Do I want free heathcare?

[Newbunkle]

It depends if you're planning on getting sick all the time. If you are, then getting other suckers to pay for it is better. If you're going to stay healthy, then univeral is bad, because you're going to be paying for someone else's treatment out of your wages.

 

[Arwon]

As someone who has partaken of socialized medicine for the last 20 years in the military let me say this: it sucks.

Its a minimum 8 hour wait if you go to the emergency room to be seen for anything less than a heart attack. And you simply cannot get a same day appointment if you feel like you are getting ill. Sometimes you cant get one for at least a week. And thats general practice clinic. If you have to see a specialized clinic it may be a month or two.

I´ve never had a problem getting seen quickly in either Spain or Australia, maybe a half hour at most.

I´m sorry your military bureaucracy can´t provide decent healthcare though, but it´s the same in Australia... military insurance is good, but their actual medical system sucks balls.

 

[Grisu]

As someone who has partaken of socialized medicine for the last 20 years in the military let me say this: it sucks.

Its a minimum 8 hour wait if you go to the emergency room to be seen for anything less than a heart attack. And you simply cannot get a same day appointment if you feel like you are getting ill. Sometimes you cant get one for at least a week. And thats general practice clinic. If you have to see a specialized clinic it may be a month or two.

sounds more like your military healthcare sucks....I've never had wait times of more than 30 mins for going to the emergency room

in short LightFang pretty much summed it up. Except for one thing: if I'm suffering from some highly rare cancer I can still fly to the US if I'm willing to pay for it

 

[El_Machinae]

As someone who has partaken of socialized medicine for the last 20 years in the military let me say this: it sucks.

Its a minimum 8 hour wait if you go to the emergency room to be seen for anything less than a heart attack. And you simply cannot get a same day appointment if you feel like you are getting ill. Sometimes you cant get one for at least a week. And thats general practice clinic. If you have to see a specialized clinic it may be a month or two.

Buy your own private insurance, then. 20 years is a long time to be stuck in a substandard system. Or is your socialised medicine good enough for you?

 

[El_Machinae]

I would like to know from the people who live in countries with socialized/government provided healthcare, what it is really like, and if it is really better than the current system in the USA.

It's cheaper and more effective. The vast majority of people will pay remarkably less money on healthcare, and the people who pay more do receive the feedback benefits of having a healthier and wealthier populace.

There's a subset of people who don't want to wait, and can easily afford to be medical tourists. They can fly to other countries that have low waitlists. Or they can fly to low waitlist (for-profit) clinics in their own countries. There are also American medical tourists, who travel in order to spend less money.

We save massively on bureaucratic costs and save massively on insurance companies scamming the system.

Regarding medical innovation rates: that's a tough one. If you read pubmed on any topic, it's clear that other countries contribute to medical research. If you look at modern medical equipment, you'll see that much of it is manufactured outside the United States. That said, the US is a major contributor to medical research, and there's no reason that this has to stop. While for-profit is a good incentive to innovate, I've personally seen how status can motivate researchers and clinicians to innovate. And it's not like we don't get money for successful patents still.

 

[scy12]

I don't care how you call it, people should be able to receive treatment when they have a need of it. Basic right. Now if the best way this can be achieved is social healthcare which i believe is somewhat manipulating because social healthcares work differently from country to country then that is what must be done.

I would never live in a country that did not provide me with such healthcare.

 

[Zelig]

It depends if you're planning on getting sick all the time. If you are, then getting other suckers to pay for it is better. If you're going to stay healthy, then univeral is bad, because you're going to be paying for someone else's treatment out of your wages.

The problem with this is that universal healthcare tends to be less expensive.

 

[scy12]

It depends if you're planning on getting sick all the time. If you are, then getting other suckers to pay for it is better. If you're going to stay healthy, then univeral is bad, because you're going to be paying for someone else's treatment out of your wages.

Planning on getting sick ?

 

[lovett]

Nothing is "free". You either pay for it directly through direct fees (or perhaps via insurance), or indirectly through taxes.

Having said that, pretty much every type of socialised health care is cheaper there what the US has at the moment. The truth is in the numbers. The US spends about 15-16% of its GDP on health care, whereas Britain spends about 8%. OECD average is about 8 and a half. So the US manages to spend twice as much as everyone else whille having a population that is, on the whole, less healthy everyone else.

 

[brennan]

As someone who has partaken of socialized medicine for the last 20 years in the military let me say this: it sucks.

Its a minimum 8 hour wait if you go to the emergency room to be seen for anything less than a heart attack. And you simply cannot get a same day appointment if you feel like you are getting ill. Sometimes you cant get one for at least a week. And thats general practice clinic. If you have to see a specialized clinic it may be a month or two.

That's the US system, which seems to be set up for the express purpose of making social care look crap.

 

[bathsheba666]

That's the US system, which seems to be set up for the express purpose of making social care look crap.

All they need is to organise a system for the express purpose of delivering health care to patients.

If they instead organise a system to deliver profits to insurance companies and lawyers, then that's what they'll end up with.

 

[Shekwan]

Why wouldn't you want free healthcare? It's not like it removes the possibility of getting private healthcare. As for government spending, doesn't the US government already spend a large percentage on healthcare?

 

[nonconformist]

I prefer the French system to the English system.

Being a citizen of both, the governents are both too happy to provide for me

In the UK my medication is mostly subsidised, and I don't pay for the cost of the medication, but rather a set fee everytime I get a 'scrip, so I usually ask for about 4 month's medication at a time which cost me £7/~$14

In France, I pay nothing, since the government reimburses me everything

 

[Newbunkle]

The problem with this is that universal healthcare tends to be less expensive.

Not if you never use it.

 

[nonconformist]

So, essentially the abiter is "am I selfish to the point of denying other people essential healthcare, because I'm not using it, and it provides a detriment to my personal wealth"?

 

[Shekwan]

The whole ''universal healthcare is pointless because I don't plan on being sick'' is crazy. How can somebody possibly not plan on needing healthcare?

 

[Princeps]

Not if you never use it.

Actually, US healthcare system is also more expensive to the taxpayer from what I understand.

And, also, enough with these right wing lines that "don't use my money to pay for others healthcare". I'm sorry, but you don't individually get to define your rights to your property or to the money you receive from work. All rights are political rights, and so may be altered by political institutions.

 

[Gabryel Karolin]

I can only say that the few times I've been to a hospital I've never experienced those 8hr waiting lines. And neither have anyone else it seems. Think of it as combined ensurance/charity if you like. You never know if you're going to need it, and if you don't at least you're helping other people. Its not like its a major dent on your paycheck either.

IMO the goverment providing affordable, reliant healthcare to all its citizens is a sign of a successful state. But maybe thats just what I was brought up to think.

 

[Cutlass]

With universal health care:

You pay half or less as much.
You and your family are covered even if you lose your job.
You don't lose your house or your life savings if you or a family member is sick or injured.
They don't try to deny you legitimate coverage.

With private coverage:

They may be able to better treat the most rare and difficult illnesses.

 

[Shekwan]

That's what scares me the most about the US system, your health is usually tied to your job as far as I can tell. Put this on top of the fact that college is really expensive over there too, and you're stuck in debt and reliant for your health on the job you're in. This is all very fine and good if you love your job and don't get made redundant, but it's scary to think of what you'd would do if you were fired...