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Originally Posted by ThePrude  Being Canadian, and having grown up with universal healthcare, I'm a big proponent of it. But I've also seen first-hand how underfunding creates huge problems. Doctors' annual billings are capped, and as a result, most GP's will work minimal hours (a lot are taking Wednesday's off for golf!!) Waiting times are going through the roof, and people with money (and/or good supplemental private plans) head down to the US to get MRI's or surgeries done.
But, this pales in comparison to what I've heard is happening in the US...things that are just unthinkable here, like people getting turned away from ER's due to lack of insurance, and going into bankruptcy because they get cancer. My mom has cousins living in NYC, and back in 1991 one of them got leukemia (at 35), and ended up dying. His sister had to mortage her house so her brother could die in dignity. As if the situation wasn't devastating enough...
Perhaps the Republicans have some good alternate ideas on how to make it work better, but I still think that there has to be an underlying universal plan in place to at least cover the "basics". |
This is interesting.
I live in an area of the country where I wouldn't expect anyone to be turned away from ER for not having insurance. But it depends on what hospital you go to, I suppose. I have had excellent care at certain ERs and really shitty care at one. Depends on who is treating patients and how much sleep they've had. In the US, residents do most the work while the "tenured" doctors get more sleep. There is definitely a pecking order.
The thing is, if you compare healthcare to other services, it's understandable why it's so expensive. There are so many factors that go into it.
Dying is particularly expensive, and I have theories on that (topic for another thread?) ... but much of it is because North Americans no longer accept death as a part of life-- instead we must "fight" diseases instead of succumbing to them-- which then ends up making the dying and their families live through a very unnecessary and expensive hell. The alternative is not acceptable to us; people who would choose this route (accepting death) are made to feel irresponsible to their for not fighting fate. It's just fucked up all around. So people suffer these horrible diseases and end up dying anyway, under lots of stress and confusion. Sorry -- personal experience -- both of my parents died this way, with lots of suffering, so I rant about it!
I hated that they suffered so. ... and they were both covered by good medical insurance, etc.
But back on topic, I think that in the US, healthcare is a huge megabusiness, and no matter what any politician proposes, I don't think much will change. Call me cynical, but as long as the pharmaceutical industry and insurance companies are lobbying and healthcare continues to be in the capitalist network, the common person will be fucked healthcare-wise, because the basic truth is, every one of us is gonna die. It's lose-lose no matter what.
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