Obamacare

[rclouse 0]

What you want, like in this story, isn't what you will get. You would get the usual government disastar. I don't care who is in the white house or who is in congress, our government isn't capable of managing the nations health care any more than it could manage SS or medicare or any other government social program you can name. What you want isn't what you will get.

Why are people so certain the government is going to fsck everything up with healthcare, while they have no problem having the government manage their Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, and their airports, and their fire protection, and emergency services, and their roads, and delivering safe, clean water to their homes, etc. etc. etc.?

One of the main reasons I want universal health care is so my taxes will go down. With universal health care that illegal immigrant Mexican doing the landscaping in my neighborhood will go see a doctor when something is bothering him instead of waiting until it's so bad he has to go to an emergency room. I'd rather spend $100-$200 of my taxes for him to get preventive care than $1000+ for emergency room & hospital stay.

[HAL 9000 96]

Muy interesante.

[SteveLaura 0]

I think Obama's plan is wonderful, if it is what is described in this article.

That is a lot like what we used to have in Soviet Union.

I have feeling that for some people, that line won't be encouraging...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Majority of Americans Support National Health Insurance

CHICAGO – Last month 10,000 physicians announced their support for single payer national health insurance; their proposal for reform appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association and received widespread media attention (www.pnhp.org).

Today the physicians’ group was “pleased but not surprised” that public support for a “universal health insurance program, in which everyone is covered under a program like Medicare that’s run by the government and financed by taxpayers” is high and rising rapidly. By a 2:1 margin (62 percent to 32 percent), an ABC News - Washington Post Poll released today found that the public favors national health insurance to “the current health insurance system, in which most people get their health insurance from private employers, but some people have no insurance”

“What’s new about this groundswell of public support for single payer is that it includes the middle-class. The middle-class is hurting,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, an expert on bankruptcy in health care and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard.“Homeowners, people earning more than $50,000 a year, even a substantial number of physicians find themselves locked out from coverage.”

The poll also found that 8 in 10 people think it is important to cover all the uninsured “even if it means higher taxes”. Dr.Woolhandler noted that “Americans already pay the highest health care taxes in the world. We pay for national health care but we don’t get it. We don’t need more money in the system; we can save enough on paperwork (by adopting a single payer system) to cover everyone. That’s been proven over and over.”

“What’s striking is not the high level of public support for reform; our system’s been in critical condition for years,” said Dr. Quentin Young, National Coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program. “Support for reform is a “no-brainer.” What’s striking, and shameful, is the way our elected officials ignore the remedy for the crisis because of opposition by powerful groups like the insurance and drug companies. In 1996, after 50 years of support, even the Democratic Party dropped national health insurance from its platform.

Dr. Alan Jackson, an African-American cardiologist who was featured on the ABC Evening News Sunday night, said that the despite massive public popularity, the issue is virtually dismissed by major newspapers, as well as some TV networks. “There’s incredible media bias on this issue, when there isn’t simply a blanket media blackout,” said Dr.Jackson. He noted that the New York Times ran a prominent story on 2 dissatisfied Canadian doctors over the weekend, but completely neglected to report on more than 10,000 U.S. doctors expressing dissatisfaction with the U.S. system and endorsing national health insurance. “The media is getting the story wrong. We spend two to three times more on health care than other nations, yet it’s the U.S. health system that’s broken. How much worse does it have to get?”

“We need to have an open, vigorous debate over national health insurance,” said Dr. Don McCanne, a retired family practitioner and President of Physicians for a National Health Program. “This polling data is encouraging, but what if Americans knew that a single payer system would give them free choice of physicians, instead of the limited choices they have now? What if Americans knew that we are already spending enough money to eliminate the long, sometimes unlimited, waits for care that the uninsured experience, as well as the waits by people trapped in HMOs? We need an honest debate so that people can separate the myths from the facts.”

“A universal program of national health insurance would provide affordable, comprehensive care for everyone,” said Dr. McCanne. “According to this poll, that’s exactly what Americans want.”

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2003/october/majo...of_american.php

[mawilson 2,133]

I think Obama's plan is wonderful, if it is what is described in this article.

That is a lot like what we used to have in Soviet Union. It worked great!

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Im gettin wet over thinking about a russian healthcare plan

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I think Obama's plan is wonderful, if it is what is described in this article. That is a lot like what we used to have in Soviet Union. It worked great!

Whistle all you want. Having experienced it myself, I'd tell you that what most of the Eastern Bloc had to offer in terms of accessible and affordable health care was by far better than what we have in the US today. I've been treated in an ER in East Germany and have been treated in an ER in the US. I'd say that the care in the latter was no better than the care in the former. Not one bit.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think Obama's plan is wonderful, if it is what is described in this article. That is a lot like what we used to have in Soviet Union. It worked great!

Whistle all you want. Having experienced it myself, I'd tell you that what most of the Eastern Bloc had to offer in terms of accessible and affordable health care was by far better than what we have in the US today. I've been treated in an ER in East Germany and have been treated in an ER in the US. I'd say that the care in the latter was no better than the care in the former. Not one bit.

That's been my experience too with the UK. Standard of care I received in both countries was not significantly different.

The only real disadvantage of such a social healthcare system is that they only cover the basic stuff - and don't support a lot of advanced or experimental procedures in the NHS hospitals. But... that's what supplementary insurance is for...

[SteveLaura 0]

That's been my experience too with the UK. Standard of care I received in both countries was not significantly different.

Yup.

[rika60607 215]

Hey, I lived there, you didn't!

Arriving to the US I found that most American doctors I meet know less about medicine than I do. How sad is that - I am not even a doctor. Granted, I am not VIP, but I had insurance... I went to see doctors at a State University.

Not all doctors in the late USSR were excellent, but it was easy to find an excellent specialist if you really wanted/needed.

Until today, Russia does not always have the best medical equipment, but we have plenty of excellent doctors (by world standard). This did not come out of nowhere - these people were taught by old (socialist) medical school.

As far as reference to socialism - you may not like socialism, but thinking that EVERYTHING socialist was/is evil is plane wrong. I find Europe became very socialist. Especially cool countries like Sweden and France.

I think Obama's plan is wonderful, if it is what is described in this article.

That is a lot like what we used to have in Soviet Union. It worked great!

[rika60607 215]

Im gettin wet over thinking about a russian healthcare plan

Perhaps you need to see a doctor?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Hey, I lived there, you didn't!

Arriving to the US I found that most American doctors I meet know less about medicine than I do. How sad is that - I am not even a doctor. Granted, I am not VIP, but I had insurance... I went to see doctors at a State University.

Not all doctors in the late USSR were excellent, but it was easy to find an excellent specialist if you really wanted/needed.

Until today, Russia does not always have the best medical equipment, but we have plenty of excellent doctors (by world standard). This did not come out of nowhere - these people were taught by old (socialist) medical school.

As far as reference to socialism - you may not like socialism, but thinking that EVERYTHING socialist was/is evil is plane wrong. I find Europe became very socialist. Especially cool countries like Sweden and France.

I think Obama's plan is wonderful, if it is what is described in this article.

That is a lot like what we used to have in Soviet Union. It worked great!

God NOooooooo! Not the S word! You've just unleashed legions of Free Market Capitalists who are grabbing their guns as we speak, looking for the Ruskies who are trying to steal their precious bodily fluids.

Im gettin wet over thinking about a russian healthcare plan

Perhaps you need to see a doctor?

[rika60607 215]

Sorry!

I solemnly swear that I did not enjoy Soviet communism and that capitalism is ever so wonderful and productively efficient!

(after all France and Sweden still ARE capitalist countries, no?)

Rika

God NOooooooo! Not the S word! You've just unleashed legions of Free Market Capitalists who are grabbing their guns as we speak, looking for the Ruskies who are trying to steal their precious bodily fluids.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Im gettin wet over thinking about a russian healthcare plan

Perhaps you need to see a doctor?

touché

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Sorry!

I solemnly swear that I did not enjoy Soviet communism and that capitalism is ever so wonderful and productively efficient!

(after all France and Sweden still ARE capitalist countries, no?)

Rika

God NOooooooo! Not the S word! You've just unleashed legions of Free Market Capitalists who are grabbing their guns as we speak, looking for the Ruskies who are trying to steal their precious bodily fluids.

...phew... (the sound of a million guns being uncocked)

Dr. Strangelove is a great movie to watch sometime if you haven't seen it yet.