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That sure worked for the King/Drew hospital in Watts, CA. That county hospital was closed down due to numerous violations and other issues. I shudder to think of this being the future of healthcare in the US.
A TROUBLED HISTORY: The Times' timeline of problems at King hospital. - Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-kingtimeline,0,4905048.story - broken link)
Well, one example does not make a case. There are many fine government hospitals in this country: LACounty, Cook County, Denver Health, etc. The private hospitals have their problems, too. Here is one example:
This lady lives in Canada and here's what she has to say:
"Actually, you do pay a monthly premium for basic hospitalization in Canada. It is different in each Province and is sometimes subsidized for really low income people and families. A family in BC pays $108 a month for Medical Services Plan. This covers the basic visit to doctors and any costs associated with basic hospitalization. Many of us have other medical insurance to cover Extended care which includes things like pharmacy, vision, chiropractic, physio therapy and then we may also have dental. There are some real drawbacks to universal health care and most of them stem from the huge costs of a government controlled program. In theory it is great but the practical application is very difficult when you consider geography and population diversity. I waited over five months for a C-scan after a stroke. Hip and knee replacement can have waits of over two years. The community where my daughter lived lost it's OBGYN and she had to travel 40 miles to see the doctor and to deliver her twins. A high risk pregnancy with no care for about an hour.On the other hand, when I pulled up to emergency with a very sick husband with a kidney stone they just flew at the treatment with an excellent outcome. Some things are not covered like Feet .... and eyes ..... yikes .... thought they were part of my body but not included in my health care coverage. It is a complex problem with lots of successess and failures. One flaw in the system is that those who can afford it will find off shore treatment and pay - there by skipping the cue ..... I'm happy to be Canadian and I'm thankful for the services provided but there are some serious shortages of family doctors, hospital beds, specialists and lots of problems with the unionized nursing staff. I think that my American friends want to spend some time analyzing what other countries have done and then try to avoid some of the pit falls. We also need to keep in mind that even at our worst, we are pretty blessed when it comes to care."
This lady lives in Canada and here's what she has to say:
Here in Arizona, we have many Canadians who winter here. And while here, they get their medical care taken care of - including surgeries. When asked why, the common response is time - they don't want to wait the months it often takes to get seen - and they did not want to live in the discomfort for that length of time.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,025,682 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by old_cold
TM.....do you read?
We are ON Medicare....you know....for old folks 65 and over.
How much are you willing to pay ?
I just gave you the potential costs for tax supported health care.....and didn't even give you the rest of the story.
In our case....I have told you this before....our FREE care costs us about $11,000 a year.
Are you listening??
This is your out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare right? WOW! I could not afford that extra expense on top of the additional taxes just to have a UHC. That's INSANE!
I I also acknowledged that contribution would have to be higher than currently, but that certainly beats paying 30% of your income for a third party so that you can have access to healthcare.
AND.. in the UK model, seniors are not subject to the copays as well as the poor and I believe college students (I could be mistaken on that last part).
We aren't paying 30% to a third party alone.
Of course it wouldn't be 30% to someone with a higher income.
But we're supposedly talking about people like us........whose health care costs are a tough nut.
It is part of being covered under government run Medicare .
We are only paying a little less for our tax supported coverage than we were under a private policy.
My guess is the cost of UHC would be just about the same as people pay privately now.
I think the last sentence (of the post about the Canadian system) is a good summary. Everything I have read indicates the vast majority of Canadians would not give up their system in favor of ours. The Canadians on this forum have said that. A small town losing its OB-GYN is not the fault of UCH. There are many small towns in the US that don't have this type of practitioner, either. I know the Canadian systems (multiple, by province) do not cover everything. Hopefully, people on this board, at least, have moved beyond the idea that a UHC would provide everything. The Canadians who winter in AZ are retirees, otherwise they would be back in Canada working. They are not representative of all Canadians.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,025,682 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by twowolves
This lady lives in Canada and here's what she has to say:
"Actually, you do pay a monthly premium for basic hospitalization in Canada. It is different in each Province and is sometimes subsidized for really low income people and families. A family in BC pays $108 a month for Medical Services Plan. This covers the basic visit to doctors and any costs associated with basic hospitalization. Many of us have other medical insurance to cover Extended care which includes things like pharmacy, vision, chiropractic, physio therapy and then we may also have dental. There are some real drawbacks to universal health care and most of them stem from the huge costs of a government controlled program. In theory it is great but the practical application is very difficult when you consider geography and population diversity. I waited over five months for a C-scan after a stroke. Hip and knee replacement can have waits of over two years. The community where my daughter lived lost it's OBGYN and she had to travel 40 miles to see the doctor and to deliver her twins. A high risk pregnancy with no care for about an hour.On the other hand, when I pulled up to emergency with a very sick husband with a kidney stone they just flew at the treatment with an excellent outcome. Some things are not covered like Feet .... and eyes ..... yikes .... thought they were part of my body but not included in my health care coverage. It is a complex problem with lots of successess and failures.
One flaw in the system is that those who can afford it will find off shore treatment and pay - there by skipping the cue ..... I'm happy to be Canadian and I'm thankful for the services provided but there are some serious shortages of family doctors, hospital beds, specialists and lots of problems with the unionized nursing staff. I think that my American friends want to spend some time analyzing what other countries have done and then try to avoid some of the pit falls. We also need to keep in mind that even at our worst, we are pretty blessed when it comes to care."
WOW! Sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare. What really caught my attention was that the nurses are unionized which is likely to happen here as well. What happens when the nurses or doctors decide to go on a strike? Who would provide us care then?
We aren't paying 30% to a third party alone.
Of course it wouldn't be 30% to someone with a higher income.
But we're supposedly talking about people like us........whose health care costs are a tough nut.
It is part of being covered under government run Medicare .
We are only paying a little less for our tax supported coverage than we were under a private policy.
My guess is the cost of UHC would be just about the same as people pay privately now.
I would guess the same. However, there are some positives to Medicare vs private insurance: Everyone (who paid into SS) is eligible, there are no limitations on pre-existing conditions. They don't cancel your coverage b/c you cost them too much. Those are just a few.
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That county hospital was closed down due to numerous violations and other issues. I shudder to think of this being the future of healthcare in the US.
found this post on Canada forum....
