What do you think about Universal Health Care

[kimcanada]

Got it, love it, can't imagine life without it

[stauffenberg]

The German Health Ministry publishes a book just like Rerun describes, in which every single procedure a doctor could conceivably perform is itemized and the legal price for it is set.  The doctor does that work as set out in the book and gets paid that amount from the government.  The fee schedule is generous but does not fuel the monopolistic greed system of American doctors, with the result that German doctors earn about as much as American high school teachers, and yet German medical schools are still highly competitive to get into and overflowing with applicants. (The highest grade in Germany is a 1 and the lowest is a 4: to get into medical school, your average has to be around 1.3.)  If high school teacher pay is all it takes to induce people to spend seven years getting a German MD (compared to 4 years undergraduate plus 3 years medical school in the U.S.), then why pay doctors ten times more than that as we do in the U.S., where it is doctors' salaries that most contribute to making universal health care unaffordable?

[Cincygrandma]

I see that I'm one of the few in opposition to Universal Health Care and I'll probably get off topic....but while I believe every legal US citizen should be entitled to receive health care, I don't believe we have a government capable of running a Universal plan that would be adequate and affordable.   In spite of stories we hear, I've never known anyone in real need of medical care to be turned away.  I'm as concerned as most when it comes to how we're going to pay our out-of-pocket expenses, but believe all but the poorest of the poor should have to pay at least a small co-payment.  I have a couple close family members who receive excellent health care at absolutely no cost because of their individual situations.  Others I know, myself included, have received reductions from hospitals or in some cases, complete forgiveness of balances based on household income.  Doctors are harder to deal with but there are sliding scale practices.  I  also know people who make a personal decision to not buy health care even though they could afford the premium.  I wish I could take our monthly premiums and spend them elsewhere, but I know I can't.  Mrs. Clinton has already said everyone will be forced to pay a premium under her universal plan, including garnishing wages if necessary!  That will go over in a big way.  I don't know what caused our health care system to get so out of control.  When my children were small (in the mid and late 60's), our family doc who practiced out of his home with his RN wife, would have no part of insurance paperwork.  I've forgotten alot of my history, but believe that was right after the beginning of our Medicare system.  Our children only saw the dr when they had sore throats w/high fevers or a minor accident.  His charges went up over the years from $4 a visit to $12 but this included all medicine.  I don't remember ever going to a drug store until in the 80's after he retired.  He delivered my first 3 children, charging $100 each time.  My first was delivered in his office at his suggestion.  He cancelled his Sunday fishing trip to spend Sunday with me in labor.  We were 18 and 21 years old, had no insurance, and he told us "you don't want to start out owing a big hospital bill".  He diagnosed me in 1980 with glomerularnephritis and referred me to a nephrologist and retired in the early 80's.  Today most children see a dr with every sniffle, etc., and many are prescribed meds whether they need them or not.  Parents demand it.  Most practices have several drs, a multitude of nursing assistants, and administrative personnel on site, as well as separate billing offices.   Insurance companies are huge paper pushers, second guessing doctor's decisions, making large profits, etc.  I know the doctors of today would never go back to solo, cash only, patient friendly, competitively run practices, but this would be a step in the right direction.  I hope our government thinks long and hard before implementing a Universal Health Plan.  But if they do, it'll be a first for them!

[stauffenberg]

The advantage of the single payer healthcare system, when that single payer is the government, is that the government, acting for the people, gets to tell the medical profession, the private hospitals, and the drug companies how the system is run, because the government can mandate their cooperation by law.  Under the present system, where the power of the people is not concentrated into the single fist of the government but scattered among 300 million individuals, the doctors, private hospitals, and drug companies are more powerful than the people and can dictate the terms of healthcare delivery to them.

For example, under the British National Health System, you register with a General Practitioner who has to provide the first line of defense for you if you have some sudden emergency.  He has to team up with other doctors to provide 24/7 coverage for you when you need it, and yes, they even make housecalls!  Do you think British doctors want to have to live like this?  Of course not: but because in Britain the people banded together in the form of the government to tell the doctors what type of healthcare they HAD to provide, the doctors had no alternative but to practice medicine for the benefit of the people rather than in service of their own selfish interests.

[Ken Shelmerdine]

In your usual articulate way you hit the nail right on the head  Stauphenberg

[Slywalker]

As far as I can find the United States is the only industrial nation that does not offer health care to its citizens.  And, I noted a comment about people not being turned away for health care.  Well, my daughter works with the mentally handicapped population and her clients are not only turned away, but if they get in the hospital for an issue they are immediately discharged to the street or to a waiting taxi with lots of times no where to go except to the homeless shelter.  Now, that is not taking care of our citizens.

The government probably and most likely is not capable of administering a health care system - but that doesn't mean we should give up on the idea because of our politicians running D.C.   
Lots of times where I live only the people with private insurance get to have what they need. One of my friends could not get the necessary heart care because she did not have insurance.  And, for example, if you are on medicare and get a transplant, medicare will only pay for the transplant meds for 3 years.  Whats with that?  You need the meds for the life of the kidney or other donated organ.  Come on.  And the current President has proposed a budget to cut our domestic programs??  What's with that?

Lots of discussion on this particular subject.

Sandyb

[livecam]

Come on.  And the current President has proposed a budget to cut our domestic programs??  What's with that?

All the more to squander on his senseless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  You asked!

[Slywalker]

Well, I did know the answer but I was afeared of posting an anti-war message....... 

I do know where a lot of the money goes and lots of times I wish I was a little less informed than I am.  I try to give up current events but I've failed at my efforts every time.   

[Ken Shelmerdine]

I've been following the US primaries and didn't Hillary Clinton mention Universal Health Care. Is it going to be a big part of her campain or do you think she'll bottle it so as not to upset middle class Americans?

[BigSky]

The government probably and most likely is not capable of administering a health care system - but that doesn't mean we should give up on the idea because of our politicians running D.C.   

More to the point the government could not handle running a system at all.

Want to see how the government runs a health care system just look at the VA and that will give a good idea on how they would run the system.