Health care system what we have today or Universal?

Question

there is a lot of buzz today about what to do with health care in the US and the millions of people that are either under on un insured. So my question is this, (please keep in mind i am not an advocate for either system)

1 if the system we have today in the US is so perfect, how come we have a lower life expectancy than countries that do have Universal health care

2 what would you suggest as a better solution for the overall improvement on this issue?

Answer 1

I see absolutely NOTHING wrong with what our healthcare is today.  One works hard, becomes educated, gets a job, and with the job has healthcare,, or pays for insurance out of their own pockets.  It is wrong that I worked hard to get where I am today, and have to pay for lazy people's medical.  I do understand there are exceptions, but not for people who just don't want to work...

Answer 2

health crae today...is....really....bad.

If a person does not have enough money or insurance and need medical attention NOW, doctors do NOTHING. literly, they just kick them out.

If you havent heard, there was news before that a lady was bleeding to death at a lobby. no one help her, or got medic to check up. she died on the lobby.

Answer 3

A co-waorker was in a car accident. He had surgery on friday , a metal plate was inserted in his spinal column.

He was sent home on monday,

The insurance company did not want to pay for another day in the hospital.

We need reform.

It is called affordable health insurance

Answer 4

without tort reform med. malpractice is to high. we will never have cheap health care as long as doctors are being sued for wrong doing around every corner.

Answer 5

I am shocked the first reply is that she sees nothing wrong with our health care system today.  She's not studying much of anything.  Just today I comapred my pay stubs from last year to show I pay 31% more in health insurance premiums than last year.  In two years I've had 10% in raises, but take home slightly less-with the difference going to medical and dental insurance.  There is something definitely wrong.  

How many people are out there working hard, but self-employed or unlucky enough to be in an employer who doesnt' cover employees adequately.  Depending on the plans employers choose, some people simply can't pay the mortgage and health insurance premiums for the family.

Having worked in Health Care financing and practice management for many years there are many flaws in our system, but before continuing there is one upside...we lead the way in new technologies, but it could also be a bad thing, because newer can be more expensive, but not necessarily more effective.

The problems are:

1)  The system we have is incredibly confusing and complex. One estimate I found puts the cost of overhead to just figure out Medicare/Medicaid rules as well as people in hospitals and insruance companies to push money around on paper and fight over it is as much as 20% of your health care dollar.  

2)  Money going to for-profit organizations for health care should be monitored carefully.  Profit-taking and abuse (for-profits are especially bad at abusing health care programs) is another needless expense.

3) Though it's a free market economy, health care really isn't considered by the patients the same as when you buy a TV.  When you have apendicitis or a heart attack, you really can't think, "Gee, who has the best outcomes for my condition for the price they charge?"  Also, it's the only industry where you can rack up thousands up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in charges without any say-so or any knowledge of what's going on.

4)  Greed.  Physicians are rewarded for charging for expensive services.  NOT for keeping a patient well.  HMO's tried to remedy that, but greed just met patient getting no care to fatten bottom lines (see for-profit issues above).

5) Accessibility-not all have access to the care that they need.  

I think that we need to stop being afraid of anything and everything that is socialized medicine.  This has been villified, and though I don't think it is the answer, I think both models should be examined, with a hybrid model created.  I am against socialized medicine all together because I think it can become just as expensive in terms of taxes (such as France), but frustrate patients in seeking service, become wasteful, and not encourage newer, better treatments.  There must be a middle ground, adopting the best of both worlds.