Health Care

[Kinokokao]

With the current reform going on the US, I'd like to open this up for debate.

Non-American friends, please tell us about your experiences with health care. What is your opinion of the current US debate?

American friends, what are your opinions?

Also, Hanyou:

[spoiler]
I'm not trying to call you out by any means but I'm extremely interested to hear your side of things. I know we disagree fundamentally on many issues due to our respective liberal and conservative viewpoints, but I always appreciate the rational and well-reasoned arguments you are able to make. What are your thoughts?
[/spoiler]

I fall on the side of demanding the public option. I want my government to provide health care. The problem with insurance is that it hedges against risk to an investment; something like your house, your car, etc. Your health is non-negotiable. It isn't optional. It isn't a commodity or something to be left to the free market. I admire the systems in Canada and Europe and wish would adopt something similar (government funded with universal coverage).

[Maxine MagicFox]

Being someone without any medical insurance whatsoever and not wanting to go to the doctor for a serious issue I keep having because I don't want to get stuck with some huge fucking bill, I have to say that SOMETHING has GOT to be done.

For surgeries or big catastrophies there are some nice things set up. For example when I had my eye surgeries, I was off my parents' insurance at the time since I hadn't started school yet. Luckily, there was a bunch of charities that took up the costs for me. I didn't have to pay a dime in the end. Nothing.

But for basic problems there's nothing there.

Now when I was going through my medical class some of the discussions we had about free-health care was the risk that we then couldn't advance medical science. At the time, sitting there in class, I bought into that a little. However, knowing a little more today and seeing some of the ridiculous prices that are placed on medical care, I'm not so sure. I almost feel like the health care has become a huge monopoly affair where people get to charge whatever price they want regardless of what the procedure is. X-rays can run up into the $300s while MRIs run into the $1000s. And don't even get me started on just a basic office visit.

I don't really care if I have to pay for medical care - I just don't feel it should be SO DAMN EXPENSIVE!

[Kinokokao]

Re: innovative care

People are always going to have a strong motive for curing cancer or finding a better way to treat diabetes or whatever. Money and profit should not be the motive. What we get is Big Pharma wooing doctors with the latest brand name drugs and spending millions advertising drugs to consumers. People do not develop X cure or X treatment to get rich, they do it because X needs cured or treated. Funding is supplied through charities and government grants (and I do believe the government should fund promising research or at least enable it, like with stem cells) in addition to the natural supply/demand. Let's say you develop a new HIV treatment drug. In a system where everyone can afford it, or the government will pay for it, you are now guaranteed more customers than you would before. You still get copyright protection from generics for a certain number of years (this is fuzzy, not sure how long, but I know that innovative treatments do get a monopoly for a little while).

A lot of the bloat right now in cost comes from malpractice suits and the burden of the un-insured. Heath care reform should tackle both problems. Tort reform (that is, capping how much individuals can receive in malpractice suits and helping protect doctors from liability claims) is badly needed.

The way I understand some the excess of cost factors is: at any given hospital let's say that 1/3 of payments go to medicare patients, 1/3 go to the un-insured and 1/3 go to people with insurance. You receive some payment from group 1, no payment from group 2, and therefore group 3 (the insured) end up paying for the difference. This drives up premiums and co-pays because insurance companies are out to make a profit, after all, because that is the nature of their business. Additionally, you have the hospital struggling with lawsuits and a shortage of qualified doctors willing to work the long hours/low pay that comes with general practice and emergency room care. There is an incentive for doctors to specialize because then they can choose to take only insured patients/patients who can pay and, thus, earn big bucks.

[Maxine MagicFox]

*nods* Every time I hear a commercial for "If you have taken drug X you may be intitled to compensation" I cringe. It's ridiculous.

There are times that people and doctors need to be sued. There's no doubt about it. But, it's ridiculous. Entering into a hospital to be treated, patients need to understand that there is a bit of implied risk. Drugs, even approved ones, often have side-effects that no one can guess and are often still in testing phases. And just diagnosis - it's imperfect. It's a guessing game. "Okay, you have these symptoms so maybe it's X" "Well, this drug didn't help, is it because it's the wrong diagnosis or because I'm giving the wrong drug?"

I think this problem is really connected to the fact that people are sue-happy - a problem that extends outside the medical field to other areas of problems. Every time I think of it I'm reminded of Pixar's The Incredibles and their situation. As funny as it was in the cartoon, it's not that far off from reality.

[noodles]

this may or may not be related but I don't want to make another topic

I have a dislike for low income families that have more than two kids

If you are not in good financial standing, the last thing you should do is get married and have kids

especially a lot of them

Hispanic families...so many of them have told me "your family is your life, its your reason to exist" but if by having more mouths to feed you ensure a life of hardship for them all until they leave, why would you make that choice to begin with, and why would you ask for help on TV

this is southern goddamn california, the international capital of world culture, trade, and entertainment; there are tons of jobs and money and opportunity for any honest person (one with no unnecessary commitments), why would you doom your children to a life of misery (and possibly crime or gang life) by having a ton of them when you have no money?

[Kinokokao]

Because the Pope says that using contraceptives is a Sin.

[noodles]

but so is sex for that matter

stop darkening my view of humanity kino

[Maxine MagicFox]

[noodles]

[Hanyou]

[Kinokokao]

[Hanyou]