Here’s a short film by Stuart Browning about an Ontario man’s struggle with his government’s failed healthcare bureaucracy after his doctor suspected he might have a brain tumor. How can anyone watch this film and support any candidate who supports a government-run healthcare system?
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How do the proposals from the Democratic candidates specifically compare to the Canadian system?
If this gentleman had been in the U.S. and had no insurance, how well would he have been treated?
Wasn’t there a case of a young woman denied a liver transplant recently in the U.S. after her insurance provider denied coverage?
In the Canadian case, isn’t this a matter of levels of funding, and not the system itself? Hasn’t the Canadian government placed renewed attention on reducing wait times?
Isn’t there supplemental health insurance in Canada, both for employees and individual purchase?
And finally, how could anyone who attends a fundraiser to donate money towards the care of a friend who has no health insurance *not* support a candidate that pushes government-funded health care?
We have a friend who ex-patriate brother (60 years-old) was visiting last year from Australia. While here he collapsed and was rushed to Harborview. Turned out his body and spine was riddled with cancer. Harborview operated several times, put him through chemo and radiation. He had lengthy hospital stays … the bills were well into the six figures, says my friend. All written off. Pro bono.
You’re right about the liver transplant … an insurance company was squabbling and finally gave in although it was too late. When you buy insurance, you buy a contract from a specific company. If you look at it as a commodity product and buy the cheapest one out there you’re likely to get this kind of treatment. There’s a reason New York Life insurance products are slightly more expensive than Cheap companies. You know NYL will be around when you make a claim … and it won’t screw you.
I don’t know about Canadian supplemental plans. The issue here wasn’t that the government would eventually pay for it … but that the demand for services exceeds supply and the wait to get medical attention is far, far longer than in the not-quite-so-perfect U-S system. It could be a funding issue. It could be the medical schools aren’t graduating enough medical specialists, too. But Canadians aren’t urging more taxes to solve the problem, are they? And aren’t there similar problems in Britain and France? Be glad you live in the United States (I assume you do). If you get sick here, you’ll be taken care. Even if you don’t speak English.
BMA
Correct me if I am wrong, but I’m presuming you are a proponent of socialized medicine. Though your arguments/questions are quite rational and well presented, I beg to differ with your position.
Guzzo’s article and the video are certainly anecdotal, emotional appeals opposing socialized medicine. I am no fan of emotional appeals, but there are too many folks that think with their hearts instead of their minds and such emotional appeals are often employed. Right or wrong, such is politics. I personally think the economics of socialized medicine are the main reason to oppose the issue, but this doesn’t sell to those who think with their hearts. However, I do have some emotional attachment to the issue stemming from experience.
We have a form of socialized medicine in this country. It’s called the VA healthcare system. I’ve worked in the system. I can tell you that the quality of care is not on the same par as the rest of our health care system in this country. It was this observation that first led me to question the overall value of socialized medicine. I facetiously recommend that you become a soldier, get wounded, and experience the VA system; you just might change your position. Please note: I do not wish to disparage the VA and I have analyzed that the quality of our VA system is relatively high compared to most of the socialized medicine systems that are out there in the world.
There is no perfect health care system and our present system certainly has its faults. However, from what I’ve studied, experienced from a stint working in the medical field and anecdotal stories from Canadian friends, socialized medicine has a lot more faults. I’m normally an optimist, but in this case I strongly suspect that our quality of care would go down under a socialized medicine system.
I get a chuckle that the Democrats keep proposing socialized health care. They have been doing it for years and years. It has a strong emotional appeal, and seems to sell well to their constituents. However, can anyone tell me what they have gotten through Congress of real substance towards this goal? Dang little, if anything, that I can see. It makes me wonder if it is all just a big scam on the Democrats’ part. Pardon my cynicism, but I doubt that they ever will get anything passed towards this goal – there are too many insurance companies, doctors, et cetera who contribute to their election campaigns.
There are lots folks out there who really don’t want government to get more control of our lives. I’m one of them. Giving the government control of my health and health care is about as scary as it gets to me. There are so many Democrats who think Bush and the government has eroded our civil liberties, yet they have no problem supporting socialized medicine. Sheesh, wait until the government is calling the shots on their health care. I know what it was like in the military and at the VA – you don’t get much choice. If you have ever been with an HMO (I have), you’ve probably gotten a taste of what socialized medicine offers. Thanks, but no thanks.
I chuckled at your nom de plume. In college we had the BMOC and the Big Mouthed A**hole; oft times the same person earned both appellations. Are you a BMA or just poking fun at yourself
I really need to get to replying to everything here, but just because I’m quite annoyed…
I chuckled at your nom de plume. In college we had the BMOC and the Big Mouthed A**hole; oft times the same person earned both appellations. Are you a BMA or just poking fun at yourself
Funny that you didn’t address most of my points, but instead decided to resort to a pathetic ad hominem attack. All I want is to have a discussion, to challenge what’s being said here, so I’m extremely interested in how you think that I’m a “big-mouthed a**hole”.
Tell me… is it the fact that I’m not bleating back conservative talking points that’s bothering you? Would you prefer that I agree with everything you say?
Grow up, dude.
And yes, I’ve lived in both Canada and Norway, and I’ve experienced the medical system in three countries. Waiting times are certainly a problem in Canada, and in Norway, the money from oil revenues subsidize a certain amount of the cost of medical care. I don’t doubt that a system here would be harder to implement, and may not be everything that people might think that it is.
On the other hand, the system that we have now is a joke for many of the people that need it. There are many individuals and families that are not covered, and I’m not willing to believe that we should just leave them as burnt offerings on the altar of the free market medical system. To assume that anyone “deserves” that they not get reasonable medical care because they don’t have insurance for one reason or another is pretty cold.
And even the VA system, which you simultaneously disparage and praise, would be better for many folks than waiting until a condition gets so serious that a trip to an emergency room is necessary, right? What’s more economically efficient in the long run, to both society and the government?
Finally, to assume that a “socialized system” in the U.S. would mean that private care is remarkably short-sighted. There is no way that a majority of middle- and upper-income earners would ever give up higher quality healthcare. Businesses would never give up using it as an incentive to employees, either.
I share much of your cynicism, but I’m sorry… it fundamentally doesn’t make sense to leave things as they are.