Throughout the day I'll be updating this post on the issue of universal healthcare. I want hearty discussion from all willing to participate. I'll be continually adding articles I find on the web for your reading pleasure and to stimulate discussion. Please keep your comments polite.
For starters, I found this article on redstate.com: http://www.redstate.com/private_citizen/2009/07/05/government-is-the-cause-of-high-healthcare-costs-not-the-solution/. Glance over it if you will.
Discussion question 1: What role if any do you think government should play in healthcare?
http://www.american.com/archive/2008/december-12-08/the-trouble-with-canadian-healthcare
http://www.angelfire.com/pa/sergeman/issues/healthcare/socialized.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/18/how-well-get-to-universal_n_167654.html
Discussion question 2: What do you think of other universal healthcare systems in other nations? What good or bad have you heard reported from them? Do you think any of these articles reflect the resounding sentiments of the people in these nations?
Discussion question 3: So if not universal health care, what other options are out there? What alternatives exist and are they arguably teneble?
Here are some pages I found regarding health care solutions. If you know of a site feel free to share.
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/06/24/congressional-conservatives-of
http://www.reason.com/news/show/34854.html
http://www.heartland.org/publications/health%20care/article/10366/Table_Projected_Economic_Effect_of_Four_Universal_Health_Care_Alternatives.html
http://www.health-care-reform.net/
Discussion question 4: Assuming Obama's UHC goes through, how would that affect your health decisions? Do you think there might be some doctors and specialists who go "underground" in order to give the care to their patients they wouldn't receive otherwise? If the people come to realize the UHC is a failure- how do you propose restoring it?
Discussion question 5: How do you propose we make our voices heard to Washington in regards to our desires for health care reform? Is it working to call our congressmen or must we become more vocal?
Discussion question 6: Do you know of ideas for health care reform that are working for another country or perhaps a city or state here in the US? Would it work to use it to reform our health care nationally?
Comments (15)
As for question #1, my feelings are that the government should play virtually no role in healthcare. A free market, when left alone with minimal regulations, will produce a high quality product at a good price whether that is healthcare or widgets.
I have to agree with InAweOfCreation. The government shouldn't play much of a role, if at all. The more a government gets involved, the more trouble we're asking for. Look at the way things are right now. I can only see it getting worse the more control the government desires to enact.
What role if any do you think government should play in healthcare?
They should keep their stinkin' noses out of it.
@AnamcharaConcepts - @InAweOfCreation - @SingingMom - Thank you for your responses thus far- sorry I failed to update more yesterday. I plan to remedy that today, I update my timestamp for this page as I update the links and questions. Tell your friends to join in- I want a ruddy discussion going:)
@InAweOfCreation - I totally agree. If you look at nations where the government has involved itself in health care, the quality of care has declined exponentially.
We need to remove companies like Monsanto from the mix. They are controlling effective medications and complimentary alternative medicines because they take away from their pockets. The greed of the drug manufacturers needs to be stemmed. Pelosi needs to stop tying the hands of people that want the option to choose their effective care. We also need to shut down the notion that only the "doctors" know whats best. I know plenty of doctors with degrees that know bupkiss about what's best for my family.
I think we should all look at the Connecticut Green Parties Universal Health Care plan. Not only does it offer a non-government solution, aside from the regulation and collection of taxes, but it reduces cost by 40% and provides health care to all working Americans, regardless of how much they make. And don't tell me someone making 13,000 a year can afford health insurance. They can't. I've been there and it's impossible. And this plan still allows you to go to any doctor you want to anywhere in the US. It's the best I've seen thus far.
@xplodinglastbullet - that's not the same as the Massechusett's healthcare plan is it? i heard MA's made things worse. i haven't heard anything about CT's plan before.
@PreciousOnyx - Connecticut just proposed it. It still hasn't gone through. The only reason why things would get worse is because they didn't fix all of the actual problems in health care. Unnecessary administration cost, paying doctors just to exist, medical companies taking massive products just to produce things doctors and patients need, and politicians reaping massive rewards from drug companies. Then you have all of the thousands of dollars in court fees to keep people from suing doctors because of things that really aren't their fault. Unless you actually fix the system, nothing proposed will work, not even if it's by the saviour Obama. I say, lets stop creating band-aid programs, like medicare, medicaid and defunt insurance companies, and actually fix the problems so that all Americans can get proper health care.
After studying the Connecticut Green Parties plan, I've come to realize it's the best option thus far. Everyone has to be on board though.
Another thing to note is that the US is the only industrialized nation without some form of UHC. Also, the US has one of the highest infant mortality rates and one of the lowest adult life expectancies. Says alot about the "great" US health care system, eh?
Question 1: My husband is a veteran and refuses to seek care at a VA hospital. If you want a glimpse of what government-run healthcare would look like, that's a good place to start. There is no order, wait times just to see a doctor over a common illness or prescription (antibiotics, etc.) is several months, much, much longer for something serious. And the level of care is substandard - anyone read about the Hep B issue that infected several veterans recently at these facilities?
Our government can't efficiently run the programs already in place - housing, medicare, the DMV. Do we really want our health in their hands? Do you really want government to have the power to decide who gets treatment and who doesn't? That opens the door to too many dangerous situations (think about how the unions already run this country - they are a very large voting base, so why wouldn't they be catered to? It will be the same with healthcare - a young person with a major illness or health issue will be more likely to be approved for treatment than an older person who doesn't have many voting years left).
Question 2: I recently did a blog about universal healthcare in Canada and how it would specifically relate to my personal situation if we were under a similar single-payer system (I had brain surgery last year). You can find it here if you're interested (it's short).
Question 3: That's a hard one. I do believe that the system needs some repair, but universal healthcare is not the answer. It's not working in other countries that have it. This is a question I'm still researching and pondering and don't really have a clear thought to give you at the moment.
It was my understanding that UHC would be a system that would coexist with our current providers. As in, if you didn't have anything, you could use UHC, but if you felt that was subpar, you could keep whatever you already had. Is this correct?
@TheDumberScott - from what I heard, that's the tag line but I've also heard that the UHC will eventually force private insurers out of business- which is the goal under UHCs. statism craves total dependency of the people on the government (think control).
Thank you for posting this. This is an important discussion that needs to be talked about.The Healthcare system in this country needs to be fixed, but not by the government. We need to let the private sector have even more control over the healthcare industry, which will drive the cost of healthcare down and make it more affordable. Here is why I think universal healthcare is dangerous.
1. The government can't run anything properly (the DMV is a prime example of this), so why would we want these incompetent bozos to be in charge of our healthcare? And private health insurance will most likely go out of business if the government starts running healthcare because why would anyone pay for health insurance if they could get it free?
2. Universal healthcare will end up costing us more money in the end. Middle class people who live in countries where there is universal healthcare on average pay more then 45% in income tax a year due to the cost of government run healthcare. That's almost twice as much in income tax as middle class people pay here in the states. For only 65$ month a 25 year old can get a PPO plan here, and for a couple hundred a month a middle aged person get the same plan. I'd rather pay that for health insurance then lose 45% of my income to income tax for government run healthcare that isn't even good to begin with. And I also think UH will bankrupt our country. England is practically on the verge of bankruptcy because of their universal healthcare.
3. Universal healthcare will end up costing us more lives in the end. There is a 16% higher cancer death rate, an average 8 month wait to receive chemotherapy if you have cancer, and a 9 hour wait on average just to receive treatment in an emergency room after being in a serious accident. And to top it all off, doctors in countries with UH are notorious for limiting the care their patients receive because there are too many people on "the list."
As to discussion #3, here is a link to what I think is the best solution and what could make it possible for all people to have health insurance in this country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scOdQbAZEdo&feature=player_embedded
Great idea for a forum. Thank you for posting the links to healthcare solutions. And I concur with most of the people here. The government can't do anything right and should take no part in health care whatsoever. The opposition always says that conservatives complain but never provide solutions, but obviously we do have solutions.
Have you ever seen ANYTHING that the US Government runs that runs in the way it as intended??? I haven't...so I say keep your stinkin nose out of my healthcare!!!!
@xplodinglastbullet
Your comment "Also, the US has one of the highest infant
mortality rates and one of the lowest adult life expectancies. Says
alot about the "great" US health care system, eh?" makes me laugh.
As a pediatrician, I've seen so many people come from other countries because of their poor prenatal care. As a result of poor prenatal care, those high risk moms increase our prenatal mortality. Those moms come from countries with socialist/national health care. Surprise, surprise.
I'm currently uninsured because I can't afford the $4000/quarter premiums for maternity insurance. I pay out of pocket, while I take care of babies whose mothers have no job and use Medicaid to pay for their free maternity care for all of their 4+ pregnancies. 30-40% of my income goes towards taxes to pay for others' health care, while I scrape together the costs of my own maternity health care.
And Obama wants me to pay MORE in taxes next year? Yeah, right. I will retire early before that happens.