Post by MaryPost by Fred J. McCallPost by MaryPost by Fred J. McCallPost by MaryPost by Adam Whyte-SettlarPost by MaryPost by Mary"Let the auld geezers die before they bankrupt Medicare" seems to
be
the
current mindset.
Not a good way to look at things.
*****Perhaps not, Mary. Let's wait and see how things develop.
You know, there are a lot of things wrong with Scotland but decent free
health care isn't one of them.
Canada has "free" health care too, but our taxes are so high, it's not very
free but you can at least go to hospital in an emergency or elective, and
stay there if you are sick for a while and not have to pay anything.
That's because you already paid. Last time I went to the hospital
(for surgery) I think I paid $15.
You mean we already paid by having high taxes?. taxes have always been high
here.
But higher after they started paying for all that health care for you
than before. And that's the truth of it. SOMEBODY pays for 'free'
stuff.
Everything is higher in any country than it used to be. We've had public
medicare since the 1950's.
I'm not talking about 'normal' cost inflation. Can you seriously
believe that you're not paying for that health care?
Post by MaryThe UK has a very good public health care plan, so do several European
countries like Switzerland and France.
How nice for them. If we want them, we know where to find them.
Post by MaryThe US has the highest costs of medical care in the whole world. Just one
example. there are many others saying the same thing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/health-care-costs_n_5160819.html
Are you ever going to tell me something I don't already know in your
attempts to defend public health systems? Part of the reason we have
such high costs is that we're subsidizing things for the rest of you;
to cover costs you refuse to pay.
Post by MaryPost by Fred J. McCallPost by MaryIf you were to need to stay in hospital for several weeks after a car
accident or some serious illness, it would cost you more than $15.00.
Well, it'll cost me a lot more next year, thanks to the 'Affordable'
Care Act. And it'll probably STILL cost me less than what you pay in
taxes for your 'free' health care, unless you're one of the luck folks
on the 'receive' side of that equation...
Many countries in the world besides Canada have Public Health Care, probably
some countries have better health care than Canada.
And we know where to find those countries if we want them.
Post by MaryPost by Fred J. McCallPost by MaryPost by Fred J. McCallThere really weren't that many people who were truly uninsured in the
US in the first place and all the expense of the ACA hasn't added all
that many people to the ranks of the insured.
Prices for medical treatment in the U.S. is much higher than in Canada.
Of course they are. Because we help subsidize Canadian health care
with higher drug prices here.
Where would you get that idea? Tax payers in Canada and the Canadian
government subsidize Canadian health care.
Go look up what 'subsidize' means. The Canadian government subsidizes
(some) health care RECIPIENTS. That's not the same thing at all as
"subsidize health care".
Post by MaryOur government have agreements with many drug companies to buy in bulk so
its cheaper.
Your government has a mafioso "offer you can't refuse" with
pharmaceutical companies, where the Canadian government told them they
could either meet the price Canada was willing to offer or the
Canadian government would violate their patents and make the stuff
itself. Who do you think covers all those research costs that
countries like Canada don't?
You cannot seriously believe the price difference for drugs is just
'buying in bulk'.
Post by MaryPost by Fred J. McCallPost by MaryIf
we go to the U.S. we have to take out medical insurance because prices per
day for hospital care is much higher than in Canada and if you don't take
any medical insurance before you go, you could owe thousands of dollars in
medical costs. I never go to the U.S. without buying comprehensive medical
insurance.
Isn't there a reasonably priced medical plan in the U.S. for residents over
65?
Yep. And we spend our whole working lives paying for that. I'd
probably be better off if they'd just let me keep the money and buy my
own insurance when I'm 65. We also have coverage for folks who are
poor, which gets paid for by the rest of us out of the general revenue
fund. Most of the rest of us get insurance through employers.
Somewhere between 80%-85% of Americans have always had medical
insurance coverage. All the money spent on the ACA and all the
expense for those of us who already had insurance has only increased
those numbers by 2%-3%.
Many sources say there is 44 million people in the U.S. with no medical
insurance and 38 million don't have adequate.
http://www.pbs.org/healthcarecrisis/uninsured.html
Let me see here 44/319 = 13.8%. So 86.2% have insurance. Now go look
at what I said, above. Note that half or more of those folks without
insurance are illegal immigrants.
It also depends on what you call "no insurance" and "adequate
insurance". Lots of people don't carry insurance by choice because
they're young and healthy and paying into an insurance pool is a
losing proposition for them. Same with a lot of those folks without
"adequate" insurance. They carry catastrophic illness insurance only
by choice.
All those people (except for the illegal immigrants) will be FINED for
not having insurance under the 'Affordable' Care Act. Many of them
will pay the fine rather than get insurance because it costs less than
the 'affordable' insurance that they don't need.
We were better off before ObamaCare...
--
"Rule Number One for Slayers - Don't die."
-- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer