would have been too much for them.
universal health coverage is clearly a hot topic. Someone said recently in an interview that the US could never be successful because of the disparate groups of people.
Basically, the same thing that makes America great is the one thing that will prevent us from universal health coverage because we as a society are currently being brain washed into believing we don't want to help those less fortunate because they are too lazy to find a job that will give them medical coverage and we are led to believe that being selfish is in some way helping the less fortunate to become productive members of society.
The narrative needs to change before most of the previously indoctrinated can accept the option.
it works in sweden and/or norway because everyone looks the same and have similiar backgrounds. I would venture that an upper middle class white male would see absolutely no reason/desire to help a homeless black grandmother by paying more taxes.
I must say that the prospect of paying 50% of my salary in taxes is a bit frightening.
As long as the middle class is willing to pay 50%+ in income taxes, I see no problem with it. The money has to come from somewhere, and there are not enough "rich people" to pay. Check out the tax rates of the above countries
Where, oh where, could we possibly find the money...
Oh! Here's an idea:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohhwanderlust
The US certainly seems to find the money to maintain a defense budget bigger than the next 8 countries combined, and incarcerate more people than any other nation on earth, though.
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