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Is this the best medical system in the world or the best we can get?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by pirc1, May 21, 2012.

  1. pirc1

    pirc1 Member

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    http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/05/21/153028362/your-stories-of-being-sick-inside-the-u-s-health-care-system

    an interesting look at the medical system by that socialist organization NPR. Posted just the beginning part, rest you can read at the link.

    To get a feeling for what being sick in America is really like, and to help us understand the findings of our poll with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, NPR did a call-out on Facebook. We asked people to share their experiences of the health care system, and within 24 hours, we were flooded with close to 1,000 responses.

    The stories, often lengthy and detailed, echoed what our poll found: Americans with recent first-hand experience of the U.S. medical system are more likely than the general public to say there are serious problems with the cost and quality of care.

    From Oregon to Florida and Maine to Mississippi, Facebook respondents told wrenching tales of bankruptcies, missed diagnoses, medical errors, miscommunication, and treatment that was delayed or foregone because of its cost.
     
    #1 pirc1, May 21, 2012
    Last edited: May 21, 2012
  2. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

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    I will read through the whole article later but it should be obvious that the US medical system has some big problems compared to the system of other industrialized countries.

    I have had medical care in the US, Singapore, and Hong Kong and the US was far more expensive, had the worst service and the most paperwork out of the three.
     
  3. thadeus

    thadeus Member

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    This will continue for as long as we the customers and our elected officials continue to believe that the profits of healthcare corporations are more important than actual health care.
     
    1 person likes this.
  4. QdoubleA

    QdoubleA Member

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    What do you mean by "healthcare corporations"?
     
  5. pirc1

    pirc1 Member

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    I think he means the drug makers, hospitals, insurance, doctors etc.

    The money we spend on medical care ultimately goes to someone, these people would not be happy if the country spend far less money on medical needs as a percentage of the GDP (5.2 in 1960 vs 16 today).
     
  6. QdoubleA

    QdoubleA Member

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    The only group in that list that needs better regulation/reign in spending are the insurance companies. It cost a ton of money to research and develop the pills that have keep millions of people alive, would you like to cut funding to the drug companies and thereby limit their ability to find new cures and treatments?
     
  7. pirc1

    pirc1 Member

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    How about we spend 50% of GDP on healthcare? Would that make sense?

    The way this country is headed, we are going to have 30% of GDP on healthcare and 30% on defense.
     
  8. Burko

    Burko Member

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    You need a nationalised health system.

    Your system of turning people away who don't have insurance is an absolute crime.
     
  9. Mathloom

    Mathloom Shameless Optimist

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    <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nvo9O4A18d0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
  10. Hightop

    Hightop Member

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    Get the government out of health care.
     
  11. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    Get profit out of healthcare!
     
    1 person likes this.
  12. FranchiseBlade

    Supporting Member

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    What an odd statement for better health care. Medicare has much higher ratings than any PRIVATE INSURANCE.

    Countries that have nationalized health care are ranked higher than the U.S. which does not.
     
  13. geeimsobored

    geeimsobored Member

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    We spend far too little on primary care and far too much on specializations. As a result it creates a slanted system where med students only try to specialize and far too few opt for general medicine.

    It is far easier to get access to a primary care physician in a third world country than it is in the US. In other countries you can walk into a clinic at 8:30 and see a doctor and get a prescription. In this country you have to schedule an appointment and hope that the doctor is covered by your insurance.

    We need to incentivize general medicine as a choice of study. Personally I'd subsidize medical school tuition for those that opt for general medicine. And I'd give additional bonuses if you relocate to a small town. If people can easily see a doctor before an illness gets out of control, you get far cheaper outcomes that dramatically improve overall health.

    I mean we're great at treating complicated illnesses that require serious specialization but we suck at the basics.

    Universal health care systems generally put a premium on primary care access. Our system does the reverse so we get more expensive medical care with poorer health outcomes since no one can see a doctor for a basic illness in this country.

    And that's only a small part of our problem. Our health care failures are so far reaching and nuanced. But we seem unable to have grown up discussions without de-evolving into screaming matches about socialism and death panels.
     
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  14. Hightop

    Hightop Member

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    So Houston Rockets doctors and trainers have to work for free in your communist utopia?
     
  15. FranchiseBlade

    Supporting Member

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    Your lack of understanding is part of the problem. Even in systems where govt. run health care is the norm, no doctors or medical teams work for free.
     
  16. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    How do you even begin a conversation with this type of mindset?
     
  17. Hightop

    Hightop Member

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    You can't because you know you are wrong.
     
  18. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    Whatever you say champ.

    But while you contemplate your next enlightening post, perhaps you can take a look at this list and let us know what all these country's (that are ahead of the US) healthcare systems have in common

    The World Health Organization's ranking
    of the world's health systems.


    1 France
    2 Italy
    3 San Marino
    4 Andorra
    5 Malta
    6 Singapore
    7 Spain
    8 Oman
    9 Austria
    10 Japan
    11 Norway
    12 Portugal
    13 Monaco
    14 Greece
    15 Iceland
    16 Luxembourg
    17 Netherlands
    18 United Kingdom
    19 Ireland
    20 Switzerland
    21 Belgium
    22 Colombia
    23 Sweden
    24 Cyprus
    25 Germany
    26 Saudi Arabia
    27 United Arab Emirates
    28 Israel
    29 Morocco
    30 Canada
    31 Finland
    32 Australia
    33 Chile
    34 Denmark
    35 Dominica
    36 Costa Rica
    37 United States of America
     
  19. Classic

    Classic Member

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    If you honestly believe that, I challenge you to watch one documentary.

    http://www.burzynskimovie.com/

    This is about a Houston Doctor so it hits pretty close to home. Please watch it. The FDA is the agency that needs to be reigned in. It is politically convenient to blame insurance companies but they are not the ones creating this black hole we call health care.

    <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1qG_ZWs04es" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
  20. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

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    In the US doctors and hospitals cannot refuse emergency treatment to anyone. This is one of the biggest problems with the US system is that there is a defacto public option that allows the uninsured to get health care but in the most inefficient and expensive way possible.
     

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