Universal healthcare does cost less in the long run -- Americans are not good at looking past the immediate. Preventative care would save millions, if not billions. Healthcare is a human right, as the other civilized countries know -- Americans have to get over the idea that we know best about everything... and listen to the world. I am a U.S. retired R.N. Medicine, with its profit bottom line, can never put the patient first. Medicine should never have been a capitalistic profit-making business....... and for those put out of work? -- they can retrain at a more ethical career .... just as coalminers are doing.
Another myth to explore is that of Doctors pay. The way the system is rigged now the doctors are working harder than ever, have the same inflation to confront with their families, yet keep seeing reduced or stagnant reimbursement for services. With no incentive to increase reimbursement, and no way for the doctors to renegotiate decades old contracts, the insurers hold us hostage. I am an optometrist - so I am paid primarily by Vision Plans. One payer has not raised my reimbursement for a comprehensive eye exam in the 30 years I have been a provider. $50 was reasonable 30 years ago - it is not today. I must simply see more patients per hour to keep up with increasing payroll and overhead expenses.
So, we have a terrible healthcare system with poor outcomes. It likely needs to be gutted and rebuilt. Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates will have to be boosted 2-3 times or the entire system will collapse. Free is always over utilized. Add in that today's healthcare has very little science to back up the therapies utilized. Lots of fixing to do.
I have always wondered about the charges by providers to insurance companies - ie MRI $10k billed to insurance, insurance only allows $3k and I pay 20% of $3k for my part. (Numbers made up but not out of line) so why does this happen? My suspicion is a tax write of for providers. It seems like a game.
Please look at PNHP, physicians for National healthcare program, pnhp.org .They have loads of info on the cost, the stats, the transition from our profit making system to a nonprofit system.
I've lived in the US for the past 33 years, moving here from Canada for work. Whenever I run into people talking about how Medicare for All would be too expensive and result in horrible waits for health care, I tell them about my mother's broken hip and experience with the Canadian healthcare system. A number of years ago my mother, who was then in her early 80's, fell and broke her hip. She got into the hospital right away and was in hospital for a couple of weeks while they stabilized the hip, and then in a rehab facility for about a month after that. Sometime after she returned home, my parents got the bill. It was for the cost of my father parking to visit her and was for $10. That was the total cost of all that care over several weeks. Actually they were very upset that they got billed anything at all.
In Canada, the first universal hospital care plan was established in one province in 1947. In 1957, the Canadian Government passed the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act which provided a framework for the cost-sharing of specific health services. It wasn't until 1984 that we had the Canada Health Act which is the universal health care system that all Canadians enjoy today.
Our system is far from perfect. We have a shortage of nurses, not everyone has a family doctor, rural communities have problems keeping their ERs open 24/7, there are long waits if your illness is not life-threatening, etc. But when our system works, it works beautifully and seamlessly. When a Canadian is diagnosed with an ailment, it is such a privilege and relief to not fear financial burden or ruin just because we are sick and need health care. It should be a universal right.
A wealthy and prosperous nation like the U.S.A. should be able to afford its own universal health care system. In fact, all Americans deserve to have one.
Just an observations about liberals vs conservatives. I think it’s a battle of control. Liberals can handle having a loose leash and conservatives just have to tighten the leash. I’m sure that we all know individuals like that…….
You have to have confidence in your values or else you risk pulling the leash too tightly.
My insurance company gets a kickback from CVS so they discourage me from using any other pharmacy. Walgreens is within walking distance of my home so that’s where I shop. I could get a 90 day supply for my prescriptions if I get them from CVS, but only a 30 day supply if I purchase them from Walgreens. The pharmacist at Walgreens has to constantly contact my PCP and the insurance company to get refills that my doctor has ordered. This is another way for profit healthcare controls us.
Same here. And every year, they change their "preferred" pharmacies. Now the closest one is 30 min away, so I will continue using the one 5 min away and likely pay higher costs.
I so agree. After leaving a country with socialized medicine, I had a rude awakening coming to the States. We did not have health insurance and the costs to have my second child were extremely high. On top of that, the wait for the physician was the same, if not longer, then when I lived in Canada.
A minimal amount was deducted from our paychecks and we never worried that we would not be able to afford to have our health taken care of. I am also surprised, after living in the States for 47 years, that really affordable care for all has never been instituted. Right now I have to ration my medication, as it is too expensive to have to refilled. I did not opt for Medicare, as too much would be deducted from my social security check. Nevada has other health plans, and the prescription costs are high, but the plan costs about half what Medicare does, even with my prescription costs (rationed).
I am really worried now what will happen when trump is back in office (should never have happened). He has a "concept" for a plan, that never came about in the 4 years he was previously in office. His lies will make our lives intolerable, I fear.
And about administrative costs: every place I’ve worked had an HR person whose main job has helping employees negotiate with the insurance company. In some cases this has taken up 60-70% of that staffers time. Think how much more efficient ALL such organizations would be if they didn’t have to run interference with insurance companies
Myth (from Bill Schneider, RN): Universal Healthcare would destroy our ability to choose healthcare providers, force us to see a different doctor, and force us to wait a long time for necessary care.
FACT: Ironically this is true of our current system. Unless you are very wealthy, private insurance companies dictate which providers you can see and what treatment you can get depending on who is “in” or “out” of network and what services are covered, and they require you to seek referrals or pre-approvals for certain specialists or testing adding unnecessary wait times to receiving care.
Excellent points!!!
Universal healthcare does cost less in the long run -- Americans are not good at looking past the immediate. Preventative care would save millions, if not billions. Healthcare is a human right, as the other civilized countries know -- Americans have to get over the idea that we know best about everything... and listen to the world. I am a U.S. retired R.N. Medicine, with its profit bottom line, can never put the patient first. Medicine should never have been a capitalistic profit-making business....... and for those put out of work? -- they can retrain at a more ethical career .... just as coalminers are doing.
Another myth to explore is that of Doctors pay. The way the system is rigged now the doctors are working harder than ever, have the same inflation to confront with their families, yet keep seeing reduced or stagnant reimbursement for services. With no incentive to increase reimbursement, and no way for the doctors to renegotiate decades old contracts, the insurers hold us hostage. I am an optometrist - so I am paid primarily by Vision Plans. One payer has not raised my reimbursement for a comprehensive eye exam in the 30 years I have been a provider. $50 was reasonable 30 years ago - it is not today. I must simply see more patients per hour to keep up with increasing payroll and overhead expenses.
Excellent article! Thank you!
So, we have a terrible healthcare system with poor outcomes. It likely needs to be gutted and rebuilt. Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates will have to be boosted 2-3 times or the entire system will collapse. Free is always over utilized. Add in that today's healthcare has very little science to back up the therapies utilized. Lots of fixing to do.
There are SO many myths about plant medicine, Qasim! This has been demonized and cleverly legislated for a LONG TIME. I wonder why.
I have always wondered about the charges by providers to insurance companies - ie MRI $10k billed to insurance, insurance only allows $3k and I pay 20% of $3k for my part. (Numbers made up but not out of line) so why does this happen? My suspicion is a tax write of for providers. It seems like a game.
Please look at PNHP, physicians for National healthcare program, pnhp.org .They have loads of info on the cost, the stats, the transition from our profit making system to a nonprofit system.
I've lived in the US for the past 33 years, moving here from Canada for work. Whenever I run into people talking about how Medicare for All would be too expensive and result in horrible waits for health care, I tell them about my mother's broken hip and experience with the Canadian healthcare system. A number of years ago my mother, who was then in her early 80's, fell and broke her hip. She got into the hospital right away and was in hospital for a couple of weeks while they stabilized the hip, and then in a rehab facility for about a month after that. Sometime after she returned home, my parents got the bill. It was for the cost of my father parking to visit her and was for $10. That was the total cost of all that care over several weeks. Actually they were very upset that they got billed anything at all.
In Canada, the first universal hospital care plan was established in one province in 1947. In 1957, the Canadian Government passed the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act which provided a framework for the cost-sharing of specific health services. It wasn't until 1984 that we had the Canada Health Act which is the universal health care system that all Canadians enjoy today.
Our system is far from perfect. We have a shortage of nurses, not everyone has a family doctor, rural communities have problems keeping their ERs open 24/7, there are long waits if your illness is not life-threatening, etc. But when our system works, it works beautifully and seamlessly. When a Canadian is diagnosed with an ailment, it is such a privilege and relief to not fear financial burden or ruin just because we are sick and need health care. It should be a universal right.
A wealthy and prosperous nation like the U.S.A. should be able to afford its own universal health care system. In fact, all Americans deserve to have one.
IMO, for profit healthcare is an oxymoron.
Just an observations about liberals vs conservatives. I think it’s a battle of control. Liberals can handle having a loose leash and conservatives just have to tighten the leash. I’m sure that we all know individuals like that…….
You have to have confidence in your values or else you risk pulling the leash too tightly.
My insurance company gets a kickback from CVS so they discourage me from using any other pharmacy. Walgreens is within walking distance of my home so that’s where I shop. I could get a 90 day supply for my prescriptions if I get them from CVS, but only a 30 day supply if I purchase them from Walgreens. The pharmacist at Walgreens has to constantly contact my PCP and the insurance company to get refills that my doctor has ordered. This is another way for profit healthcare controls us.
Same here. And every year, they change their "preferred" pharmacies. Now the closest one is 30 min away, so I will continue using the one 5 min away and likely pay higher costs.
I’m in the same situation! The closest CVS is a good 30 minute drive and I could also just walk to a Walgreens! 😤
I so agree. After leaving a country with socialized medicine, I had a rude awakening coming to the States. We did not have health insurance and the costs to have my second child were extremely high. On top of that, the wait for the physician was the same, if not longer, then when I lived in Canada.
A minimal amount was deducted from our paychecks and we never worried that we would not be able to afford to have our health taken care of. I am also surprised, after living in the States for 47 years, that really affordable care for all has never been instituted. Right now I have to ration my medication, as it is too expensive to have to refilled. I did not opt for Medicare, as too much would be deducted from my social security check. Nevada has other health plans, and the prescription costs are high, but the plan costs about half what Medicare does, even with my prescription costs (rationed).
I am really worried now what will happen when trump is back in office (should never have happened). He has a "concept" for a plan, that never came about in the 4 years he was previously in office. His lies will make our lives intolerable, I fear.
In addition to the insurance executives, we need to take on the shareholders. The largest shareholder in UHC is Vanguard Fiduciary https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/UNITEDHEALTH-GROUP-INC-14750/company-shareholders/. Obviously their priority is not actually providing health care.
And about administrative costs: every place I’ve worked had an HR person whose main job has helping employees negotiate with the insurance company. In some cases this has taken up 60-70% of that staffers time. Think how much more efficient ALL such organizations would be if they didn’t have to run interference with insurance companies
Myth (from Bill Schneider, RN): Universal Healthcare would destroy our ability to choose healthcare providers, force us to see a different doctor, and force us to wait a long time for necessary care.
FACT: Ironically this is true of our current system. Unless you are very wealthy, private insurance companies dictate which providers you can see and what treatment you can get depending on who is “in” or “out” of network and what services are covered, and they require you to seek referrals or pre-approvals for certain specialists or testing adding unnecessary wait times to receiving care.
https://www.nysna.org/resources/single-payer-healthcare-myths-vs-facts
Every single accusation from them is a confession. It's all projection.