From what I understand it costs GM $8,000 in healthcare for every car they build. No wonder they can't compete with Toyota, they're 8k in the hole before they even start.
You really haven't the first idea how this really works. Do you have any idea that there are scores of specialists that will not take Medicare patients because the Medicare payout doesn't even cover their costs? My ex wife's father is a neurologist. He stopped taking Medicare patients for an EMG nerve conduction because he lost money on it. You will either see a large increase in the cost for a universal system over Medicare, or you will see a bunch of bankrupt doctors. Either way...not a good outcome.
I'm well over 50, Fatty, and we have fine healthcare, thanks to the government of the State of Texas. Why? Because my wife is a state executive and state employees still have decent benefits, even if they don't have what they once did. And I don't understand the "walkway platform where everyone gets everything" comment at all. What does that mean? Moving sidewalks? Groovy! The friend I mentioned that's lived in Canada for so long? He's been there long enough to have his own educated opinion about their healthcare and likes it. And your "point #2" simply doesn't make any sense, with all due respect. Do you seriously believe women have babies because of "a government paycheck?" That's a myth and I'm surprised you've fallen for it. Hell, in Texas, the state doesn't give single mothers with kids diddly squat.
Take 50 million people out of the loop and the health care system looks functional. Add 50 million people and wait times get worse. There is no way around that beyond adding many more doctors or some kind of nurse practitioner screening program. Health care costs threaten the very solvency of the U.S.. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HBo2xQIWHiM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HBo2xQIWHiM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> I don't know how, but costs have to be cut... and it would be wrong to do so by forcing out those who can't afford the skyrocketing cost. Overhead is really high, and pharmaceutical companies have no business advertising and buying off doctors to raise stock prices. Beyond that I don't have any answers.
Some of you guys have horrible doctors. My family has "day of call" pediatricians, and my doc, of internal med, is basically a morning call away, as is my wife's docs. Trust me, if you get into a practice that is over-loaded, you have the option to find a new doctor. Under universal plans, that is not an option. I've had less of a wait at the county clinic than some of you say you've had with insurance.
It's a complex problem for sure. I think there needs to be some level of regulation for one. Medical Malpractice must be addressed. Personal damages should be limited, although penalties for negligence or gross incompetence by doctor or hospital should not be to prevent "acceptable risk" scenarios. Medical equipment costs has gotten out of hand. So has pharmecuiticals... But do people wonder how this is happening? How can it be possible that simple things cost so much? well it's not the doctor's salaries - they aren't out of control. So what gives? Why is health care increasing so much? Because hospital fees have gone berserk because of multiple reasons; Medical equipment costs Litigation Pharmacuticals Profit Margins Basically, it's a cash cow that's been created because the insurance companies simply take higher costs and pass it on to us in the form of higher premiums. I mean who cares - you will pay it! There's no market for us to lower costs. Think about it - when you go into a hospital - you have no say about costs. No choice. Heck, you don't even know until you get a bill later on. And why should you - you just pay a premium and a deductible...so that encourages higher and higher prices from everyone. No wonder drug companies are making out like bandits. You have to give insurance companies an incentive to drive down costs. You have to give incentives for hospitals to put downward pressure. On everyone to create a more competitive pricing structure. In other words, the whole freakin system needs to be reconsidered. I mean, does anyone wonder why it can cost $1500 a night in a hospital - you could rent the presidential suite of most hotels for that amount!
My father-in-law lives in Costa Rica where they have Universal Care. There is a line outside the hospitals that would make you think that they are giving away Hanna Montana tickets. He had to have triple by-pass but the Drs told him he be dead before his name came up to the top of the list because it would be years. He paid $10,000 to have his name moved to the top. And since the nurses knew he had money, they refused to bring his medicines during his stay unless he paid them $100 a day. It all worked out for him because he had money. There are many that don't. That is one of my biggest gripes with the Dems - their push for this. I was against the war in Iraq, but at least one day I know we will be out. With Universal Health Care, once you are in I don't think you will ever get out. I agree something has to be done to rain in the pharmecuitical companies, but I'd rather spend more money fixing what we have than to expand the medicare system than spending boat loads (see Great Britian) on getting a system that won't be log jammed. And personally I don't think it's fair for those who try and take care of themselves to pay for someone's lung replacement because they smoke or someone's liver transplant because they drink or someone's stomach staples or diabetes meds because the like to eat too much.
My general feeling is that people shouldn't really get anything for free. Which means that, in principle, I don't think you should get health care (or housing or food) without doing something for it. Just existing is not reason enough to be entitled to anything but air and opportunity. Having said that, U.S. companies do have a disadvantage against E.U. companies because of the burden of retirement and health care they have to bear. While E.U. companies have to pay higher taxes I'm going to guess that that particular cost if easy to plan for whereas health care coverage costs can change from year to year. So, from a heartless business point of view I think the country needs to do something to relieve the burden of health care from companies to help America continue to compete but it can't just be "your taxes pay for it". Also, the cost of coverage is crazy expensive for whatever reason (litigation, greed, the fact that for years people didn't pay out of their pockets so they didn't compare costs, whatever). I'm not sure how you get a handle of how expensive health care is. Finally, if the government is simply going to pay for everyone's health care I don't see how they can do it without insisting that people live healthier lifestyles. It's not reasonable to assume that a person can live however destructively they wish and not have to worry about paying (cash) for the consequences. I think for the government to cover you they have to require that you don't smoke, have reasonable cholesterol levels, a reasonable BMI, etc... otherwise the costs will just spiral out of control.
Every other industrialized country has Universal health care. I think it is time we got with the program. If American students don't want to be doctors at lower salaries then let us import labor like we do for virtually every other field. Companies already spend 4g+ for your insurance lets pool into one big program since insurance works best with lots of people.
We're not going to have Universal Healthcare in this country. No matter who's President, no matter who else has it. There's just not the money to do it. Unless we figure out a way to make those who can afford it pay for Medicare, Medicare will bankrupt the country. If you haven't yet, please watch I.O.U.S.A. It will quell any thoughts about this. I could potentially see a mandate that all employers provide healthcare or an expansion of some government worker healthcare pools to include private individuals. Something that provides a few more people insurance with no cost the government other than the lost revenue from jobs going overseas that no politician seems to anticipate. But no President would ever want his legacy to be that he started the program that killed the country.
Why would it kill this country though and why hasn't it killed other countries that have instituted such policies and programs? I'm not arguing with you, I really just want to know. I agree though, I don't think we'll ever see a true, universal healthcare system in the U.S. anytime.
I disagree. There is plenty of money, provided we curtail various other expenditures. (cough, DoD, cough) I agree that medicare is FUBARd. Perot has this nailed in one of his charts.
Kill is the wrong word. It will bankrupt the country. Healthcare, like Social Security relies on the young people to pay for the benefits that are used mostly by old people. As the country ages, the math says that it's just not feasible. With the current Medicare, that happens in 2041. Healthcare will bankrupt Europe, too. David Walker had a great quote about this at the end of I.O.U.S.A.: "What good is it to be the best looking horse in the glue factory?"
Medical Equipment Costs Well, medical equipment costs a lot, because of all the research and development that it takes to make the medical equipment. Being on the cutting edge of medicine costs money, and if that medical equipment didn't get built and paid for by SOMEONE, then nobody would ever create any new technology. Litigation I agree, while there needs to be a system to keep malpractice in check and make sure care is top notch, suing every Doctor over everything helps drive costs for everybody else. Pharmaceuticals Well, because of government safey standards, testing standards, costs of research and development, costs to hire the best scientists, etc, it AVERAGES $800,000,000 to take a new drug to market. That's why drugs are expensive, they have to be paid for, and they have to be paid for BEFORE the patents on them run out and othe companies can make them. Profit Margin Profit isn't illegal or evil. Most companies involved in health care make normal profit margins, and it is the pursuit of these profit margins that drive innovation and competition, creating cutting edge medicine. There is a reason that most countries with universal health care and capped medicine prices DON'T CREATE NEW MEDICINE and its the countries like the US, where the pursuit of profit margins is key, that creates about 95% of the new medicine in the world. Remove the ability to have profit, you remove that main factor in medical innovation.
I thought TORT REFORM was suppose to stop that from happening I remember VIVIDLY that republicans were telling me the reason we had HIGH Medical bills was because people were so SUE-HAPPY that it drove MALPRACTICE INSURANCE UP and THAT CAUSED THE DOCTORS TO CHARGE MORE and THAT CAUSED MY MEDICAL BILL TO BE HIGH WHICH CAUSED MY INSURANCE TO BE HIGH so tell Me FFB . . .Was that all a LIE? If it was not a Lie. . . how come Insurance still skyrockets AFTER the TORT REFORM was put into motion? Inquiring minds want to know! Rocket River
In a nutshell, baby boomers are getting sicker every year, which are changing the actuarial tables. In other words, an insurance company looks at how much it pays out every year, and adjusts rates accordingly.
I disagree. They will create new drugs because if a company wants to grow, they will spend money on R&D. Selling the same product is a recipe for disaster for any company. Those words are just pharmaceutical lobbing threats to keep the gravy train running. While it's ok to make a profit, they shouldn't gouge which I believe they are because they can. That needs to stop.
