Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Obama healthcare, accept it or go to jail.

Parthon · 11-03-2009, 05:50 PM

I don't agree with *just* a government health care system. I also don't agree with *just* a private health care system. The balance is somewhere in between, but the blindness of those that only see these kinds of discussions as black and white or liberals vs conservatives won't ever see it.

Government only health care doesn't work because it gets bogged down in beauracracy and oversight. The machine crawls to a halt as everyone's busy shifting blame and making procedures. It's happened many times before and it will continue to happen.

Private only health care doesn't work either. Take the american system, it's a complete racket. It's expensive because executives and managers are always scooping from the pool of money. Lawyers get involved and get even more money from it. Then doctors have to be insured against malpractice, which lawyers encourage, and insurance companies set the price for. Hospitals in america cost more to run per patient than most other countries. Not because america is rich, or powerful, but because the insurance companies set the price. It's a system of debt, consumerism and profit. GPs are underpaid, overworked and constantly threatened with lawsuits. Hospitals are full of patients and underfunded. Even people with insurance are being refused treatments their policies say they should get. All because insurance companies want to make lots and lots of money.

There are plenty out-of-america systems of all kinds that work. From those that are entirely government controlled, to those that are a mix, and those that are privately governed. There are plenty of stories online of travellers who have experienced great health care at low cost in second and even third world countries. Affordable and decent health care is available, but not while profit is the only thing of value to those in charge.

It would take everyone to put aside being right about their stance/opinion to start working together towards a common goal: a health system that works. The only unfortunate thing is that I think humans coming together to solve such a problem is even less likely that us all sprouting wings and evolving into angels.

11-03-2009, 05:50 PM	#40 (permalink)
Parthon Family Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 1,532	I don't agree with just a government health care system. I also don't agree with just a private health care system. The balance is somewhere in between, but the blindness of those that only see these kinds of discussions as black and white or liberals vs conservatives won't ever see it. Government only health care doesn't work because it gets bogged down in beauracracy and oversight. The machine crawls to a halt as everyone's busy shifting blame and making procedures. It's happened many times before and it will continue to happen. Private only health care doesn't work either. Take the american system, it's a complete racket. It's expensive because executives and managers are always scooping from the pool of money. Lawyers get involved and get even more money from it. Then doctors have to be insured against malpractice, which lawyers encourage, and insurance companies set the price for. Hospitals in america cost more to run per patient than most other countries. Not because america is rich, or powerful, but because the insurance companies set the price. It's a system of debt, consumerism and profit. GPs are underpaid, overworked and constantly threatened with lawsuits. Hospitals are full of patients and underfunded. Even people with insurance are being refused treatments their policies say they should get. All because insurance companies want to make lots and lots of money. There are plenty out-of-america systems of all kinds that work. From those that are entirely government controlled, to those that are a mix, and those that are privately governed. There are plenty of stories online of travellers who have experienced great health care at low cost in second and even third world countries. Affordable and decent health care is available, but not while profit is the only thing of value to those in charge. It would take everyone to put aside being right about their stance/opinion to start working together towards a common goal: a health system that works. The only unfortunate thing is that I think humans coming together to solve such a problem is even less likely that us all sprouting wings and evolving into angels.