American by birth

[TB Roye]

I will have to say one thing in deffence of Cup drivers racing in Nationwide. Most drivers I have ever knowen will drive as many races as they can, they love to drive, why would fly across country twice to race in two different races. Back in the day you could see Foyt, Andretti, the Unsers drive in races the night before the 500 and in the days after you could see them in a Midget, Sprint Car or a NASCAR or USAC Stock car on some dirt tracy. The only thing that stops the Cup guys from Racing more is their Contract. The drivers now a days aren't as diversified as in years past.

Tom

[docrowan]

All of this stuff I hear about Canadian health care is anecdotal. When I walked into a local clinic in Naniamo and complained of chest pain, I saw a doctor within five minutes and was in a hospital bed within a half an hour talking to a cardiologist and I did not even qualify for Canadian health care.

Yes, but your story of a GOOD experience with Canadian health care is anecdotal as well. So the question is which is more representative of the millions of interactions Canadians have with their health care system.

[Richard in Smithville]

Yes, but your story of a GOOD experience with Canadian health care is anecdotal as well. So the question is which is more representative of the millions of interactions Canadians have with their health care system.

I am an avid proponent of the Canadian health care system. People complain about the wait times but they are the same people who back log the system with every lttle muscle twitch and sniffle. Last year when I woke up with pains across my belly, I called the clinic with my family doctor, and even though my doctor wasn't in that day, they got me in to see one of the partners. She had a look and sent me straight down to the ER. In the four hours I spent in ER ( that's right....only four hours) they had me in for an ultra sound, blood work, I was seen by the ER doctor and a surgeon. The surgeon left and booked a CT scan as soon as the patient transfer bus could get me into the city hospital( no checking to see if they had room; I must have bumped some one). They read the scan to see if I could leave the big hospital and before I got back to my hospital the results we with the ER doctor and the surgeon. Had I waited an extra day I would have been in surgery with a ruptured bowel. As it was, I stayed in hospital for four days hooked to an IV for diverticulitus.

Yes I pay for health care in my taxes, but the actual cash out of pocket for me was the cost of two dozen donuts for the staff as my thanks. I will pay for healthcare in my taxes any day of the week.

[billwmeyer]

Richard,

I was happy to see your input. I knew you and some other members were from Canada. We here stories about how bad your health care is there, and I have always been sceptical. I would enjoy hearing from more of our neighbors to the north. How about over the pond too Ray?

Bill

[gjat]

My wife's family lives in England. I can provide tons of ancedotal stories of good care, and bad care. I will say, the younger and healthier you are, the better access and care you get. If you are older, you will get the run-around Americans get with the basic crappy HMO.

There never will be a totally free or perfect system. Nor will we agree on what's wrong. Nor will we agre what is better.

My personal fear is the sure knowledge that the Government is going to do 'SOMETHING' and that 'SOMETHING' is another over-politicized power struggle in Politician World and will have little to nothing to do with providing something worthwhile, efficient, or really be an improvement. Typically, Government solutions are a new set of problems and unforeseen consequences, but hey, at least we're out of the rut and have gotten rid of the old problems.

[Russianwolf]

I find it funny how some of the biggest people in the media change their tune based on their political stand.

Glenn Beck of Fox News did a report a while back about how his experience at a hospital was horrible. http://www.glennbeck.com/content/art...icle/198/3502/ But now, he's crying that "The US has the best healthcare in the world".

So, which is it? Appearently 6 months ago the system was horrible, now it's the best in the world?

[JR]

Glenn Beck of Fox News did a report a while back ...

It would probably be best if we didn't bring him into it.

JR

[unknown poster]

If i had a government health care plan, I would have been taken better care of, and might have some money left, I have it much better on disability now,but because of private health care, I suffered greatly, because the doctors got little, and i paid a lot of my bills in bills from ins. Think about it. I will take gov health care any time.

Or you might have died while waiting weeks to see a specialist. Right now we don't really know what a government health care option will look like in the US, or how it will affect our care. Politicians always make promises that thier idea will will improve things, but buracracy rarely leads to cost savings. Keep in mind that Obama has promised that this system will pay for itself, which might mean under his system you are still paying huge premiums, copays, etc. Adding government overhead might actually make things more expensive for you.

I know that the current goverment medical system (medicaid) is horrible. People often wait hours to see a doctor, fraud is rampant, and quality of care is poor.

I also know that the CDC recently reported that under our current health care system people in the US are living longer than ever, and we are seeing falling death rates in almost all the leading causes of death.

I also know that every interacton I have ever had with the government has been painful. Whether it be trying to register my car with the DMV, trying to work with the police to report a crime, or trying help my local school district improve thier service to students, I have always been dissatisfied with the government's interest in helping me.

These issues make me very wary of the government assuming even more power over my life.

[JR]

I also know that the CDC recently reported that under our current health care system people in the US are living longer than ever, and we are seeing falling death rates in almost all the leading causes of death.

I'm sure these assertions are true, although I didn't look them up. OTOH, we are falling woefully behind all the other industrialized countries in life expectancy, infant mortality, and other important metrics. IOW, things are improving, but could be so much better.

These issues make me very wary of the government assuming even more power over my life.

As you should be! These are fundamental tenets of American life - do not trust the governement, and let them do only what we think they absolutely must do. Although I am fortunate enough to be able to afford health insurance, I still am convinced we need to make some very big changes. Changes so big that the government must have its paws all over it, because market forces alone are not (probably can not) doing the job.

Things that need to change according to JR:

1. Every American should have a doctor and be able to be seen for a checkup on a regular basis. If there is a nominal fee for this, so be it. Poor people should be subsidized.
2. Emergency rooms need to be available to handle emergencies. Emergency rooms are being shut down at an alarming rate and it needs to stop.
3. No one should go broke because they become ill.
4. No one should be denied health care because they become ill and therefore need to use their insurance.
5. Patients should not be spending their time arguing with caregivers and insurance companies about billing problems.

There have been many thoughtful, if divergent, inputs in this thread. I may be coming off as some sort of un-realistic utopian, but I think that we should demand that quality health care be available to all Americans. As proud as we are of our system and our way of life, how can we possibly hold our heads high while millions of our citizens are not getting the care they need? We should all be embarassed that thousands of our citizens must wait in lines for days in Los Angeles or Knoxville in order to be seen by Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corp.

I'm sure many disagree with the JR Healthcare Goals. IMHO, until our political leaders agree on the goals we can't really have a meaningful dialog on the ways to reach them.

JR,
rant off.

[jackellis]

I was listening to the Sacramento National Public Radio broadcast this morning on the way down the hill. There was a segment on the healthcare debate and Spain was the topic of conversation. All taxpayer funded and defended by the doctors who work in the system. Of course they complained about low pay and too few hospitals, but they would not switch to a private system.

I'd agree that there's no perfect system. I'll go further and say that care will have to be rationed, though exactly what that means depends on whether you need the care that could be withheld. I don't think it means denying someone with diabetes an insulin pump but it might mean that someone who's 75 will be denied a heart transplant.

[unknown poster]

I'm sure these assertions are true, although I didn't look them up. OTOH, we are falling woefully behind all the other industrialized countries in life expectancy, infant mortality, and other important metrics. IOW, things are improving, but could be so much better.

I agree with you that there is room for improvement, but keep in mind that things could also be much worse. This is especially true for the majority of Americans who already have decent health care insurance.

The real question here is, do you trust the government to make things better? Personally, I do not. Especially on the issue of costs, I have never seen an example where more bureaucracy produced lower costs.

Take a look at the other government services in this country which touch nearly every citizen. Do you want your health care to be run by the same people who run the DMV and IRS?

[Black wallnut]

I think it is fair to say that this discussion has run long enough. There have been multiple posts that I consider political. No need to point them out as for many this is a very personal topic. I urge all forum members to move on to other topics.

[cwithboat]

Amen

Amen is too short