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Hanne Posted Mon 07 Sep, 2009 8:46 PM |
I'm just watching a documentary about Obama's suggestions to a new health system.
You Americans boardies, what's your opinions?
To me, Obama's suggestions sound exactly like the system we have in this country. Hospitals and medical care (NOT the medication) are free. Then there's also a system of private hospitals.
Basically, I think it's great that everyone can get free health care. The downside is the waiting lists. That's why there's a system of private hospitals; those who can afford a private insurance can jump the queue.
Oh, and apparantly, the public system is actually cheaper than the whole private system.
It seems to me that many Americans are afraid that the Government will interfere too much with personal lives. Maybe my point of view is too coloured by the fact that I've grown up in a system where the Government is much more visible. Compared to the US, this is a very socialist country even if we've got a right-wing government :) |
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mili Posted Mon 07 Sep, 2009 9:56 PM |
| We have a similar system. The downside is that the public sector is forever lacking of staff, when the private sector pays more. And that means even longer waiting lists. Now with the recession there are some medical people returning to the public side, I suppose patients can't afford to go private anymore! |
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Turtleneck Posted Mon 07 Sep, 2009 11:46 PM |
I think there are some deeper issues wrapped up in this thing than just health care. The following are some reasons I have heard others talk about, not necessarily my views:
The US is in debt. Massive debt. We're involved in a war that is growing increasingly unpopular that is costing taxpayers an astronomical amount. I imagine government health care would add to that. I'm not even sure where all the money is going to come from. (Maybe someone else knows?? Will there be a tax increase?)
People who do have jobs don't want their money going to pay for services for "lazy" people who don't work and are on welfare already. There are a lot of people who abuse the welfare system and use it as an excuse not to work when they are perfectly capable, rather than it being used as an emergency. Also, some worry that their money will go to pay for illegal immigrants who may or may not be working and some of whom do not pay taxes themselves if they are working.
For people who anticipate being on the government system, they worry that the care would be sub-standard. Usually government run programs are not the greatest. The waiting list thing scares people, as does end-of-life scenarios. There is a lot of false information floating around about the program and scare tactics being used.
As for myself, I haven't heard much of what the program entails. I don't watch the news much. But here is the situation my family is in--my husband works, but the insurance offered by his company is WAY too expensive for us to afford. We pay for our insurance ourselves. And it isn't cheap! The insurance does NOT cover office visits at all. Every time one of us sees the doctor, we have to pay the whole bill. Our insurance will pay for most hospital procedures, it paid for most of our childbirth expenses, but not all. So, we're paying and then paying again! It was very expensive when we were paying for insurance, and had to also pay for every well-baby check-up (3 kids). It didn't cover immunizations, either, but thank goodness there was some program in place to cover it for us (don't know if it was a government program or what). All our insurance does is protect us from catastrophe if one of us should become very ill or seriously injured.
Health care is by far our biggest expense. We also have to pay for dental and optical. Thank goodness we're healthy. We can deduct some of the expense off our taxes, but it is still the biggest expense we have.
This is in contrast to when I was working. I worked for the county government and they paid for our insurance 100%, it covered 100% of everything--office visits, prescriptions, dental, you name it. It was fantastic. I gave up higher paying jobs because their insurance benefits couldn't compare to what I had. It would have ended up like taking a pay cut!
I am still under the same insurance company as with my old job, but the type of plan we can afford just doesn't cover much.
Would I take a government plan if it were offered to me? I'd wait and see.... |
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carlottarocks Posted Tue 08 Sep, 2009 1:57 AM |
Turtleneck wrote:
People who do have jobs don't want their money going to pay for services for "lazy" people...
That is the argument that pisses me off the most! I have friends that throw that argument out there every single time! I know plenty of people that are in your shoes, whose insurance through their company is too costly, I have been in that boat myself!!! Being a military family, we have government health care and it's been good to us :) |
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carlottarocks Posted Tue 08 Sep, 2009 2:01 AM |
Turtleneck wrote:
People who do have jobs don't want their money going to pay for services for "lazy" people...
That is the argument that pisses me off the most! I have friends that throw that argument out there every single time! I know plenty of people that are in your shoes, whose insurance through their company is too costly, I have been in that boat myself!!! Being a military family, we have government health care and it's been good to us :) |
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Hanne Posted Tue 08 Sep, 2009 6:09 AM |
To me, it sounds horrible having to pay such an expensive premium to not even be covered particularly well.
I mostly understand the arguments/fears in connection with a public insurance. The whole issue about paying for 'lazy' people is not new. Even here, where we've been paying really high taxes for decades to pay for many public services, this has been a topic for just as long. However, the discussion has not been about health care; it's been about unemployment benefits. Most people here take it as granted that health care is free.
Mind you, dental care is not free after you've turned 18. It's subsidised, but still very expensive. I've no clue why it's not a part of public health care.
As Milli says, there are many issues when a country has both private and public health care. However, I'm pretty sure that if someone suggests a huge reform to privatise the whole thing, people would be just as upset as many people are in the US right now. |
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hennypenny Posted Tue 08 Sep, 2009 8:24 AM |
| In my opinion, I think everyone under the age of 18 should receive free health insurance. I'm pretty lucky because where I work, I get free dental and vision insurane coverage and my employer pays 80% of my medical insurance. We have 2 options to choose from. Either a base plan or a buy-up plan. The buy-up costs a little more, but it covers a lot more also. |
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Turtleneck Posted Tue 08 Sep, 2009 4:10 PM |
I guess compared to a lot of countries, the US has relatively low taxes, but we have to pay for a lot of things ourselves.
I wonder what all the people who are out of work right now are doing about health insurance? It expires after a certain amount of time. |
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Hanne Posted Tue 08 Sep, 2009 7:32 PM |
Turtleneck wrote:
I wonder what all the people who are out of work right now are doing about health insurance? It expires after a certain amount of time.
I guess that's a problem for them. According to that documentary last night, the "public" ERs saw a surge of people that couldn't afford private hospitals and GPs anymore. |
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I Came in Through the Bathroom Window Posted Tue 08 Sep, 2009 8:25 PM |
The Argentinian health system is simmilar to Denmark's, judging by what Hanne said.
Some of the best specialists work in public hospitals, so that's not a problem.
The downsides are the huge amount of time people has to wait, and the lack of budget and medical supplies... At least that's true for public hospitals in Buenos Aires, thanks to our wonderful mayor! But this doesn't mean the system doesn't work, it just means our mayor is an ass.
The argentinian variation of the "I don't want to pay for services for lazy people" argument, is the "people from the suburbs come to the city of Buenos Aires and use OUR public hospitals and don't pay taxes for it". That also goes along with some other discriminatory speeches about "immigrants from surrounding countries coming to use our great public health system, making it more difficult for argentinians to use it".
I think it's just plain old discrimination and individualism. |
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Turtleneck Posted Sat 12 Sep, 2009 7:32 PM |
Oh, now nice. I just got a letter in the mail saying that my health insurance premium is going up by 40.5%!!! FORTY AND A HALF PER CENT!!! My health insurance that does not even cover office visits is going up FOOOORRRRTTTTYYY PEEERRRR CENNNNNTTT?????!!!!!
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Posts: 2782 |
Hanne Posted Sat 12 Sep, 2009 10:19 PM |
Turtleneck wrote: Oh, now nice. I just got a letter in the mail saying that my health insurance premium is going up by 40.5%!!! FORTY AND A HALF PER CENT!!! My health insurance that does not even cover office visits is going up FOOOORRRRTTTTYYY PEEERRRR CENNNNNTTT?????!!!!!
That's what I call an increase. Sorry to hear it.
So how much is the premium now, if I may ask? |
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Monica Posted Mon 14 Sep, 2009 11:43 AM |
| I'm very proud of the health care and medical insurance in Spain. It's very good. |
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Mmusse Posted Mon 14 Sep, 2009 12:54 PM |
| I'm from Denmark just like Hanne and I think the system we have is really great. I can't see why some people have that much against it. Why should people be punished economically if they get a serious illness? For instance I had my appendix removed when I was 9 years old. My mom lived alone with me and my sister at that time and I don't think she could afford a surgery like that without it being a huge burden financially (not knowing how much an operation like that costs). This is just an example. What about those people suffering from cancer and so on.. Do they get any help without having to pay for everything themselves in the US? |
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Turtleneck Posted Mon 14 Sep, 2009 3:22 PM |
Mmusse wrote: . What about those people suffering from cancer and so on.. Do they get any help without having to pay for everything themselves in the US?
Well...different people can get different types of aid, but the unfortunate reality is that often after the maximum benefits have been paid by the insurance company, they can actually go after your assets to pay hospital bills. For example, if an elderly person dies after being in the hospital for a long time, when their house is sold, the money may have to go to help pay medical bills instead of being inherited by the children. It is sad that you can work all your life to have a home and some money to leave to your children and it can all be taken away just by your last stay in the hospital.
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