Health Care Not A Right?

[YT2095]

not to split hairs or anything here but...

 

Illness care (when you need treatment for something) and Health care (when your fine and want to keep it that way or improve upon Health), I see as different things entirely.

 

here in the UK it`s often only the Rich that have "Health care" and can afford to go Private, the rest of us get help when something`s gone wrong only (Illness care).

 

I think the term itself is actualy misleading.

[entwined]

I don't think people see cost of healthcare as a motivating factor for being healthier. Not even poor people. I think the one and only motivating factor for staying healthy is to avoid an early trip to the grave.

 

You are probably right about that. I realized that that was a weak argument when I wrote it for just the reasons that you cite.

 

There is another element however' date=' that I do think would be a significent cost escellator and that is the case of the super health consious (especially parents) who, knowing that it is all free, will parlay a bumped knee on little sally into a medical bill that could amount to thousands of dollars where under the personal coverage plan, with deductible, it would have been a bandaid and a watchful eye for a couple of days. Reagan once said "if you make being poor profitable, soon you are going to find that you have a lot of poor people." In a sense, the same thing applies to socialized medical care. There are a lot of people who have nothing better to do that sit in a doctor's office--indeed, many who actually [i']like[/i] to sit in a doctor's office.

[bascule]

The biggest advantage of a single-payer system is streamlining of the payment process, which is presently a multi-tiered bureaucracy in America which gobbles a fixed percentage of all costs to provide access to the system.

 

In a single-payer system, you not only eliminate the middle man, but your network of providers becomes everyone in the single-payer system, rather than a limited network of preferred providers offered by most current PPO helath plans.

 

A 2000 WHO survey had the following to say about the US helathcare system:

 

The U. S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance, the report finds. The United Kingdom, which spends just six percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on health services, ranks 18th . Several small countries – San Marino, Andorra, Malta and Singapore are rated close behind second- placed Italy.

 

A 2004 survey by the Commonwealth Fund showed America's healthcare system dragging behind Canada, Australia, New Zeland, and the UK.

 

Respondents in the surveyed countries called for major reforms in their nations' primary care systems, with only a minority of adults saying they were "very con-fident" that they will get quality, safe medical care when needed. U.S. respondents, however, stood out as the most negative in their overall health system views. U.K. respondents had the most positive perspectives on their country's health system.

 

Under the present system, the American people are simply not getting their money's worth, and sadly, it seems the best argument for keeping the system is "I don't want to help other people, they'll just abuse the system"

 

That's already happening with Medicare/Medicaid, which, if you ask me, are a lousy idea to begin with. Any system will be subject to corruption, but isn't it better to help people than to having the money you spend on healthcare go to line the pockets of the access providers to the multi-payer system?

[Pangloss]

not to split hairs or anything here but...

 

Illness care (when you need treatment for something) and Health care (when your fine and want to keep it that way or improve upon Health)' date=' I see as different things entirely.

 

here in the UK it`s often only the Rich that have "Health care" and can afford to go Private, the rest of us get help when something`s gone wrong only (Illness care).

 

I think the term itself is actualy misleading.[/quote']

 

I think this is a really good point. It does all tend to get lumped in together.

 

Often you hear the media talk about how 45 million people (or some similar number) are without health care. Then you'll hear others talk about how they do receive health care, because hospitals don't turn people away. That's one example of how the two things get lumped together.

 

Good point.

[Pangloss]

Interesting post, Bascule.

 

That's part of why I mentioned earlier that it strikes me as "lazy" to just jump into socialized medicine. The UK has, what, 60 million people? The US has about 300 million? China has, what, a billion? Is it really logical that all three countries should use exactly the same system of health care? Shouldn't there be different approaches and different ideas here and there?

 

I dunno, it's just something I wonder about.

[bascule]

Well, there's another compelling reason to move to a single-payer system: outsorcing. Why pay an American a salary and a healthcare benefits package if you can just pay a European (or Australian, Canadian, etc) the base salary.

 

A move to a single-payer system has the added benefit of making America more competitive in the international marketplace.