National Health Care May Be Inevitable...

[melon]

And, for once, I want to give credit to a Republican Congressman for bringing this issue forward again.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/06/25/hospitals.uninsured.ap/index.html

"An average working man or woman treated at a hospital can be stuck with a bill that is double what managed care or government programs pay," said Greenwood, R-Pennsylvania. "Then, to add insult to injury, they are sometimes aggressively pursued for these inflated debts. This situation is unfair and unjust."

Hospital executives said the cash crunch would best be solved through universal health care coverage for Americans. An estimated 43 million Americans have no health insurance.

Hospitals in the Philadelphia area, for example, charged an average of $30,000 to treat a heart attack in 2002, said Dr. Gerard Anderson, director of the Center for Hospital Finance and Management at Johns Hopkins University. He said most insurers ultimately were asked to pay less than $10,000.

I should also mention that a lot of employers these days are attracted to contract labor and part-time labor, merely because they do not have to offer benefits to them. With such a change in the paradigm of employing people, I think that national health care is an inevitability in America.

Melon

 

[Salome]

I always thought that as long as you're not able to help everyone to a minimum wages job national health care is inevitable

au contraire to popular believe unemployed people don't benefit from tax cuts leading to having more money to spend on their health

 

[beli]

We have national health care and I think its a good thing.

Ours is mostly for visiting the doctor and emergencies. Also for some operations but you have to wait for ages. But at least its better than no option at all.

Ours doesnt cover frivilous things like non essential plastic surgery etc. If you want that sort of thing you have to pay for it yourself.

Having said that a lot of people have private insurance also just so they can choose the doctor/hospital and have a much shorter waiting period. Individuals pay for this, not employers.

The only healthcare employers may pay for is workers compensation claims.

It mostly works for us. I once watched that Michael Moore documentary where people in the USA where working cleaning the hospitals to pay for their medical expenses. And this was a good thing cause not everyone gets that chance.

I dont understand how poor people in the USA get medical treatment at all.

Forgot to add: That I have worked in Insurance here in Australia and when Australians travelling to the USA have had medical treatments in the USA the cost is really high. Disproportionally higher than any other country. (and its not just due to the exchange rate) So I think theres other issues there also ie the litigious nature of USA society which results in increases to the insurance premiums for medical workers/hospitals which is then passed on to the patient.

 

[najeena]

It's a subject that spooks most every politican, many of whom benefit from the system as it stands. It's not rocket science, though... it's a human need that isn't met by our government. I imagine it will get done eventually, but it will be a slow painful process, and I may well not be here to see it. A pity.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I think it's essential in any country. And as for the 'minimum wage', believe me you cannot pay for your medical emergencies on a minimum wage. Anything more serious than a cold and you're fucked, without help.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

I think it's essential in any country. And as for the 'minimum wage', believe me you cannot pay for your medical emergencies on a minimum wage. Anything more serious than a cold and you're fucked, without help.

Exactly. I've been working in a minimum wage job for the last year to save up for college and there's no way I could have paid for any medical treatment I need on the wage I earn. I have asthma so I need three different inhalers as well as an antihistamine and another type of medication. If I had to pay for them myself I'd spend over ?150 a month on medication, to say nothing of the cost of doctor's/hospital appointments. That's ?1800 a year and I earn less than ?9000 before tax. If I didn't live in a country with national healthcare I'd either be spending one sixth of my income on healthcare or I'd have to go without medication I need. It makes me so angry that there are people who actually have to make that decision.

Ultimately, I think it's immoral that in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, people are denied healthcare because of their ability to pay for it. Education is provided free of charge by the state because it's vital to both individuals and society, I see no reason why healthcare shouldn't be provided in the same way.