Why do you want socialized medicine in the U.S.?

Question

Every American tax payer will have to fund such an institution. So its not free.

Does it really work in other contries or do people have to wait for long periods of time for delivery of healthcare?

Why should a doctor not be paid a salary comparable to corporate executives? They did go to school for long periods of time to keep you healthly and to save lives, why don't we respect that kind of devotion?

Why have I seen uninsured people driving luxury cars instead of paying for health insurance?

I understand there are underprivilaged people who need coverage...don't we already have medicaid?

Your thoughts

Answer 1

Socialized or Singler payer systems are nothing more than a large government HMO. The only way to control costs is through managing access. This management of access is accomplished by delaying medically necessary services. Please see my review of the movie SICKO below:

Thank You Michael Moore

While Michael Moore does do one thing well with his recent box office release of SICKO - he brings attention to the American healthcare system.

However, he simply falls down with regards to how well the system works for the majority of Americans.

He also fails to mention the other side of socialized "single payer" medicine; in 2006 Britain's Department of Health reported that at any given time, nearly 900,000 Britons are waiting for admission to National Health Service hospitals, and shortages force the cancellation of more than 50,000 operations each year.

In Sweden, the wait for heart surgery can be as long as 25 weeks, and the average wait for hip replacement surgery is more than a year.

Canada is not immune to the issues either - in a March 2006 interview with Dr Brian Day, President of the Canadian Medical Association, he states "the Supreme Court stated that Canadians are suffering and dying on wait lists and that governments across the country have shown inertia in dealing with the plight of patients...... ....and they struck down the segments of the Quebec health law that outlawed private insurance for medically necessary services" so even Canada is looking toward private insurance as a solution to their issues.

Did any American realize that burried deep in the 1000's of legislative pages of the early 90's "Hillary Care" that it was made a criminal act to pay cash to a physician? Do we really want the government to have complete control of our health care?

There is a real problem with the uninsured in America, and as a Health Insurance Broker, I discuss with my clients how they as employers, myself as a broker and the health insurance carriers have a responsibility to get these people insured through innovative group and individual products.

We have a large pool of healthy Americans who are not insured, we need them to step up and become part of the solution.

In addition, we Americans need to take responsibility for our own health. A significant portion of medical claims are directly related to the American lifestyle (we as Americans have the resources to become fat and lazy). I feel that through employer sponsored wellness, consumerism and disease management programs we can continue down the road of a "healthy America". Result: a reduction of the large claims that have our healthcare spending spiraling out of control.

Bottom line; Thank you Michael Moore for focusing Americans attention on a real problem - HealthCare, maybe your next film should be on the "American Lifestyle Crisis" - perhaps called "Glutton for Punishment".

Rick Knox - Vice President of Knox Associates, LLC - a Las Vegas based employee benefits brokerage.

Answer 2

First of all, we already have socialized medicine in the U.S. In fact we have at least three different systems of socialized medicine: Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA system. Then we have private insurance for the rest of us, and nothing for a large number of us.

The reason that we should have a single government-paid system, instead of these many different systems, is that it is a lot more efficient to do that. Instead of having every single business having to worry about what health insurance plan to choose, everyone should be covered by the same system. The administrative costs of Medicare are FAR lower than the administrative costs of any private health insurance plan. And do you have any idea how much litigation in this country, whether suits against employers to try to regain someone's job, or suits against HMO's, or suits arising out of car accidents, are necessitated by the fact that people do not have the health insurance coverage that they need? This is all extremely wasteful. I am a small business owner. Why do I have to spend my time and energy figuring out the best health plan for a tiny number of employees, and not being able to get a very good deal? And large businesses have problems too. Why should General Motors have to pay for health coverage for its employees adding to the price of every single car when some of its competitors do not? That is destroying American industry and making it less competitive.

Medicare works. It is far from perfect, but do you know any seniors who are asking that we abolish it? We need to extend Medicare to everyone. We will all save money in the long run.


And Elizzabeth, I have to say that I love your answer. It sounds to me like, I've made up my mind, so don't confuse me with the facts.

Answer 3

1. You are ALREADY paying for other people's insurance--who do you think pays for the poor to go to the emergency room, which is the only choice they have and is much more expensive than any other choice?
2. The government would not run the hospitals. You would have the same doctors, the same hospitals, the same choices; the payment for it would be handled differently. That's all.
3. America does have the best health CARE, and that's why people come here from other countries. But we are not talking about health care. We are talking about the delivery system--the insurance, the way things are paid for. Some people do not understand enough about the idea to separate those two things.
4. Doctors in countries that have nationalized health care make comparable salaries to doctors here.
5. It really works in other countries, and a recent study showed that we have longer wait times in the U.S. for many medical treatments than they do in those countries.
6. Many right-wingers think that unfettered corporatism is a good idea, and that letting corporations having the maximum profit for the least amount of service is the same as a "free market." I do not agree.
7. Discussing the tax percentage the way some people do is inaccurate. In France, for just one example, they get free nannies after a child is born, free preschool, free child care, free college, free health care. That is to say, they pay for those things with their taxes.

Let's say we had that system. If you were to add up what you had to pay for a nanny (if you could afford one at all), preschool (which is running around $700/month right now for a good one), child care costs, your health care premiums AND your children's college tuition--that would be the amount you should compare to your increase in taxes, not just the health care cost. By that comparison, you would save quite a bit of money.

American women who have lived in France and then returned home cannot understand how American mothers handle all the tasks in their lives without the support of free preschool, nannies and free child care while they work. They say that American mothers have far less support and therefore far more stress than mothers in countries with nationalized health care.

Answer 4

As a citizen of the US and as a person suffering with a 2 chronic illnesses, I think it would be a good idea. Universal Healthcare as it is called in other countries, is available for everyone. People can afford to be sick and not have to worry about insurance. We already pay taxes for the Health industry in America. I don't see why that would be a problem. People don't really have to wait an extended period of time. I have friends in Canada, France and Englad who say they think their system is better than ours. Our specialists won't disappear if we move towards UHC. People claim it is not working because people come from Canada and Mexico to receive care in the US. Yes, our specialists may be more advanced than the ones in Canada, but why can't we get along? Why can't we work with Canada to see that they can have the same level of care that we have. And Mexico is a suffering country that needs our help. Think of the devastation if they couldn't bring their people here. Why can't we be neighbors? I have type 1 diabetes and PCOS, and I am only 16. I have healthcare now, but what if I lose it when I am older, what if I have a bad policy. With UHC, you don't have to worry about it. You have to weigh the costs and the affects of the matter. Is it so bad to wait for 2 hours to see a doctor, then to suffer without one? Without a doctor, I would die.

Answer 5

Our current form of health insurance (for profit) is like an old dinosaur and has to be replaced with a system like the Canadian plan. I lived there for a while myself and know people back in Toronto and Montreal as well as Nova Scotia. They absolutely love it and their waiting time are far shorter there than I personally have had here in the US.

I also hear that the Australian and UK plans get extremely high ratings by their citizens.

We are the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn't have it and we need to take our heads out of the sand and join the 21st century. You never hear of those countries that do have it ever trying to get the American plan, do you. There must be many reasons for that.

Answer 6

My health insurance premiums are through the roof as are many others. It is not just the poor or unemployed that don't have health insurance, it is many middle income Americans. The Number One cause of bankruptcy in my state is health care cost.
The system only works for 60% of the people, and it is becoming more and more disfuctional as we speak. It is a national discrace that people die and suffer needlessly for lack of heath care.
Those of you who say we have the best health care in the world, I beg to differ! Our infant mortality is something like number 34 in the world. We are also not living as long as our western counterparts.

Answer 7

You have thought this through. It is a difficult topic these days. I do not want the government making health care decisions for individual Americans. I do not want people to go without medical care because they cannot afford it, either.

There has to be a better plan than we've seen so far. I think it is best handled by the several States.

Answer 8

Because it's unethical for a Corporation to be profiteering off of people's health.

Answer 9

>>Does it really work in other contries or do people have to wait >>for long periods of time for delivery of healthcare?

Check out the following article on Canada's system. It's quite illuminating:

http://city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html

Personally, I think it would be a major disaster (check out our current social programs); and no one has a right to make health care decisions for me or for anyone else in my name or with my money. Those of you who want such a system are welcome to partner with one another and contribute your tax dollars toward it, but don't try forcing the rest of us to participate (we have enough of that already). We won't tell you what to do, you won't tell us what to do...deal?

Answer 10

doctors and people in that type of work get paid to much for nothing.