+ 1 Explanate
And Midpack, I also agree with you 100% There are numerous issues contributing to the problem.
Many countries enjoying a better standard of living than the US, higher wages etc. (where things cost a lot, like here) have been successful in developing affordable health care plans for themselves. Most of these people are very pleased with their health care in the studies conducted, and most important, they can sleep at night.
Of course all of them have abandoned the previous Health Care For Profit insurance companies. Those that still use them work on a purely administrative bases for stated service fees and still compete to a limited degree for business, with guidelines set up by the government.
In other countries they have been turned into only providers for supplemental policies for those who can afford it, wishing to purchase additional plans, but the basic coverage comes from the government.
Some, like England, have abandoned most all privately run health hospitals and organizations, though there are some privately run ones you can access if you choose to purchase a supplemental policy there as well, that gives you some additional privileges, but it is my understanding that few do so, as most are very satisfied with the HSA.
As stated, their system is the most controlled, as the government owns pretty much all the hospitals, pays their doctors not only a set salary, but a bonus plan for their successes which can increase their income substantially (more than double it in some cases) when they are successful in doing things like getting their patients to stop smoking, getting their patients cholesterol level down, getting their patients to lose weight etc, etc.. Physicians are not able to profit from expensive tests, MRI's etc. or even operations I believe. There increase in pay comes from their success rate in controlling and curing their patients and most importantly preventative medicine. They have lots of incentive to do a good job.
They (the government) progressively pursue preventative medicine by heavy marketing and easy availability to keep people healthy. All the drugs are bought by the government at greatly reduced cost, and the cost for any prescription to an individual is always $6.00
In our current Democratic system, most politicians are heavily influenced by whoever gets them (pays into their campaign) and keeps them in office or promises a good job afterwards. As well as their own party basically threatening them that if they stray from the fold and vote other than told, there will be serious consequences and they can kiss any future support goodby. This formula hardly makes for good representation for us.
It seems the only way we have ever been able to get congress to do something is just like Obama advised in his campaign when asked a question at one of his rallies. "Make Me".
I think that was very telling of the reality of politics today.
As long as the pharmaceutical companies, the AMA's , and large insurance companies are successful in convincing 1/2 the public that change to our current system is a bad thing, we will never be able to make it right. I think of Lincoln's famous statement, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
I also love this one too by Lincoln by the way, “These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people”
So if we can't count on congress to make things right on their own, then it is left to us to yell loud enough and in big enough numbers to make them do it. Are we always doomed to be divided by ideological diversity?
I can't help think that on the issue of health care, we could have cross over. I know that even though I consider myself to lean mostly left, I do not agree with my representative parties in all matters.
Sometimes I see merit in a more conservative mindset of the issue. Sometimes I see solutions that can pull ideas together from both sides.
The question is: Are there enough flexible and rational people out there who can put their party aside and look at issues independently for themselves. It appears to me, you tend to think not.
I think the key here is education. Too many people don't really know all the alternatives we have available. They don't know what the rest of the world has done, and sometimes cling to the idea that American exceptional-ism trumps all, and rejects looking at things outside our borders in any global capacity. I don't know the percentages, but I do know that an uninformed decision is usually a bad decision. I WANT TO RUN FOR OFFICE. GIVE ME MY YOUTH BACK!
And Midpack, I also agree with you 100% There are numerous issues contributing to the problem.
Many countries enjoying a better standard of living than the US, higher wages etc. (where things cost a lot, like here) have been successful in developing affordable health care plans for themselves. Most of these people are very pleased with their health care in the studies conducted, and most important, they can sleep at night.
Of course all of them have abandoned the previous Health Care For Profit insurance companies. Those that still use them work on a purely administrative bases for stated service fees and still compete to a limited degree for business, with guidelines set up by the government.
In other countries they have been turned into only providers for supplemental policies for those who can afford it, wishing to purchase additional plans, but the basic coverage comes from the government.
Some, like England, have abandoned most all privately run health hospitals and organizations, though there are some privately run ones you can access if you choose to purchase a supplemental policy there as well, that gives you some additional privileges, but it is my understanding that few do so, as most are very satisfied with the HSA.
As stated, their system is the most controlled, as the government owns pretty much all the hospitals, pays their doctors not only a set salary, but a bonus plan for their successes which can increase their income substantially (more than double it in some cases) when they are successful in doing things like getting their patients to stop smoking, getting their patients cholesterol level down, getting their patients to lose weight etc, etc.. Physicians are not able to profit from expensive tests, MRI's etc. or even operations I believe. There increase in pay comes from their success rate in controlling and curing their patients and most importantly preventative medicine. They have lots of incentive to do a good job.
They (the government) progressively pursue preventative medicine by heavy marketing and easy availability to keep people healthy. All the drugs are bought by the government at greatly reduced cost, and the cost for any prescription to an individual is always $6.00
In our current Democratic system, most politicians are heavily influenced by whoever gets them (pays into their campaign) and keeps them in office or promises a good job afterwards. As well as their own party basically threatening them that if they stray from the fold and vote other than told, there will be serious consequences and they can kiss any future support goodby. This formula hardly makes for good representation for us.
It seems the only way we have ever been able to get congress to do something is just like Obama advised in his campaign when asked a question at one of his rallies. "Make Me".
I think that was very telling of the reality of politics today.
As long as the pharmaceutical companies, the AMA's , and large insurance companies are successful in convincing 1/2 the public that change to our current system is a bad thing, we will never be able to make it right. I think of Lincoln's famous statement, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
I also love this one too by Lincoln by the way, “These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people”
So if we can't count on congress to make things right on their own, then it is left to us to yell loud enough and in big enough numbers to make them do it. Are we always doomed to be divided by ideological diversity?
I can't help think that on the issue of health care, we could have cross over. I know that even though I consider myself to lean mostly left, I do not agree with my representative parties in all matters.
Sometimes I see merit in a more conservative mindset of the issue. Sometimes I see solutions that can pull ideas together from both sides.
The question is: Are there enough flexible and rational people out there who can put their party aside and look at issues independently for themselves. It appears to me, you tend to think not.
I think the key here is education. Too many people don't really know all the alternatives we have available. They don't know what the rest of the world has done, and sometimes cling to the idea that American exceptional-ism trumps all, and rejects looking at things outside our borders in any global capacity. I don't know the percentages, but I do know that an uninformed decision is usually a bad decision. I WANT TO RUN FOR OFFICE. GIVE ME MY YOUTH BACK!
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