Universal Healthcare.

[Em]

How do you feel about this being possibly implemented in the United States?

There is no question that our health system is indeed broken, but I do not know if this is the right answer for us.

I am still doing some research as to exactly what all this would entail, but I was just curious to get other opinions. I'm not really entirely comfortable with a nationalized system and having the government deciding what is best for my health.

[Heretik]

If you ever find out exactly what it is they are proposing, fill me in... because any time anything like this starts rolling through the government, trying to read it is like trying to find your way out of a maze the size of the universe... oh, and the maze walls keep changing


<----for the record though, not in favor of a socialized government healthcare system

[JustAGuy]

I'm all for additional options, options being the key word. I make a decent living but my job does not offer benefits, being a diabetic means most insurance providers wont touch me and the ones that will are way WAY out of my price range. I don't think the government deciding whats best for everyone, but having a Viable option for those that cant afford it is good IMO.

[Ren]

I'm not really entirely comfortable with a nationalized system and having the government deciding what is best for my health.

I agree...it's bad enough that the insurance companies decide what's best for your health...

[Em]

It is very scary to me to think of how much it would cost us as a country to overhaul everything. We are so horrifically in debt that the thought of incurring anything else is worrisome.

Now, I am not someone who could refuse help to anyone personally. Although, I think one major reason that we are experiencing such hardship in the medical community currently is the cost of helping people who are non-citizens. Please do not take that as me being cold or mean, and like I said, I'd always try to help someone to the best of my ability. However, I would be expected to pay for all the costs I have incurred, but there are people that I believe clog up the system that do not have any intention in paying off the total of the services that were rendered. 

[Ren]

EXACTLY.

[Heretik]

I have no issue with immigrants

I have issue with illegal immigrants clogging all of our systems

[Susan71]

[

I have no issue with immigrants

I have issue with illegal immigrants clogging all of our systems

Wouldn't "non-citizens" and "illegal immigrants" be one and the same?

[Heretik]

?

[Susan71]

It seemed like you were saying her post was referring to immigrants and not ILLEGAL immigrants...just wasn't very clear...and we ALL know what happends when people start inferring what a post means!
!

[JustAGuy]

and we ALL know what happends when people start inferring what a post means!
!

yeah. we'll have none of that inferring business around here

[Em]

 

It's all good.

[Heretik]

I wasn't really speaking against her post... I read her post and I was just stating my thought... mainly based on where I thought the discussion might go.

Wasn't trying to infer or anything like that.

[pf]

Best case scenario, you get a situation like the one... here.  And I know Argentina isn't the best regarded in the surveys or what have you, but in personal experience, the care has been pretty good.

There are public hospitals, and anyone who needs service can go.  What this has done, rather than kill the insurance companies, is made them actually have to cover people.  So.. with Hospital Britanico as my carrier, I don't pay co-pays, any doctor I want to see, from my general practitioner to a psychiatrist to a dermatologist is free.  Except for rare exceptions, surgeries are too (I had to pay 50% of my doctor's fee for my Lasik, but everything else was covered), and they even give you things that you wouldn't expect (if I wanted a cosmetic surgery for free, I could have one, because I've been with the same company for 2 years).

Do I necessarily think the US will get it right in one shot?  No.  Am I hopeful that a bold step could lead down the right path in time?  Yes.

[Em]

That is interesting to know.
pf, have you noticed any disadvantages at all?