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Americans have always been a "get the job done" nation. Unfortunately that attitude has now turned to "don't rock the boat or the big corporations won't like it" nation. The people who have now earned their money are terrified that the average American Citizen of today will get some of their "perks". You are right that the common concensus in America is that the Health Service is broken and failing the American Citizen. Luckily the people against some form of UHC are old and their voices will soon disappear. Hopefully the new generation of America will realiser that CEO's only think of themselves and will not be as gullable as a good proportion of the indoctrinated older generation.
Geeoro,
I think you'd be surprised - many senior citizens see the health care system as broken also - and they obsess about it more than any other group and will probably be the force that makes change happen... since they are so politically active...
IMHO - something has to change - because the system is broken and only getting worse... And it is not just the uninsured any longer, a big part of the problem is the working underinsured....
Fortunately I have good coverage (at least now), but I worry about people below me on the economic ladder, and especially about my children's generation...
Change is on the way - I don't think even lobbyist ridden Washington can turn the tidal wave of public outrage that is very slowly building to critical mass.
Very true Hubble. I'm not saying all the older generation are happy with the health system as it is. It tends to be the ones who have money and health cover, a luxury that many Americans find themselves without.
Very true Hubble. I'm not saying all the older generation are happy with the health system as it is. It tends to be the ones who have money and health cover, a luxury that many Americans find themselves without.
Actually - very few Americans are without health insurance.
Part of what drives the system toward collapse is the conversion of medical debt into consumer debt. In the past, medical debts were handled mostly between the debtor and the hospital. Replayment plans were generous and spanned many years.
One of the trends of recent times has been for hospitals to sell their uncollected debt to private debt collection agencies, which then aggressively pursue the debts, demand higher monthly payments, and take out liens and charge interest when debts go unpaid.
While entirely legal, this has the effect of making people angry at the system, especially when it wasn't their "choice" to be in the hospital in the first place (e.g., getting hit by a car with an uninsured driver). The idea that you are walking down the street, get hit by a car through no fault of your own, then get a lien put on your house due to massive medical debt strikes many as an odious way to run a health care system.
And it's more a matter of underinsurance than no insurance.
UHC sounds awfully tempting especially since I will have a difficult time securing health insurance when my COBRA runs out due to "pre-existing" conditions caused by birth defects. However, I have a strong mistrust for our government and our self-serving politicians (both dems and GOPS) who have failed us time and time again. I strongly believe UHC is a utopian idea that would in reality turn our healthcare situation into a true crisis. I think we need some serious answers to the following questions before we can even contemplate enacting UHC:
1. How much will the government have to tax us to even FUND UHC?
2. Who would provide oversight of this system (self-serving politicians, incompetent civil servants, etc)? Doctors.. I think THEY should have oversight of the system.
the problem, currently, is that self serving politicians are standing in teh way of a UHC because they are all bought by the insurance companies.. (well them and other corporate interests)
3. How would we, the taxpayers, ensure that the taxes we pay into the UHC system will actually be used for healthcare when our government has a proven track record of raiding funds from SS and other programs to fund pork projects? I think there would have to be strong wording to make sure that doesn't happen.
4. If we, the taxpayers are unsatisfied with UHC, would we have the options of repealing the program or are we just stuck with it as we are with other poorly run governmental programs (public education, Social Security, etc...)?
I think Geero has mentioned quite a few times that in Britian you can supplement your gov't program with private sector insurance.. and because demand for private sector is lower due to a National plan.. to supplement the national plan is on the cheap there. This way, if you are unsatisfied with teh gov't coverage you have extra coverage for the things the gov't denies, etc. I think they wealthy would have the peace of mind taht they are spending extra money so they are getting a little better than those that don't have the extra.. fi you know what I mean.
5. When demand exceeds supply, what criteria will the government use to ration our healthcare (long waits, denials of services, etc...)?
I keep hearing about suddenly more people will need healthcare all of a sudden. Well.. where I live if you want to make an appt. for a Dr. that you've never been to and are a new patient, you have to wait weeks and schedule your appt's in advance. Like when my mother in law was visiting and came down sick and needed meds.. I tried to make her an appt and they said they didn't have an opening for 2 weeks.. you could be dead by then. It all depends on where you live really. I believe strongly that with an efficiently run system : ie, money not going to lobby (purchase) politicians and CEO's fat cat bonuses and salaries, to name a few.. we won't have a supply of money problem.
6. What will happen when the government do UHC budget cuts? What health services will the government cut?
7. What criteria will the government use in deciding what treatments are medically necessary? What other options would be available to those who were denied treatment because the government determined that a treatment is not medically necessary?
I think the criteria is simple.. leave that up to the medical professional.. the Dr. As it is now, these things are determined by pencil pushers at an insurance company who's only concern is how much money the insurance company is making and NOT what is viable or in your healths 'best interest. DR's should be deciding ..not pollticians, not admin staff.. not CEO's not shareholders!
8. If the government is funding our healthcare, would the doctors and nurses be governmental employees? Would they fall under civil service employment rules, which makes it difficult to fire incompetent employees? (I'm a former civil servant myself so I know incompetency abounds in governmental offices)
I think Geero has explained how it works in U.K.. and btw, in France and U.K the Dr's are doing pretty well .. I don't think they would be a gov't employee.. and they have the options to work with private insured patients as well..Im' sure there could be some happy medium
9. Will the government continually update medical equipment and invest in medical research to find cures for diseases such as cancer, AIDS, etc...?
There is too much governmental unaccountability and corruption to actually believe that the government has our best interests in mind. The prospect of having our healthcare run as inefficiently as our broken education system and DMV offices trully scares me. I believe that we should:
1. Have some sort of provisions to assist the uninsured and who are unable to obtain or afford healthcare.
2. Enact tort reform to reduce the malpractice insurance costs that just gets passed onto the consumers.
Thank you.
Their are a lot of questions and concerns. I do believe that if carefully planned out with issues resolved it could work in the future. Will it be perfect.. no of course not.. you can't please all the of the people all of the time..
But.. as I've said... nothing is going to change just yet until the numbers keep increasing of those realizing, like yourself, just how problematic our system is. And those numbers are growing. Change is a coming.. how quickly.. who knows. MOst likely they will scramble to attempt to save or put bandaids on the current system, and for awhile those bandaids may work.. but I really feel that ultimately our system will fail. Maybe not in our lifetime but I do believe and hope that by the time my sons' generation grows into adults we'll be well on the way to a system that is far better, more fair and unattainable for EVERY American.
Yes Table. It is as if people become sick through some fault of their own and have to be bankrupted for it. Money has become too much of a factor in the American Health System. It should be the first priority to help the sick not make penalise them for not being able to get adequate cover.
I think you'd be surprised - many senior citizens see the health care system as broken also - and they obsess about it more than any other group and will probably be the force that makes change happen... since they are so politically active...
IMHO - something has to change - because the system is broken and only getting worse... And it is not just the uninsured any longer, a big part of the problem is the working underinsured....
Fortunately I have good coverage (at least now), but I worry about people below me on the economic ladder, and especially about my children's generation...
Change is on the way - I don't think even lobbyist ridden Washington can turn the tidal wave of public outrage that is very slowly building to critical mass.
Their are a lot of questions and concerns. I do believe that if carefully planned out with issues resolved it could work in the future. Will it be perfect.. no of course not.. you can't please all the of the people all of the time..
In your mind though - EVERYONE would be forced to pay into the system even if they don't want it? Is this correct?
And, what is your proposal for those in this country illegally: Are they covered under your scheme or not?
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