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#1 |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Outside Providence
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Universal Healthcare
I'd like to use this thread to talk about this major issue whether it be facts, questions, thoughts, etc. I'm by no means an expert on this, but would like to have a well informed opinion. As a future physician, any such plan would have a dramatic impact on my career.
__________________I think most people agree that in theory, this sounds like a good idea. The current state of healthcare in this country is poor to very poor (perhap I'm being modest). You can blame almost everyone involved in the system so it's by no means an easy fix. Do people think that major change can actually happen? I'm rather skeptical that anything truly major can get done because of the powerful lobbys that Healthcare and Big Pharma have - I don't see them doing anything that would cut into there bottom line. What is the biggest issue in healthcare for you guys - access, cost, something else? If universal healthcare was implemented, what system would people want? A government run program ala medicare for everyone? Would you want the option to buy supplemental coverage - sort of like a platinum membership that gets you more things than the basic coverage? Or should everyone have the same coverage no matter what? Would a completely privatized system be better? As of right now, I don't really favor any government run program just because of the way government handles things - they don't have a good tract record on running things properly. I also think that it could create a very segregated system where people that can afford extra service will still get better care than everybody else, which sort of defeats the purpose of universal care. Although, everyone would still have some sort of access to basic care. |
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#2 |
Blue Crack Supplier
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Washington, DC
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believe it or not, i think that Romney's plan in Massachusetts -- am i wrong? totally going on memory here -- wasn't a bad one.
__________________you make health insurance similar to car insurance. it's illegal to be without it. with such pressure, employers will be hard pressed to make it available to their employees. that seemed like an interesting idea. |
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#3 |
Blue Crack Addict
Join Date: Apr 2002
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I think it may implode first
say in 5, 10 or 15 years. Many have too much health insurance and many have very little access to health care. Car insurance? does that pay for tire replacement, gasoline, oil changes, break jobs, paint and the like? |
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#4 |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
VIP PASS Join Date: May 2004
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I favor a gov't run plan a la medicare. No platinum plan either; everyone gets the same. If somebody wants to get something special they'd better have the money & will to go abroad to get it.
I agree the powerful drug & healthcare lobbies will never allow this to happen. I worry about the government's history of inefficency, but my thinnking is that with a plan that everyone is enrolled in you'd have incentive for those "in power" to do it right. Also hopefully some of the government waste would be offset by the elimination of the middle man (insurance companies). But keep in mind, I'm (relatively) poor; if I were rich and had access to the best care in the current system I might feel differently. Probably not, but I might I suppose. |
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#5 |
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I just hate being stuck in the middle. I had no health insurance as a student and the school required it, so if you didn't provide proof of insurance, they insured you. Except their insurance sucks monkey balls. Honestly, you're better off NOT having insurance because then you can walk right into the county hospitals. You either have to have really good insurance, or have no insurance and get the breaks.
I don't know enough about it and haven't thought it through enough to know what I think as far as specifics and how a universal system would be implemented. |
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#6 | |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Join Date: Mar 2005
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Quote:
You would think the system would implode, but it's been hobbling along for awhile now and seems to be Rasputin like in it's ability to survive so I'm not so sure it will implode. Would you favor a system that gave basic coverage but not catastrophic or the other way around? or would you cover everything? |
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#7 |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Band-aid Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: California
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Minimizing illegal immigration would certainly help the US healthcare system. The system is currently strained taking care of non-tax paying folks from Mexico. It's simply a matter of numbers.
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#8 | |
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All the rest should be treated the same as other consumer items. and prescription coverage should kick in only at extra ordinary cases |
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#9 | |
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#10 | |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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#11 |
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Probably so.
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#12 |
Blue Crack Supplier
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preventative care.
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#13 |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: Aug 2004
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Two tiered healthcare would work best I think. We're headed for something like that in Canada in the next decade, I believe.
Socialized healthcare is great, but if people with the money want to pay for quick service at a private clinic and leave more room at public clinics for me, for instance, I have no problem with it. Regardless of the drawbacks of socialized medicine (higher taxes, overcrowded hospitals, long wait times), there is still something comforting about being able to walk into a healthcare facility, show them my card, and get attention - regardless as to whether I'm employed or have a supplemental plan. ![]() Healthcare is not a benefit, it's a basic human right. |
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#14 | ||
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Quote:
This site answers a lot of questions. Quote:
I know an insurance broker for one having frantic meetings with blue cross who is against this plan. ![]() |
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#15 | |
Blue Crack Addict
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insurance companies goals are to eliminate or reduce risk, deny claims, and cancel coverage to customers that require payouts their objective is too collect as much premium money as possible and pay out the least amount to make the most profit. |
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#16 | |
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#17 | |
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what about food and shelter? |
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#18 | |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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#19 | |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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#20 |
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I don't know a lot about the universal healthcare issue, but I really should because I have a chronic disease. I have great insurance right now through my mom, who's a teacher, but once I get out of school, I'll likely have to get COBRA insurance because my prescription costs are astronomical.
__________________I think that in theory, universal healthcare is a good idea, but I don't trust the U.S. government to implement it correctly. |
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