The Democratic presidential candidates think they have the cure for what ails America’s health care system. Each professes, if elected, to offer their version of true “universal” coverage.
Senator Hillary Clinton wants to make all Americans purchase health insurance from either the government, their employer or some other private entity and will demand that everyone do so. Oh really, Commandant Clinton? So you think we don’t have health care because we are acting like willful children spending our vast disposable income on things like housing, food and transportation? And if we don’t comply, she’s going to let us have it. How? She hasn’t figured out the appropriate punishment yet or won’t say for fear of reprisal.
Pretty John Edwards (sorry, I can’t resist — no, I don’t hate him because he’s beautiful) proposes essentially the same thing but outlines specific penalties including the garnishing of wages or “actions” by collection agencies. And Big Bad John is going to have members of Congress by the family jewels – threatening to take away their health insurance — if they don’t go along with his plan. Oh, I love it when he gets tough. NOT!
Of the three, Barack Obama’s plan is the most reasonable, “requiring only that parents obtain coverage for their children.” Who can argue against that? He thinks no one, not even Republicans in Congress will take issue with it. It’s essentially the expansion S-Chip program that President Bush has repeatedly vetoed.
Yes, Americans do need adequate health care coverage. But even if every citizen is “fully covered” the delivery of that care will still remain a problem. Medical mistakes abound. Recently, we have heard of the death of Donda West, mother of rapper Kanye West, from complications due to plastic surgery and actor Dennis Quaid’s infant twins becoming ill as the result of receiving a massive overdose of a blood thinner while in a Los Angeles hospital.
Since the candidates have not addressed health care delivery, do they believe that poor, and/or potentially life-threatening care is better than no care?
Even people, like my mother, who have excellent coverage, are fully aware of the disparities in health care and have taken what might seem to be extraordinary measures to get their needs met.
My mother, Miss Ruby to you, has gone so far as to travel from her one time home in Montgomery, Alabama to her now current home in Minneapolis, Minnesota to visit a dentist. Are there dentists in Montgomery? Of course, but none who met her discriminating, “unreasonable” standards.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - jacksmith
Insurance mandates are not universal health care. And politicians should stop calling it that. Nothing is Universal Health Care except "Single Payer Not For Profit Tax Supported Government Managed Health Care" (HR 676). Insurance mandates will be worse than what you have now. And what you have now is a complete, and total disgrace, and horror show. Insurance mandates will (require) you to buy insurance from the private insurance companies that have been ripping you off, and killing you by the thousands.
The #1 cause of injury, disability, and DEATH in America is, Health Care. More people die now from contact with the American Medical Health Care system than from any other cause of death. More than from Cancer, Heart disease, or Stroke. More than any other country in the world. Many times more than any other people in the world. Contact with the American medical health care system is the #1 risk factor now for injury, disability, and premature DEATH in America. This fact is a catastrophic indictment of the entire US Health Care System.
Driven by greed. And a rush to profit. Thousands of Americans are killed, and injured daily in America. By compromised health care. Cutting corners. Over, and under treatments. And poisonings with all manor of toxic, poisonous pharmaceuticals. Especially the children. America only makes up 2-4% of the world population. But Americans buy, and consume 50% of all pharmaceuticals world wide.
This is an emergency. America is in a crisis. And more Americans have died from this health care crisis than have died in all the wars in US history.
But the tide has turned. And the message is getting out. And taking hold about the fact that we have a very serious, and major health care crisis going on in America. Hurting everyone. Especially our precious little children. Rich, and poor alike. And most all Americans seem to understand now that "HR 676 Not For Profit Single Payer Universal National Health Care For All (Medicare For All)" is the way to go. Like all the other developed countries have done. Americans want government managed, tax payer supported health care Now. Medicare for all. Like other developed countries have. And like older Americans have now. Accept no substitute.
I am sick and tired of hearing how the candidates, and politicians health care plans are going to protect, and preserve the private for profit health insurance companies that have been killing, and ripping off the American people. And now the politicians want to mandate (require) that every American has to support the private for profit insurance company's that have been killing, and ripping you off. Or you will be fined, and PENALIZED. Thats right. PENALIZED. Ridiculous! The politicians really think you are all detached idiots. CASH COWS! To lead to the slaughter. Don't put up with that.
Just look at what is already happening with Massachusetts insurance mandates. It's a catastrophe. Financially, and medically for all the people of Massachusetts. And the private insurance companies just raised their rates by as much as 16%. And everyone has to pay now. It's a slaughter.
It's NOW TIME to bring out the BIG GUNS!! The BIG GUNS!! are you. The American people. And anyone else that wants to help. From now until HR 676 is passed into law. I want every person to reach out and touch their fellow Americans every day if you can. I want you to take a phone book. And call at least one of your fellow Americans every day. And ask them to pickup the sword of HR 676 Single Payer Not For Profit Universal Health Care For All (Medicare For All).
Call more than one each day if you can. And ask them to do the same as you are doing if they can. And also to put maximum pressure on their politicians to get HR 676 done. And to make sure their politicians support HR 676. Accept no substitute. HR 676 is a no-brainer. It's the best way to go on health care. It's the only moral, and ethical way to go. That is why every other developed country has done it. Most did it years ago. See sickocure.org, and house.gov/conyers/news_hr676.htm
I know that many of you have been doing a fabulous job of spreading the word by talking it up with family, friends, and co-workers. And putting pressure on the politicians to get HR 676 done ASAP. The phone calls to your fellow Americans will increase the pressure. And increase momentum for HR 676 at an astonishing, and exponential rate. And I know many of you have been wanting to do something more to help. The phone calls to your fellow Americans is something you can do every day to help.
Trust me. It will be something to see. But you have to keep the focus, and pressure on getting HR 676 passed pronto. They will try to distract you. With all manor of other crises, and catastrophes. And other plans. Don't be distracted. HR 676 Single Payer Not For Profit Universal Health Care is the #1 concern of the American people. Thousands of Americans are dieing daily now. And you or your loved ones could be next.
There is no good reason HR 676 cannot be passed into law well before the coming elections. And SCHIP should have been passed by now. Even if it was for 3x the 35 billion congress ask for. Do not tolerate delays. If it is not passed before the coming elections. All America will know which politicians are on the side of the American people. And which are not when they vote. Well before the elections. This is supposed to be a democracy. And well over the majority of Americans want tax payer supported single payer government managed health care for free for all Americans as a right. Many of the politicians will be soliciting your financial, and political support for the coming elections. Make sure you send a note telling them that you expect them to support HR 676 if they expect you to support them.
Everyone can do this. Most of you are well informed about HR 676. This truly is one of those no-brainers. Be considerate of your fellow Americans when you call. But be comfortable about calling. These are your fellow Americans. Some will be receptive. And some will not be. Some maybe rude, and mean. Just thank them, and move on to the next. Most will be with you. And if you get a call from one of your fellow Americans about HR 676. Let them know you are already on board. And thank them for calling. Build them up. And keep them strong. They are fighting for all of us.
Keep fighting. Pickup that phone, and call your fellow Americans. It's the right thing to do. You will win. Bless you all...
2 - P.Marlowe
Carla... I won't replicate Jacksmith's rant above...But I have to add that I'm tired of seeing people (and I'm not necessarily picking on you Carla) who bring out what is essentially a lame, sophomoric (and considered to be a clever "deal killer" of an argument) - asking "why" we think universal health care will be "perfect".
Who, advocating universal health care has ever said, or even suggested that the system would be without flaws?
I am amazed when those desperately trying to prop up the old system act as if IT is the best system possible. As if all the other countries of the world that DO have UHC have populations dying in bulk because of its shortcomings...
I think these same forces are going to have to come up with some other strategy - and soon. Americans realize that the only people arguing to hold onto this corrupt outrageously unfair system are those - the insurance companies, HMOs and pharmaceuticals = who stand to lose HUNDREDS of BILLIONS in a major restructuring...
P.Marlowe
3 - Merry Foxworth
HR 676 is definitely the way to go. Let's have an end to all the Band-Aid solutions. Get rid of the insurance companies, and make big pharma toe the line (see the book by Marcia Angell about the drug industry). Then there will be money enough to cover everyone.
Instead of talking about "mandates", everyone will be taxed just as we are now for SS and Medicare, end of story. People howl that they don't want more taxes, but this will be a darn sight better than outrageous insurance premiums and inferior service!
Once we do that, all physicians will have to toe the line and compete for our business, because we will be able to choose any GP and not be limited to some private insurer's meager provider list. Then they will have to give us proper service.
This should include using online capabilities for secure e-mail communication with doctors between visits, appointment scheduling, access to lab results, etc. etc.
We have a shortage of GPs and an overabundance of specialists. Let's give medical graduates some incentives to go into family practice. Perhaps some student loan forgiveness for becoming board-certified in family practice for starters, then more for each year he or she stays in family practice.
4 - The Obnoxious American
"make big pharma toe the line"
Sure, and watch big pharma stop making all those new medicines that keep extending our lifespans because it's not profitable. And then watch investment in big pharma dry up because it's not profitable. And then watch the market drop as a result. Good idea.
The reason why so many Americans such as myself, have a hard time with what you and the Democratic party as a whole is proposing, is because no attention is payed to these real and valid concerns. Candidates for 2008 spend hours talking about how they are going to totally revamp the medical industry. But how much have we heard about how they are going to keep investment in said industry strong?
Killing the biotech industry, which based on your comments quoted above, is something you'd gladly accept for some free meds, will have major impacts on everyone in this country, even the very poor with no stock.
Bush was right about vetoing schip, because congress was trying to expand it to become much more than something to help children (by your own words, 3x the cost). I think it's rather shameful for people to continue to pretend that the veto is due to the heartlessness of the GOP or Bush, when the SChip bill has been totally redefined and thus vetoed.
How about rather than government doing anything, we fix some of the flaws with the current system that works and have kept us alive and well?
For a good counterpoint to this article, talking about why we should not do universal health care, I'd offer anyone here to read The Obnoxious American loves Hillary. Also, for a more cohesive study of all the issues, Lets get real in 2008.
5 - P.Marlowe
That's such a load of CRAP! Big Pharma going home and taking their pills with them?
I wonder how it is everywhere ELSE in the world that other "Big Pharmas" aren't so damn petulant? How it all manages to work in Canada, the UK, Germany, Sweden, etc, etc, etc.
Stop the decades-old scare tactics...
Try the truth for once.
P.Marlowe
6 - bliffle
The amounts claimed for drugs are greatly exaggerated by the pharmas. Most pharmaceuticals are developed by the NIH, paid for by taxpayers, and thus the taxpayers have a legitimate claim on them. The pharmas spend more on advertising than R&D, and included in the advertising budget is their lobbying costs. Phama overhead is very high, probably 40%, whereas SS is about 3%.
Many drugs that pharmas could develop and offer to patients are life-saving, but the pharmas don't develop them because there is a better ROI on Lipitor and it's competitors because of the mass market. People are dieing because of decisions made by pharma management.
For the last 10 years or more the salaries of white-collar workers in pharmas have been the best across industries, especially among the upper management.
I'm afraid that the USA medical system is failing because of a flawed theory, the theory being that if people only had the choice of private insurance or misery and death they would all signup for paid-for healthcare. But 40 million uninsured citizens argue otherwise. Instead the health industry has used the threat to raise premiums and restrict enrollment.
Too bad that people have to suffer and die because of a flawed theory.
7 - jacksmith
Insurance mandates are not universal health care. And politicians should stop calling it that. Nothing is Universal Health Care except "Single Payer Not For Profit Tax Supported Government Managed Health Care" (HR 676). Insurance mandates will be worse than what you have now. And what you have now is a complete, and total disgrace, and horror show. Insurance mandates will (require) you to buy insurance from the private insurance companies that have been ripping you off, and killing you by the thousands.
The #1 cause of injury, disability, and DEATH in America is, Health Care. More people die now from contact with the American Medical Health Care system than from any other cause of death. More than from Cancer, Heart disease, or Stroke. More than any other country in the world. Many times more than any other people in the world. Contact with the American medical health care system is the #1 risk factor now for injury, disability, and premature DEATH in America. This fact is a catastrophic indictment of the entire US Health Care System.
Driven by greed. And a rush to profit. Thousands of Americans are killed, and injured daily in America. By compromised health care. Cutting corners. Over, and under treatments. And poisonings with all manor of toxic, poisonous pharmaceuticals. Especially the children. America only makes up 2-4% of the world population. But Americans buy, and consume 50% of all pharmaceuticals world wide.
This is an emergency. America is in a crisis. And more Americans have died from this health care crisis than have died in all the wars in US history.
But the tide has turned. And the message is getting out. And taking hold about the fact that we have a very serious, and major health care crisis going on in America. Hurting everyone. Especially our precious little children. Rich, and poor alike. And most all Americans seem to understand now that "HR 676 Not For Profit Single Payer Universal National Health Care For All (Medicare For All)" is the way to go. Like all the other developed countries have done. Americans want government managed, tax payer supported health care Now. Medicare for all. Like other developed countries have. And like older Americans have now. Accept no substitute.
I am sick and tired of hearing how the candidates, and politicians health care plans are going to protect, and preserve the private for profit health insurance companies that have been killing, and ripping off the American people. And now the politicians want to mandate (require) that every American has to support the private for profit insurance company's that have been killing, and ripping you off. Or you will be fined, and PENALIZED. Thats right. PENALIZED. Ridiculous! The politicians really think you are all detached idiots. CASH COWS! To lead to the slaughter. Don't put up with that.
Just look at what is already happening with Massachusetts insurance mandates. It's a catastrophe. Financially, and medically for all the people of Massachusetts. And the private insurance companies just raised their rates by as much as 16%. And everyone has to pay now. It's a slaughter.
It's NOW TIME to bring out the BIG GUNS!! The BIG GUNS!! are you. The American people. And anyone else that wants to help. From now until HR 676 is passed into law. I want every person to reach out and touch their fellow Americans every day if you can. I want you to take a phone book. And call at least one of your fellow Americans every day. And ask them to pickup the sword of HR 676 Single Payer Not For Profit Universal Health Care For All (Medicare For All).
Call more than one each day if you can. And ask them to do the same as you are doing if they can. And also to put maximum pressure on their politicians to get HR 676 done. And to make sure their politicians support HR 676. Accept no substitute. HR 676 is a no-brainer. It's the best way to go on health care. It's the only moral, and ethical way to go. That is why every other developed country has done it. Most did it years ago. See sickocure.org, and house.gov/conyers/news_hr676.htm
I know that many of you have been doing a fabulous job of spreading the word by talking it up with family, friends, and co-workers. And putting pressure on the politicians to get HR 676 done ASAP. The phone calls to your fellow Americans will increase the pressure. And increase momentum for HR 676 at an astonishing, and exponential rate. And I know many of you have been wanting to do something more to help. The phone calls to your fellow Americans is something you can do every day to help.
Trust me. It will be something to see. But you have to keep the focus, and pressure on getting HR 676 passed pronto. They will try to distract you. With all manor of other crises, and catastrophes. And other plans. Don't be distracted. HR 676 Single Payer Not For Profit Universal Health Care is the #1 concern of the American people. Thousands of Americans are dieing daily now. And you or your loved ones could be next.
There is no good reason HR 676 cannot be passed into law well before the coming elections. And SCHIP should have been passed by now. Even if it was for 3x the 35 billion congress ask for. Do not tolerate delays. If it is not passed before the coming elections. All America will know which politicians are on the side of the American people. And which are not when they vote. Well before the elections. This is supposed to be a democracy. And well over the majority of Americans want tax payer supported single payer government managed health care for free for all Americans as a right. Many of the politicians will be soliciting your financial, and political support for the coming elections. Make sure you send a note telling them that you expect them to support HR 676 if they expect you to support them.
Everyone can do this. Most of you are well informed about HR 676. This truly is one of those no-brainers. Be considerate of your fellow Americans when you call. But be comfortable about calling. These are your fellow Americans. Some will be receptive. And some will not be. Some maybe rude, and mean. Just thank them, and move on to the next. Most will be with you. And if you get a call from one of your fellow Americans about HR 676. Let them know you are already on board. And thank them for calling. Build them up. And keep them strong. They are fighting for all of us.
Keep fighting. Pickup that phone, and call your fellow Americans. It's the right thing to do. You will win. Bless you all...
8 - bliffle
"Mandatory Health Insurance" will probably fail a constitutional test anyhow. One can hope that SCOTUS will not allow US children to be born, like plantation-born slave children 200 years ago, into servitude to the insurance companies.
9 - Clavos
Instead, they should be in servitude to the bureaucrats, as god and Jefferson intended.
10 - Clavos
L'etat c'est merde.
And merde is exactly what we'll get if we give the health of the nation over to the government, just as merde is exactly what Medicare dishes out now.
From $600 hammers we'll go to $1,000 bedpans.
11 - Jacob
The only legislation that will improve health care in this country is legislation outlawing greed. ignorance and incompetence. The way to begin is to outlaw corrupt politicians.
12 - Baritone
The problem, as I see it, is that none of the declared candidates from either side of the aisle have either the inclination or the cojones to propose actual universal or nationalised health care. Horror of horrors! Socialized medicine! And to further bolster the argument against it, NHC opponents are also quick to point out any shortcomings of other countries' systems
As P. Marlowe suggests above, no system, however well structured and implemented will be perfect. There are and will be flaws and gaps in any such system. Given the large size that an American health care system would necessarily be, there no doubt would be a number of glaring failures and missteps, especially early on. "I told you so" attacks would be relentless.
Oddly, the opponents of "socialized medicine" often are quick to defend and support the VA, and rightly so. The VA works! If the VA is not a perfect example of socialized medicine, I don't know what is. While these people claim that government involvement in health care will amount to a cluster f**k (in deference to Carla,) they seem to miss the fact that that same government administers the VA. Hmmm!
Unless and until some president and/or some Congress finally lets the other shoe drop and approves a national/universal health care system taken wholly out of the private sector, the gross inequities and failures of our current system will prevail (note today's announcement regarding a study that indicates that uninsured cancer patients die at a much higher rate than those with medical insurance.)
Carla, I am not a fan of Clinton's, or for that matter, any candidate's current proposals to "fix" our health care system. Clinton likely still has nightmares about her previous foray into the forbidden land of national health care proposals.
I also agree that the old argument NHC opponents make regarding the response of the pharmaceutical companies is a lot of hooey. They still do research and development in other countries, some of which have NHC. It is naive to suggest that these companies would just fold up their tents and abandon the development of new drugs. That is their life's blood. Eli Lilly will not survive long depending on Cialis sales. These companies will find ways to function within a nationalized system and still realize a profit. Maybe not obscene profits. Maybe the respective pharma CEOs will have to attempt to get by without their yearly one hundred million dollar bonuses. It might mean that their spouses will have to start clipping coupons to make ends meet, but then, a little humility and belt tightening never hurt anyone.
B-tone (aka TLS)
P.S. Carla, what did you think of today's show? Again, I think we stayed with one topic - good ole' Mikey Huckleberry - too long. There's obviously lots to say about the man, but there's lots to say about a lot of things.
I have no idea if anyone actually listens to the show. I often feel like we're talking into a vacuum. Hope not, though.
13 - Jacob
"The VA works! If the VA is not a perfect example of socialized medicine, I don't know what is."
You must be kidding.
The VA is not a perfect example of any system of medicine.
14 - Dave Nalle
The only legislation that will improve health care in this country is legislation outlawing greed. ignorance and incompetence. The way to begin is to outlaw corrupt politicians.
And let's outlaw rain during the daytime and mean people and ugly babies!
Or maybe we should be sensible instead and punish those who harm others as an example to those who might do the same.
Dave
15 - Baritone
Jacob,
Not sure what you mean, exactly. I have been a VA patient for nearly 10 years now. No, it's not perfect, but I certainly have no complaints about my care. I think that there are a number of people here who will attest to that as well.
But I think the VA most certainly does qualify as a great example of socialized medicine. What else would you call it?
B-tone
16 - Dave Nalle
I have no idea if anyone actually listens to the show. I often feel like we're talking into a vacuum. Hope not, though.
It WOULD be nice to get a caller, wouldn't it.
IMO we should have made time to talk about healthcare in the context of Carla's article. But that could have easily filled another hour.
Dave
17 - Silver Surfer
Carla, I live in a country (Australia) that has really good, quality universal health care (with the odd fuck up, but you know, what can you do? It's never perfect even when you're paying).
It works just fine, it's complemented by private health insurance if you want it (which I do because I'm considered a high earner and otherwise would have to pay a special levy at the end of the financial year, losing much of my tax return) but this additional private cover isn't that costly and entitles you to a tax break - and in three recent cases of serious family illness, most has been covered by our free system with any difference in our private choice (day, doctor of your own choosing, private room etc) covered as a "gap" option, my out-of-pocket expenses: zilch.
You know, when you're sick, or someone in the family is sick, the last thing you want to be worried about is losing jobs, forgoing health insurance and mortgages, and potential bankruptcy. It's amazing how a universal free system, if it's good, will ease those kinds of head miles.
Our recent three bouts of care were two in private hospitals (me and my wife, but much of the service covered by our free Medicare system) and the other involved my youngest child in a public hospital.
The public one, I have to say, was outstanding. She was never alone for a second, a paramedic in a four-wheel drive arrived within minutes to stabilise her, and when the ambulance proper arrived she was rushed to the paediatric ward at the local hospital and given a battery of tests: x-rays for skull and neck, cat scan, MRI a bit later, etc.
Last week, she went to see a professor of neurology at a specialised (free) children's hospital that is about the size of an average suburb. The cost, again, zilch.
Today, the $500 ambulance bill arrived. Most of it is covered ny Medicare, but my inexpensice family gap insurance takes care of the rest. The out of pocket cost: not quite zilch, but close.
My wife works as a registered nurse at one of the world's top heart/lung transplant units (St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney), and none of the patients there are private. The care they receice is world class, and outsanding, even though the nurses are underpaid (as most are) and overworked.
Again, the cost for those patients is zilch.
As I always advise Americans: just because it ain't invented over there and you've never had it, doesn't mean a) it won't work, or b) it isn't good. Plus, Americans are a "can do" mob, so I can't see why it wouldn't work in the US.
Our experience: Any government here of either persuasion (right, or left) trying to dismantle it would be committing instant political suicide.
That's how much we love it, despite the odd serious problem, and 30 years ago when it was first introduced and we moved from the private-insurance only American-style system we had, everyone was very sceptical.
Even though no hospital was theoretically allowed to turn patients away in the old days, people sometimes were.
And lo and behold, the current system, rather than cost jobs it's created more, even in the health insurance industry where many more services are now offered.
It's taken 30 years to iron out the bugs, but it works nicely, so perhaps Hillary could come over here and have another look and you could learn from our lessons :)
Just don't go down the British route, though.
18 - Clavos
"But I think the VA most certainly does qualify as a great example of socialized medicine. What else would you call it?"
As a VA patient of many years standing myself, I emphatically agree with B-tone as to the quality of medicine practiced there, and especially as to the compassion and enthusiasm shown by those who provide that medicine.
However, I equally emphatically disagree with the statement that the VA is a great example of socialized medicine. First of all, it is providing medical care to a relatively small cohort of patients of approximately 5.5 million, NOT the 300+ million that a UHC plan will have to cover.
Secondly, the VA does its job well, but at enormous expense; it is NOT efficient from a financial aspect; it is one of the most expensive services the government provides, with a budget of over $80 billion in 2007. Despite near constant allegations in the MSM and elsewhere of neglect and parsimony by the Bush administration, the VA's budget has grown 77% during the Bush years.
It is a gargantuan bureaucracy in terms of employment. At almost a quarter of a million employees, it is second only to the Department of Defense, outstripping even such bloated examples as Homeland Security and Medicare.
With their enormous budgets and bloated, inefficient bureaucracies, the VA and Medicare are the harbingers of what's to come with UHC.
With UHC, health care is certain to cost the country more, not less, than we now pay in the aggregate.
19 - TomTomorrowToday
Jacksmith and Sliver Surfer: I've come to terms that you see universal health care (i.e. single payer) as the solution without factoring the practical downsides.
You're comfortable having the government run managed care (to whatever capacity or degree).
I'm not comfortable with the government controlling my health care choices.
Q1) I know the health care in Europe, Australia, and Canada may seem good to an outside observer, but have you gone out of your way to search for critics of this system?
Q2) Have you independently searched for proponents of free-market health care and considered their arguments?
I've researched both of the above with open eyes and no preconceived opinions to determine the solution for fair, affordable, high-quality, and comprehensible health care is in the free-market without government regulation.
Bonus Q3) Please name a product or service the government provides that's better than the unregulated free market...(remember the EPA legally allows pollution which wouldn't be allowed if air and property rights were enforced!!)
I've lived your system of single payer while living in Norway for many years. I've seen people die on waiting lists, elderly refused treatment and witnessed technologies in hospitals that are many decades old.
I watched Sicko.
The problem with health care in America is the lobby surrounding Medicare/Medicaid and the corruption rampant in the way laws are written. Any plan via Kucinich, Hillary, Obama, Edwards, etc. would have to appease their lobby of constituents and the problems of today would be guaranteed to carry forward to some degree or another. Even Hillary's health care proposal mentions drugs dozens of times with diet and exercise getting only a single mention. Of course her program was written by a drug company lobby.
You trust the government and lobbyists to decide the quality and scope of your health.
I'd say our current system is all the reason I need to not trust the government. I don't believe their promises any more.
Here's a solution from a REAL American doctor who knows politics and the system.
Do you really trust the government with your life?
20 - Dr Dreadful
I have no idea if anyone actually listens to the show. I often feel like we're talking into a vacuum. Hope not, though.
You'll get listeners... and callers. Early doors, as idiom-mangling English football coaches like to say.
I've every intention of listening myself once I get a moment and the dust of Christmas dies down. I did click on the link briefly last night - wasn't able to listen for long because my wife had Christmas music blaring out of the stereo! I was quite surprised to hear that Dave's voice sounds pretty much exactly as I imagined it would.
Which means, Stan, that he also probably really does look like that and your daughter doesn't need the stress...
;-)
21 - troll
...I've listened to each show after the fact - good stuff
have you guys thought about playing with formats eg a segment devoted to discussing the 'art' of political writing
22 - Dave Nalle
Q3) Please name a product or service the government provides that's better than the unregulated free market...(remember the EPA legally allows pollution which wouldn't be allowed if air and property rights were enforced!!)
That's an easy one. Roads paid for with state gas taxes which are essentially a user fee. Way better than roads paid for with tolls collected by foreign contractors at exorbitant rates.
dave
23 - Jacob
"But I think the VA most certainly does qualify as a great example of socialized medicine. What else would you call it?"
-- Baritone
Perfunctory.
24 - Dr Dreadful
Just don't go down the British route, though.
Well, you can't blame us for trying. We were, after all, pioneers of socialized medicine - the first non-communist society to implement comprehensive government-provided health care - so we didn't really have anything to model it on. No surprise a lot of it ended up not working too well.
But at least it's there, and although it fails some of the people who really need it the most, I do have to say that if you're an average healthy person who doesn't need more than an annual medical checkup or the occasional ER visit, it removes almost all of the hassle.
25 - Jacob
"if you're an average healthy person who doesn't need more than an annual medical checkup or the occasional ER visit, it removes almost all of the hassle."
In other words, it's great for healthy people.