Universal Health Care: Good Idea or Bad? - Page 5

bluebird · 02-18-2008, 07:25 PM

We have gone bankrupt because of medical bills. Our 1st was born with heart problems, had heart surgery at 7 days old, a surgery every year until he was five then he had open heart surgery. OF course the open heart surgery didn't work like it should have. Ds has never gotten SSI. There reason? Must last more than a year or possibly result in death. He has so many other problems due to the heart. He is mentaly ill due to lack of oxgyen. He can't work, no insurance.... it is a mess. We can't become his guadian either. The state says he is able to care for himself. Our 2nd child has health problems from a reaction from her DPT shot. What a mess that has been.

I don't know what the answer is but we NEED something better that we have now.

Kathryn · 02-18-2008, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melissa845

....They get poor care. They wait for MONTHS to be seen. If you want a second opinion... no way! And the drs don't seem as up on the latest info.

Wow, what countries are those? It sure isn't that way in Canada! I get same day appointments for even a sore throat and I can go see whatever Dr. I want, and as for being up to date, their training is top of the line with as high standards as in the US. Can you name the countries where these things happen and we can ask our friends there if this has been their experience?

goodnightmoon · 02-18-2008, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brensmom

1.do i think its good? absolutely not
2. do i think there needs to be reform to the insurance companies and pharmacutical companies? absolutely.
3.do i think illegals should get free health care(wich they already are getting by the way)? absolutely not... if you want to come to this country then do it the right way.
4. i don't think the government running health care is going to solve anything they can't handle alot of the issues at this time and you really want them deciding your fate when it comes to your health?? i sure as heck don't

ITA! It really upsets me that we pay a lot each month for health care coverage and still end up paying a ton because of co-pays, deductibles, service not being covered, etc. and then to find out someone is getting the same thing for free.

A lot of our credit card debt is related to medical/dental expenses.

armywife · 02-19-2008, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KathrynHannah

Wow, what countries are those? It sure isn't that way in Canada! I get same day appointments for even a sore throat and I can go see whatever Dr. I want, and as for being up to date, their training is top of the line with as high standards as in the US. Can you name the countries where these things happen and we can ask our friends there if this has been their experience?

My Canadian friend from Winnipeg had a horrible pregnancy experience, I should see if she'd come on here and post about it. And my Oma is going through a rough time right now in a German hospital (mom is German, I've lived over there). If I had the $$ I'd fly to Germany and wring her dr.'s neck.

armywife · 02-19-2008, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KathrynHannah

Yes, each province is different. We lived in BC for a while where you have to pay depending on your income (and not much) but we were students and lower income so we never had to pay.

Quote:

ITA! It really upsets me that we pay a lot each month for health care coverage and still end up paying a ton because of co-pays, deductibles, service not being covered, etc. and then to find out someone is getting the same thing for free. A lot of our credit card debt is related to medical/dental expenses.

If you look at the system in BC, where you do have to pay a bit depending on you income, it appears that you'd pay 30-35% in taxes (please correct me if I'm wrong, going off of what my friends tell me) and then pay out of pocket on top of that? Sounds like our current system of paying a premium, which in this case would be taxes, and then having to come up with out of pocket money as well.

DebbieL · 02-20-2008, 01:29 PM

I live in BC and the highest you will pay for health coverage is $108 (that would be for a family). The highest rate a single will pay is $54. If you make under a certain amount of money there is no charge, then there is subsidy if you are over that threshold but still low income. I have had excellent care all my life. Some provinces don't have any charge for medical coverage. For years I got it free when I was low income. I've had a few surgeries - all were good experiences. My pregnancy care was top notch. We never pay for surgeries, baby delivery, etc. To the person who knew someone in Winnipeg that had a bad experience - well, that can happen anywhere and is certainly not the norm here.

For elective procedures there can be a waitlist which is the real complaint up here (and why some people elect to cross the border and pay for some procedures). For your standard care though (and high priority procedures), the system is top notch.

6-paq · 02-20-2008, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brensmom

1.do i think its good? absolutely not
2. do i think there needs to be reform to the insurance companies and pharmacutical companies? absolutely.
3.do i think illegals should get free health care(wich they already are getting by the way)? absolutely not... if you want to come to this country then do it the right way.
4. i don't think the government running health care is going to solve anything they can't handle alot of the issues at this time and you really want them deciding your fate when it comes to your health?? i sure as heck don't

ITA as well.

I have a mother that is 84 and struggling to pay her med insurance and meds and we've personally used most of our savings last year for unexpected medical issues. I agree that something needs to be overhauled, but universal health care isn't the answer.

Mama2mygirls · 02-23-2008, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndbeckner

What your nurses are making compares right now to what a starting wage is for an LPN nurse who has only a certificate, a RN(2 year or 4 year) usually makes considerably morwe than that. IN fact 2 year degree RNs start @ $120, 000 a year. Figure in cost of living differences and you see your nurses and doctors aren't making as much as it seems. And yes, Mcdonalds cashier are usually paid about $9 hr here. LPNs start around $14.

Wow, where do you live? I could have sworn 2 or 4 year RN's --on average-- start at 50 something thousand a year. I'll have to look and see because it's been a while but I am amazed if RN's start at 120k a year. They work hard so they deserve a great salary, but I thought they were paid less.

Mama2mygirls · 02-23-2008, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jennycassada

Personally, I believe universal healthcare is a very very bad idea. I do think the healthcare industry in this country needs to be reformed somehow, but not with universal healthcare. Had you asked me 7 years ago I would have said, what a great idea, free healthcare, everyones covered. However, after marrying into the military where we pretty much have socialized healthcare I see the major pitfalls. Having to go to the emergency room and waiting several hours with an infant b/c there are no appointments available, having to wait months to get a procedure done, not having any say what so ever in your doctor (which you think you can handle until you get an absolute idiot like I have now). You can't call your doctor if you have a question, you can leave a message and the nurse might call you back the next week. There have been times when it's taken me 3 months to get a wellbaby appt b/c they only make appointments 30 days in advance and they only allow so many wellbaby appointments a month, once they're filled, that's it. They are starting to refer you to a civilian doctor if they can't get you in but that takes at least 2 weeks to get a referral, then another month to get an appt...and on and on and on. Honestly, think of the absolute worst HMO you've ever been on...it's worse.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful it's free. That's our mantra when things go sucky..."don't complain, it's free"

Well, actually it's not free...we're paying for it in other ways. I just feel like if it's this bad in the military, where it's been done for decades, I can't imagine how the government thinks they can do better. It would be an absolute mess. I feel like there has to be a better way for people to be able to get health coverage. Nobody should have to avoid going to the doctor b/c they're afraid of the bills.

Wow--that is the same reason I'm for universal health care...because the military is essentially socialized health care, and I've had a wonderful experience. Never paid a dime for either c-section, any visits or prescriptions, etc. and have had wonderful doctors and nurses, etc. If we need a sick visit, I call in the morning and can almost always get in same day. (There was one time where I called after noon and couldn't get in until the next morning.) I've only been at three bases, two with hospitals, one only with a clinic. At the one with only clinics and no hospital, we had to use an emergency room at the local hospital and it was horrible...long waits, etc. I had to get referrals to an ob/gyn through that base and it was a short turn around. The two bases with hospitals had emergency rooms that were much faster than the one non-AF one I experienced. I also choose who I see, as well as who my kids see within our clinics.

Like I said, I've only been to three bases so my experience is admittedly limited, but I've had a great experience with my AF health care. I'm sorry yours has been so bad and can certainly say that if mine was like yours, I would be against universal health care as well.

goin24/7 · 02-23-2008, 08:58 PM

I can't think of a single thing the government runs well why would they be able to have something as big as the health care of a nation without screwing that up too?

Social Security and the Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage plans are sinking ships. Welfare is ridiculous there are people cheating the system and get away with it because case workers are too busy to deal with it. We can't even secure our borders.The last thing we need to do is start another entitlement program we can't afford to pay for.

Before we think about spending any more money we need to work on reducing our debt to China, secure our borders, and deal with the illegal immigrant problem.