Where? There are a lot of continent in the world. I could see that someone in an island off a larger continent (say, England) might refer to the near continent (say, Europe) as "the continent." But I've never heard it as a synonym for the United States.
And if they did refer to "the continent" they'd mean the continent, not one country ON that continent.
I don't think it should matter how much it costs, everyone should have healthcare even illegal aliens. Let the rich pay for it, let them go broke for a change
Because, as a nation, we're complete idiots? And I'm not being sarcastic. The United States has a long history of war against the poor. Frequently, the voting poor are recruited in this war, on the lying premise that to ensure their own survival, they need to wage war against those that are even poorer than themselves. I think that it was on this very site, a few years ago, that someone complained that they were opposed to health care reform because they worked more than forty hours a week and still couldn't afford health care, so they weren't going to pay for health care for those who weren't even working, rant gnash gnash. The knowledge that they were voting against POLICIES THAT WOULD MAKE THEM ABLE TO AFFORD HEALTH CARE seemed to just fly past them. When given a choice between (1) improving their situation AND the situation of someone that the politicians teach them to hate and (2) keeping themselves AND the hated ones in misery, many people will reliably choose (2). They wait for (3), something that will improve only their situation, and (3) never happens.
Did you have healthcare through the ACA? If so, how do you like the access to care? What about costs? Is it true deductibles are going up 40% or is that republican hooey?
The biggest thing I see, is too many medical companies taking advantage of the ACA and charging more for tests and stuff because they know the government is helping to pay for them. On the flip side though, my pharmacist, said that he only gets paid $.25 for each prescription he fills for people that have Medicaid. So take that for what it is worth.
I have health insurance through my employer--with a very substantial deductible. ACA, for me, mainly means that if I lose my job I won't also lose my savings with the first major health crisis, because I'll be able to afford insurance.
I have individual insurance and have for >30 years because I'm self employed. I had a cadillac plan with low copays and no deductibles with a high monthly premium. They reconfigured everyone's plans after the ACA but they had already discontinued my plan (I kept it as grandfathered in) because copays give people incentive not to overuse medical care if it isn't needed. After the ACA I pay $400 less/month and my copays and deductibles don't come anywhere near that and I have a chronic immune disorder and I need an average amount of medical care for my age group. Bottom line, my health insurance costs went down with the ACA. And they are lower still this year than last year. My healthcare has not changed. Of course they are. Why would they not be? I think where you might be confused is in research. There is little market incentive to research rare conditions. But that is no different in countries with national health insurance.
I think they also might be confused because of the Martin Shkreli stuff that has gone on in the media where some independent pharmaceutical companies are raising the prices of medication for rare diseases.
I appreciate everyones input. I am going out on my own soon and looking at healthcare as we speak. I thought this thread was very fortuitous. I currently have United Healthcare and I was told they would be leaving the ACA in certain markets due to "heavy losses". Ugh It does raise a moral dilemma for me- Am I right to criticize business because I think their profit margins are too high? Because when I finish writing my bestselling novel and have all these publishers clamoring after me, I don't want someone telling me that the advance on my next three novels can only be so high!!
Well, I think that you have every right to criticize the United States health care system, because IMO it's essentially a protection racket. As a nation, we COULD pay less for health care while providing better care and greater availability, but the policies that would do that would also reduce the profits of the businesses clustered around the provision of health care. So we don't. We prioritize those profits above quality, affordability, and availability of health care. Yes, this is all just my impression, and yes, it sounds like a conspiracy theory. So be it.
You will not find a bigger advocate of universal health care than me, and I worked as a health care provider for 37 years, so I feel qualified to comment on this subject. Those people (like me) who are not part of group plans and do not qualify for government subsidized plans (commonly referred to as "obamacare") did get hit very hard with increased premiums going from 2015 to 2016. I had a policy that covered just me with $2200. deductible that I paid $570./month for in 2015. That same policy went up to $970./month in 2016, so no I have $5000. deductible for roughly the same monthly cost. The individual health care market (versus group) is about 6% in the state where I live. The main reason for the exorbitant increase in cost is the mandate (which I support) to cover pre-existing conditions. A very high percentage of people with pre-existing conditions were not previously insured and so were in the individual (versus group) market. If it was one group for all, such as a single-payer system, this would not have happened. And, the mandate for all to purchase health insurance including the generally healthier younger demographic was greatly weakened in the final compromises of the ACA so that it is cheaper to pay the fine than tp buy the insurance thus keeping a "sicker" pool of enrollees and ramping up utilization. Technically, those who benefitted from the ACA are those who were otherwise uninsured and indigent. Most in the middle, upper middle class, and of course above did have and would have had health insurance whether or not the ACA was passed. We still, in my opinion, need to get the profit motive out of our health care delivery system. I will end by noting an item from the NYT last week citing a higher percentage of Americans now with health insurance than ever before in the history of the country.
I've heard it hit small business owners the hardest. That would be me, unfortunately. I want everyone to have healthcare but the VA scares me. I read an article about veterans calling the suicide hotline and getting voicemail, yikes! They called one guy back the next day and he had already killed himself. I don't want that to happen if we go single-payer. I must confess I like the business, government combo platter, I feel they keep each other in check.
The people who call suicide hotlines aren't billed. I don't see how the funding for hotlines would be related, in any way, to single-payer or not single-payer.
Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well. It wasn't the cost I was worried about but the efficiency. Having the suicide hotline go to voicemail doesn't scream professionalism. It's a kink that can be worked out. It is just a bit scary going out on your own for the first time and hearing different horror stories, that's all.
I feel that when there are complaints about single-payer systems, those complaints fail to understand many things about the US system. In the US, many people, especially people who are not on public assistance but are just barely surviving without it, can not afford health care. Flu that might turn into pneumonia? Can't afford to go to the doctor. Child has a high fever? Can't afford to go to the doctor. Child is slowly edging into diabetes? Nobody knows, because the child hasn't had regular blood tests and other medical checkups, because his parents can't afford to go to the doctor. Diabetes poorly managed? Can't be helped, because the patient can't afford enough test strips. CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS aren't assured. I learned that only recently. I mentioned the friend who was only saved from blindness by being laid off and therefore getting better insurance with unemployment than he got with his job. I think that people who have access to national health care have trouble imagining not having access to basic health care. And people who don't have access have trouble imagining just how good it would be to have the access, and have trouble imagining living a life where every last penny of your savings and assets isn't held hostage to your employment and associated health insurance.
The difference is your book won't be an essential service. You wouldn't want to be priced out of the water market would you?
Funny you said that, as water is now more valuable than oil... http://environment.about.com/od/globalwarming/a/waterinvesting.htm
This is completely true. Even reading this thread has had my jaw dropping - paying hundreds of dollars a month, almost a thousand dollars a month, and then STILL having a co-pay or deductible? It's absolutely mind boggling. I've never really been seriously ill, but even the times I've needed medical help for minor things have been stressful. I can't imagine dealing with that stress AND having to worry about how to pay a deductible or whether my insurance rates would go up! Yikes.
Yep. If you have scary symptoms and need, let's say, a colonoscopy or a diagnostic mammogram (just to go straight to some of the scariest), you get to either figure out whether you can afford it, or wait around for the insurance company to decide whether they'll deign to pay for it, along with the general scary. And, of course, it may be that you can't afford it or that the insurance company will decide that the risk isn't high enough for them to pay for it. Even if your doctor thinks it is. Go USA.
I have to say, I've never had one of my tests rejected by the insurance company. I've even had them pay for when I had to see an endocrinologist. In fact, because of my past medical history, I'll be due for another colonoscopy soon, not that I'm looking forward to it or anything. My last one was in 2011, and because I had polyps removed in the past, I think I'm supposed to have one every 5 years? I'm sure @GingerCoffee would know for sure.
