You would THINK that most people would go to Canada to get health care coverage, and some do, but not if it's a serious need. Go to Canada if you want your wisdom teeth pulled. If you are in need of a serious operation, however, it may be cheaper in Canada, but the QUALITY of the treatment is lacking so much so that the Canadians would rather come to America and pay bank for treatment. Hey, it's just your life right?
People really do not understand how detrimental socialized health care is. Think about this. You pay so much money out of your pocket every month so that everyone, no matter how rich or poor can get the help they need when they need it. Well what about the dude that eats McDonalds eight times a day and as a result is eight times the weight he should be? He's got a much higher risk for medical problems but hey, it is a-okay because we got it covered. Excuse me? That's my money right there paying for your mistakes! Or what about the chain smoker? Or the idiot who likes going to the skate park without a helmet? See where I'm going with this? Universal health care will make all your decisions my business. Because I'm paying for whatever medical treatment you need. Aggh! Can't you see the communism sneaking up on us!
Just last year certain hospitals in the UK (which is on socialized health care by the way) banned smokers and obese people from getting surgeries they needed. It was their fault, see. They smoked and they overate and no one could see the justice in paying money for their own dumb mistakes. Now. Where do you think all these people that can't get universal health care (funny how ironic that statement is) go? That's right. Good old U.S. of A. baby.
Well. America is the home of the free right? And hey, if I can do whatever I want to my body (say...get an abortion for instance) then I sure as hell can eat whatever I want and smoke whatever isn't illegal that's out there and that is MY BUSINESS ok. UNLESS your paying for it. Well then it's your business too.
I'm sorry I just can foresee ALOT of problems with that scenario. I mentioned abortions. Well, sick as it is, an abortion is defined as a medical procedure. So does that mean I have to pay for you to get an abortion if you want it? Oh. Excuse me while I go puke for a minute. See this is just one eensy little problem with socialized health care. There's a billion more I could mention. But as far as I'm concerned, the one I just stated is enough to scare everyone from the idea.
Socialized medicine. How about Socialized Police or Socialized fire fighters? You pay for someone else who accidentally knocks a candle over and starts a fire, and that also means that someone is paying for you, should that accident happen to you.
Some people are so consumed with paying for healthcare and medical bills, that they don't even have a chance to enjoy their freedoms. And by the way, if you have private health insurance, you still have to pay for the dumbass who doesn't wear a helmet and the idiot who eats McDonalds everyday. That's why your premiums rise every year.
One word: ER.
You already pay for people to get medical care; they just have to wait until they're so sick that it costs an arm and a leg (sometimes literally) to make them better, as ER care is SO much more expensive than preventative care. For those who can't pay (since the ER can't turn them away), you pay in some form or another, whether it be through higher insurance premiums (since the hospitals have to charge more to make up for their losses), or taxes (since hospitals can get grants to offset some of their losses).
Also, the planned parenthood gets funds from the government as well. So you're paying for something there you might not agree to as well.
Cheers.
~C
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**alexis
Good point...To the person above you as well. But the QUALITY of socialized health care still sucks. Capitalism brings incentive. Even if it's over life...pathetic as that may be.
As for Planned Parenthood...does Care Net or any other crisis pregnancy center get any government funding as well? I will have to research that...
Don't we all know our money is wasted on such crap.
I haven't done enough research on the different socialized health systems to tell you one way or another. But there are many different 'flavors' of socialized medicine. I'm not sure which flavor appeals to me the most right now, but I have other things to worry about that I don't really have time to focus on that just this minute.
Regardless, the system we have now isn't working. Capitalism also isn't great for something like healthcare, because it functions on the basis of supply and demand. Well, when there's always a demand for something (and there is with healthcare), people can raise prices all they want, and people will be forced to pay them if they want the benefits.
I'm starting to not want something quite as universal as a medicare for all, since I've seen that the doctor I work for gives something like 65% off his expenses to medicaid patients (he doesn't deal with medicare), and he cannot by law charge them for missed appointments. Frankly, I'd like to make enough to survive as a doctor...
~C
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I've always thought that free scholarships for anyone (even foreign nationals who qualified for school) who would work in the US health care system would help many of the problems of price caused by caregiver shortage.
Another rarely mentioned underlying cause of the incredible costs in the US is our right to universal tort (lawsuits). If the law allowed for doctors to opt out of the malpractice system prices would drop. Give patients a choice between expensive doctors they could sue, and cheap ones they couldn't..
A Fact is Always Better Than an Ideal.
They do give scholarships, to some degree, to people who want to work in primary care (the ones who will be interacting with the patients on the most consistent basis). There are many, many programs that will pay off huge chunks of loans to doctors to agree to work in primary care for x years, or who will work in rural medicine for x years. We still have a shortage. Why? Because you can make $300,000 a year being a cardiologist, and would be lucky to break $100,000 a year being a primary care doc, and you'd probably work a lot harder.
I'd also like to note that the AAMC is mandating that US medical schools increase their class size pretty dramatically (and yet, they aren't requiring more residency slots when these kids graduate). Those classes, without fail, will fill up every single year. Why? Because about 50% of those who apply to medical school in any given year are not accepted anywhere. Our problem is not a shortage of doctors (though we do have a shortage of nurses, largely due to the fact that nurses can make more doing nursing than they can teaching nursing students), but a shortage of doctors going into primary care.
Interesting proposal about malpractice insurance, though.
~C
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Oddly enough, if people in the US need plastic surgery (the word need is used rather loosely there), they'll go to Latin America or even South America because it's cheaper and it's more fun to recover there.
Nicholas Aden
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Hey now... not all plastic surgery is like the Hollywood ladies getting facelifts. A nice chunk of it is fixing disfigurements after accidents, or things like breast implants after a mastectomy.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!