Health care question?

Question

Should every American have access to affordable health care? Many countrys have it and they do not appear to be on the verge of collapse or anything, why would it not work here? Curently there are 45 million people without access to affordable health care. Is this no a shame in a country as rich as ours that we do not take care of these people ?

Blue Julie, while I agree with you what the problem is, (insurance company's) I do not agree with your answer to it. Health care should be a right not a priviledge.

Answer 1

BlueJulie,

I don't know where you get your info from, but Canada has one of the best healthcare systems in the world. You can book in to see your GP like you would any other doctor, and if need referal to a specialist, your GP does this for you and on the 4 occasions it's been done for me I was in within the week. Also, you can drop in to any of the numerous medi-clinics without appointment and see a doctor within an hour. The problems in Canada stem from alot of doctors and nurses going to the states because of better wages. The level of care in Canada also is not sub-standard as you claim. I don't presume to know about the level of medical care in the US, but from the many Americans I have worked with, 1500USD a month for family coverage vs. 45CDN a month, is a major difference. And yes, I believe the litigation culture in the US has serverly damaged the insurance and medical industry.

Answer 2

Actually this is a false statement. 45 million do not have insurance, that is different than no health care. There are health department that give greatly reduced and free care to those with less money than most. Of that 45 million you have to look at how many are healthy young adults who really do not need it. it is federal law that emergency care must be given whether or not you can pay. You are allowed to go into medical bankruptcy which is separate and by itself and it will not show as you going into bankruptcy.

People do have access to health care, if we didn't have it we wouldn't have the illegals running here for our non-coverage would we? People are taken care of in so many ways, it is wrong to assume they are not.

Answer 3

I would think that everyone should have access to affordable health care. In a perfect world. But the reality is the American Medical Association pays lobbyists BIG BIG BIG bucks to influence your Congressman's vote. That will never happen, more than likely.

Answer 4

There is definitely a crisis when it comes to affordable health care in the U.S. Insurance companies are making a huge profit at the expense of the patients AND the doctors. It's practically criminal. But socialized medicine is not the answer, insurance reform is. Socialized medicine will only reduce the availability and quality of medical care, according to people I've met who live in locations where it exists, such as Canada, where it sometimes takes months to get an appointment with a specialist, and regular doctor visits are hard to come by and entail a long wait at the time of the visit, plus impersonal staff and borderline-quality care. With insurance reform, we can maintain quality of care, motivated physicians who practice independently of the government, and competition within the profession, leading to better prices and services.

Addendum: In order to actually reduce the price of healthcare itself, independent of medical insurance, we will have to find a way to lower the premiums for malpractice insurance, the cost of medical supplies and prescription drugs, and also the astronomical cost of medical school, internship and residency for the doctors who provide the healthcare and must pay for all of the above in order to practice.

Answer 5

I work hard and pay an arm & leg for my families healthcare. And it goes up a lot every year!
It would be ideal if every AMERICAN would have health coverage. I DO NOT want to pay for it though. How fair would that be but then, I already contribute to the food and clothes of the poor on welfare through my taxes so what would a little more hurt. I don't mind helping those who do their best to help themselves, but, I'm not blind, I realize the majority of those on welfare abuse the system. I vote for NO socialized medicine.
Oh, I have a friend who lived in the USA for 2 years from England and he prefered the US for health care for his wife and 3 kids instead of socialized medicine back in England. He said the US had a much higher quality of healthcare.

Answer 6

This is something that the Democrats have to fix as soon as possible. It can be done, but it'll take time and money. People shouldn't have to forgo health care because they can't afford it. It's shameful that in a country that has so much something hasn't been done about this by now.

Answer 7

The people that can afford health care in America don't want to pay for everyone else. Plus the government seems to mess things up. Like invading Iraq.

Answer 8

i personaly think it's shamefull that a country like the U.S. has a healthcare system that is un-equal.

you lot over there do have low taxes, about 23 pc of your salary - over here in the UK, it's 30pc and in Sweden it's 50 pc . The long and the short of it, is what you put in is what you get out.

Answer 9

In the uk we get free healthcare, it's called the NHS (National Health Service) we do have the option to go private if we want

Answer 10

if you had to pay the police would you be happy. same principle as healthcare - it should be a right provided by the state, not something only some poeple have.