Health Care Reform in the United States

[midlifebear]

Oh, did I forget to mention "Grrrrrrrrrrr, grrrrrrrrr, and grrrrrrrrr"?

 

[Phil Ayesho]

Yes, I'm a small business owner and its hard enough to survive in a market where the govt thinks it needs your money more then you do. They mandate another tax on us and more of us will close, then there will be a bigger drain, bigger tax, more closing, copy, paste, copy, paste.

Are eggs good for us to eat agian? :biggrin1:

I didn't say health care should be mandatory... I said that no insurer should be allowed to refuse anyone coverage.

Here's the thing...it doesn't really matter whether YOU pay for it or the Government pays for it because, either way, YOU pay for it.


The real crime is the politicians who spout this nonsense about socialized health care being bad...


EVERY elected official in Washington HAS national heath care.

THey voted themselves the best healthcare package on earth. They just don't think WE should have it.

They ALSO voted themselves their own, separate social security package... they are not paying into social security... they have their own, special, pension plan...
And you know what? YOu NEVER EVER EVER hear the slightest whisper that THEIR pension plan is underfunded and gonna tank....

Because it isn't... they make sure THEY are well taken care of by government fiat.


So, everyone out their in registered voter land.... once more... WAKE UP--- your legislators and congressmen HAVE the national health care they DENY to YOU.

... And they HAVE the rock solid pension plan they deny to you.


The reason Jefferson wanted us to have the second amendment is so we would have the means to revolution at hand...

Its time to demand our representatives be on the exact same pension plan as the rest of us...
I bet you anything that Social Security would be fixed damn quick.

And time to demand that they can not have ANY health coverage until we ALL have it just as good.

 

[D_Martin van Burden]

Some posters have been kind enough to share experiences about getting medical and health care outside of the United States. It seems that these posters have been able to secure quick visits with compassionate medical personnel, received valuable information in order to make informed decisions about their treatment, and not only received treatment equal to if not comparatively better than what we might get here, but that it was also done more cost effectively.

Would this work in America? Could we get useful, helpful, and equally solid health care coverage and treatment for a lot less than what we pay into the system? Is this a realistic question?

To play devil's advocate for a moment: Nationalized plans in European countries might work out better since there are significantly less numbers of people to cover, if you look at standing national population and rates of immigration that also need to be treated. The United States pushes 300 million. The most populous European Union is Germany at 82 million, then France at 63m, and the United Kingdom at just over 60m. Norway -- split and leaning toward retaining its sovereignty and not joining the EU just yet -- has 4.5 million people.

We're just too crowded here. Thoughts?

 

[Ethyl]

This article is four years old yet I think it's still relevant. The International Journal of Health Services states that by 2004, 31% of health care costs was due to bureaucracy as compared to 16.7% in Canada. Note where it says almost 400 billion dollars was spent on health care that year. 286 million spent on paperwork and needless hassle. Wonder how many more people could be insured with that amount?

We're just too crowded here. Thoughts?

We are crowded but we're one of the richest nations in the world. I think it's shameful that such a wealthy country can't be bothered to be more concerned about how much money is wasted and learn to become more responsible for taking care of its citizens.

 

[D_Portelay Porquesword]

Something has to be done. America is full of greed, the pharmaceutical companies make billions on treating the illness because there is no money in a cure. Imagine that!

We put men on the moon for crying out loud.

Other countries such as England seem to be doing fine and have been for quite some time now.

Sicko was a brilliant movie.

 

[Principessa]

Some posters have been kind enough to share experiences about getting medical and health care outside of the United States. It seems that these posters have been able to secure quick visits with compassionate medical personnel, received valuable information in order to make informed decisions about their treatment, and not only received treatment equal to if not comparatively better than what we might get here, but that it was also done more cost effectively.

Would this work in America? Could we get useful, helpful, and equally solid health care coverage and treatment for a lot less than what we pay into the system? Is this a realistic question?

To play devil's advocate for a moment: Nationalized plans in European countries might work out better since there are significantly less numbers of people to cover, if you look at standing national population and rates of immigration that also need to be treated. The United States pushes 300 million. The most populous European Union is Germany at 82 million, then France at 63m, and the United Kingdom at just over 60m. Norway -- split and leaning toward retaining its sovereignty and not joining the EU just yet -- has 4.5 million people.

We're just too crowded here. Thoughts?

We could send all the foreigners back to where they came from. :tongue: j/k

How do China and the former Soviet Union handle health care. Other than Canada they are the countries closest to ours in actual physical size.

 

[Phil Ayesho]

We're just too crowded here. Thoughts?

I think your suggestion fails because the NUMBERS covered is not the issue... its the size of the economy.

Germany manages to provide coverage for their people despite a significantly lower GNP. Their GNP is 27% of the USA's. Their Population is also 27% of the USA's.

For contrast...
China covers a much larger number of people than the US ( 6 times as many) with less than 25% the GNP... as a result, their health care system is pretty flimsy and does not offer stellar care... but it DOES offer care.


The evidence suggests that the US should be able to provide health care at a somewhat better level, per person, than does Canada... and about equal to the quality of care provided by Germany.

 

[kalipygian]

The most populous country with quality universal care is probably Japan, 127.5 million. Certainly more compact geographically than the US. Health care is 6% of GDP, US I think is around 15%. Monthly insurance premiums are around $280. US. Most hospitals and practitioners are private businesses.

I wish we had their problems, which are the opposite of of ours.

Japanese Pay Less for More Health Care : NPR