IMO it is shameful that we still don't have any form of universal health care. We are again out of step with other developed countries. What we spend on health care is also out of step, 14-15% of GNP. That is way higher than what other countries spend. Does our current system make us healthier? Maybe at the extreme end of the statistical tail, bleeding edge technologies which cost a fortune. Overall we are no better off, and in many cases are worse off, than the others despite the level of spending. As you suggest, we have an unfortunate Darwinian impulse that underserves the many for the benefit of the few. Namely, big corporations and the individually wealthy.

I am no socialist but think we have swung too far in the opposite direction. We have allowed greed and dollars to take control of the system -- in a way that paradoxically winds up costing more dollars overall without improving health.


>That is a real problem here in the U.S. The U.S. is great for pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and being successful. However, what about the remaining 80%? There are numerous examples of people having serious or longterm medical conditions when they either don't have medical insurance, or it is not covered by medical insurance. Before anyone jumps in, let me assure you all that when I worked on insurance systems (very recently), I saw rosters of claims refused when businesses switch medical insurance carriers (as they tend to do every year to save costs) or the individual changes employment and he/she has an existing condition. I spend a couple of hundred dollars a month on my mother's prescriptions not covered by her new medicare. My sisters and I researched numerous plans searching for a single one that would cover all of her prescriptions. It didn't exist.
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>Public hospitals cannot refuse care. So in essence, emergency medical care is available to all. If it is not an emergency though, then nothing is guaranteed. It was not that long ago that the poor were admitted to hospitals and put into indigent wards only to pass away during their stay. Today, it is still not guaranteed and not free. I have a serious issue with the fact that hospitals, labs, and doctors will 'write off' care provided to illegal immigrants (mostly because they have no means of tracking them down for the rest of their life to get payment) but yet will hound a citizen for the rest of their life for payment. After 90 days it typically goes to a collection agency and we all know how that ends up. Bankruptcy due to medical bills is a very real threat here. Ahhhhh, the very best of capitalism and private health care/insurance.
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>>>Another side of the pharmaceutical question is that certain drugs are only available through United States pharmaceutical companies and Canada receives a reduced rate for them. In some cases the discount is greater than 50% compared to what we pay for the same drugs.
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>>>Imagine if Medicare was allowed to negotiate the price of pharmaceutical drugs. That could reduce the cost for those who are retired and on a fixed income. There are those that thing such a thing is wrong. If you cannot afford medications your thoughts on this topic may be different.
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>>They may be as different as .null. is different from 1. That's the same gun, just pointed in the other direction.
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>>I've already heard stories about people who had to choose between treatment, rent and bankruptcy, and had to choose to pay the rent - because treatment would be in vain if they get out of the hospital homeless.