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Let Bernie be in charge, my gosh he would only improve our healthcare. We have one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world, but rank 37th. ( we used to be in 6th place). After further reading there seems to be a discrepancy between rankings. The Commonwealth Fund says we rank 27th. Either way. Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, UK......and many other countries have superior healthcare, not the U.S.
Something needs to change, too many go without proper coverage, premiums are too high and its putting people in debt. I support a healthcare system that truly takes care of all its citizens, not just a select few.
That 75% of us are overweight/ obese means the US population is substantially more vulnerable to otherwise preventable disease, has much to do with why the US spends more per capita. Somewhere along the way, personal responsibility fell off a cliff.
If the population were to magically right size, the population would be healthier and not need medical attention to the extent it does. When nearly 1/3 of the population is Diabetic or pre- Diabetic, something is wrong. Some states trend substantially healthier or sicker than others are it tends to correlate to the percentage of the population overweight/ obese.
How does a healthcare system take care of all its people when the majority of the people don’t take care of themselves?
How old are you - Obviously not old enough. We pay for Medicare - you pay $144 for part B each month - your Part D to cover medications is another $30-$50 and if you go for treatment - and your bill is $2,000 - you are responsible for 20% or $400.
Now there are better plans like Part G - but this alone is going to cost my DH and me about $800 a month - my SS check or we can go the Advantage route and have copays and deductibles - but the deductibles are high.
Socialized medicine is free - Medicare is not - so quit listening to your handlers and do some research because even in countries with Free Healthcare - citizens take out private health insurance because their Free Healthcare doesn't mean everything is free. Like Medicare some things are covered and others aren't covered.
Socialized medicine is free?
The rest of the developed world has embraced Universal healthcare.
Universal healthcare is the right of the people to healthcare. Typically, public or private insurance is mandated. The constitutions of the rest of the developed world grant the right and mandate. Not so in the US. Not likely 2/3 of Congress then 2/3 of states will ever agree to an amendment to make healthcare a right and mandate enrollment into a healthcare scheme.
No two countries use the same strategy to deliver healthcare and Single Payer is only one option. Some countries rely on public insurance. A few countries rely entirely on private insurance. Most are a mixed bag.
Regardless of how, most healthcare is delivered by the private sector.
Increasingly, co-pays, co- insurance and deductibles are used to cost share medical services and discourage over utilization.
While a country has Universal Healthcare, how it is administered, regulated and paid for is delegated to the equivalent of states.
Most of these countries have a VAT which is used to help fund “ free” healthcare. Imagine paying say 25% more for a car on top of state/ county taxes for a car, let alone nearly everything else you consume.
While the rest of the developed world focuses on medical outcomes, hospitalS in the US increasingly use things like valet parking, private rooms/ baths, room service meals, feeding Patient visitors, spa like services, thread count in sheets and so on to create a better experience. The private room thing is often sold as preventing infection. Reality is most infections acquired in a hospital are urinary tract, not spread patient to patient.
Many countries rely on the polyclinic model. For example, babies are delivered in birthing centers by midwives.
Birthing centers don’t incur the overhead of a full service hospital, let alone a trauma hospital.
There is no such thing as free healthcare anywhere.
Having said this, there is something waaaaay off about using Federal tax revenues to subsidize the premiums of 2 million Federal employees by 72-75%, while millions of employees do not have employer subsidized insurance. There is something waaay off about using Federal tax revenues to give males and female federal employees 12 weeks of paid time off following the birth, adoption or foster care placement, while the majority of people funding those benefits do not have such benefits.
What about all the retirees who paid into Medicare for 40 years, and are now at the point of needing health care? How is it fair to them to water down the program so that illegal aliens can get coverage?
Let Bernie be in charge, my gosh he would only improve our healthcare. We have one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world, but rank 37th. ( we used to be in 6th place). After further reading there seems to be a discrepancy between rankings. The Commonwealth Fund says we rank 27th. Either way. Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, UK......and many other countries have superior healthcare, not the U.S.
Something needs to change, too many go without proper coverage, premiums are too high and its putting people in debt. I support a healthcare system that truly takes care of all its citizens, not just a select few.
Quote:
Originally Posted by middle-aged mom
Socialized medicine is free?
The rest of the developed world has embraced Universal healthcare.
Universal healthcare is the right of the people to healthcare. Typically, public or private insurance is mandated. The constitutions of the rest of the developed world grant the right and mandate. Not so in the US. Not likely 2/3 of Congress then 2/3 of states will ever agree to an amendment to make healthcare a right and mandate enrollment into a healthcare scheme.
No two countries use the same strategy to deliver healthcare and Single Payer is only one option. Some countries rely on public insurance. A few countries rely entirely on private insurance. Most are a mixed bag.
Regardless of how, most healthcare is delivered by the private sector.
Increasingly, co-pays, co- insurance and deductibles are used to cost share medical services and discourage over utilization.
While a country has Universal Healthcare, how it is administered, regulated and paid for is delegated to the equivalent of states.
Most of these countries have a VAT which is used to help fund “ free” healthcare. Imagine paying say 25% more for a car on top of state/ county taxes for a car, let alone nearly everything else you consume.
While the rest of the developed world focuses on medical outcomes, hospitalS in the US increasingly use things like valet parking, private rooms/ baths, room service meals, feeding Patient visitors, spa like services, thread count in sheets and so on to create a better experience. The private room thing is often sold as preventing infection. Reality is most infections acquired in a hospital are urinary tract, not spread patient to patient.
Many countries rely on the polyclinic model. For example, babies are delivered in birthing centers by midwives.
Birthing centers don’t incur the overhead of a full service hospital, let alone a trauma hospital.
There is no such thing as free healthcare anywhere.
Having said this, there is something waaaaay off about using Federal tax revenues to subsidize the premiums of 2 million Federal employees by 72-75%, while millions of employees do not have employer subsidized insurance. There is something waaay off about using Federal tax revenues to give males and female federal employees 12 weeks of paid time off following the birth, adoption or foster care placement, while the majority of people funding those benefits do not have such benefits.
I have to agree with the both of you. Quite astonishing how expensive US healthcare really is and then you must take into account the lower life expectancy compared to the rest of the world....it is a shame that some countries in the developed world have better systems
How old are you - Obviously not old enough. We pay for Medicare - you pay $144 for part B each month - your Part D to cover medications is another $30-$50 and if you go for treatment - and your bill is $2,000 - you are responsible for 20% or $400.
Now there are better plans like Part G - but this alone is going to cost my DH and me about $800 a month - my SS check or we can go the Advantage route and have copays and deductibles - but the deductibles are high.
Socialized medicine is free - Medicare is not - so quit listening to your handlers and do some research because even in countries with Free Healthcare - citizens take out private health insurance because their Free Healthcare doesn't mean everything is free. Like Medicare some things are covered and others aren't covered.
Lol, no, "socialized" medicine is not "free", it's paid through taxes, the same way medicare is.
Biden doesn't support medicare for all. That was a major difference between their campaigns.
11th hour hyperbole before an election happens every 4 years. It’s as bipartisan as it gets.
Regardless of campaign platforms, a POTUS has no power to deliver a healthcare plan. A majority of 435 House Representatives and 100 Senators would need to act and fund.
Democrat primary voters rejected Bernie and his M4A fantasy in favor of a moderate, Biden.
Trump continues to pledge his support to repeal the ACA and replace it with something unknown, that is somehow better. At the same time Trump says whatever it is, it will not discriminate against ( historically undefined) preexisting conditions, the major factor of premiums. It does not compute.
Earlier this year, Trump said he would authorize states to buy meds from foreign countries no later than August. It was obviously intended as a bargaining tool to reduce costs of meds. August came and went.
This week I picked up my husband’s generic scripts. Used to cost $7.50 out of pocket. This trip, the same meds required an $11 out of pocket., a 4.66% increase. No big deal. Pharmacist said the increases were attributed to price increases from their sources. Suggests prices were increased in anticipation of a need to demonstrate a future cut. I fully appreciate some people face huge monthly out of pocket costs and a 4.66% increase matters.
Reminds me of common retail strategies whereby the original price tag shows $100 in anticipation of the retailer using a 25-50% off sale promotion price. At the end of the day both the supplier and retailer get the net they expected.
This week I picked up my husband’s generic scripts. Used to cost $7.50 out of pocket. This trip, the same meds required an $11 out of pocket., a 4.66% increase. No big deal. Pharmacist said the increases were attributed to price increases from their sources. Suggests prices were increased in anticipation of a need to demonstrate a future cut. I fully appreciate some people face huge monthly out of pocket costs and a 4.66% increase matters.
I just wanted to point out that your math is off. That’s at 46.6% increase in cost.
That 75% of us are overweight/ obese means the US population is substantially more vulnerable to otherwise preventable disease, has much to do with why the US spends more per capita. Somewhere along the way, personal responsibility fell off a cliff.
If the population were to magically right size, the population would be healthier and not need medical attention to the extent it does. When nearly 1/3 of the population is Diabetic or pre- Diabetic, something is wrong. Some states trend substantially healthier or sicker than others are it tends to correlate to the percentage of the population overweight/ obese.
How does a healthcare system take care of all its people when the majority of the people don’t take care of themselves?
That's of course a contributor, but New Zealand, Australia also have similar percentages , yet per capita HC expenditure is much less. Realistically overweight/obese percentage is high in many of the developed countries.
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