DEDICATED TO THE UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS AND THOSE WHO CANNOT AFFORD PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE AND THOSE OF US WHO HAVE “VOTED WITH OUR FEET” AND LIVE IN OTHER COUNTRIES WITH UNIVERSAL COVERAGE.

Let us see how many American FB members will admit to living abroad because of no socialized medicine in the US? Don’t we all agree that it is a travesty that it is still customary in the US for employers to bear the brunt of health care costs, and if one is self-employed or not employed, that one should have access to decent care and not have to worry about financial ruin?

This group is also open to our friends, loved ones, and anyone else who would like to see us come back to the US and who would like this burden lifted from their shoulders as well.

opensecrets.org….checkout Lobbying , then top spenders

Thanks…you have a great day too

will check back later – will respond properly to your post – have a great day

Hospitals take all comers on an emergency basis…private hospitals throw you out and ship you off to the county hospital with no $$$

Risk-dilution: all the more reason for single payer..One small little consideration you are over-looking…Large corporations ” self insure” a large portion of the risk, reducing their insurance premium from outside insurers. A major advantage over small to medium size companies.

Group health insurance attracts better talent…another reason to ” Level the playing field “..You are promoting socialism…( New grads…work for the goverment or the big monopoly…don’t start your own business, your health insurance premium will be SKY HIGH ( IF you can get a clean policy with no exclusions)

Rush Limbaugh is FAT, SMOKES and has a drug history…I am sure HE will NOT get a clean policy without riders, waivers and will have a higher premium. What insurance company would take him ???

Michael Dell scenario…you did not answer that…The point I was trying to make is that He never would have left his employer…This country was built on creative , risk-taking individuals and our current ” Employer-Based” health insurance system is killing that concept.

non-for-profit: there is a place in our society for these organization…I am not against the healthcare system on a for profit basis…just level the playing field and allow all the players to share EQUALLY in the cost. A single-payer system will provide the “risk-dilution” for everyone.

If you are a healthcare provider and you do not like the reimbursements you receive from this plan, they DO NOT accept it. Medicare is a great example, some physican’s do not accept it…FINE …customer can pay or go somewhere else..It is called CHOICE

Prevention..I agree, except we both know that preventative benefits would greatly reduce the # of chronic cases…

Never said Medical school/training was not hard, and it needs to attract talent, but so do other fields such as Law, Engineering, IT….and all of these fields have “gray areas”
The differnce is,these other fields do not have “manna from heaven”…a third source(insurance) to draw from…like healthcare does.

Malpractice insurance: My products liability insurance is higher than my brother-in-law’s (MD) malpractice insurance.

Lobbyist groups: Not sure where you got that list….Chamber of Commerce is # 1 , American Medical Association is # 2 and the American Hospital Association is among the top 10, along with pharma, medical device mfgs….see a trend here ??

IMHO, seniors in general are treated pretty shabbily by us as a nation, and the majority of ‘end-of-life’ care doesn’t really deserve the word “care.”
————————————————————

two thumbs up =)

“Your points are well taken, but the current system does not address prevention…Most private insurance plans do not cover preventative care, it is very limited.”

— Insurance plans are for the unexpected. Does your auto insurance cover oil changes?

“I spent 7 years in college ( BBA, MBA) and I went to paramedic school..Medicine is no harder to learn than economics…you simply learn the vocabulary and follow the algorithm’s..”

— sorry, this is a bit offensive. if it were as easy as you say there would be no need for a physician. pretty sure medicine evolves much faster than economics, and is certainly more gray.

“Why does a Radiologist make $ 2,000,000 a year and a family Doctor struggle to make 75,000….”

— I know several radiologists and they don’t make that between the 4 of them. I do know that radiologists pay out the wazoo in malpractice insurance. If a family MD is only making $75k they are missing something or they are limiting their practice for some reason.

“Question: Who is the 2nd largest lobbyist group in Washington ?”

For the past 11 years:

1. Pharmaceuticals/Health Products
2. Insurance
3. Electric Utilities
4. Computers/Internet
5. Business Associations
6. Oil & Gas
7. Education
8. Real Estate
9. Misc Manufacturing & Distributing
10. Hospitals/Nursing Homes
11. Air Transport
12. Health Professionals
13. Securities & Investment
14. Civil Servants/Public Officials
15. TV/Movies/Music

For 2009 Oil & gas is #2

“Why do hospital’s bill 5.00 for an aspirin. It is all a scam….a single payer system levels the “GREED” out of the system.”

— actually hospitals take all comers, insured or not – so if you pay $5 for an aspirin, you pay for the 9 people who didn’t

” Please answer these questions for me:
If the small employers create 70% of the private sector jobs, why do they pay the most for group health insurance ?”

— easy answer to that, risk-dilution. If they are in a group-buying plan they get discounted because the risks are spread out.

“Why do employers provide health insurance in the first place?
If an employee is injured or becomes ill “on the job” does his health insurance cover that?”

— Well, for starters it’s a way to get employees. Also, healthy employees are more productive. On the job illness or injury is covered by workman’s compensation insurance.

“If Rush Limbaugh lost his job, could He qualify for an individual policy with no riders or exclusions ????”

— I’m sure he could, but his policy premium would be sky-high (that’s all relative of course, since he is filthy rich)

“If Michael Dell worked for a large corporation like IBM and He had some medical conditions like diabetes or a heart condition…do you really think He would have quit his job to start Dell computers ???”

— well that’s quite an involved hypothetical, but the reward-risk panned out nicely for him. on a side note, diabetes is mostly preventable (unless it’s the much more rare type 1)

“The US does NOT have a healthcare system…the US has a Healthcare Market..it is profit driven and will wipe you out if you get sick or injured and fail to have the “right coverage” because of where you WORK !!”

— I agree with this. It is a double-edged sword though. The market is good when people when the most advanced coverage. The market is evil when it fails someone.

On that note, what is the purpose of a corporation? If you make any industry “non-for-profit” where is the incentive? The goodness of their hearts?

The rest of the world loves that the US is a free market – they reap the benefits of our advances, maybe delayed a few years, but they do. Their elite come here for serious stuff.

http://axisofreason.com/2009/07/15/former-private-health-insurance-executive-concludes-appropriate-role-for-government-in-health-insurance/

Your points are well taken, but the current system does not address prevention…Most private insurance plans do not cover preventative care, it is very limited.

Golden Goose…why are healthcare providers so elite. I spent 7 years in college ( BBA, MBA) and I went to paramedic school..Medicine is no harder to learn than economics…you simply learn the vocabulary and follow the algorithm’s..
Why does a Radiologist make $ 2,000,000 a year and a family Doctor struggle to make 75,000….
Question:

Who is the 2nd largest lobbyist group in Washington ?

Oh, I have a pretty good understanding of the end of life. And yes, there’s vast room for improvement in care. IMHO, seniors in general are treated pretty shabbily by us as a nation, and the majority of ‘end-of-life’ care doesn’t really deserve the word “care.”

I do give much credit to the Visiting Nurses/Hospice Care people, the employees, nurses and pretty much everyone that my family dealt with were good to exceptional. More funding for their type of work would be a good thing, as far as I’m concerned.

I could go on (and on and on), but it’s late–goodnight.

A rarity for sure, but we need to have a greater understanding of the end of life.

Have a great night !

- yah it’s a bit extreme, but that is the mentality.”

More than a bit extreme, Canare. Sounds more like an urban legend to me.

Sorry, off to watch The Daily Show. Have a good night.

90 year-old man in intensive care on 18 meds keeping his heart and lungs going dies and someone sues because there was this 19th drug that would have made him live 2 days longer.

– yah it’s a bit extreme, but that is the mentality.

We spend so much money practicing defense medicine that we cannot concentrate on doing the right thing, not to mention we run out of resources when there is patient we should go all out for.

Okay, I’ll bite: What exactly do you mean by this one?

Tracy, name one person who thinks that. Just one.

So answer this then – why do people from other countries come here for serious medical care?

our problem here is that everyone wants the best and they want it now.

I agree that some sort of coverage is needed, it actually already exists in a very primitive form. But my concerns are not with the existence of a program, but the funding.

Also,

1. The US is lawsuit happy
2. We have made it nearly illegal to die
3. Our regulations strangle us
…

and this one is my favourite – this one makes people think hard…

we do not get paid to do the right thing in medicine.

For example, in France, the government spends $569 less per person on health care than in the United States.

and…

Administrative costs in the U.S. health care system are substantially higher than those in other countries and than in the public sector in the US: one estimate put the total administrative costs at 24 percent of U.S. health care spending

Where will we find the money?

Oh, there it is.

curious… heh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care