Do you have any complaints?
Are there any major flaws to the system?
Those who live in countries with universal health care
Re: Those who live in countries with universal health care
I live in the USMatt K wrote:Do you have any complaints?
Are there any major flaws to the system?
but
im sure if you were a doctor that you would have some complaints about it because im pretty sure they work on commission. That doesn't mean that dont get huge pay for each procedure and are not rich like they hear though.
Ben Rea
Doctors in Australia don't work on "commission," and I'm pretty sure that's the case in most OECD countries.
I do have complaints about Australia's medical system, but they're mainly about the increase in subsidies for private health insurance and the reductions in funding to the public health system so that's not really relevant.
According to the UN, Australia has the third highest standard of living in the world, and we also have the 9th highest life expectancy in the world, so any criticism I do have of Australia's system is pretty insignificant compared with the rest of the world.
edit; An example of the Australian medical system. Last summer I broke a finger playing touch football. Stupidly I kept playing afterwards (although I'm sure I'd do the same thing every time). Afterwards I went and saw my doctor, who referred me to a private hospital for x-rays. I had my finger x-rayed. Returned to my doctor and was then referred to a specialist at hospital, who had a look, bandaged it up and told me not to play sport for a a few weeks (I ignored him
). This whole process cost me $0.
I do have complaints about Australia's medical system, but they're mainly about the increase in subsidies for private health insurance and the reductions in funding to the public health system so that's not really relevant.
According to the UN, Australia has the third highest standard of living in the world, and we also have the 9th highest life expectancy in the world, so any criticism I do have of Australia's system is pretty insignificant compared with the rest of the world.
edit; An example of the Australian medical system. Last summer I broke a finger playing touch football. Stupidly I kept playing afterwards (although I'm sure I'd do the same thing every time). Afterwards I went and saw my doctor, who referred me to a private hospital for x-rays. I had my finger x-rayed. Returned to my doctor and was then referred to a specialist at hospital, who had a look, bandaged it up and told me not to play sport for a a few weeks (I ignored him
). This whole process cost me $0.
It's pretty fucking stupid here in Canada, or more precisely in Quebec.. the waiting lists for simple procedures can range to months, and the amount that doctors are overworked and stretched thin is mind-boggling.
As an example in the Royal Victorian hospital in downtown Montreal, I remember when my grandmother got a steam burn on her arm and went to that hospital and there was 1 doctor for two fucking floors in the hospital... she waited 15 hours and got told at 4am to go to a CLSC (a clinic, basically), since it would be way too long to actually get treated.
OK, it's free for the most part, but who cares if you can't even get help when you need it?
As an example in the Royal Victorian hospital in downtown Montreal, I remember when my grandmother got a steam burn on her arm and went to that hospital and there was 1 doctor for two fucking floors in the hospital... she waited 15 hours and got told at 4am to go to a CLSC (a clinic, basically), since it would be way too long to actually get treated.
OK, it's free for the most part, but who cares if you can't even get help when you need it?
Nicholas Laroche
Re: Those who live in countries with universal health care
no and noMatt K wrote:Do you have any complaints?
Are there any major flaws to the system?
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BainbridgeShred
- Post Master General
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Nice, hope you never end up on a waiting list for a new organ.edit; An example of the Australian medical system. Last summer I broke a finger playing touch football. Stupidly I kept playing afterwards (although I'm sure I'd do the same thing every time). Afterwards I went and saw my doctor, who referred me to a private hospital for x-rays. I had my finger x-rayed. Returned to my doctor and was then referred to a specialist at hospital, who had a look, bandaged it up and told me not to play sport for a a few weeks (I ignored him ). This whole process cost me $0.
Yeah but organ waiting lists are due to the availability of organs, not whether the health care system is privatised or not. At least that's how it works in Australia. I'm not sure about the US, but the idea of being able to pay money to jump the waiting list seems utterly abhorrent to me and I'd feel really bad about getting an organ in front of somebody else who was waiting longer because I was richer.
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Bringerofpie
- Fearless
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Don't ever trust Michael Moore. It's U.S. law that someone at an emergency room will not be turned away because of inability to pay at the time. It may be difficult to pay afterward, but they would put it back.BenRea wrote:I'd rather wait then have to pay...
for example, there was this guy who didnt have health insurance. he cut of the tip of his finger with a buz saw and the doctors told him it would cost 60,000 USD to put it back on.
"Fuck it man, you just gotta do it."
Joe Snyder
Representing FLF (Fort Lauderdale Footbaggers)
http://onlycountria.myminicity.com
Joe Snyder
Representing FLF (Fort Lauderdale Footbaggers)
http://onlycountria.myminicity.com
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hacksterbator
- Washed-Up Child Star
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- Location: Winterpeg, Manisnowba
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word. They do it on a need basis. So for example, a guy with a broken leg is going to get looked at first over a guy with flu, so sometimes going to the hospital just ain't worth it for the minor injuries. If i need stitches, i'm going to a clinic over the emergency room. I'll be bumped to the front at the clinic, where as i've had to wait a few hours for stitches at the ER.mosher wrote:Anytime I fuck myself up and need immediate attention I just hobble into the ER and they fix me up.
I am quite satisfied.
A.G.
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Eskimo Joe
- Cold Blooded
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- Location: Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
I love our system. I also get additional bonuses b/c I am aboriginal or Inuit. I have never had to pay for glasses, dental, ER help, X-Rays or even for perscriptions. Which included nicotine patches and those pills which help you quit smoking. But I still smoke b/c I never followed through with it.
Also, things like physio, mental health help and a few other things are entirely taken care of.
The only times I have ever had to wait a long time were when the doctor was super busy.
Also, things like physio, mental health help and a few other things are entirely taken care of.
The only times I have ever had to wait a long time were when the doctor was super busy.
Eskimo Joe
My text book for geography, which is an American text book had some interesting stuff about the health system in the US. It's called Introduction to Geography; People, Places, and Environment by Edward Bergman and William Renwick (4th edition). I have an exam on this tomorrow so writing it out can't hurt
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America's Health
The United States leads the world in medical research, as well as in total spending on health care, in spending per capita (about twice that of other rich countries), and in spending as a percentage of total national income (almost 15 percent). Americans' life expectancy, however, ranks below other rich countries (ranking 28th among nations in 2003), and America's infant mortality rate is higher (about the same as Malaysia, with one-ninth of America's per capita income). America's population is regularly revealed to be less healthy than those of other countries that spend substantially less on health care. How can this be explained?
Many factors combine to explain this paradox: Americans' behavioural traits (lack of exercise, obesity, smoking); the high percentage of expenditure that goes to the administration of America's mixed private-and-public health care system (31 percent of total expenditures compared to 17 percent of the cost of Canada's universal coverage); higher doctor's incomes; higher pharmaceutical company profits; great amounts of money being spent on individuals in their very last years - or even weeks - of life; plus high rates of automobile fatalities and of homicide.
Furthermore, high levels of spending reflect the country's advanced medical technology and treatment, but social inequalities, plus inequalities in health financing, limit the reach of medical advances. The American system preserves choice for those who can afford it, but the United States is the only wealthy country with no universal health care insurance system. More than half the population is covered through their employers, but many employers are finding the costs unsustainable, and they are dropping coverage. Almost all of the elderly enjoy Medicare, but about 45 million non-elderly Americans lack health insurance. Thirty-six percent of families living below the poverty line, 34 percent of Hispanic Americans, and 21 percent of African Americans are uninsured. Over 40 percent of the uninsured do not have a regular place to receive medical treatment, and more than one-third testify that they or a loved one went without needed medical care or medicines in the last year because of their inability to pay. Being born into an uninsured household increases the chances of infant mortality by 50 percent, and the Institute of Medicine estimates that at least 18,000 Americans die prematurely each year solely because they lack health insurance. Eliminating the gap in health care between African Americans and white Americans would save nearly 85,000 lives per year, compared to the estimated 20,000 saved each year by technological improvements in medicine.
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America's Health
The United States leads the world in medical research, as well as in total spending on health care, in spending per capita (about twice that of other rich countries), and in spending as a percentage of total national income (almost 15 percent). Americans' life expectancy, however, ranks below other rich countries (ranking 28th among nations in 2003), and America's infant mortality rate is higher (about the same as Malaysia, with one-ninth of America's per capita income). America's population is regularly revealed to be less healthy than those of other countries that spend substantially less on health care. How can this be explained?
Many factors combine to explain this paradox: Americans' behavioural traits (lack of exercise, obesity, smoking); the high percentage of expenditure that goes to the administration of America's mixed private-and-public health care system (31 percent of total expenditures compared to 17 percent of the cost of Canada's universal coverage); higher doctor's incomes; higher pharmaceutical company profits; great amounts of money being spent on individuals in their very last years - or even weeks - of life; plus high rates of automobile fatalities and of homicide.
Furthermore, high levels of spending reflect the country's advanced medical technology and treatment, but social inequalities, plus inequalities in health financing, limit the reach of medical advances. The American system preserves choice for those who can afford it, but the United States is the only wealthy country with no universal health care insurance system. More than half the population is covered through their employers, but many employers are finding the costs unsustainable, and they are dropping coverage. Almost all of the elderly enjoy Medicare, but about 45 million non-elderly Americans lack health insurance. Thirty-six percent of families living below the poverty line, 34 percent of Hispanic Americans, and 21 percent of African Americans are uninsured. Over 40 percent of the uninsured do not have a regular place to receive medical treatment, and more than one-third testify that they or a loved one went without needed medical care or medicines in the last year because of their inability to pay. Being born into an uninsured household increases the chances of infant mortality by 50 percent, and the Institute of Medicine estimates that at least 18,000 Americans die prematurely each year solely because they lack health insurance. Eliminating the gap in health care between African Americans and white Americans would save nearly 85,000 lives per year, compared to the estimated 20,000 saved each year by technological improvements in medicine.