Universal Health Care - Page 2

February 28, 2008, 2:50 AM

Iron_Legion, I've merged your thread with the current existing one.

February 28, 2008, 3:13 AM

Okay, I just want to make something clear: healthcare is (at least in America) NOT a right. It is not NOT protected in the constitution anywhere. No one has a legal right to healthcare. Whether they have a moral right to healthcare...is, well, up for debate.

Now, I think the healthcare system that we have now is definitely deeply flawed and unfair. It really does need to be improved. I hate how medical insurance companies are so unbelievably greedy and allow people who cannot afford certain procedures to suffer and die. Medicine also costs way too much money. I DO actually think Canada is better than the United States in terms of availability and cost of medicine.

HOWEVER. Canada is FAR from perfect, and that's what really annoys me when people say that it's a system the United States should emulate. My family has encountered this problem: if a surgery (which the government has to pay for) is deemed to expensive, they simply say that it won't help/it's unnecessary. My uncle had a torn rotator cuff which could actually be fixed with surgery, but instead, the doctors told him that surgery was unnecessary, and all he needed to do was take pain medication for it. Not true at all. Oh, and the healthcare system there is also on the verge of going bankrupt from what I've heard.

I honestly don't know what we need to do to fix our healthcare system. I don't think anyone really does.

February 28, 2008, 6:02 PM

I think that the neccessary healthcare can be made affordable for everyone. People's lives and wellbeing shouldn't be forfeit because they cannot pay for the expensive treatment themselves. Whether it's nationalising the healthcare system completely, or giving everyone health insurance, any form of universal healthcare is better than being left to die or in some other way suffer due to not being able to afford the treatment, don't you agree?
And as for governments deeming treatments too expensive... they obviously aren't putting enough money into the healthcare system.

February 28, 2008, 7:10 PM

Here in Denmark we have universal healthcare, and I honestly could not imagine living without it. According to law you can even freely pick a hospital/doctor in any region of the country you wish, and if a public hospital cannot provide the treatment needed within reasonable time, you are free to pick a private hospital, and get your treatment paid by the state of Denmark.

I'm not sure if you could make any other country pay the price of such an effective healthcare system though. Universal healthcare in the states for example, I don't see happening without some serious tax raises, and I seriously doubt that would go down well hehe.

February 29, 2008, 1:29 AM

Quote:

I think that the neccessary healthcare can be made affordable for everyone

thats odd because before you were complaining about immigrants getting healthcare.
SK is right, other countries cant have universal healthcare without a significant rise in taxes, which somewhat defeats the purpose of it. Also Denmark only has around 9 million people, compared with 60 million in the UK and 300 million in the US. It simply wont work with such a lagre amount of people.

Quote:

Whether it's nationalising the healthcare system completely

do you have any idea how expensive that would be? it would cost many billions of tax payer's money, plus the government would have to subsidise the whole thing, also incredibly expensive, and bear in mind that subsidising it would not be just a one of cost.

Quote:

And as for governments deeming treatments too expensive... they obviously aren't putting enough money into the healthcare system.

governments like everyone else has limited budgets.

February 29, 2008, 5:44 PM

It probably would work if you were willing to pay for it. I actually wouldn't be surprised if it would be cheaper (per citizen anyway) to cater for a larger demographic rather than a small one. It would still cost a whole lot of money though. Here in Denmark (and the rest of Scandinavia) we have the heaviest taxation in the world, and universal healthcare is definitely taking a lot of that money. Also there's only 5 millions of us

I think the whole matter can be boiled down to one sentence really:
Everyone wants it, but noone wants to pay for it.

February 29, 2008, 6:11 PM

Our NHS is pretty crappy, theres always huge waiting lists for things. Even for something as simple as getting braces fixed I had to wait 2 whole years, and they were ugly looking things aswel. I have some sort of insurance thingy with AXA not sure how it works but I know I get some stuff paid for i I need it

It's not really a topic know enough about to say everyone should get it free tbh because I know our system is pretty crappy, altho I know if it all went private alot of us would be screwed because we just wouldn't be able to afford it..... I think it's pretty shit whichever way you look at it

**Battle Royale: Profiles** · March 3, 2008, 1:01 AM

What's sad about Universal Health Care, is the fact that the Medical Industry -has- to be seen as a private dealing. It's sad when we live in a world where doctors become doctors for the money, and not for the good-natured reasoning of it.

Greed, is the reason why Universal Health Care systems would not do well in countries like America. Many brilliant surgeons and doctors only went into it for the wealth,and continue to prosper as a result. Take away the money, and they'll flee for something else.

Though, I have heard that some countries offer bonuses to doctors with good practices, where their bonus is dependent on the improving health of their patients. That, is how it should be, but unfortunately, it isn't too effective.

In America, I think the primary problem that NEEDS to be delt with, before anything else.

...Is Malpractice Insurance.
That is the biggest waste of money, in the entire world. Surgeons have to spend, often times $500,000 a YEAR for malpractice insurance. That is INSANE. People wonder why medical expenses are so expensive, even with so called insurance. [I use that word sparingly, medical insurance in the states is a joke in and of itself.] It's because of malpractice insurance. Doctor's can't afford it on their own, and so they have to spike their prices to cover for it.

It's ridiculous. This country needs to fix many more things, before they even dream of a universal health care system. Fix the malpractice issue, and fix the scam known as Medical Insurance. Then they can move onto bigger dreams.

March 5, 2008, 3:22 AM

Pretty much everything Contra said is what I agree with.

Presidential wise, it's Hillary hands down who has the best UHC plan.