I work in healthcare and it is a mess. The problem is as some pointed out is that the gov't taking it over will be a bigger mess. One thing I have noticed is that it is only media and sheeple baaaing what the media says that says canadians come here en masse for healthcare or that they wait days in ER. I have seen polls in healthcare magazines taken from legitimate polling agancies that 95% of Canadians prefer their system to ours. The statistics for their ER are actually better than ours because people get better overall preventative care than here. The ER's here are over-run with patients who are not emergent and shoudl go to their doctor but can't due to waits at their doctor or no money. So what this boils down to is first,
I would love to see an emphasis on health teaching, nutrition and preventative medicine.
Gov't funded well health / non-emergent clinics that charge per ability to pay.
Regulation of healthcare companies to ensure they stop screwing people over and overcharging.
An SR-22 program for people who have healthcare issues and can't get healthcare coverage.
Govt buying program for medicines and medical supples. Why do people go to cancada to get meds? This is why. Bush's medicine plan screwed people out of billions by making them pay retail for meds. The gov't could have easily negotiated much lower rates.
Gov't programs to help hospitals purchase expensive euiptment. This is why it is $1,200 for a CT. Those machines are in the millions of $'s and need specialized employees to use them. They also use a massive amount of electricity. Being overcharged by hospitals is the least of my worries.
S-chip for all kids. (children's health insurance program). Let me preface the next sentence by saying that I am very libertarian and hate both parties vehemently. the republicans pissed me off when they refused to properly fund this program. because they said parents would drop their insurance if their kids could get treated. That makes no sense, they were bought off.
Now some of this is expensive, but pennies to the gov't bailout program. It aslo does not allow gov't to dictate healthcare policy or run it and it limits their involvement on the privacy issues. Little to no increased bureaucracy.
Some sort of limits of medical law suits , but this is tricky. They need to crack down on frivilous sue and settle cases and the massive class actions suits where each defendant gets a few bucks and the lawyers are set for life.
Refurb money for rural hospitals. I have heard America has the best healthcare. That is not true we rank somewhere in the 40's world wide. We have some of the best doctors and facilities but who has access to these. The very rich and very poor and of course politicians.
I am done with my rant. Sorry for the length. ( I f I had a nickel for every time...
)
---------- Post added at 01:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:29 PM ----------
Healthcare is not a right, but is it the moral thing to do. It's ironic in a country that many call a Christian nation we would think healthcare is only for those who can pay. There are alot of things that are not rights but that are duties. Whether we know it or not we have a responsibilty to the social contract. when we bring up others in society we all benefit. Healthy people are more productive and and less of a drain on future healthcare costs.