Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
To Jenn....great post. I have lived in England, Ireland and the United States. I have used the NHS myself and have never had a complaint about it, just like the system here in Ireland. There are waiting lists for certain procedures, but it depends where you live.
Given the choice, I would opt for socialised health care every time as opposed to the for-profit health care (for-greed) you have in America. I never trusted doctors or hospitals in America and I always dreaded the bills.
I was always baffled as to why people over there are so afraid of socialised medicine. It's as if they see it as a form of government control, which is really isn't. These people would rather go on being financially raped by greedy corporations (insurance companies, hospitals and everything else associated with those evils) than consider any form of alternative, which may end up actually SAVING them money, even the rich guys with their fabulous insurance. Personally, I don't see the problem....if you don't trust the government that you elect, why would you trust a corporation to take care of your health? It has nothing to do with government control...the government just allocate the money...they don't "control" the doctors and nurses like something out of Orwell's "1984".
People don't seem to mind paying taxes that go towards multi-billion dollar (pointless) wars. I'm sure that people wouldn't mind paying more taxes to improve border security to keep out illegal immigrants and I'm sure that people wouldn't mind paying more taxes to improve the education system. What's the difference with health care? Oh....is it because a few million POOR PEOPLE (dirty word (poor)) will actually benefit? Oh...woudn't want all of those lazy poor people (who are all poor because they made bad choices, so say the Choice Police) getting a free ride.
I don't understand it either. And I don't understand why the Republican party is so adamantly against it. It is one major reason I probably won't be voting republican next year.
The sad, sad thing is that we are ALL paying for it anyway but we are paying for an inadequate system. How in the world are we going to keep up with the rest of the world if we can't keep our citizens healthy?
The NHS is not perfect but it is a good model. My entire family is British. I am first generation American in my family. Not one person in my family (and it is a big family that ranges from very poor to very wealthy) would change the health system much. They might tweak it here and there but the general premise is a good one. And guess what, it has worked for them since when, hasn't the NHS been around since the 40s? And you know what, everyone in England seems very, very happy. All the restaurants and stores are full. People can afford nice houses and nice cars. Entrepreneurs are thriving. England didn't crumble into a messy heap because of the NHS.
She does bring up a good point...if no Americans are denied health care, the insured are already paying for the uninsured anyway through taxes and insurance premium hikes. So how is that less "socialistic"? The difference is most are paying more than they need to be with the current model.
Those were some interesting stories. Let me share another. Our neighbors were on vacation in Canada. Their daughter got a sore throat, so they took her to the dr. The dr. prescribed the antibiotics w/o doing a throat culture. He told them that was because the Canadian system pays for lab tests but not for drugs. So the docs learn to work the system. Just prescribe the drugs, which the pt. will pay for, instead of doing the throat culture, which the health service would pay for. In this country, the culture would be done, then antibiotics prescribed only if the pt. had strep. Overuse of antibiotics is a big concern, and "playing the system" happens in any system.
To Jenn....great post. I have lived in England, Ireland and the United States. I have used the NHS myself and have never had a complaint about it, just like the system here in Ireland. There are waiting lists for certain procedures, but it depends where you live.
Given the choice, I would opt for socialised health care every time as opposed to the for-profit health care (for-greed) you have in America. I never trusted doctors or hospitals in America and I always dreaded the bills.
I was always baffled as to why people over there are so afraid of socialised medicine. It's as if they see it as a form of government control, which is really isn't. These people would rather go on being financially raped by greedy corporations (insurance companies, hospitals and everything else associated with those evils) than consider any form of alternative, which may end up actually SAVING them money, even the rich guys with their fabulous insurance. Personally, I don't see the problem....if you don't trust the government that you elect, why would you trust a corporation to take care of your health? It has nothing to do with government control...the government just allocate the money...they don't "control" the doctors and nurses like something out of Orwell's "1984".
People don't seem to mind paying taxes that go towards multi-billion dollar (pointless) wars. I'm sure that people wouldn't mind paying more taxes to improve border security to keep out illegal immigrants and I'm sure that people wouldn't mind paying more taxes to improve the education system. What's the difference with health care? Oh....is it because a few million POOR PEOPLE (dirty word (poor)) will actually benefit? Oh...woudn't want all of those lazy poor people (who are all poor because they made bad choices, so say the Choice Police) getting a free ride.
Americans arent afraid, if most Americans were actually informed they would most definetly be for it
The problem is the Capitalists
1) you have the Health Insurance people who make a killing off of the system how it is
2) The wealthy people are going to cry and say "Why should we pay anymore in taxes" even though they wouldnt be wealthy if it werent for the poor working class saps who put them in the position they are in(unless they won the lottery or hit a jackpot in Vegas)
England didn't crumble into a messy heap because of the NHS.
Does anybody wonder why the Big 3 automakers are shifting production to Canada? They can account the cost of health care differently by not figuring it into the cost of production since they are not paying directly for it.
ok free healthcare, except for those that smoke, if your more than 10lbs overweight you pay, (no twinkies you pigs), kids with a cold, help them out. do illegal drugs? no help. forget sugar anything. you want it free, I dont want all your bad habits. except it or shut up, and get your own.
ok free healthcare, except for those that smoke, if your more than 10lbs overweight you pay, (no twinkies you pigs), kids with a cold, help them out. do illegal drugs? no help. forget sugar anything. you want it free, I dont want all your bad habits. except it or shut up, and get your own.
If the public was informed they would give expanded healthcare serious consideration. But the public is not informed.
Although all systems have flaws those who have experienced socialized healthcare usually see it in a positive and beneficial way.
The health insurance industry has the money, power, and access to the media to finance manufactured fear about changing the status quo of healthcare. The usual and predictable scare tactics are used to condemn anything which may threaten their profits. To many, socialized healthcare is equivalent to erecting a large statue of Lenin in Washington.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
free health care
