re: If you want a good look at our broken health care system

I don't want to live in a country where we all have to pay for everybody's healthcare.

Eta: I know we do in some respects.

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Is getting a breast implant considered a medical need?

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I could see it for women who have undergone a double mastectomy.

Healthcare is a losing battle. I just don't think the demographic trends in the country will allow for healthcare to ever be a "personal decision" going forward.

But I find it appalling that we spend more money than any other country on healthcare and what we receive for that investment is not enough to cover everyone, nor lead to longer life expectancy.

Instead of living in a fantasy world, the GOP would do well to establish an alternative to Obamacare that's feasible for the next 100 years. I honestly don't know about the alternatives, but the old system was broken. The new system is broken. And while the idea of another government agency being created sounds atrocious, at this point I just want us to utilize the cheapest option that provides the most coverage for the most people.

Single payer has always sounded pretty reasonable to me but I understand that many people will immediately dismiss that option because the government would have to be involved. I just think those people lack the perspective to see that a healthcare system in the US that lacks government inclusion is a pipe dream. "Progressiveness" of the country will do nothing but escalate. Get out ahead and offer an alternative.

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If cheaper health care means less quality, I don't support it.

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Most expensive doesn't mean best. I don't see how less expensive would definitely mean worse.

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Don't fall into the trap that government is the only solution. We are more alike than different when it comes to European health systems.

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Can you suggest an alternative solution that will provide healthcare for everyone? Not that it's my personal belief, but the only belief that will win/allow one to compete in an election.

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Can you suggest an alternative solution that will provide healthcare for everyone?

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First off, your premise is a bit false. Just because the government would control health care doesn't mean that everyone would get it. As a Canadian Supreme court decision said, "access to a waiting list is not access to healthcare". The British NHS and other "socialist" systems deny people care, too. After all, scarcity is unavoidable.


I think there should be a catastrophic plan available to all, and that we should go back to the days before world war 2 where people actually were consumers in the health care market, not the insurance market. If everybody started paying out of pocket, costs would eventually go down.

Here's a lengthy article from TIME that gives some background on it. It's worth a read.

LINK

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But I find it appalling that we spend more money than any other country on healthcare and what we receive for that investment is not enough to cover everyone, nor lead to longer life expectancy.

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We basically have the same of better life expectancy as other developed countries if you take out car crashes and gun deaths. Add in the fact that we're a nation of fatties and you can see why life expectancy isn't the best measure of the quality of a healthcare system.

The article is an eye-opener, but I am a bit turned off by the anti-profit theme. The author also neglected to mention that many of the expensive treatments people were getting are not available in other countries.