Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

Hey Americans: Why are y'all against free healthcare?

Why are you happy for your taxes to go to firemen and police and roads but when it comes to universal healthcare you can't stand the idea of putting money in the pot?
kate21 · 26-30, F Best Comment
Some people are convinced the government can’t do as good a job at anything as the private sector.

Some people don’t understand that universal healthcare takes many forms, from Britain’s NHS to the Netherland’s universal health insurance.

Some people don’t like the idea of paying for services for people they think aren’t deserving because they don’t work hard.

Some people don’t want to pay the tax rates to support the system, which are much higher in countries with universal healthcare than they are here.

Some people don’t understand the benefits of universal coverage for them personally.

Some people think government services make people dependent and lazy.

Some people are just scared of change.

Personally I’m all for a form of universal coverage. Something like Medicare, which Americans over 65 get, combined with optional, low cost supplemental policies through private insurers to cover any gaps in Medicare. Which is exactly what many people on Medicare do now.
Harmonium1923 · 51-55, M
@kate21 You are very knowledgeable on this topic and I agree with most of your comments, especially about the ACA being healthcare finance reform, rather than healthcare reform. No one would ever design a healthcare system like we have in the US but man, it’s hard to change.
kate21 · 26-30, F
I did my thesis on it in college. @Harmonium1923
Harmonium1923 · 51-55, M
@kate21 I’m glad to hear that. This country desperately needs informed people to join the debate....

GeistInTheMachine · 31-35, M
Because dying in medical debt is called "freedom."
Scribbles · 36-40, F
idk. I agree with kate21. I also think people are discouraged by all the changes that don't seem to deliver what people need. Or they think they are paying for freeloaders. Anyway I think most people aren't educated about what kinds of universal healthcares are out there. which is one of the biggest problems.
It wasn't even that long ago that healthcare was pay as you use, and the doctor would just take what you could give and not sweat it. Their were other ways to get the money...like donations from other, etc. I've heard stories of my grandparents using chickens to pay for the doctor delivering one of their kids because they didn't have the money.
things have changed alot since then
@Scribbles

[quote]I think most people aren't educated about what kinds of universal healthcares are out there[/quote]

I think you're right about that. Just talking to people about it on here gives me the impression that a lot of people aren't too sure what universal healthcare can actually mean.

I would be nice if everyone could give to the doctors what they could afford and no more.
xSharp · 31-35, M
because police catch bad guys, firemen put out bad guys fires, but free health care heals bad guys so they can continue being bad.. its all about making it worse for those who are not willing want to play ball like the rest of us :)

a family member lives in constant pain and they have to wait 7 months before they can see anyone for help..
xSharp · 31-35, M
@Pikachu cmon dude, i responded within 5 minutes..

i know this isnt chess but.. [i]CMON[/i]! 😴
@xSharp

Sorry, didn't know you were so eagerly waiting for my reply lol.
Turns out i sometimes leave the computer and do things in the real world for days at a time 😉

Catch you next time
xSharp · 31-35, M
@Pikachu i get weekends off lol

later 😘
My friend got in a head-on collision with a crack head. She lost her job, her livelihood, her insurance.

She struggled to manage a pretty basic health problem with no income and no insurance. She went thousands and thousands in debt from ER visits. She could find no agency to help her out.

BOOM. She ends up with congestive heart failure. BOOM. Medicaid. BOOM. Everything is covered.

Except now instead of costing a few hundred bucks a year she's into Medicaid for thousands and thousands. And will cost tens of thousands more.

THIS HERE is what is wrong with our medical system. And I see this again and again. Especially with poor people with chronic conditions like diabetes.
Harriet03 · 41-45, F
America! Its morally wrong to make profit,from somebody's misfortune.
Money, money, money, greed, greed, greed.
Christian country? My f******g arse!
What would JC do?
woolenmittens · 31-35, F
I don't think people in the US and other countries understand that our healthcare system (doctors/providers, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies) are financial institutions who profit (GREATLY) from sick people. Americans are brainwashed to think our doctors are the best and want the best for us. If that is the case, why does the United States have the highest infant mortality rate compared to other "wealthy countries" (Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Portugal, The Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom) ??

Greed. Ignorance.
jackjjackson · 61-69, M
I’m for single payer which is not free. The concept is taxpayers get Medicare which they pay for and no taxpayers get Medicaid which they don’t pay for. Instead of those who pay paying insurance companies whether through their employer paying, AFA or private, the money is used more efficiently by elimiminating insurance company overhead and high executive salaries and profits that go to shareholders. In addition, one set of claims procedures would likely be better for health care consumers than all the different insurance company exclusions that making getting care difficult and expensive. To sum up, not free, we pay for single payer however there are a lot of advantages listed above.
whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M
This makes a lot of sense. Insurance companies and their various profit motives is NOT the right way to handle something which in a nation like America should be a given. (Call it a right if you like) And failure to maintain the health of the population later becomes a burden on the community with chronic disease and long term infirmity.@jackjjackson
@jackjjackson

Yeah that certainly sounds better
Tastyfrzz · 61-69, M
This country is owned and operated by organized criminals in the name of capitalism. It sucks but then they control what people hear. They keep people stupid. They stay hidden and inaccessible.
HerKing · 61-69, M
As someone from the UK who has (as well as his family past and present) enjoyed the privilege of the National Health Service, I can say hand on heart it is far from perfect, mainly because it's a victim of it's own considerable and invaluable success since it's inception in 1947/8.

If you have ever had any medical procedure, it's probably had it's origins or development in the UK.

If anyone has any questions or wants misconceptions (And crap about 'death panels is in that) putting to rest please feel free to PM me.

If anyone thinks the US debacle with insurance companies deciding if you even qualify to be treated has a perverse idea what a health service should be.
whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M
Because the US Medical Health care and Pharmaceutical Industries are big, profitable businesses who like to make as much profit as possible, which means as little regulation and oversight as possible. Police and firefighters are not money spinners in the same way and cant really be privatized, although believe, if it happens, it will be America that works out how.
kate21 · 26-30, F
America has privatized parts of law enforcement. Private security guards and private prisons come to mind.

@whowasthatmaskedman
whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M
Yes. Prisons are the new slavery.. Contracting labour and cutting private entries out of business WAY under legal rates of pay.@kate21
kate21 · 26-30, F
And while I support universal healthcare, I’ll point out that it’s not free. It’s actually quite expensive in the form of tax rates that are sometimes double what they are for Americans.
@kate21

Yes, it's definitely not free.
I did use both terms in my original post but i guess i need to be more careful about saying free lol
AceWarbringer · 36-40, M
Would you pay for the maintenance of my car?
@AceWarbringer

Ok i see what you mean there and i agree that universal healthcare is a one size fits most model, not one size fits all.

That brings us to your question: "Why do you want this universal healthcare so badly?"

Because the result is better healthcare for more people. Not going into crippling debt when you get sick or hurt because your insurance doesn;t cover it or you can't afford it or you lost your job with benefits.
It means people don't have to forgo medical treatment so that they can pay the rent. It means that those who can do for those who can't. And your turn might come too.

I nearly emptied my checking account last month paying rent and groceries and i am still damn happy to pay a little piece off my check to help take care of people in their time of need.

Every other developed nation has some form of universal healthcare. Are any of them trying to repeal it? If americans could get past this self-centered preoccupation with what [i]they[/i] need and what [i]they[/i] deserve, they might see that their fellow citizens need and deserve the same things. And they might be willing to contribute to that end.
HerKing · 61-69, M
@AceWarbringer

OKay, let's go through this shall we? I'm English living in the USA so have quite considerable knowledge of what the NHS is and isn't, okay?




[quote]I'm sorta reminded about the couple from the UK who appealed to everyone and everybody to save their kid. [/quote]


Hmmm, sadly appealing to everyone for their kid wouldn't save him. Neither would medicine...their child had very little functioning brain matter. A tragic case of medics not being magicians that they'd love to be.



[quote]A child who was declared brain dead by a Panel and subsequently taken off life support. when they had several doctors willing to try, they were declined the ability to take the child elsewhere [i/][/quote]


Again, you have only the headline grabbing story to go on..LOOK into the actual case and then decide if that child would survive. A 'panel' didn't decide. It was medics who had their patient's condition and prognosis as their priority.

[quote]Now you want a better example? I bet you do.

V. A.[/quote]


Trump has three of his golfing buddies on that, did you know?

[quote]Name a better managed government program. /Sarcasm

Queue's three months long. At minimum. When I myself had a bad time, it was a bitch and a half to get in. And when i did? They loaded me up with drugs and sent me on my merry way. Guess what, I'm here by godamned luck and my own determination.

Now, where is all the money for this universal health care going to come from? You say it's just a small amount, name one government Institute that doesn't need more money every year. One.

i can see we have oposing views on this subject. Why do you want this universal healthcare so badly?
[/quote]

Okay...In order for me.. Aged 6, appendix removed, but it was burst so blood poisoning which was a bad thing..I was in hospital three weeks.

Various work injuries treated in ER and outpatients at hospital and family doctors..Direct cost at point of need? Zero apart from outpatient prescriptions, that were about $5 each, whatever they were.

Bi lateral inguinal hernia, week in hospital (1997)..cost? Zero at point of need.

Key hole surgery right knee. (1998) ...cost? Zero at point of need.

Parent: Both had by pass ops, mother had pancreatitis and treatment for various things including reconstructive surgery...cost? Zero at point of need

Father, duodenal ulcer treatment, heart problems, two TIAs, and in his final week alive, hospital in private room with me staying in adjoining living room..

Cost? Zero at point of need.

The above doesn't include various emergencies that needed ambulance transfer from hme to hospital...cost to all? Zero at point of need..


No it isn't free, but paid for from a modest deduction (about $50) per month from salary plus revenue from taxation...And it's STILL less than half the cost of what the health service is in the USA.

In the top eleven western countries USA ranks 11 out of 11. UK is about 2.
AceWarbringer · 36-40, M
@HerKing okay, i ain't gonna be able to convince you. We two are going to disagree on this forever.

@Pikachu you either.


As @kate21 points out, and i whoheartedly agree, some will never be convinced that this is a good thing.

So, go ahead, try to get this going. I'm never going to support it. Will actively campaign against it. And try to convince others to my side.

And if I'm reading the tea leaves right? 2020 will be the battlefront for it.

Good luck to you both.
Deadcutie · 18-21, F
I’m all for it.. if we can waste 10 billion blowing shit up in a desert we can spend some on healthcare... not vanity shit though...
kyky16 · 22-25, F
I have always wondered the same thing
@Notmesam

you mean americans are misinformed about what universal healthcare is?
@Pikachu Yes
OKWTF2 · 51-55, M
Two words, Alfie Evans.
Graylight · 51-55, F
@OKWTF2 That was a conflict over treatment, not the complete lack of treatment. Care to research US cases on that count?
Harriet03 · 41-45, F
@OKWTF2 What selfish parents he had, keeping a lost cause alive. Depriving another Ill child the bed, that might of been saved!
Biffed · 26-30, M
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgrOYPm4PSE] UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE RIGHT HERE
CoffeeFirst · 56-60, F
Universal healthcare has a downside, too--it's freakin' expensive. And heath insurance programs are over 25% of the U.S. budget; a lot of people do get free healthcare basically.
@CoffeeFirst

It sure is expensive. But then again, so is getting sick or injured
kate21 · 26-30, F
Not free. Merely subsidized. Personally, if I’m going to pay Into Medicare my entire working life, I damn sure expect it to be there for me when I retire.


@CoffeeFirst
Graylight · 51-55, F
@CoffeeFirst It's expensive and nothing comes for free, but somebody is going to have to explain why we spend more per capita on healthcare and receive less per capita in care itself in than the rest of every other Western nation.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBfC1YG9wIs][youtube=]
goliathtree · 56-60, M
Notanymore · 36-40, M
Who pays for free healthcare?
Notanymore · 36-40, M
@Pikachu the tax system is far too flawed at the moment for that to work.. .too many people are already living off of my wages
@Notanymore

I'm living not so very far above the poverty line.
I've never had a problem with helping people out who need help.
Are there people who take advantage of the system? Yup. Welcome to humans lol.
But there are many more who genuinely need the help.
Notanymore · 36-40, M
@Pikachu i work in a place that's having a really tough time finding help....the pay's not great but the insurace is awesome and cost of living around here is among the lowest in the country....if anyone wants a job it's available.....but many many people would rather do food stamos than earn their keep. Feel free to put in an application
This comment is hidden. Show Comment
@RodneyTrotter

In what way?
This comment is hidden. Show Comment
whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M
Yes.. The accurate term would be universal Health cover. It has actually been calculated and being cheaper in the overall sense than user pays, because the average standard of the populations health is better and they are more able to be productive, also the cost of Acute and chronic care is much lower with regular health care intervening earlier.@Stereoguy
@Stereoguy

Yes, obviously.
Graylight · 51-55, F
@Stereoguy That's true, but what it does accomplish is providing care to all the nations citizens.
This message was deleted by the author of the main post.
@Harriet03

lol good point.
Sorry, i'm just gonna delete that and repost it a bit smaller.

Harriet03 · 41-45, F
@Pikachu Your forgetting the Americans with poor sight, & no healthcare. They can't see small print.

 
Post Comment