Universal Health Care

[bdk3clash]

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There are a number of reasons that Americans would have a lower life expectancy: more driving, more eating, less exercise, etc.

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This is incorrect.

From John Abramson, MD's book "Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine":

"In a comparison of 13 industrialized nations...the health of Americans is close to the worst on most measures and overall ranked second to last. Contrary to popular wisdom, the poor ranking of the United States cannot be attributed to our rates of smoking, drinking, or consumption of red meat. Surprisingly, Americans rank in the better half of the 13 countries on these measures, and have the third lowest cholesterol level. (Deaths due to violence and car accidents were not included in the data.)"

(Emphasis mine.)

[bobman0330]

I'm still not sold. What about overall obesity, which is definitely higher in the US?

[bdk3clash]

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I'm still not sold. What about overall obesity, which is definitely higher in the US?

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I doubt that adjusting for obesity levels would have a significant effect on the overall rank of the United States, but this is just a hunch.

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What does everyone think about universal healthcare?

I'll give it a go first. I'm a big supporter, but I also think that a two tier system makes sense with regards to non-essential services.

Also out of curiosity, let's say I'm in the US and I'm a poor intercity type character, with no health coverage or money to pay out of pocket for treatment. I get in a car crash and need to go to a hospital, what happens to me?

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I've been out of college for about a year and a half and haven't not been able to find a decent job, or even one having to do tangentially related to my degree (polital science). Needless to say I haven't had insurance and I haven't had any money. I've suffered through a broken rib and a bad illness without medical care. On a side note, my girlfriend and I can't afford to see a doctor about, nor would we be able to afford, her ADHD medicine.

I can't get a credit card to pay for any medicine or care because of a nasty credit card fraud incident, with Bank of America denying my fraud claim on account of a ridiculous loophole, and therefore my credit is [censored] and I'm in debt. And it was my mother that committed the fraud, something that has caused me major depression, about which I cannot afford to see a doctor.

This can be a harsh place. Better health care could make a huge difference in the lives of some people.

[BadBoyBenny]

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I'm in the US and I'm a poor intercity type character, with no health coverage or money to pay out of pocket for treatment. I get in a car crash and need to go to a hospital, what happens to me?

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You get treated in the emergency room just like everyone else. Hospitals can't turn you down.

[BadBoyBenny]

Hot chicks will still want doctors if they make less than they do now, and their mothers will want them to marry them.

I think it is more likely that you might end up with doctors working less hours if they are less paid, which could result in the need for more doctors, which could result in medical schools lowering acceptance standards... you know where I'm going with this.

On the other hand, if I;m in a major emergency, maybe having someone who couldn't quite get into medical school under the current system is better than having someone who has worked for 16 hours straight.

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I'm still not sold.

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It's always hard when facts get in the way of ideology.

[mr_whomp]

Canadian doctors make really good money. Not as much as in the states but still decent. And its not like all doctors are payed the same, some are salaried, but others are on fee for service plans where they bill (in ontario at least) OHIP for the services they do. This means that they make more money depending on which types of patients they see and how often. The problem is that some problems that take longer amounts of time (like mental health/addiction) do not pay more money then straight checkups, so doctors are less likely to accept new patients to their practice who have complicated problems (IE drug addict/and smoker/With mental health problems)

This may be a lil biased since i was volunteering this spring in an addiction medicine clinic and so got their point of view on the issue.

[renodoc]

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all doctors are payed the same, some are salaried, but others are on fee for service plans where they bill (in ontario at least) OHIP for the services they do.

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Is this sort of like billing for SIIHP ? I'm confused. Maybe I should move North, eh?

[mr_whomp]

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all doctors are Not payed the same, some are salaried, but others are on fee for service plans where they bill (in ontario at least) OHIP for the services they do.

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Is this sort of like billing for SIIHP ? I'm confused. Maybe I should move North, eh?

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FYP