Americans : what do you have against "socialised healthcare"?

Question

Is your own healthcare system the best? If so, then why?

Answer 1

I'm Canadian and I wouldn't trade systems with them for anything.

celeste1070- Why do you say lower quality doctors? Our doctors have to go through intense medical training. And I know quite a few Americans that come here for health care. You should get it yourselves and support those people so we don't have to support your criminals.

Varying survival cancer rates well yes. Not all cancers have treatment for them and sometimes treatment doesn't always work. I would like to see your survivor cancer rate to see if it's any better.

mwdesigncreate: Most places have walk in clinics to go see a physician for free. No appointments necessary. I go to my walk in clinic and i get to seem my doctor within 5 minutes. In fact pharmacists now have the authority to prescribe certain meds and they can give refills with out a visit to the doctor. If the physician feels you need more medical attention he/she will refer you to see a specialist which can take from a few weeks to a few months. I've never waited longer than 2 months. Of course there are always the idiots who go to the emergency room for a cold and then complain about the wait because people with worse conditions get to go first.

I don't understnad why you feel doctors would get paid less. Our teachers get paid more when they work for the government instead of for prvate schools why would it be any different for a doctor?

Answer 2

I do not like it because those of us that take care of our health will be paying the same amount as those that abuse their bodies (druggies, smokers, drinkers and promiscuous).  I also think the bureaucracy of the government will make it cost more than it already does.  Countries that have it already complain about long waits for service and a lower quality of service.

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Answer 3

I like the idea of socialized healthcare. Seems likes it works good for many other countries.

The only upside to our medical system here, is that the actual quality of healthcare is much better than a lot of places. Because it's a capitalist type of system, technology in the medical field tends to be ahead of socialized systems because of the amount of money in the system.

I sometimes hear about how long it takes to see a doctor, or have a surgery in socialized healthcare systems, which does not sound any too appealing.....but it's still available to anyone, regardless of if they could afford it or not, which is good.

In the U.S., if I needed to see a doctor, I could probably schedule an appointment within a week or two, and if I know what the problem is, I could bypass the general practice doctors, and see a specialist if I wanted. If I needed surgery, it would be taken care of very quickly. The downside is how expensive it is. A major surgery could have me paying for years and years to come.

From what I know in places like Canada or Europe, you could be put on a waiting list for a surgery. Ouch. It may take weeks to months to just see a general practice doctor, and in many places, you must see a general practice doctor before he/she can refer you to any kind of specialist. The technology is not as prevalant, because money is not pouring in to the system. Quality of healthcare is not quite as good, but not horrible either. The upside is that anyone and everyone gets medical attention, which probably out-weighs some of the other negative factors. This is what I've seen from a BBC show that was comparing various countries healthcare systems.

There's good and bad sides of both types of systems, but obviously none are perfect. It seems like our government is trying to find a way to have the best of both types of systems, but who knows what they'll come up with, and it may take a few more years. I like our system minus the costs. It would be great if it weren't so expensive. I like the socialized system idea also, but would like to know more about all the in's and out's of it.

Answer 4

Do Americans really want the government controlling their access to health care? Not those of us with brains! Higher taxes, longer waits (Americans are not patient people), and lower quality doctors. Free market makes for competition, competition makes for harder workers, harder workers=better doctors and advances in medical care. This is basic economics people! Do we have a problem in our country with our system? Yes, but  I know people that do not have health care that have new cars, huge TVs and great computers. We have choices in this country. The poorest do have state medicine (welfare/medicaid) A free society is never without its problems, forcing all people to have the same health care is wrong. Does one pay $300 a month for a new car when their old one runs fine or do they spend $300 a month on health care? Its their choice. Does one spend $300 on fast food or eating out every month or do they spend it on health care? Lets go after the drug companies that are overpricing their medicines to us here in the US while selling it cheaper overseas.

Answer 5

Because anytime the government takes control of a part of our lives they mismanage.

Examples     Social Security, running out of funding

                       Medicare   Leaves a lot uncovered, we keep paying more and more and getting less and less

Answer 6

Many American's are fearful that under Universal Health Care, the quality of care will deteriorate. Even taking the fear monger numbers of 47 million American's without health insurance into account, that still leaves 83% of the American population with health insurance. So the vast majority of American's are covered.

Now to the second point. Please follow the following link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jht...

It gives statistics on cancer survival rates.

As an example, a male from Scotland (a country with "socialized" health care) has a 40.2% survival rate if they have cancer. That same male in the US would have a 66.3% survival rate.

So you can see how the vast majority of Americans would want to keep there system.

Answer 7

I am still scratching my head !

For the "reputedly" wealthiest country on earth.......That puts it to shame with advanced societies like Scandinavia etc..

Seems anything for the "common good" is termed "commie".

Heck..better to spend money on arms and weapons..

It is a good question ! Most other countries just do not understand the logic behind not having a "universal healthcare" in the US.

PS: am not american.

Answer 8

Nothing.  I believe we should have a socialized heathcare system for basic needs; and since we are taxed out the wha-zoo, why isn't this an important social service we all are entitled to utilize?  I hate that we have to pay for a visit to the doc just for antibiotics which are also highly priced.  

Our pharmaceutical industry is the modern day drug lord.

Answer 9

I have nothing against socialized healthcare, in fact, I am all for it.  The current system in place is not working - individuals and employers cannot afford the premiums for medical insurance, physicians can't make a living with the high cost of liability insurance and substandard insurance benefits, etc.  It gets worse every year.



What is interesting is that when you mention the words "socialized medicine," people immediately conjure up some misconceived notions of what that means.  I do believe that Clinton is using the phrase "universal healthcare" which, for some reason, is more acceptable; but, in my mind is the same thing.

The American healthcare system is in a downward spiral situation.  It will soon need to be completely overhauled in order to survive.

Celeste:  You may be paying $300 / month for your premiums, but you can bet that is not what most people with a family of four is paying - try doubling and tripling that number.  That is a big chunk of money!