Do I want free heathcare?

[Zelig]

Not if you never use it.

No, US healthcare is still more expensive in taxes even if you don't pay for any form of insurance.

 

[El_Machinae]

Not if you never use it.

True, but you don't live in a magical world. Even if you never use it, your employees, employers, customers, and family & friends all use healthcare. And if they're getting a good deal (paying less to get more), then you're (indirectly) better off too.

More generally, the only 'free' healthcare I know of is getting paid to be healthy. If you have a job where you're paid to exercise, paid to destress, paid to eat healthy, etc., then you're looking pretty good: you're getting free health care. Even if these things are side-effects of the job.

I had a buddy who was a park warden, whose job was to walk the trails looking for trouble. He was fit, happy, and full of healthy air.

He had free healthcare. Sitting at a desk all day and having corn subsidized is the opposite of free healthcare.

 

[Newbunkle]

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"?

He only asked if HE wanted it.

 

[JollyRoger]

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.

Have you considered purchasing private insurance to put yourself in a better situation or have you resigned yourself to operating exclusively under the socialized system?

 

[emzie]

I'm from Ohio and have lived in Canada for about 3 years. Healthcare here is provided by a government-backed insurance program.

I had to look a bit harder to find a family doctor here, but in general, the service I receive is the same. I've never had a problem seeing a doctor the same day, though it sometimes meant I had to see the walkin doctor at the clinic instead of my doctor. For serious stuff, wait times at the ER were quick if you had an emergency, as quick as they were at OSU medical center anyway, and a wait if you didn't -- again a similar wait to what I saw at OSU.

Over all, I pay less here.

 

[scy12]

He only asked if HE wanted it.

Has it ever occured you that the only reason you do not need Healthcare is because other people do ,and as a result constitute a healthier environment ?

Though i am uncertain of the nature of your Healthcare , in your country it does have a positive effect even if you are not using it due to the number of People who do. Now if that number increases , what would that mean to you ?

Unless you and your loved ones are genetically modified to never need healthcare ofcourse in which case you must make a sacrifice for the collosial majority that does.

 

[WICKLC1]

Here in Massachusetts we have some of the best hospitals in the world, and they can't deny you treatment in an emergency(You will be in debt later) and check-ups aren't terribly expensive, so the things people have trouble with are surgeries, dental treatment, and long term things like diabetes.

I think that insured people in the USA have it better than most people, but un-insured people have it worse than people in most other industrialized countries.

 

[JollyRoger]

I think that insured people in the USA have it better than most people, but un-insured people have it worse than people in most other industrialized countries.

Insured don't necessarily have it all that great. Many pay premiums for the privilege of having their claims denied. Plus, many insurance plans severely limit choices.

 

[bathsheba666]

I think that insured people in the USA have it better than most people, but un-insured people have it worse than people in most other industrialized countries.

You think that based on what?

 

[dutchfire]

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.

I quite like it to be honest.

 

[nonconformist]

Here in Massachusetts we have some of the best hospitals in the world, and they can't deny you treatment in an emergency(You will be in debt later) and check-ups aren't terribly expensive, so the things people have trouble with are surgeries, dental treatment, and long term things like diabetes.

I think that insured people in the USA have it better than most people, but un-insured people have it worse than people in most other industrialized countries.

In France, even if you see a private doctor, the government will reimburse it which means everyone is entitled to the best quality healthcare.

I'm happy.

 

[illram]

I just have a fundamental problem with our concept of for-profit health care/health care insurance.

"Oh wait, according to your application it seems you might actually NEED to be treated in the foreseeable future? DENIED. But feel free to peruse our High Risk health care choices, just $200 a month with a $5000 deductible!"

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

First of all the taxes in Sweden are 60-70% so it is not free. Second of all you will wait in line for months to see a doctor. That doctor will send you to another doctor, that will be 4 more months. That doctor will schedule an operation for you within a year. Ussualy once you get your treatment it will be good though. If you want an operation that isn`t rutine or that a statistician doesn`t consider neccassary than though luck. obviously the upper class doesn`t do this. They buy health care american style. Also contacts are very important.

 

[scy12]

You do understand that Swedish "Free" healthcare is not necesarilly the same as Free healthcare in the rest of the world. And there is certainly not an idia good enough that can't fail due to atrocious implementation .

 

[GinandTonic]

I find the idea of a healthcare system whose primary concern isn't caring for peoples health deeply wird.

I mean given that the cant-be-free-in-this-instance-market offers lower quality of care at higher expense it just seems willfully perverse.

 

[lovett]

@AL
Taxes in Sweden are 51.1% of GDP. In the US it's 30.8%. In Britain 36%. Ireland is roughly comparable to the US. Clearly health care is not the only indicator of tax rates.

 

[aelf]

First of all the taxes in Sweden are 60-70% so it is not free. Second of all you will wait in line for months to see a doctor. That doctor will send you to another doctor, that will be 4 more months. That doctor will schedule an operation for you within a year. Ussualy once you get your treatment it will be good though. If you want an operation that isn`t rutine or that a statistician doesn`t consider neccassary than though luck. obviously the upper class doesn`t do this. They buy health care american style. Also contacts are very important.

So? The people who can afford it pay for premium services anyway, as you said. And people who can't afford it get some quality healthcare instead of little or nothing. I also believe that long waiting times is likely more of a management-induced problem than a systemic one.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

@AL
Taxes in Sweden are 51.1% of GDP. In the US it's 30.8%. In Britain 36%. Ireland is roughly comparable to the US. Clearly health care is not the only indicator of tax rates.

48% this year. They are 60-70 percent for middle class people. much lower for big buisness. avraging it to 48%.

 

[Joe Harker]

Universal Health Care is very nice, you know, no matter what that you will be cared for, the standards are very good over here, the waiting times are not at all bad. Sure there are problems but there will always be some in any healthcare system.

 

[emzie]

Here in Massachusetts we have some of the best hospitals in the world, and they can't deny you treatment in an emergency(You will be in debt later) and check-ups aren't terribly expensive, so the things people have trouble with are surgeries, dental treatment, and long term things like diabetes.

Ah, but when people don't pay the hospital, the hospital just charges everyone else more to make up that lost money. In turn, this raises your insurance premiums. Which means emergency healthcare is already socialized, but in a way that screws over the uninsured. You're already paying their medical bill anyway, why force them into massive debt?