HillaryCare!
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Horatio Felacio
- Posts: 3338
- Joined: Tue Sep 24, 2002 7:26 pm
actually, the 45 million without health insurance is a low estimate. at any given point, approximately 85 million americans are without health insurance (because the 45 million does not include people who are uninsured for part of the year, or who are chronically "underinsured").
don't get me started on the pharmaceutical industry, which makes BILLIONS of dollars every year. they do this by testing drugs that probably aren't really that different from current drugs, on populations that differ vastly from those who are really going to be taking the drugs (i.e. not testing on elderly people, who consume the vast majority of prescription drugs in this country), so that they can make a profit. drugs are never tested against existing drugs-that's usually only looked at in lit reviews. otherwise, what if a company found their new drug was less effective than an existing drug? they would not sell it. rather, by simply showing their drug is effective, it can be marketed. big pharma uses its financial power to then sway politicians and other influential people, who stand to make money or benefit from the pharmaceutical companies.
so what about the poor uninsured? nobody cares, because everyone thinks they're lazy and uneducated. perhaps under-educated is true (it's certainly harder to find a well-paying job these days without a college degree), but the majority of the uninsured are full-time workers from families (not lazy, single drunks). we end up paying more in health care now because people without insurance wait until preventable conditions become life-threatening before they seek care, meaning treatment is more expensive (and eventually we pay for this anyway, whether through publicly-funded programs, or increased costs of care implemented to offset the expenses from such individuals).
i hope no one on this board ever develops a "pre-existing condition" either, because you can kiss your health insurance plan goodbye, if you ever switch jobs. many people go into debt over health care because they become sick, lose their jobs, and are dropped by their health insurance. try getting health insurance with a diagnosis of cancer, or MS. then see how fun it is to be labled "lazy."
who decided my health is more valuable than any other hard-working individual? it would be less expensive to provide everyone with at least a minimum amount of universal health care (and in my opinion, perhaps a bit more moral).
sorry to add to the boredom on here. universal health care is a hot button for me....
don't get me started on the pharmaceutical industry, which makes BILLIONS of dollars every year. they do this by testing drugs that probably aren't really that different from current drugs, on populations that differ vastly from those who are really going to be taking the drugs (i.e. not testing on elderly people, who consume the vast majority of prescription drugs in this country), so that they can make a profit. drugs are never tested against existing drugs-that's usually only looked at in lit reviews. otherwise, what if a company found their new drug was less effective than an existing drug? they would not sell it. rather, by simply showing their drug is effective, it can be marketed. big pharma uses its financial power to then sway politicians and other influential people, who stand to make money or benefit from the pharmaceutical companies.
so what about the poor uninsured? nobody cares, because everyone thinks they're lazy and uneducated. perhaps under-educated is true (it's certainly harder to find a well-paying job these days without a college degree), but the majority of the uninsured are full-time workers from families (not lazy, single drunks). we end up paying more in health care now because people without insurance wait until preventable conditions become life-threatening before they seek care, meaning treatment is more expensive (and eventually we pay for this anyway, whether through publicly-funded programs, or increased costs of care implemented to offset the expenses from such individuals).
i hope no one on this board ever develops a "pre-existing condition" either, because you can kiss your health insurance plan goodbye, if you ever switch jobs. many people go into debt over health care because they become sick, lose their jobs, and are dropped by their health insurance. try getting health insurance with a diagnosis of cancer, or MS. then see how fun it is to be labled "lazy."
who decided my health is more valuable than any other hard-working individual? it would be less expensive to provide everyone with at least a minimum amount of universal health care (and in my opinion, perhaps a bit more moral).
sorry to add to the boredom on here. universal health care is a hot button for me....
Courtesy of Andrew: "I don't think you will damage your escort unless she trips because she is so strung out on blow. Most people just take them to the rest area."
Ok I know this is pretty boring stuff, I just really get depressed each time it comes up the same talking points are used which show a bunch of people aren't aware of some of the realities. So a bunch of this is just setting the stage.
More boring:
Universal health care plans usually fall in tho two groups, single-payer or a pluralistic system.
Most people know something about Canada’s set-up. The gov. acts as the insurer or pays private insurers to cover the care supplied by private health care entities.
The UK is a single-payer too, but there it’s set-up as fully public. The providers are gov. employees.
Most UHC countries are a combination of a state furnished service but there is a private health service and insurers too. It’s the system I think would work best for us. Everyone has a basic level of health care available to them with the option of private insurance plans and providers to cover anything above that standard of care that they want. Australia is set-up like this.
Waiting times that are usually thrown around are regarding elective care. The Canadian wait times comparing with the US don’t reflect the huge numbers of un- and under-insured Americans who aren’t even in the queue for elective care they can’t afford. They don’t have the access either to a plan from private entities that could get them a higher level of service.
This would also be the most advantageous for the private industry that we have now. Any UHC plan is going to restructure and absorb what we have now. There would at least be some more flexibility for them.
Recent excerpt from Annals put out by the American College of Physicians
that is very good and detailed.
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/148/1/55
More boring:
Universal health care plans usually fall in tho two groups, single-payer or a pluralistic system.
Most people know something about Canada’s set-up. The gov. acts as the insurer or pays private insurers to cover the care supplied by private health care entities.
The UK is a single-payer too, but there it’s set-up as fully public. The providers are gov. employees.
Most UHC countries are a combination of a state furnished service but there is a private health service and insurers too. It’s the system I think would work best for us. Everyone has a basic level of health care available to them with the option of private insurance plans and providers to cover anything above that standard of care that they want. Australia is set-up like this.
Waiting times that are usually thrown around are regarding elective care. The Canadian wait times comparing with the US don’t reflect the huge numbers of un- and under-insured Americans who aren’t even in the queue for elective care they can’t afford. They don’t have the access either to a plan from private entities that could get them a higher level of service.
This would also be the most advantageous for the private industry that we have now. Any UHC plan is going to restructure and absorb what we have now. There would at least be some more flexibility for them.
Recent excerpt from Annals put out by the American College of Physicians
that is very good and detailed.
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/148/1/55
this thread really pisses me off and makes me want to move to Cuba. At least I could get health care there, bc apparently, according to some of you fucktards, I am uneducated and lazy bc I cannot afford health care in this country. and bullshit that it is just the insurance companies and not the rest of the health care fields that are a broken system
and nevermind that the some people who cannot pay for insurance and health care ARE this country.
idiots.
and nevermind that the some people who cannot pay for insurance and health care ARE this country.
idiots.
