A program of "free" national health care provided by the government would inevitably lead to health care rationing. Americans keep chooseing more and better care over cheap, limited care.
Maybe we should give people a choice. You take one of the following: 1) The national plan "no charge". 2) Opt out. You get a check from the government representing a partial refund of your health care tax dollars (after all we have to redistribute some income). Go find your own plan.
I think we'd be shocked at how many people choose option two.
Economics 101
Those who can choose "more and better care". Not the what 40 million (perhaps that number is off) folks without health insurance.
In addition to which you act like we have choice in a world of PPOs, HMOs etc.
Who chooses their doctor anymore??
Health insurance just keeps people slaves to their employers since it is difficult to find affordable individual health coverage.
Granted, I will very much concede the point that national health care would be a crazy bloated bureaucracy with many problems.
Nonetheless, the market solutions leave many many people out in the cold.
The lobbyists for insurance companies love the status quo!
In addition to which you act like we have choice in a world of PPOs, HMOs etc.
Who chooses their doctor anymore??
Health insurance just keeps people slaves to their employers since it is difficult to find affordable individual health coverage.
Granted, I will very much concede the point that national health care would be a crazy bloated bureaucracy with many problems.
Nonetheless, the market solutions leave many many people out in the cold.
The lobbyists for insurance companies love the status quo!
For years I went without any health care plan or insurance of any kind. I was young and healthy, played the odds, and won. Many millions of people make this perfectly logical decision. The statistics show them as uninsured, as if this is a tragic thing. Sorry, but I got to go, it's dumping at Bridger Bowl and I must be there quick.
What is to keep anyone wanting better health care from receiving it? even with National health care? This idea that it will dumb down the system is stupid. The idea that it has to throw everyone into waiting lines is equally stupid. Just say you have an ideological problem with it and be done with it. Hurrr, socialized medicine. Do you think there are people out there with better health care right now than what you have? Same thing. It won't go away. If you demand better, it's available. Same as it's always been. You rave about the market but are loath to consider the benefits a healthier population could have on it. A workplace policy is only seen as an incentive rather than a factor of efficient and consistant employment.L K Day wrote:A program of "free" national health care provided by the government would inevitably lead to health care rationing. Americans keep chooseing more and better care over cheap, limited care.
As a liberal, I have a problem with people sick or dying of stupid ailments simply because they cannot afford to reap the benefit of our medical knowledge. There is no worse or cynical aire of a nation as a community, than to determine life or death based on monetary means. Those who see it as reward for excelling in the race of capitalism are heartless and discounting the fact that the less able also played a role in making our prowess in health care what it is.
My guess is that it doesn't register on some people until it becomes prohibitively expensive for them. Right now it's just the irresponsible ne'er-do-wells. Boy it sure sucks to be them! Well, the mercury is rising.
There are all kinds of factors seperating people from their health insurance today, and some of them are the policies used and embraced by this glorious economic surge that you're so giddy over.
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zspidder, you're excused
I didn't say anything about healthcare for non-citizens or illegal aliens. Illegal aliens should be flown back home with the proceeds from the fine levied on the employer, they could go first class, the surplus stuffed in their wallets. As a matter of fact, I mentioned how I'm bothered by the lack of a sense of unity as a nation to care for it's own.
I may not be typical as a liberal. You sure sound typical though.
I may not be typical as a liberal. You sure sound typical though.
The problem with allowing the "free market" to drive the health care industry is that health care is not something you can choose to have or not to have. The "free market" means that overall quality will reach the absolute minimum possible under the law (thankfully we still have some government regulations in place) as CEO's attempt to wring the maximum profit form hospitals. They do this by cutting back on measures to insure sterility (for instance by requiring nurses to wash their own scrubs at home), minimizing the number of beds (when we have a disaster or pandemic, where are we going to treat people? They already put beds in the halls.), and paying people that deal with patients as little as possible.
Yes, we in America have access to the best care on earth... if we can afford it. When you can't afford it you get shit care or none at all until you wind up in the emergency room. This is another reason allowing the healthcare system in this country to be absolutely profit driven is a huge mistake. By definition a free market is going to set the highest price for a service possible which means it will price a large portion of the population out completely. So what could have been prevented with regular check-ups and inexpensive outpatient procedures often ends up being a bankrupting emergency care situation for the uninsured.
We need to cover those poorest in our country to lessen the overall burden on the system. Healthier patients who can rely on GP's and regular care rather than emergency room visits will mean emergency rooms will be less overwhelmed, and critical resources won't be tied up healing diseases that could have been prevented.
And since when do we give "top notch care for free" to illegal immigrants? I don't think you can call arriving at the emergency room on the verge of death because you can't afford regular medical care to be "top notch care."
By the way, in many ways the health of Americans has dropped to third world status. We have very high infant mortality rates, diabetes, obesity, etc. largely due to our substandard healthcare system which completely fails such a large chunk of our population.
Yes, we in America have access to the best care on earth... if we can afford it. When you can't afford it you get shit care or none at all until you wind up in the emergency room. This is another reason allowing the healthcare system in this country to be absolutely profit driven is a huge mistake. By definition a free market is going to set the highest price for a service possible which means it will price a large portion of the population out completely. So what could have been prevented with regular check-ups and inexpensive outpatient procedures often ends up being a bankrupting emergency care situation for the uninsured.
We need to cover those poorest in our country to lessen the overall burden on the system. Healthier patients who can rely on GP's and regular care rather than emergency room visits will mean emergency rooms will be less overwhelmed, and critical resources won't be tied up healing diseases that could have been prevented.
And since when do we give "top notch care for free" to illegal immigrants? I don't think you can call arriving at the emergency room on the verge of death because you can't afford regular medical care to be "top notch care."
By the way, in many ways the health of Americans has dropped to third world status. We have very high infant mortality rates, diabetes, obesity, etc. largely due to our substandard healthcare system which completely fails such a large chunk of our population.
[size=75]You are as bad as Alan, and even he hits the mark sometimes. -charlie
"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
