Do You Think This Is Another Compelling Reason for Universal Health Care?

Question

AMA issues first report card on health insurers

"Physicians are spending 14 percent of their total revenue to simply obtain what they've earned,"

".........annual $210 billion in wasted administrative claims processing costs,........."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080616/ap_on_he_me/med_ama

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Which of course means, that is passed on to you, the consumer.

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Please, no partisan bickering, for every example thrown out, the opposite can be found.

I want to hear reasons why universal health care will work or not.

keep in mind, departments of our government that are not politicized seem to work pretty well.

Postal service (largest volume in the world)

National Geological Survey (our oil industry uses them, plus they make some of the best maps in the world)

FEMA before it was politicized and outsourced. (is there a need to go into how they have failed us?)

Weather service (very dependable, very good, while not always being right, but close enough)

Peace

Jim

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Answer 1

No.  

It means gov't policy has upset the balance by subsidizing employer health care via tax benefits.  

So now, no one pays their own bill, and expects someone else to pay it.  That's what's gone wrong.

In the old days, people paid their own bills and prices were reasonable, because they had to be.  There weren't 18 bizillion insurance companies to try and collect from, each with a different form.   The only insurance people had was for catastrophic illness.

Universal health care will result in only 1 thing.  Rationing.  When a service is made free to use, demand will skyrocket beyond supply.

And I invite you to look at Veteran's Health Care and public education in this country.  Any time the gov't has a monopoly, service sucks.  It's only after the rise of Fed Ex and UPS that the Postal Service improved due to competition.  the only reason it still survives is that gov't prohibits competition for regular mail.  

Want another example.  The cable company.  Granted monopoly status by your city or county.  You watch, if we can ever get a 3rd competitor for Tv and internet, suddenly cable will get a whole lot better and cheaper.

Still another example.  Telephone service.  Back when AT&T was a monopoly,  you had to buy the phone from them, and service.  You paid what they said and that was it.  Now 25 years after the breakup, there has been wild improvements in telephone service, including long distance rapidly becoming free to use.  Right now I pay 3.9 cents per minute with no monthly fee or minimum usage requirements on a 3rd party long distance company.  Many just pay a small monthly fee and get all the long distance you can eat.  A far cry from when I was young.  I remember calling my grandma long distance and the rate was 35 cents at off peak time for 3 minutes.

Answer 2

Sounds like the first faltering steps towards socialism.  Watch out they don't burn you at the stake.

Answer 3

No, I fail to see how having doctors fill out paper work for government bureaucrats is going to be any more efficient use of their time than filling out paper work for insurance companies.

I don't know what you mean by "politicized" government agency.  They are all government agencies and as such are political organisms.  The Postal service is a classic example of government waste and inefficiency.   I've heard of going "postal" a reference to the craziness of the postal service.  You never hear about going UPS or FEDEX.  

The fact that FEMA is ineffective and wasteful is just another example of government waste and inefficiency.  There is nothing to indicate that a government run health care system would be any different from FEMA or the postal service.  Other than we would be relying on it to provide long lines for us to wait in for medical attention.

Answer 4

...sounds like a compelling reason for insurance reform...

...the "non-political" organizations you list are all in the business of gathering, processing and distributing...whether it be information or disaster relief assets...

...Do I trust the government to deliver my mail?  Yes...

...Do I trust the government to analyze and prioritize my mail....make judgments on which letters are important...which bills should be paid first...and so on....Obviously not...

...The primary reason people scream for government run health care is to relieve the cost and adminstrative burden...it has nothing to do with the primary function....CARE.

...Instead, why not ADDRESS those costs so that health care providers can focus on the care aspect...?

Answer 5

Universal Health Care does not work.  Yes, everyone has insurance.  Yes, everyone has healthcare.  Yes, everyone's taxes go up to pay for it. (fact people, fact, there is no other way to pay for it).  But, the quality goes down, there are less specialists because it does not pay to go for the extra schooling, this means less advances in medicine, and you wind up waiting on lists to receive care.  Canada now has an actual commission just to address waiting times for health care.  Canadians are crossing the border to get healthcare because of wait times and because of quality.  Further, it is certainly not the time to spend trillions on this and raise taxes with a floundering economy.

Answer 6

It is a scientific face that anybody with five or more brain cells wants Universal Health Care.

The Germans have had it since the late 1800's and it is amazing.

Americans do not travel enough. Because we do not travel our politicians are not yet in jail!

Answer 7

I don't have the answers for how to make it work.  Other countries have universal health, so I KNOW we can, too.  I have good health insurance.   However, let me tell you a lesson my dad used to teach me:

Say you work for a unionized company which has pensions as part of the contract.  For 30 years you voted on contract agreements but never cared what benefits were given to the retirees.  Never fought for retiree benefits.  Cared ONLY about what YOU could receive in the here and now.  Over the years you've aged, and tired.  You cannot keep up the pace with the younger folks and your job is in jeopardy.  So you decide you better retire.  But you can't because the pension is too little to live on.  You petition the union to work toward larger pensions but the majority of the folks at the company are younger.........and they only care about the here and now and what THEY can get.  

I see the same situation with my health care coverage.  Right now....I have coverage.  But what happens if I lose that coverage?  What happens if, years from now when I want to retire because I've aged and I'm tired, I cannot because my company does not cover retires and I cannot afford to buy health insurance.  I NEED the government to help me.  I NEED affordable health insuance subsidized by my government.  So I petition "the people" and ask them to write their congress representatives.......but "the people" don't care.....they are more interested in what THEY need.  

Sorry for the diatribe.  I work in the medical field and I have yet to meet a doctor who supports universal health insurance.  And very few of my co-workers support it.  But I believe it is due to fear and propaganda.  When I explain it the way I see it, some have changed their views.  Some have not.

Answer 8

I know so many working people who can't afford to go to the doctor. When I was a full time cashier at Wal -Mart I fell and broke my knee cap in their parking lot several years ago . Don't worry I didn't sue them because I fell getting off work. I tripped -an accident on a hot day and I was tired.

Didn't know that it was broken -went to work the next day and it swelled up -I was in terrible pain -had to go home -they fired me for leaving.

called the doctor -didn't do any good because I did not (and could not afford ) health ins. Still broken to this day and sometimes I get arthritis in it so bad that I CAN'T WALK> I am a widow and have had a hard time of it since then.

Just one story in a million. Our taxes should go back to people in need. My father paid for a life time -never saw any back in his hand to help -my husband paid in a life time -never saw a dime back either I paid -my mother paid . I know taxes pay for police -firemen (which are in my family as well )military etc. So unless you believe that the common working people are expendable what do you suggest  that we the common working people do when we can not afford to go to the doctor (or hospital)? I know this is a Bible quote -But right now our government's feet are made of clay.

Just speaking out for the humane treatment for American citizens.

Answer 9

To answer your question, just look north.  

There is a reason that well-off Canadians come to the US for their healthcare.  There is a reason that Canadian doctors try to get jobs in the US before they do in Canada.  

The US postal service is nearly bankrupt.  I agree that they are one of the best run gov't agencies.. but they are still in trouble.  Only junk mail keeps them in business.  The private sector does it better.

The USGS does a pretty good job, yes, but that is an area where privatization wouldn't allow them to be as thorough as that can be while being funded by tax dollars.

FEMA is absolutely useless, except for their dangerousness....  just look to the hurricane Katrina disaster as the only example you need.   FEMA is an agency that scares the c**p out of me..  did you know that with an executive order FEMA can declare martial law upon the entire country?   Look it up, you'll see.

The weather service is not bad, but private weather services are just as good.  That's something that we need, to a point, since it affects all of us every day.  Private companies could probably do it better, but there is no profit motive.

For health care, the answer is likely somewhere in the middle.  Expanding free clinics for the 'needy' would be a good thing, as most basic care isn't very expensive.  Relaxing regulations so that many procedures that now are required to be performed by MD's can be performed by lesser-trained but still highly capable RN's would save more money, and the whole malpractice thing is out of control.  But forcing state health care down everyone's throats?  Opens up too many cans of worms.

The government does pretty much everything badly & inefficiently.

Answer 10

I watched the movie SICKO, and while I'm sure this movie is biased, it made me long for universal health care, where you could just walk in to a clinic and get seen and then get your prescriptions filled for nothing or next to nothing.  

The powers that be in this country would never allow true universal health care to happen.  First, we would have to do away with the insurance companies that employ millions of Americans.  Their lobbyists are keeping that from happening.  And then you have the AMA, probably one of the strongest lobbying groups in the country.  They are dead set against universal health care.  They don't want to become government employees.  Sadly in today's world, doctors are next to God in this country.

I'm currently trying to decide which Medicare Pt.D program to go with as I approach my 65th birthday.  I'm an RN, and it's very confusing to me.  I wonder how other people my age even begin to pick a plan.  You have over 40 different plans, and none of them sound really good.  Yet, George Bush is so proud of himself for making prescription drug coverage "available" to seniors.

I think we should scrap the insurance companies.  We could find some other place for the people to work who are expert at denying you the tests and treatments you need.

I don't think McCain has a clue.  At least Obama is a step in the right direction.  He's the one Michael Moore has endorsed.

ofa

Answer 11

I've seen the cost of government ran health care and the administrative costs are double the 14% that the insurance companies spend on process claims.  On top of that you end up with rotten employees that know they can't be fired and you watch your health care go right into the sewer. Look at any government hospital or the VA and that should ward you off this folly for good.

Answer 12

If you really want to see inefficiency and waste wait until the government steps in to help.  How do you expect adding more government regulation and red tape to help in any way?  If we really wanted to see lower medical costs the first thing we need to do is penalize claimants and lawyers that bring frivolous lawsuits.  Then go after the insurance companies who drive up prices through their practices.

By the way Emal are you talking about the same highway system that hires 7 people to get one that actually does the work.  Imagine how much less it would cost if the highway workers were all responcible the way we are at our jobs.

  By the way the 7 and 1 figure I gave refers to the fact that every single time I pass a highway work zone if any work is being done at all only 1 person in 7 actually seems to be working at any given time.  But most of the time all I see is idle machines and one guy sitting in the truck looking at the work to be done.

Blue is obviously not telling the whole story since everyone knows that hospitals are required by law to treat any injured person that comes in the door.  How do you think our system is being destroyed by illegals getting free care at the hospitals?

Answer 13

In a nutshell, it all depends on who runs the programs.

The way that the VA is being run is reason enough for me to be leery of government run health care. But, you are right about programs that are run effectively and within budget.

It will be very difficult to transition, knowing how much money people have invested in becoming doctors. So that would be factored in, making it hard to keep politics out of the equation. Many doctors make up the "who's who" in the US and they have influence.These are just a couple of thoughts.

peace.

Answer 14

I know exactly what you mean which makes me wonder whether the failures in all good policies are due to corruption or incompetence or both by our various department officials.

Answer 15

Because Medi-care works SO well???  You know... the currently in place government run Health Care that MUST be subsidised by private insurance....

How about we live FREE!  And you guys complain about wire taps to known terrorists over seas... yet... no problem allowing government to take over your whole physical/mental well being.  Well thought out.....  applause!

BTW Jim.... do you think the government will pay those doctors enough to cover their expenses?  Not on your life... then what happens?  People don;t find it worth going into medicine.... then what happens????

Answer 16

Another example among those you've cited is the American highway system. It's as marvelous as the Great Wall of China or the Egyptian Pyramids. We all chip in to pay for it at the pump. Painless isn’t it?  I rather image national medicine would be much the same.