I see people espousing the benefits of universal health care all the time. They talk about how great this is and that is, but it seems like none of them have ever lived anywhere where they actually have the system.
I lived in a country with socialised medicine for the first 30 years of my life, and it was not all it’s cracked up to be. And there are some benefits. Emergency problems are taken care of right away, and they are taken care of well. The problem is is that you have to go by the government’s definition of “emergency” and not your own. My father needed a knee replacement a few years ago, but the government did not think it was an “emergency” and they said that physical therapy and pain killers would suffice. There were 2 doctors who said he needed a replacement, but another said that it was not necessary. So he lived in pain until it was too much to take and took out a loan and paid for it out of pocket.
And for instance, I take medications for a medical condition. Some of the treatments cause males to develop breasts and others don’t. The ones that don’t cause males to develop breasts are generally newer and cost more so the government has only approved them for people who have failed other treatments. But I don’t want to develop male breasts, so I had to pay for the drug out of pocket.
I moved to the USA and I love my health insurance plan.
Are most people who hail socialised medicine as the next best thing even aware of it’s downsides? Most of them appear to have no idea what they are even talking about.
#1 by cbmttek on February 16, 2010 - 9:11 pm
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So, you are from the UK?
Everything you describe is the NHS in a nutshell.
If national medicine is so great, why is there a thriving private medical industry in the UK? Oh, that’s right, socialized medicine is not the panacea it’s cracked up to be.
What I also find interesting is the large number of people in the US that spend their money on Starbucks, smokes, bottled water, cell phones, HDTV, etc… but claim they cannot afford health insurance.
For every maid that is in dire straits, there are thousands that have no legitimate excuse for ignoring their health in favor of their luxuries.
#2 by DUDE!!! on February 16, 2010 - 10:16 pm
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but what about the people in this country that cant afford insurance like over 38 million of us. something is better than nothing.
#3 by specal k on February 17, 2010 - 4:08 am
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your right after all socialized medicine prevents those who can’t afford capitalistic medicine from going bankrupt
#4 by Toocan on February 17, 2010 - 8:29 am
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if your uninsured, ANY medicine is better than nothing.
#5 by Adam B on February 17, 2010 - 9:34 am
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Really? What country was that?
I am aware of its downsides. But those downsides are still better than the downsides of the for-profit mess that we have now. In countries with socialized medicine, the wealthy can still get their private clinical care. But the poor and middle class don’t have to suffer without medical treatment for fear of bankrupting themselves. A maid doesn’t have to delay chemotherapy for a treatable cancer because she can’t afford the medicine if she wants to keep eating.
#6 by irishmom on February 17, 2010 - 11:22 am
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Point well taken, and believe me, those of us in America who have WORKED and accordingly earned entitlement to medical benefits, know full well the difference. Plainly put, Obama’s version of socialized medicine is some sort of medical treatment for people who feel entitled not to work. Who are these people you ask? People who play a card, any card. There’s the tried and true race card, since CLEARLY the majority of welfare recipients in the baby boomer generation on down are black. There’s also the illegal card, since it’s no secret here in America that illegals have better health care than many WORKING Americans. This is yet another travesty.
Frankly, Obama agrees that the blacks who are dependent on generational welfare, who “don’t feel like workin’ no job” deserve medical benefits on the white person’s dime. Reparations, if you will.
Yes, you are correct. My cousin gave birth in England, under its socialized medicine program. Their triage was a disaster and she ended up having to give birth on a pile of coats on the lobby floor, since she was NOT attended to properly.
However, for those who have no intention of working a day in their lives to provide for themselves, any health care is better than none. So the rest of us should suffer, in the name of reparations, right? WRONG.
#7 by Anonymous on February 17, 2010 - 2:55 pm
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With 50 million uninsured Americans and thousands added to the ever-growing list everyday and millions more under-insured and health costs/premiums rising to exorbitant levels, the U.S. health care system is in a deep crisis. Do you realize that the majority of bankruptcies in this country are due to medical catastrophes? The corporate insurance structure of the U.S. health care system is unsustainable. While there are issues with universal care in other countries, our Medicare system works well, as does the process for covering our elected officials (a single-payer system). Yes, we have lived in other countries and have been amazed at the efficiency and consideration given to patients and doctors over insurance CEO’s and bottom lines.
Please watch this perspective:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/…