Apparently, the U.S. is the only first world industrialized nation without some form of public health care?

Question

This is question for all of our yahoo answers friends in the other first world industrial countries... How are your health care systems treating you? We hear alot of people in the U.S. say that your healthcare systems are aweful, but I'd like to hear it right from the source.

Or, if your country has awesome health care, let us know!

Did anyone actually read the question? Sheash!

Answer 1

I'm living in Ireland now, where there is a weird half-bred system, a voluntary health insurance that used to be controlled by the gouvernment and has only recently been opened to private competition, but is still subject to strict state control. Hospital care is paid for out of taxes, "free" at source for everybody, but you have to pay to see a GP if you're not insured (In rural areas ca. 5 times the minimal hourly wage for a consultation). Very low income earners get a medical card, which entitles to free treatment by GPs and dentists as well as hospitals. The Irish health system is in crisis as well, due to underfunding all through the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, but nowhere near as bad as the US one.

I used to live in Germany, where there is compulsory health insurance, deducted from your pay by your employer. I'm not sure about the current rate, it used to be about 10% of your earnings after taxes, and your stay-at-home spouse and children are included.The system worked grand when I left Germany in 1986, but in the meantime it has deteriorated slightly, due to the massive unemployment and therefore lack of funds, while pharmacological companies and doctors were/are still asking for more money, but friends from Ireland who live there still prefer it by far to the Irish one.

Like most Europeans I think the US system is a scandal, and that health belongs to the areas where capitalism and market forces do NOT work. We don't understand the hysterical phobia that comes over some US-Americans when the word "public health care" is mentioned, as has been demonstrated by a lot of your answers here.

Answer 2

That is sadly true. Don't believe the Everything is hunky-dory A's. If you go to the emergency room the charges are awful. The cost of health insurance is awful, too, & with an average health insurance policy, you're going to owe thousands at the hospital for something like getting diagnosed for a gall bladder problem. Many people are losing their homes because of medical bills. Some even end up homeless. There is a health care crisis in the USA. AND who pays for the ER visits by the poor who have no insurance? The taxpayer.

Answer 3

I live in the UK, and the NHS isn't too bad, but you do have to wait quite a while for operations and other treatments as there are waiting lists with the strongest priority person first. Some people can be left waiting for over a year, then get fed up and pay for the operation, scan, etc themselves. I remember last year I had to have an eye examination at the hospital, and it was 6 months before I even received a letter regarding details of an appointment.

But, I guess free healthcare is better than having to pay thousands of pounds to get treatment.

Answer 4

Apparently people are not reading your question. I live in the U.S. and I can read. :)

It's a fact the U.S. healthcare system is breaking and is in danger of falling apart. The worse thing we can do is to do nothing and ignore the signs. That is so typical of right wing nuts. Ignore the problem because that always make a problem go away. So lazy and ridiculous. Ask any healthcare professional what they think of our system. Ask GM what they think while you are it. They have a $64 billion health care liability. That is one company. What has been happening to health care costs? My insurance rates continue to increase exponentially and I hardly ever use it. My husband's company figured out that in 2 years they will not be able to afford the health insurance policy they have. This is a crisis. People. It's time to wake up to reality before it socks you in your thick skulls.
Learn to read. You are an embarrassment.

Answer 5

I have to agree with ndgbill. My father, and his father were veterans of the Vietnam war, and WWII respectively, and I love this country. But as a people, we have become gullible, lazy, and ineffectual, and let the politicians and big money lobbies run our lives, and tell us what the truth is. Whatever happened to 'democracy'? This country is not a democracy - Al Gore WON the popular vote in 2000, meaning more Americans voted for him than Bush. But guess what? We don't elect our president, THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE does. And because of that, and the way our system has succumbed to the special interest groups, we grant the ultra rich tax breaks, and refuse middle class people medical coverage which would allow them to participate in PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE. Now, if you are truly poor, free medical care is available. And if you are relatively well off, you can afford health care. But if you are a hard working, middle class young person, trying to afford health coverage for you and your family, YOU ARE SCREWED. I know - been there, done that. It's as though if you are not ultra rich, the powers that be actually encourage you to be dirt poor! All this talk of socialism and communism is propaganda buLL$hit left over from the McCarthy era. Just like the weapons of mass destrcution that were never found in Iraq, we just go along with what the government tells us. Even when confronted with facts, we cling to our faithful "leaders". Just like global warming - our "leaders" refused to acknowledge that is was true for years, even bowing out on the Kyoto treaty, which was adopted by 169 other countries. But hey - our politicians know what the truth is, right? Those other 169 countries are just "alarmists". Sorry, I have gotten off topic, but I am SO SICK of putting up with our governments LIES and GREED. PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD HATE US FOR WHAT OUR GREEDY, IGNORANT, UNCARING LEADERS ARE DOING IN OUR NAME. Benjamin Frnaklin had a quote I love - here is a praphrase of it:
"Those who are willing to sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither". Old Ben is probably rolling over in his grave....

Answer 6

i think of we are basically too a techniques into our modern healthcare suggestions to make an undemanding transition to common healthcare. there is quite some the reason human beings do not choose common healthcare: human beings do not prefer to pay for others, human beings have concerns with reference to the known of care they could get in a common equipment, the status quo works for the final public of the inhabitants, healthcare industries are multi-billion industries and the lack of ability of those industries could desire to be catastrophic in terms of pastime-loss and economic impacts. i could extremely prefer to have a us of a with common healthcare, through fact our equipment is fairly improper. it extremely is inconsistent, and in keeping with dated archives and is fairly inefficient. some human beings lose actually ALL their money and fee reductions attempting to pay scientific costs. issues like Medicaid and SCHIP are basically sure to very particular, small parts of the inhabitants and are in keeping with poverty stages. human beings living 200-3 hundred% of the poverty point could desire to nonetheless not be waiting to locate the money for insurance, exceptionally in the event that they stay in a greater costly section or produce different subject concerns they could desire to pay for. Our us of a is becoming older quickly, and our healthcare industry isn't arranged for it. that's understaffed, undersupported and there is gonna be greater subject concerns as interior the subsequent twenty years the the remainder of the newborn Boomers attain retirement, and extremely great parts of healthcare workers additionally attain retirement age. At this ingredient we can have not have been given any decision yet to reform healthcare, if we are clever we are going to do it formerly even with the undeniable fact that. If we can help and sell PREVENTATIVE CARE and examine, we can't basically make a greater healthy us of a of folk, yet spend a techniques much less on treating human beings.

Answer 7

It's true we don't have Universal Health Care and personally I don't believe we need it here. Currently there are 300 million people living in the US and at least 250 million of us have health insurance of one for or another so that is just a bit over 80% of us.

I have no major issues with the Heath Care here in the USA, the only time there are real problems with it is when the Government gets involved. Now based on the few examples of Universal Public Health Care I am familiar with i.e. Australia, Great Britian and Canada I feel our system is superior to those as I don't have to wait for months to have access to Hi Tech medical equipment or procedures.

Is our heath care systems perfect ? Nope and I don't know of any system Public or Private that is. Is ours superior ? Compared to our neighbors to the North and South yes it is.
Compared to the others I am familiar with, yes it is.

Answer 8

Holy crap! Look at all the hate mail for just ASKING about national health care! And yet, no one from another country has even answered the question yet.

But to the poster who said that no one is refused emergency room care, I refer you to this article below.

Answer 9

In Canada, we have a good health care system, no one has to wait months to see their family doctor, no one who is ill is denied medical treatment, and contrary to some of the comments by some Americans, we do choose our own doctors.
Our health care is geared to living in a healthy manner, and preventing illness, as well as treatment.

Answer 10

Not true, the U.S. has county hospitals.

If you want excellent healtcare, you must have health insurance or money.

If you want adequate heathcare, hitch a ride to your county hospital. No one is refused.