Is it possible to establish free health care in the US?

Question

We would have to eliminate the right of people to randomly sue their doctors. Insurance companies would go broke. And even the poor could get treated for serious diseases. What are the down sides to this again?

Answer 1

Yes, it is possible to establish free healthcare in a nation.

Almost *every* other developed nation On Earth, that is, in Europe, on the Pacific Rim and on the North American continent, almost everyone who *can* afford to do so has done so.

We haven't. Why? Because the Rich Man Says So. Not much else really....it's just the suits, and they own the media so they get to play an endless mindgame with us all, telling us that if *one more grandma* got her meds paid for it would just *bankrupt* the nation when poorer countries than ourselves *have* national healthcare that covers *everyone*.....

Really. And some clever folks will piss and moan about "socialism". Look....socialism is actually *normal* for the rest of the developed world, ok? It is. Look at the UK, France, Austrailia.....even Canada, they all have national healthcare, all have it cheaper than we do, and none of them are bankrupt nations.

Then look at Japan. They definitely are pacifist, and socialist compared to us...and how do we know this? *America* wrote their constitution post-World War II, that's how! Think about it.

Socialism is normal for the rest of the world. It isn't a dictatorship like communism, people still own their property, and the rich guys still get theirs, just not *rapaciously so* like here in the USA....

So yeah, it's *possible* to have free health care in the US....everyone else who can do it is in fact *doing it*.

Will we? Nope, because our Rich Men have made us all *retarded*. Really, they call it "special", but when the cameras are turned off, we all know which meaning of "special" they really mean.....

Just saying. :)

Answer 2

The answer lies in the question. There will never be free health care...only for the fact that it will have to be paid by someone. Either privately, as most of us do, or through our taxes. Either way we're paying for it. The real question is not free health care, but universal coverage such that everyone is covered for at least the minimum health care needs (ie emergency and preventative care and prescriptions). That can be done with simple tax increase and reorganization of funding priorities. But people in the US would rather have a terminal disease than pay more taxes or shrink the military budget. Why do we need enough nukes to blow up every planet in the solar system? 13 Hiroshima bombs can start the process of destroying the Earth I would imagine 20 are enough to have on hand.

Answer 3

First we need to get real. There is no such thing as free health care. Somebody always ends up paying for it.

No modern form of socialized medicine has ever worked well. Talk with the people currently stuck with it who have to wait months for tests & a year or more for lifesaving procedures, or the survivors of those who could not wait that long . That truth is be found in every European country & Canada, where the only way to get timely, appropriate health care is in the private medical systems. Only the moderately rich can afford them.

Just because ours, & theirs, are working poorly does not mean there is no solution. Our own Social Security system is the most cost efficient system in the world, with only a 2% overhead. That proves govt. can administer an effective insurance program. But the politicians are gutting it. In Canada, drug prices are extremely lower (I don't exactly know why) Our politicians made it illegal to import Canadian drugs. Our state Medicaid agencies have tried to use a competitive bid system for prescriptions. Politics killed it again. As long as the drug companies, the AMA, the law lobby, & the graft seeking politicos are left to run the show, no equitable form of health care is possible.

No cost medical care is impossible for a purely psychological reason shown by years of practice. Since the 1950s, a majority of workers enjoyed full medical coverage due to successful labor negotiations to obtain them. As long as it costs nothing, there is no incentive to use it wisely - meaning only when needed We proved that, ourselves, with the result of exorbitant medical costs today. Without some cost involved to make us think twice, people will always abuse the system.

I do have one idea that can solve many of these problems. For every bill Congress passes, they must live with it the same as everyone else does. Make it mandatory they have to live on Social Security incomes & private pensions upon retirement like the rest of us. They would be limited to Medicare / Medicaid lack of coverage. They pay for their own prescriptions w/o being able to buy them at a fairer price from Canada. Buy their own cars, pay their own taxes, pay their own postage.on the kind of budget the rest of us have to do.it with. Lastly, make them pay the same price for the same crimes like anyone else who cannot afford legal representation..Change would come very rapidly, indeed.. .

Answer 4

No! The medical profession has controlled the medical care available and at what price for so long it would be impossible to change the system now. Doctors are used to becoming millionaires, hospitals and the staffing are dedicated to making as much money as possible, and these two factors alone will prevent socialized Medicine in America. When you factor in the Insurance companies, the strongest lobbies in the country then it would be impossible to change established procedure.

Answer 5

Insurance company's, American Medical Association and the drug company's spend millions to make billions so that the American people will never have socialized medicine. It is a huge lobby, more money is probably spent on blocking it then is spent on the actual cost of having it.
When ask the Canadians that I have talked to, even with its problems would not trade health care systems with us. To answer your question, yes it is possible but there are many hurdles to overcome. The American people would have to be educated as to how the socialized health care system would work, how much it would cost. As opposed to what it cost each and every one of us without it. There are hidden cost as many employers provide health care for their employees, many more cannot afford it. General Motors estimates it cost $1000 per car to provide health care for their employee's. Everything that we buy from a box of cereal to a car has this hidden cost built in. So, if this cost was spread paid for in a sales tax the cost of products would go down to match the cost of the heath care, we would be ahead in the long run. Yes, it is possible and would help our company's to compete with the rest of the world, thus putting more people to work. As one of 45 million Americans without access to affordable health care I call for its inception.

Answer 6

Doctors, hospitals and all medication would have to be price controled, and/or employees of the government,

All medical treatment would have to be approved by the government. Alot of elective treatment would not be allowed.

In most nations that have national health care it is a lower quaulity than that of the US.

So you have a cold, and get to wait a week for treatment,
Doctors do wrong and you die, limit if any recourse.

I am not saying it would not work, but alot of laws, would have to change, and the right to doctors would have to change.

Answer 7

It does not require that people give up their rights to sue. they never sue for "random" reasons, they only sue when they have been victims of malpractice and suffered damages and they only win when they prove it and they only get damages when they deserve them according to a jury of their peers. tis is NOT the problem
the problem is rich doctors who care about more money and do not care about the pateints enough to give good care. when they fail they get sued. If they did not screw up they would never lose a suit and would never have to pay anything. in fact they would not get sued.
Insurance companies cane never go broke. they have all the money there is to have and it is all investsd well. they have cash from premiums and investments pouring in faster than they can spend it. They own almost everything there is to own or own a mortgage on it which they collect interest on. their wealth is uncountable.
If people got more medical care it would not affect the Insurnce compamies income or their profits. They may get additional business from the extra doctors who will buy insurance for malpractice.
We need to invest in more medical schools and graduate more doctors. The we can take care of more patients without raisning costs. it we get enough more doctors, we can expect competiton to lower costs. we need to give incentives and tuition grants and loans and scholarships to students to learn what they need to get into medical school and graduate and practice. this can be done by government fiscal policy.( that is who should do it) we cannot rely on the profit motive of private free enterprize for medical and health care.
we can also use legislation to regulate prescription drug profits and provide subsidies or whatever it takes to get the drugs to who needs them at affordable costs.
The governments purpose as we invented it is to do for the society what is needed but cannot be done by each individual alone. like water supplies and telephones and roads and school and hospitals and health care. that is why we need government. that and defense. we have no need for any government otherwise.
the down sides may be that there are temporary shortages of hospitals and doctors until the gap is filled. there are plenty of empty lots to build hospitals on and plenty of empty heads to fill with knowledge so we have what we need. all we need now is the intention and the will and the committment.
we have too many sick people so maybe we can also do something to make our society healthier so we do not need so many doctors and so much drugs and hospitals. that is another avenue that needs to be gone down at the same time. education and exercise and good food are needed.
it will be less expensive to do this than it presently is to deal with the sick in the present way at emergency rooms and with expensive treatments but no preventative care. PROFIT has to become les of the incentive to give care and more incentive has to be given by government policy and social approval or whatever it takes to stop the madness. Doctors should stop expecting to be multi-miilionaires or else not bother to learn and practice their art. it is shameful the way it has become big business instead of a helping profession

Answer 8

It would take a very wide cultural change of mind. People in the U.S. is scare of anything that smells state. And the whole individualism thing has succeded here so much that people has lost some sense of humanity, of caring for the other.

Therefore, many would oppose a free health care because: "It's our taxpayer dolars, we shouldn't be giving it to those who don't want to work"

As Obama said it, this has become a terrible example of social Darwinism.

Sorry Ri, I am with you and would be the happiest woman if that idea would have any chances, but to be honest I doubt so.

Answer 9

Medicine has always required Mega-Funding. For instance, there are more MRI machines in the state of Ohio then in all of Europe. Furthermore, the only reason any any country with socialized medicine can have any expensive medical equipment like this is because Americans patients paid for the development and American demand increased production which resulted in decreased unit cost. In short, the only reason ANY country can have effective socilized Medicine is because WE DON'T. What it would require is a global system of socialized medicine where every country paid an appropriate contribution to pay for continued research and development.

Answer 10

Precisely why Hilary and Bill Clinton couldn't get anything passed!

By the way......their are programs in place for the poor to get treated for serious diseases.......and free health coverage.......there are so many programs for them.
It's the middle class that don't have the coverage they need.