[ssambakd]

Hello, a student here
It appears that Democrats will likely win the presidential election this November, which will probably be followed by changes in the healthcare system. None of the candidates has actually given a very detailed agenda but my understanding is that American healthcare will basically shift from capitalist / free-market system (which was meant to foster competition among health care providers and hospitals and hopefully yield a better care and lower cost for the consumers, but insurance companies, which are motivated by profit, ended up competitively increasing the cost.) to a more socialist (not to be confused with Communist as in back in the 50's-80's lol) system that Canada and European countries have.

IMHO this is a needed change: not only is 1/6 of population (?) in the world's most powerful nation not being covered ridiculous but also the cost of healthcare and medicine is really out of control. Anyway this is pretty much all I understand aside from some minor details and i'm wondering to what degree American healthcare system will change. And also how will the new system affect nurses and other healthcare professionals? We do have some idea of how the universal healthcare will affect the citizens, but i would like to have a little glimpse into the future of our profession. I would expect that this would cause even more nurse shortage, among many other things, as 45 million currently insured people gain coverage. But then, since the shortage only seems to accelerate from now with the baby boomers retiring (along with experienced nurses), would nurses and doctors have a much busier schedule and hectic workload in a couple of years?

I heard Senator Clinton, who is leading the democratic poll, has favorable views (well, or a realistic view) on the nursing profession (as much as politics go...). Well, what would she do about it if that were true lol. I heard John Edward has said something about helping nurses so that they can help solve the national healthcare crisis. Of course, it'd be nice if there will be more opportunities for nurses but how are problems like the chronic shortage of nursing instructors and professors gonna be solved?

[oramar]

I am a registered Democrat and will most likely vote for the Democratic candidate. However, I would not at this point say that the election of a Democratic candidate is for sure next November. Sorry, but there is a lot of water yet to flow under the bridge. I think you made a mistake starting you question with that conclusion. I hesitate to even use the term "likely".

[PsychRN03]

Originally Posted by oramar

I am a registered Democrat and will most likely vote for the Democratic candidate. However, I would not at this point say that the election of a Democratic candidate is for sure next November. Sorry, but there is a lot of water yet to flow under the bridge. I think you made a mistake starting you question with that conclusion. I hesitate to even use the term "likely".

And I suspect that the ticket would be Hillary and Barack (or vice versa) and I truly don't think this country is evolved enough to elect a female and black male to lead this country. Who knows.

[mianders]

I think it is premature to state that if a Democrat is elected we will go toward a socialized healthcare system. There are a lot of problems with our healthcare system but taking us toward a socialized system that has a long list of it's own problems is jumping from the frying pan into the fire. This election is still a long way off and I would not assume that any candidate or political party had it in the bag.

[Ms Kylee]

Not gonna happen. Bill tried this back when he was in his first term and the insurance companies lobbied Congress and it was back to Business As Usual. That's exactly how things are going to stay because we all know in America, insurance companies are all about the almighty dollar.

The nursing shortage is projected to last until at least 2017.

[kcochrane]

I'm not sure where you get the idea that the democrats will take the white house this year, unless you have a crystal ball . I don't think we will even have a clue how this will go until we get down to the 2 candidates - and even then, until the vote happens, it is anyone's game. Unless one candidate really screws up. Not only that, but who takes congress will also have an impact on what gets done.
Even is the democrats take both, socialized medicine will probably not happen due to several reasons already cited. Universal health care has a better chance or something similar to what Mass has now. Universal IMO encompasses a lot more options than just something similar to Europe or Canada.
I think there will continue to be a nursing shortage until working conditions improve for nurses. I heard somewhere that there are 1/2 million nurses out in the population that are no longer functioning as nurses. That says a whole lot there.

[Ms Kylee]

Paul Harvey said on one of his radiocasts that by 2010, there will be 1 million less working nurses than there are now. And yet, there are waiting lists to get into nursing school. I don't get it.. *Scratches my head*

[ksilty]

Socialized medicine,if it ever does become a reality, will take years to develop, more years to argue and legislate, and even more to enact. We will all be on Medicare........ And in all fairness, she didn't do such a good job the first time she tried. It really is a Mission Impossible.

[ssambakd]

hmm yeah you folks bring up a good point: i may be assuming too much about the election that is still almost a year away. I was mostly basing my assumption on an FT article about 2008 prospects:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3052eeac-b...nclick_check=1

I guess that having lived in britain and a couple other contries than the US, i tend to view America as yet another country in this globe (though currently the most powerful nation in the world) that can be analyzed and predicted to some extent. SO i missed the actual course of events felt by real people are indeed more complex than the pithy one-liner "Democrats are likely to take the white house this year" that foreign presses are often so fond of (it must feel powerful to predict what's going to happen in the US lol).

Although, well i don't know why it would be so hard to have a female win the election in 2008. I'm a guy and i'd vote for Hilary in a heart beat. I think, hell, it's about time lol. Same is true with Obama, but i know that, realistically speaking, like some of you suggested, this country has still not quite reached that point. Obama just won in Iowa, however, so who knows? *shrug* I still feel quite strongly that Democrats will take up the lead, unless they screw up something big time between now and then. Not my biased opinion as (currently) Democrat supporter, but most statistics do indicate so.

However, what I really wanted to do with this thread was to discuss and hear about others' opinions and prospects on healthcare professionals *if* democrats win the election and proceed with universal health coverage. Saying this, i realize that the reform process will take at least a couple years to plan and mandate effectively. Also, I personally don't expect us to take a fully socialized healthcare like Sweden lol. I would venture to say that America will definitely have some form of combination to assure minimal coverage for all its citizens but still maintain its capitalistic hues with, like some of you mentioned, insurance companies going $$ galore. The important point would be to seek the fine balance. So feel free to let go of your futuristic theries and prospects and criticize I mean, aren't you curious what will happen in the future? maybe i think and worry too much

[j-me]

I recently saw Michael Moore on Dateline NBC do a story about Canadian Healthcare. It was eye opening and not a pretty picture. Could you imagine being on a waiting list to see a doctor for over a year. It was LUDACRIS!