A big topic today is the topic of free universal health care for everyone in the U.S. The name is misleading because a completely free universal health care system will probably end up being worse than the system we have now. For example, the government is the entity that picks up the bill for universal health care by using revenue generated by taxes. To keep up with the current programs, the government would have to raise taxes. In the end, we still end up paying for everyone's health care. Now imagine that you are physically fit and only go to a doctor once a year. How would you feel if you ended up paying for the health care of those who abused their body and go to a doctor every week because of what they did to themselves?
Additionally, you would find the waiting lists for an operation would get longer and longer because now the health care is free for everyone. Some people will go to the doctor if they have a cold because we dont have to pay any more for our doctors visits. For example, Canada adopted a universal health care system and now it takes months to get a potentially "life-saving" operation.
If universal health care was so good, then why would Canadians come across the border into our country just to pay for an operation they could get for free in Canada? Will covering everyone under a single health care system actually solve the problem of the health care system or will the issue take a much different solution?
Food for thought.
-PrettyFlyFortheWhiteGuy
8 comments:
In case you were wondering, I've never even heard of a country with universal health care that ever has really long waiting lines just because of their system.
Not to mention, what citizen with a kind heart would not want to help those in need, even if it does raise their taxes?
Oh, and please, ask yourself why hundreds of Americans go to Canada each year for their medication then.
Just food for thought.
If Canada does such a good job on health care, then why do they have such crucial issues as keeping their doctors? According to the National Post, a Canadian publication, international medical graduates have had to fill many positions in hospitals throughout Canada, yet even these IMGs flock to the US over Canada along with many Canadian doctors. If we really do have it so bad here, and things are so great in Canada, then why do so many doctors from countries spanning the globe come to the United States. Do we really have a bad system, or is it just foreign socialists negatively comparing ours to their "superior" health care?
WHY SHOULD WE CHANGE SOMETHING BECAUSE THE REST OF THE WORLD SAYS IT IS BAD?
I'm sorry Pixistix, but there are countries with universal health care that have extremely long waiting lists. You have to look at it from BOTH perspectives. There are clearly bleeding hearts for every cause. Think about it, if your mother or father was in dire need of an organ transplant and the waiting list for that organ has doubled, possible tripled, due to the fact that all services are cost-free under one universal health care system (which provides for ALL people, NO EXCEPTIONS). I for one would be rather miffed (to say the least) if Joe, who spends his life sucking off of welfare is in line before my mom or dad to recieve that life saving organ. My mother and father (like many other Americans) have been productive citizens that have payed high income taxes their entire life so they can afford health insurance and a good retirement. It's someting that THEY have worked towards and earned by the sweat of their OWN brows.
JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
Pixi, I have a kind heart and I'm absolutely against socialized healthcare. Have you ever heard of charities? Those are what kind hearted people put their money to in order to help their fellow man. And seeing as to how the private sector doesn't have a giant buerocracy to deal with, it is much more efficient than the government.
The thing is, when its universal healthcare, not only do the taxes rise, the lines rise for operations and all that, but the quality of the doctors gets worse. Its kinda like communism. If your a doctor now, and you have a good rep, people are going to see you. If there was universal healthcare, then there would be 3x more doctors than there are now, but the good most of them would suck.
Also, pixistix, most people, you have to remember, only care about themselves. They'll do whats good for them, putting the rest of society second, its human nature. And about the medication, its because its free in Canada (or close to) and people are cheap. An operation can determine the life of someone depending on if they get it now or not. I don't think going two days without your medicine is going to kill you. Theres a difference.
I think that health care should be AVAILABLE to everyone. This way if you are not able to afford health care, you will still have the basic form of it and it will not track you into debt. Everyone should be able to have the basic type of health care. Now, for those who can afford health care they would use their money to get a better version of the basic health care. They would be able to get the health cared they are paying for. If we had something like this, everyone would have health care which could possibly fix the spreading of diseases, Rather than people avoiding them because of the costs.
I'm glad to see that my comment created some productive thought. Of course, I do have responces.
First off, reagan.
Believe it or not, national studies from the U.S. prove that there are actually more doctors in Canada than in America. Even more interesting, accourding to USA today, the amount of doctors in the U.S. is actually decreasing steadily. Why? The obvious reason is actually the lack of training, which was not the result I expected. However, the amount of doctors in Canada is increasing for the training programs. Lookie there, I learned something else.
Now ace. I do understand your point, and it is an extreamly intelligent rebuttle. However, I'll have to disagree to an extent. Yes, I would also be discouraged if I found that some average Joe was getting an operation faster than my own parents. But look at it this way. These doctors aren't stupid. If someone needs an operation sooner than another person, they're going to give the operation first to the person with the most immediate need. Whether that would be the average Joe or the parent, they would try to get the operation done in the most suffiecient order to help the most amount of lives.
Next, lovableloser. I'm glad to hear that you have a kind heart, and it is also good to know that you would participate in charities. However, sometimes those charities just don't raise enough money to actually complete the operation. Example a. About five years ago there was a little boy around the age of 12. He had a heart problem. He did charity drives every friday night at a bingo joint, but he only raised half the amount of money he needed to survive. He died just recently.
As much as we hope people will be generous to help others, sometimes, they are too selfish, or they just won't help enough.
Lastly, Lance.
To address your first point, if you were to go to Canada/France you would find that the lines aren't any worse then here, possibly better (believe it or not). Secondly, I don't see how the quality of the doctors are worse if they have more training than we do (as I adressed earlier). Also, those doctors with good reputations will continue to have patients come to him first anyway, so I don't understand your point, seeing as those 3x doctors would have just as good as a reputation as the previous in most cases.
Believe it or not, I completely and utterly agree with you that it is human nature to take care of yourself first above others. That is EXACTLY my point. But thats also why we need universal healthcare! If the American people are too selfish to go to these charities (as I mentioned to lovableloser) because they only care about themselves (overall), then we need a system that will take care of those who cannot help themselves. Doesn't that make sense with your own theory?
And about the medication, I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't mind waiting a day for medication, but there are some who can't even buy it due to the cost, and have to live each day in pain. I'm not sure why you mentioned the operations, due to the fact that thats the main reason behind our need for universal healthcare.
If you need the statistics behind anything, feel free to ask.
Just food for thought.
(PS, grassfairy, I think your plan is probably the most logical halfway point between our system and universal healthcare. For some people, mainly the middle-class, that would be perfect. Not so much for the lower-class/blue collar workers.)
I see my post is more of a hot topic than I thought it was so I thought I would add a couple things to it. I talked to my mom (who is a doctor) and she told me something. The reason the amount of doctors is decreasing in the U.S. is because doctors are increasingly more liable for any little thing that happens. This is happening to the point where people are being discouraged from entering the medical field. I think that yes the health care system does need some change but not the Obama kind of change where we just give up and make it available to everyone. It is like communism good on paper bad in practice. The solution I think is somewhere in between completely socialized health care and the private system we have in place now, much like what grassfairy has suggested. If Obama becomes president he will want to raise taxes for the rich. If his socialized health care bit goes through too than the rich will be taxed even more. Now I ask you, who are the major contributors to charities? The rich, thorugh Obama we may see everyone have health care. To afford it the benfits may be cut so you would have to turn to charities to get some of the money for an operation. The problem arises when you go to charities and have them tell you they have nothing to give because they stopped receiving donations because they cant afford to give donations and pay taxes. The answer to this problem is not as simple as politicians think and they really need to think harder about it instead of giving us this lame attempt at a solution.
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