What are your thoughts on healthcare?

Question

Should the government regulate it, or should it be privatized?
Given to everyone for free and covered under taxes, or a separate thing to pay for?
Pros AND cons would be great.

Answer 1

Do you actually want the same people who brought you the IRS, Social Security, Vietnam, Iran hostage scandal, Katrina rescue, Iraq etc to run YOUR healthcare. I don't want them near mine, thats for sure. I think a overhaul of the private system is needed, not a government run system. Ask A Canadian, Englishman or Frenchman how wonderful their system is....the ones who can afford it come HERE for treatment of serious medical conditions. Why? Because our gov't doesn't run healthcare.

As long as you don't mind waiting months for treatment of non-urgent conditions, then gov't run healthcare is the way to go. Try calling the IRS or Social Security. That will give you an idea of what gov't run healthcare will be like.
The private sector still provides the best. Due to competition. The fact that people don't have healthcare is not a reason to upend the whole system. Health insurance is not a God given right. Those who don't either should have paid attention in school, or they need to get jobs that provide insurance.
When they give you stats that a certain % of americans don't have insurannce, they don't tell you many of them don't have it by CHOICE. My sister is 22, has it at her job yet doesn't want to pay for it because she thinks it is a "waste", yet she is considered to be one of the ones with "no insurance" That doesn't seem like a problem with the system, rather individual people. I think employers should be mandated to offer health insurance or people should be able to buy gov't backed policies (like flood insurance or mortgages) but a big no to the Gov't actually running it.

Answer 2

Some regulation of healthcare is probably desireable, to assure that treatments being offered to patients are safe and effective, as is the case with food and many other things.

Healthcare is already provided primarily by private organizations, but much of it is paid for by insurance - which is a cooperative scheme very much like socialized medicine, but in which you can be expelled from the system at almost anytime. It should not be nationalized or socialized, but the role and regulation of insurance companies in controlling access to healthcare should be re-examined.

Answer 3

Privatized and deregulated.
The biggest change we need is tort reform to eliminate punitive damages from medical lawsuits. They don't punish anyone because the insurance company pays, not the doctor. So insurance goes up for everyone, and that means the customer (you and me) has to pay more.

Government control would be a disaster. It would also be unconstitutional. If I eat right and exercise, I will have low health care costs. If you don't eat right and don't exercise, you'll have high health care costs. That is your choice and the tax payers should not be forced to pay for you bad health decisions. That's called stealing. It's immoral, unethical, and just plain evil.

Answer 4

I have been practicing in the health care field since 89. During the Clinton era, when Hillary took a stab at socializing medicine, we saw huge lapses in care. The HMO's stepped in with laxed standards as the door was open. I fear if Hillary tries this again our health care may collapse as we now know it. I am talking about less incentives to practice medicine, decreased standards of care and long waits for special testing and procedures. If the changes occur like they did in the 90's I may search for a new profession. It truly is scary.

Answer 5

the US ranks something like 39th in the world for healthcare, i say that sucks!!! i work hard everyday and can barely afford health insurance for myself, luckily my son gets medicaid b/c i'm a single parent, but still US citizens deserve better coverage. i say instead of putting billions into a war most Americans are opposed, to use some of that money towards nw health care plans.

Answer 6

never give the government more opportunities to take your liberties than absolutely necessary. taxed freedom is not freedom...the free market is the only place that allows the correct solution to emerge from these types of issues and the government is almost never the solution to any problem. name ONE thing the government handles well and efficiently...i'll wait...

Answer 7

It should be privatized and available to those who can pay for it.

I work my butt of 9-5 so that i can make money and pay for healthcare to be given to my wife and kids, and i dont think its something that anybody should just be able to get.

Healthcare should be considered a privelege, not a god given right. You have a right to live, in the sense that i shouldnt be able to go around killing people. But you dont have a "right" to live in the sense that you get cancer and others must pay for your cure.

Its a part of life, some live, some die, we cant save everyone

Answer 8

Everyone here is thinking INSIDE the box.

This is an area ripe for entrepreneurship, and I am working on it :)

Can't tell you what I have in mind, but it addresses all or most of the problems with all of the same old tired plans.

Answer 9

The government all ready regulates it , thats why it keeps getting more and more expensive!!