My limited experience with Universal Health Care is this. I served an LDS mission in Brasil for 2 years, I saw sick people there that didn't get the best care some that got no care at all, I have a very personal story about an awesome woman that we knew that had an awful experience w/the healthcare system I will not share it here as it too personal to post on a public blog such as this, if you would like to hear/read it drop me an email & I will consider sharing it with you, I also have this story: I had a Brasilian Companion have a panic attack one time, he thought he was having a heart attack & insisted we take him to the Dr. We took him to a place that was like an instacare. They started giving him shots of who knows what that didn't do anything for him. We finally had a member of the local church (who worked for the military) take us to a (Brasilian)military hospital where the service/care was awesome. Turned out he was fine & just having a panic attack, but it opened my eyes a bit on the subject at hand. Yes it was all free, but not everyone there had access to the military hospital.
Having said that here are some pros & cons to Universal Health Care:
Should the Government Provide Free Universal Health Care for All Americans?
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This info taken from balanced politics If you check out the link they go into more depth on each topic.
Now Glenn Beck does a segment each day on his show called "Arguments Against Idiots" I find it hilarious & wanted to share his view on the topic with you as well.
What the liberal whiners say:
'Just as the Liberal Lion, Ted Kennedy so eloquently said this week, health care is a FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT for all Americans, not just an expensive privilege for the few'
'But health care can be a matter of life and death...just like the story Hillary told during the campaign about the uninsured pregnant woman who was sick and went to the hospital but was turned away because she didn't have $100, and both she and her baby died...over a measly 100 bucks in the greatest, richest nation on earth!'
'Well I just believe that something has to be done by this government to cover everyone...it's inexcusable in America not to have insurance!'
'It's just sad and pathetic, that in this country, we have such a terrible health care crisis...even Cuba is ranked ahead of us!'
Your winning, logical, reasoned arguments
1. First of all, I'd like you to point out where that "right" is spelled out in the Constitution? But while you're looking that up, lets just address your "expensive privilege for the few", statement. The fact is, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 84% of Americans HAVE health insurance. Now my math may be fuzzy, but that seems like-not "the few", but "the many". In fact, the OVERWHELMING majority. In many cases, it may be expensive, but so are a LOT of things in this country that aren't "rights"...like auto insurance or homeowners insurance...which are things we are forced by law to have, but the government doesn't provide.
2. Well unfortunately, that woman and her baby did die, that's true. However, she was NEVER turned away, she did receive treatment (she just couldn't be saved), and she DID have health care insurance. In fact, it is against FEDERAL LAW to deny health care to someone who needs it. It is illegal in this country. In addition, there are in nearly every city in America, hospitals who treat patients every day who have no way of paying. There are also thousands of clinics and programs to help those who can't pay catastrophic medical bills.
3. It's inexcusable that some people don't own their own homes. Is a permanent place to live ALSO a fundamental right? Some people don't own a car. If they cannot afford one, should one be provided for them by the government? Where does it end? Flat screen TV's? The right to keep and bear a washer/dryer set? If you do not have a lawnmower, one will be provided for you by an illegal alien? How much can or SHOULD the government do?
4. Is that why when Cuba's leader Fidel Castro, was on his death bed he was flown halfway around the world to get medical care? I'm just sayin.
Here is the link to that
I guess you better get used to my long posts, it seems they are here to stay. I don't think we have any international readers, but I would love to hear from you on this topic. Especially those with Universal Health Care.
4 comments:
Long posts deserve long comments, I guess. The following are counterpoints to all points made in the "No" column.
1. The crux of this argument is that business is more efficient than government. This may be true on the whole, but there are plenty of inefficient businesses (also see counter-point to #3). If there's something that this past couple of weeks have taught me, it's that government outlasts business.
2. Right now, about 20% of my paycheck goes to my health insurance policy. Paying that 20% to the government wouldn't make much of a difference to my bottom line.
3. Again, this is true on the whole, but what's forgotten are the thousands of failed businesses and failed ideas. This is the problem when you try to apply capitalism to services where people are the commodity--failed people can't be thrown away like Betamax tapes or HD-DVDs.
4. I disagree. My current plan only allows me to go to doctors approved by that plan. If I were to change jobs right now, I'd likely have to change medical plans, which means I'd probably have to change doctors. Government-sponsored health care would theoretically be good anywhere in the country. Restrictions mentioned in detail in the article are already true for current insurance companies (try getting elective sugery covered there).
5. True, but more frequent care might lead to better overall health, which could reduce costs in the long run.
6. Also true, but this isn't the point. Emergency medical care is super-expensive for hospitals. It might end up cheaper to treat a patient with a stomachache rather than having that patient wait until his appendix burst.
7. Maybe, but it might increase flexibility by removing "will my insurance cover this?" questions.
8. I do that now. I pay a couple hundred dollars a month to my insurance company, but I don't use a couple hundred dollars worth of medical care each month--sick people do.
9. Yes, but this is true of any big change. Using this excuse can backfire when you're the one wanting to make a big change (i.e., Republicans wanting to privatize Social Security or Public Education).
10. As a former teacher, I can't argue with the fact that government employees don't get paid what they're worth--although I do see people demanding (and getting) increase in pay for doctors and being more successful at it than similar attempts for teachers :).
11. Possible, but unlikely. Government isn't exposed when teachers (government employees) screw up--that's why they have unions.
12. Seems like a bit of a stretch considering that there are already plenty of restrictions on health-endangering substances as well as full government agencies focused on public health. You might complain about the FDA "restricting your freedoms" until there's an outbreak of salmonela--then you'd want them to do something about it.
13. This (and the arguments made later in the post) fall apart when compared to the other behemoth government public service--education. Most people consider education a "right" even though it isn't spelled out in the constitution. This is because it's in a country's best interest to educate its people. I also think that it's in the country's best interest to ensure its people are healthy.
Ok, Jay, I love you brother, but COME ON! There are people in the US that have horrible experiences with health care even though we don't currently have Universal Health Care. Francois' uncle died last year because a hospital did not do some things they should have. He was covered my Medicaid. I won't go into detail but I will say that the hospital was very nervous.
Also, Universal Health Care does not necessarily mean health care paid for with taxes and totally taken over by the government. Have you looked at Obama's plan? Because that's not what he's proposing. It wouldn't be free health care to all Americans.
Glenn Beck's #1: Yes, only 16% of American's don't have health insurance, but in that 16% there are 8.7 million children who don't have health insurance. I'm not ok with that. In the first year of my son's life (not counting his one year appointment) there has been billed $3010 for his care. We have insurance so that isn't what we've paid, just what the total bill was. And he is a healthy kid, no ear infections, no broken limbs, no x-rays or tests, he hasn't been sick often. This only includes 2 visits that weren't well child visits. How do normal families with multiple kids who don't have health insurance do that? Also, auto insurance (mimimal coverage required, most lender's ask for additional coverage; when we had a car not fully covered I think our required insurance cost us $15 a month) and homeowner's insurance (this isn't required by the government, but your mortgage provider) are a lot cheaper than health insurance.
Glenn Beck's #2: Even though there are helps in place for people who can't pay catastrophic medical bills I would guess a lot of people don't qualify for them. Most middle class Americans if they had to pay for all of their kids glasses, casts, doctor's appointments, etc, probably wouldn't qualify for assistance, but it would probably be a huge burden on their family's budget. And if something bigger happened, like cancer or juvenile diabetes they might have to file bankruptcy, and that has an even larger impact on a family. I've made some generalizations, but I don't think untrue ones.
Glenn Beck's #3: Just because people don't own their own homes doesn't mean they don't have a permanent place to live, many renter's stay in one place for years and years and only move because they choose to, not because they are evicted (usually people are only evicted because of bad behavior on their part). Even people that own their home can be forced to move if something big enough happens. Legacy Hwy for example, or a hurricane. I personally think that comparing having a flat screen TV or a lawn mower to having health insurance is offensive.
Glenn Beck's #4: I can't find any information about Fidel Castro flying halfway around the world to get medical care. I have searched and searched and did find that he got better care in Cuba than most Cubans, but not that he went somewhere else for treatment. I could be wrong and just was looking in the wrong places, but if he did go somewhere, it's likely that it was to a country with Universal Health Care because most countries of our stature have it. Let's pattern ours after a successful program, not Fidel Castro's.
Sorry Glenn Beck, but I don't think your arguments are winning, logical, or reasoned; although you were right about the woman being denied medical care based on $100.
I could say more, but I think that ck rock covered the other part of the post and I don't need to go there.
Here is a link to the National Coalition on Health Care. They have a lot of interesting facts about uninsured Americans (with sources sited). I don't agree with their statement at the end that every American should be required to participate in health care coverage, but I do think a feasible option should be provided for them and that it should be mandatory for children to be covered.
http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml
Thanks for th
I realized I didn't finish my last sentence. I was meaning to say thanks for your views. Also, just to clarify about Francois' (my husband) uncle. He fell and had injuries similar to injuries he has had in the past, but the hospital handled him differently this time. I cannot definitively say that had they handled it the way they had in the past he would have lived. Just that when they sent him home they knew of a problem and chose at that time not to do anything despite being warned by the family of a known issue that he had. They told the family that he should be fine and fully recover. He was taken back the next day and the situation had progressed past the point where they could do anything to save him. So, poor health care can and does happen just about everywhere.
Both your arguments are excellent yes there are examples of bad health care everywhere.
Another couple of points I have:
1. Why would we want to give the government more power over us. Now they can control whether we get health care or not? Here-in lies the problem once you give government power it is very hard to get said power back.
2. Economics: How are we going to afford all these great plans Barack Obama has for us. We are already trillions of dollars in debt. Now we are going to add billions more to that?
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