27 week wait lists in canada for surgery. HA, easier to just die and be done with it http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/01/27/hos27.html Know how long my "Wait list" has been in the USA every time I needed a doc or procedure? 0-3 days. Why? Because im not a bum and can afford great healthcare insurance.
None of this will work until they put a cap on what doctors charge. WTF do doctor's earn 500K-2M a year?? Put a cap on surgery procedures, we will still get great doctors, and those who are just profiteers can go work on Wall St. like all the other dirtbags.
First, universal insurance, if you will, improves public health as it covers everyone -- so your car analogy is somewhat inaccurate. Second, the ability to negotiate for virtually the entire country can't hurt. Finally, look at the profitability of the health care industry, medical device makers, etc... over the last decade and compare them to the averages for any other sectors. They have been far above historical run rates...think about it.
TripleX, go speak to a few doctors and ask them how their insurance costs are seeking them to pursue alternative careers such as day trading. And don't insult me or I might sue your arss because it is so easy to do.
If you think these programs are efficient you are more ignorant than I thought you are. Really? Thats one of the purposes of the US government? Please quote a founding father or the constitution. Nonsense. Please show us exactly where it is stated that one of the purposes of the US government is to be an insurance company.
First off, look at the "private sector's" rate of return over the last ten years. They make the oil companies look like pikers. My insurance company was charged $20K for a simple hernia operation -- in CA. I found that I could have had the same operation done for $5K cash. The difference is the amount hospitals are allowed to recapture to cover serving the uninsured. Having said that, the uninsured don't show up for treatment until they are in serious trouble -- and treating them costs much more. Universal coverage would eliminate much of that cost. And of course, the poster that suggested we focus on prevention is exactly right.
How would you like to be on call/work 24x7, neglect family, have minimal personal time then have some government entity tell you that you make too much and your income is going to be reduced? This is not the solution and will only cause quality of health care services to decrease dramatically.
Our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves over this govt healthcare crap. Not what they intended. The govt was never supposed to be your mom or an insurance company. Its purpose was to protect citizen rights and national defense. Every year it keeps encroaching on us and taking over everything. Dumb dumb idea.
You didn't look at why there is the backlog. The funds allocated got used for something else -- they weren't "ring fenced" to provide the quote. Hard to really know what the real situation is without getting all the details. Of course, these people do have hearing aids. They just don't have the most modern ones. By the same token, my insurance company won't necessarily send me to the best specialist either...