Wouldn't it be nice if Americans could make a statement like this?

Question

I was viewing questions on the immigration board and someone posted this as part of their answer:

"Be sure to get a European Health Insurance card. Its free and gives you unlimited access to any state hospital in the EU."

The US is so behind other countries.

Locutus1 - LOL!!!!!!! Doctors are overworked and underpaid? LOL

harryd - Do you realize how cheap 10 euros sounds to an American? Last year my wife paid thousands of dollars for prescription drugs and office visits.

eorpach_agus_eireannac... - Thanks for the great info.

Answer 1

Practically the Stone Age. It's so sad.
Meanwhile, New Orleans is still in disarray.
So many are still displaced.

Bush and his administration is a TOTAL FAILURE.

Answer 2

It would be nice. So many that need help and can't get it. There is no excuse in the richest country in the world cannot take care of their citizens. Exactly what ARE we paying taxes for again. Oh Yeah so we can fund wars and police the entire world.
To the people that say we would not get quality doctors and no one would want to be a doctor, thats a flat out lie. Europe has an incentive program designed for doctors that the better they perform the more money they make. Right now they don't have to perform any certain way and still make big money. An incentive program would weed out bad doctors while encouraging better healthcare for the patient.
To those who say free healthcare is akin to socialism. What exactly is wrong with a little socialism compared to the huge amount of fascism that we have now in America. Doesn't that help to balance society out just a little more. If we have to be policed to death and everything signed and dotted in all the right places why can't it be for something that benefits us instead of something that benefits the government?

Answer 3

The EHIC entitles you to free emergency healthcare when you are in another EU country for a short period of time.

For example, I'm Irish, if I visit my friend in France and I am involved in an accident, or if i get sick, I can go to a hospital and ask to be treated and present my EHIC card and my treatment is free.

This also reduces the cost of travel insurance within the EU.

Every country in the EU has a different set-up, however, you can if you can afford it pay for health insurance. This allows you to use private hospitals and faster access to medical care. Whereas in the public system, people are treated in order of severity of condition.

Answer 4

DITTO to kill_yr_television.

What's so strange to me is that people keep chanting "it isn't free" over and over and moaning about the potential cost to taxpayers without giving any thought to the huge burden that the uninsured sick and diseased place upon our society. One need only do a little research to determine that this burden is much larger than any additional taxes for nationwide health insurance would be.

And, by the way, smart azzes- Generally, people who don't have insurance aren't lacking due to irresponsibility. They don't have insurance simply because THEY CAN'T AFFORD IT. Contrary to popular belief, most citizens in this country are impoverished, through no fault of their own, and don't have adequate income to purchase insurance. That's what capitalism does- It ensures that wealth is held by only a few.


Enigma- Problem is that so many people equate socialism with fascism- WHICH IS SO FAR FROM THE TRUTH. Too bad they refuse to simply read a dictionary.

Answer 5

David, the RICH from all over the world can afford to go to where ever they want for medical treatment, just like they can afford to go wherever they want to ski, surf, sail, and just generally enjoy the perks of being rich. What the rich may or may not do is irrelevant to the discussion of the options that are available (or not available) to ordinary people. The private hospitals in USA that attract wealthy foreigners aren't available to ordinary Americans. It's not a matter of having different systems for different nations, it's a matter of having different degrees of access based on ability to pay.

You are confusing the system of health care itself with the system of health care delivery. USA has one of the finest systems of CARE in the world -- great diagnostic and treatment equipment, highly trained personnel, modern hospitals, and so on. It's the DELIVERY system that is so piss poor. There's all this great stuff, but most Americans will never get to use it. Medical expenses are the #1 cause of personal bankruptcy and most of those people DID have health insurance. The co-pays and non-covered costs place even the insured just one serious illness away from destitution.
You oversimplify a highly complex problem.

Aim: Call it by some other name and Americans LOVE Socialism: PUBLIC libraries, PUBLIC highways, PUBLIC park systems, etc.

Locutus: Doctors are overworked only if they choose to be overworked. If they want to spend more time with thier family, then they have the autonomy to cut their patient load. And while many PROCEDURES and SERVICES are underpaid by private insurers, Medicare, etc, forcing clinics to stop offering services on which they LOSE money, on the PERSONAL level physicians are amongh the most highly paid folks in the country. Underpaid my foot!

Ken: Whether my pay "premiums" to a private insurer or "taxes" to a National Health Service, it's money out of my pocket. I'd rather be paying that money to a not-for-profit system answerable to taxpayers like me than a greed based system answerable to the profit hungry stockholders.

Lib: Access to the ER is not a substitute for preventive care, for regular checkups. If I'm going to be providing care with my tax dollars, I'd much rather be paying for the lower cost preventive care than the enormous cost ER visits.

Answer 6

There is no, I repeat, no free healthcare in Europe. Those who have health insurance pay for it. Every doctor's visit, no matter how minor, costs 10 euros up front out of the patient's pocket. The doctors are poorly paid, unless they work in a hospital. They have gone on strike twice in the last two years, trying to get more than a subsistance wage and protesting outrageous working conditions and long hours. The healthcare system in Europe is mediocre at best. The last thing the US wants is socialized healthcare.

Answer 7

You are free to pay for the health insurance of as many immigrants as you would like or to emigrate to the EU. This illustrates half of the problem with any health care plan, people are posting online which countries will have the best free (cost shifting to taxpayers) health system.

Answer 8

If Americans wanted to be like European nations, we'd still be part of the UK.
The American solution to healthcare will by neccessity have to be unique and fit into our notion of individual freedom, controlled by individuals and not the state.
It isn't going to be an easy solution.

Answer 9

First...I'm suspicious of anything taken out of context. Please post the link to the question.

Secondly...there is no doubt we need improvements to our health care system. Reform is and has been in order. However, socialized medicine is not the answer.

It is NOT free. I'm not sure why that is so difficult to grasp. At most, this "insurance card" will help speed up the registration process by a minute or two when attempting to get decent, speedy care.

Answer 10

In the late 70's and early 80's Yakof Smeanoff (a Russian comedian) joked about America becoming no different than Russia when it came to having to stand in line WAITING for anything.

The man expressed his frustration at coming to America (made jokes about it) and finding that America was on the road to becoming Russia... And not many people listened or paid ANY attention to it.

lol

Answer 11

No frankly it wouldn't. First, nothing is FREE, tax payers would pay through the nose for it! Any time the Government oversees anything it costs twice as much and is half as efficient. I think the US should "stay behind".