Defeating the bogeyman of single payer healthcare

They are purchasing services. And that can be done in a free market just as a person takes bids on a yard maintenance service.

 

Look up the meaning of the Japanese word kaizen.

 

Goverments budget lower spending on health care. They ration health care to achieve those goals which are on average 2.5X less than what is spent in the US. In the US patients decide on what health care services to purchase.

Would you really rather live in a country where the government decides what health care services you can have and how long you have to wait to receive those services ?? This is one of the very few times where the liberal progressive party of goodness actually advocates that the gov spend less on human services. Curious.

 

When was the last time you chose the tests, medications and procedures?

 

Two weeks ago. I decided against getting a flu shot and a pneumonia vaccine shot.

 

A flu shot is elective... So is a facelift.

 

And your point would be .....

 

Should be obvious. When you go to a doctor's office or hospital YOU don't order from a menu..

 

Your ideas are naive, and that is based on my data and personal experience in the health insurance arena.

 

The common mistake a lot of people make is confusing single-payer with universal healthcare. Though there are commonalities, the nuances are what separates the two.

 

And yet, if you come down with a rare disease or catastrophic accident, you will expect government help. Don't tell me it is not so, because I have seen it hundreds of times.

Anonymous forum talk is cheap.

 

They based it on my income and expenses.

 

Sure you do. My Dr. recommended those two shots - I decided not to spend the money.

 

What is naïve about being informed about health care options ?? I have no control over your decisions and basis for making them with regards to health care.

 

When was the last time you ordered a MRI or panel 24?

 

Yeah very few.

Over 500,000 Canadians own winter homes in florida alone. And a couple few million visit each year with an average stay of almost three weeks. There's Canadian snowbirds all across the south.

The methodology use by the Fraser institute does not consider this annual migratory phenomena in compiling its "estimates".


Even given all that, the number represents less than 2.5% of all canadian "specialist" patients and a staggeringly huuuuuuuge .002% of the 100% of Canadians covered.

VERY FEW.

 

Never.

 

No mention of that in the link. Only long wait times for services associated with very serious illnesses. I suggest tha you actually read the article.

 

Despite the ideological propaganda, most democratic nations prefer to achieve universal, quality coverage at far lower cost and enjoy greater longevity and lower infant mortality than pay far more and have the bloated medical expenses of tens of millions uninsured consigned to the tax payer.

See http://gazettereview.com/2016/04/countries-with-the-best-health-care/

 

yes its falling around me as we speak. Such a google expert you are.


My angioplasty in total including rehab and two days in hospital cost me - ZIP (no bill). My fathers' triple bypass and heart valve replacement including two stints in IC and 6 months in a rehab hospital cost him/me - ZIP (no bill). My mother six months home palliative care with PSWs in twice a day for four hours, physical/occupational therapy, hospital bed, commode, all supplies, weekly nurse/practioner visits, bi weekly doctor visits - ZIP (no bill).

I'll take waiting for treatment if it isn't a dire emergency if when the system is really needed it delivers. And that's why, despite all the worthy criticism of our system, we still love it.

 

Being in formed is great, but there is no way that you will be able to comprehensively make a decision that generally requires years of academic and practical experience that would put you on par with a medical professional. On what basis would you be deciding what tests and medical therapies are cost effective unless you yourself become a doctor?

In general, most people do not have the time or luxury of balancing costs versus medical outcome. We rely on the professionals to do that. Trying to equate your health to getting a car fixed is complete lunacy.

A doctor's job is to diagnose and find the best course of treatment. All the other ancillary agents are there to find the methods to fulfill his recommendations, and it is those people whose decisions are what effects the costs of treatment. For years, hospitals have created what they call a Charge Master, a list of everything in a hospital that they charge patients for. It is the job of insurance companies to hire medical professionals to determine what is a usual and customary cost for these items and procedures. CMS goes even further and includes everything including the training and education of the attending medical professionals. We know what these true costs are and should be, but because to question every line item is a costly endeavor in and of itself, we allow the system to continue to inflate costs. It is reaching an unsustainable point.

The government can no longer just accumulate the data, someone needs to actually enforce cost restrictions. Under a true Universal healthcare system, all of these costs are set, but in a single payer system, the government simply says this is all it will pay, and lets the insurance companies figure ways of delivering health care for that capitated rate. This is how Medicare works. This is a single payer system.

Personally, I prefer a Universal Healthcare, but a single payer is a far better solution than what we currently have.

The problem with Obamacare is that it almost exclusively focused on regulating the insurance side of the equation without placing that many restrictions on the costs of health care delivery. It relied heavily on the aspect of insurance known as the law of large numbers, which is why it had an individual mandate. Of course, we all know how well that portion went over with the public. Any insurance professional will tell you the average consumer is an extremely poor judge of their future needs and risks. Everyone thinks it's other folks who will get sick or be the victim of bad luck. They are the exception. All the arguments against any sort of health mandate stem from this false belief which is rampant in the population.

The part that so many critics seem to avoid like the plague is that ALL OF US pay for those individuals who refuse to be covered. We would rather see those costs hidden than upfront in our faces.

 

That's the false liberal progressive narrative in action. How to lie with statistics on steroids. Funny stuff.

 

Can't help it if you don't do your homework. The Canadian system is running out of money, wait times are expanding, and the system is moving towards privatization.

 

Nope.. Its neither liberal or conservative.. Its just the reality. Have you ever worked in healthcare or the hospital industry?

 

yes, because I generally go to the source of whatever story is linked. In this case the fraser institute.

I suggest you try harder. But then again 52,500 sounds like a much more serious system problem than .002%., doncha thunk?