Should there be universal health care in our country like Canada?

Question

I already know what some of you are going to say, but the question is laid out there...

Answer 1

For the past l8 years I have been a loyal employee of the Palm Beach County School Board. In l996 they simply re-classified some of us and left us with no benefits. They gave us what they called a FICA replacement plan. In other words, because they could they took away our social security. What this did for me and what it has to do with your question is that I was left with no social security. I thought because i already had my quarters in I would be fine but noooo - I became disabled this past year to a severe heart problem and I had to turn to a County program called Health Care District to pay for some major surgery (Open heart)-- I am left with no benefits and now they have canceled that because I don't make enough money to keep it. So here I sit with a metal valve in my heart - no insurance company willing to touch me and not enough money to pay a premium if they would - I have no benefits at all and am on coumadin - I know it is too high right now because I have been bleeding when I pee. Do we need some universal health care - God yes and will it come before I drop dead? God I hope so but I fear not. .........

Answer 2

I used to be leery of national healthcare, until I lived in a country that had it. My opinions, from a user's perspective, changed markedly. These opinions, incidentally, are based on living in Australia for three and a half years, where national health care works somewhat differently from Canada's. There, the national system pays for about 2/3 of costs; you can and often do purchase supplementary insurance. That way, the private sector still functions as well.

My first pleasant surprise was the amount of paperwork: it was about 1/10th of what I would have had to fill out in the United States. I moreover found that if I needed a referral, my doctor simply wrote me one and off I went to a specialist without having to wait for approval from an HMO or some other insurance agency. Medicine was cheaper and I found that I could deduct parts of my medical expenses that weren't covered from my taxes. When I had an emergency and had to be hospitalized, I was admitted without any delay.

Perhaps most significantly of all, I did not see the numbers of sick and infirm people that I see here. People are healthier. Yes, my taxes were somewhat higher than they were in the States, but not significantly so. And I got a lot more for my money.

In the U.S., over 90% of those involved in health care provide NO direct medical help to patients. They push paper back and forth. We do not have a health care system, we have a medical economy.

I say, bring in state run health care systems instead of a national health care plan. Whatever the future, there is absolutely no excuse for not covering children. We offer free education to level the playing field in America. Should health care be any different?

Answer 3

I don't think it matters exactly where the money comes from it will cost a lot more money than what it does right now. If those costs are passed on to the consumer then we all will pay for it that way if legislation is passed to accelerate taxes to cover it then (those without clever accountants will likely have to pay) the public pays. IF the cost spiral CAN BE CONTROLLED as is hoped by Obama then the well-being as well as the profitability of American business will increase. The MAJOR BENEFIT of universal health care is the humanity afforded by getting help to those in need. Reluctance and scoffing at its proposed benefit is a result of the MASSIVE ABUSE perpetrated by unscrupulous operators who have been defrauding the Medicare & other systems. The EU system of value added tax is a validation of the premise of all participants paying a share for the common good---it sounds really great but my friend in Germany who has corollary financial difficulties has no medical insurance and is tax broke anyway!! Germany is still paying for the absorption of Deutsche Demokratische Republic so may not be a fair parallel even though our system is overburdened with welfare for poor people and for Wall Street. Since our government is now in the business of bailing out failed enterprises once they reach a certain size what is the definition of profit any way ??

Answer 4

ABSOLUTELY!!!! I would say that it should not be "just like" Canada's system, or any other for that matter. (Closer to what I have heard about Australia, maybe....)

I work--about 30 hrs. per week (full-time in retail), and make less than $10.00 per hour. Over $100.00 per month goes to my health care plan. And I still cannot afford to get health care! As long as I'm well, it seems to work okay, but let me get sick......I had kidney stones, and had lthotripsy (spelling?) to destroy them. The insurance paid some, but I was left holding an over $2000.00 bag. Also, I collapsed at work, and was hospitalized for two days--another $2000.00. I got sued for the remaining amount and I can't pay it! (At $10.00 per week, which is all I can afford, I will be paying on these bills forever--they still continue to charge me interest, too!) I can't afford to see the eye doctor, and have been wearing my present (wired together) glasses for about 6 years, and they don't even help any longer....I can't afford to go to the dentist, and I have two rotten teeth that need to be pulled, and an upper plate that doesn't fit properly any longer.

Don't tell me to get a "better" job--that's almost impossible with my bad ankle and shoulder, and I don't have transportation, either.

And I'm just one of the many......

Answer 5

So if under Universal Health Care the government goes into arbitration to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, are the pharmaceuticals going to raise the prices everywhere else in teh world to make up the difference?

And if so are universal health care systems in other countries going to fail?

Pharmaceuticals are the biggest factor in it all IMO.

The USA pays for the R&D of new drugs and vaccinations that other countries get for much cheaper. If that didnt happen, then we woudl either see what i said, the companies raise the price other places, or we would see a lack of development of new medications.

Answer 6

The problem with universal is abuse of the system. A lot of people go see multiple doctors, get free perscriptions, and then sell them on the street to supplement their welfare. I do think we need a system where major bills are covered-maybe like an insurance deductible-so people without coverage don't wipe out their families savings because of a major illness. That way the government would only kick in on a limited number of cases. The US system is still one of the best. A universal system woud cut into the profit motive and thereby kill R&D.

Answer 7

I believe so, but do you notice the nay sayers all compare what we might adopt here to other systems, what the hell is that about I thought Americans did everything better, with more innovation than any other country, are they really saying we're not reall as good as we say, or are they saying they're not smart enough to develop a system that would work, and for those who don't like taxes, get the hell out of my country you selfish freaking bas---tards, what you don't like roads, cops, fire service, and all the benefits that should come to a society that is as prosperous as ours, you're saying that somehow you, as an American, shouldn't have obligation but to yourselves? Well F freaking you

Answer 8

I think there should be a very basic plan so that people aren't scared of going to the doctor. I don't want simple things like a small infection to get worse and people using tax payer money in an emergency room. If more people could get help for very basic problems, bigger problems wouldn't be as big of an issue and if you want better health care, go ahead and pay for it.

Answer 9

It's all to easy to say "No!" when you have health care insurance through your employer. But I happen to know a few people who have no health insurance, cannot afford to pay for it, and are just praying that they don't get sick. One of them is sick, but they won't go to the Doctor because they are afraid that they will have to go to the Hospital, and don't have the money to pay for it. They make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to buy it themselves.

What do we do with them?

Answer 10

Not just like Canada's, but America desperately needs single-payer national healthcare like every other industrialized nation in the world already has.