Health Care Options

[cmac]

Can someone explain to me in retard terms what we have now, what is being proposed, and what the consequences and benefits of each side are? The news web sites no longer report actual news.
Thanks in advance.

[Inferia]

I'm not sure I agree with the part about everyone is able to get healthcare. I hear from my friend that when she was young, she couldn't go see the doctor cuz her parents job didn't cover health care, and they couldn't afford it either. I hear from my hospital friends that people who don't have health care go to emergency room for any old reason, they would then have to treat them, which is more costly than having a primary physician treat them. Also, it's not a returnable visit for aliments that require multiple visits to the doctors, this also increase the wait time and decrease the level of care for people who are there for actually emergencies.

[Hartmann]

I'm not sure I agree with the part about everyone is able to get healthcare. I hear from my friend that when she was young, she couldn't go see the doctor cuz her parents job didn't cover health care, and they couldn't afford it either. I hear from my hospital friends that people who don't have health care go to emergency room for any old reason, they would then have to treat them, which is more costly than having a primary physician treat them. Also, it's not a returnable visit for aliments that require multiple visits to the doctors, this also increase the wait time and decrease the level of care for people who are there for actually emergencies.

But that's exactly the point, a person can go to an emergency room for healthcare. Your friend could go to the emergency room and would get treated. Also, we can quote "one-offs" everyday. I have a former co-worker who's wife worked as a nurse in Canada and said the emergency rooms there were just like they are here. She tells stories of waste in the system. It's a one-off though and I can't take it as a generalized truth for the entire system.

The flip side of that is that it fills emergency rooms to capacity and creates long lines for people without life threatening injuries.

What I don't understand is people who do not budget for health insurance. There are cheap plans out there that allow you to visit the doctor and get basic tests done. It may not be the greatest, but I had it for a year and paid $40/month for it and it worked for me.

Just because something is expensive doesn't make it wrong. Someone has to pay for new drugs to be developed, doctors to have their malpractice insurance, etc. and personally, I'd rather pay for it in my premiums than have more of my income eroded by taxes.