will universal healthcare ( in the usa) cut RN pay?

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I been hearing this debate off and on for a long time about how if Obama gets universal healthcare to go ( if he gets elected of course)though in the US that nursing pay will be cut dramatically. I would think this has to do with the fact that we would all be working for the government and that there will no longer be competition. There are many people in my nursing class that said they will leave nursing if thats the case. I also talked to several doctors that said the same thing about medicine in general. Im just curious if anyone has some good info about this. Thanks

Dear rollyp80:

I'll try. I keep hearing nightmare stories about how it will be like Canada where everyone waits 6-9 months for treatments, surgeries etc., etc. I have never had to wait for anything, nor has any person I have EVER known.

But some DO wait. It depends partly on where you are; for example, if there is a shortage of the very specialist you need...because they went to the USA where they DO make more money.

But some have taken an isolated incident in a remote area and touted it as the norm everywhere in Canada. You can not compare a remote town in Northern Ontario with Los Angeles anymore than you can compare a remote town in Iowa with a city like Toronto.

I worked rehab in Toronto for 5 years before moving to the USA. My first job was on a rehab unit in San Diego. I was shocked to find the pay was much less than what I had been making. I had bought into the notion that the USA paid more.

I do not have enough information about the proposed reforms to comment intelligently on that. But if it's any consolation, Canada has a single payor system and (again, depending on where you are) nurses salaries are comparable.

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I've actually looked at healthcarereform.gov and that website before posting.....and none specifically state if anyone will be taking cuts.....or not....So my question is will I be paying more in taxes to support this new reform.....???? I mean it has been stated that we pay too much in healthcare as a nation anyway.....so we should be paying less then ....right????

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Specializes in LTC.
Healthcare should be a human right, not a privalage!

Not to change the OP's thread but by extension, shouldn't housing and food be a right and not a privilege? I mean, more than a few times now, I've gone to the grocery store and have seen someone looking disheveled, sitting in their car in the parking lot and I strongly suspect they are living in their car. I don't think he's worried about healthcare right now.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
if we don't get pay cuts are paychecks will still be much smaller since the government will be taxing us through the nose so that we can all have crappy health insurance. i sure hope it does not go through. yes it is sad that so many people do not have health insurance, but a large majority of people choose not to have health insurance; if they budgeted they could afford to have it or they flat out just don't pay for it, but these people are all figured into the statistics. i worked my butt off to get through nursing school and now continue to work my butt off as a nurse and feel i have every right to the quality health insurance i have earned. like my mom said yesterday, "well, you wont have to worry about having to make the decision about 'pulling the plug' when daddy and i get older, the government will make that call for you". its just like the quote i use about abortion and taxes, ...just like i am not a huge fan of abortion--but am a fan of women's rights, and like i am a fan of taxes but not the fact that i can not say what pot my money is being wasted in...i have one more to add "i want the government out of my pockets, out of my pants, and out of my health care"

where are you getting your information? what source are you relying on for your information? as i stated above, the fear mongering going on about this proposed health care plan is frightening and ridiculous. are you able to quote a reputible source that clearly explains that the government plans on "pulling the plug" on older people.

please, please refer to the site below to obtain valid and reputible information about the president's health care plan. he addresses this frightening notion of "euthanasia" that you referred to as "pulling the plug" and that opponents have been spewing to the public. if you actually take time to inform yourself, you'll find that seniors in the community have the option of receiving conseling on end of life issues such as hospice, if they're interested.

again, please take some time to inform yourself about the issues and by "informing", i don't mean using your best friend or favorite aunt as a resource.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

You know, I don't think I buy the line that we get to keep our existing insurance or it won't be changed. Wouldn't this bill change all insurance? So I'm sure something will change regarding my insurance, maybe a price increase?

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President said that only people earning 250k or more will pay more tax. Not many nurses earn that amount. Universal healthcare CAN work. Most western countries have universal healthcare, and overall, it's a success. America is the largest western country in the world, and it will be able to accomodate health care for all citizens easily. I read about all the mobs out there attacking elected members of congress, but I think that there is a reason behind the demonstrations, and that is the fact that there are so many insurance companies out there that make billions out of taking money from the low income without giving good service will cease to exist, and good ridance. That needs to stop. I hate seeing seniors having to worry about healthcare costs, and children never being able to see a doctor unless it's an emergency. There will never be forced abortions, or anyone pulling the plug.

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So we should just take the spoon fed Obama website and just assume it is all accurate. Obama has no plan for health care right now except that he and his family will not be a part of it. Anything less than Congress's full participation in the plan first is a no go for me.

Where are you getting your information? What source are you relying on for your information? As I stated above, the fear mongering going on about this proposed health care plan is frightening and ridiculous. Are you able to quote a reputible source that clearly explains that the government plans on "pulling the plug" on older people.

Please, please refer to the site below to obtain valid and reputible information about the President's Health Care plan. He addresses this frightening notion of "Euthanasia" that you referred to as "pulling the plug" and that opponents have been spewing to the public. If you actually take time to inform yourself, you'll find that seniors in the community have the option of receiving conseling on end of life issues such as Hospice, if they're interested.

Again, please take some time to inform yourself about the issues and by "informing", I don't mean using your best friend or favorite aunt as a resource.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/

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"Healthcare should be a human right, not a privalage!"

You speak my language, Gerry.

For those of us stuck with individual heath insurance, here is the reality:

For a family of 3: $700/ month X 12 = 8400/ yr

Deductible of 500 each/yr =1500/yr

+ 30% copay

We are looking at nearly 10,000 a year- before anyone gets sick. When a doctor wrote that he suspected my son had autism, they tried to cut him off. I don't know what they were worried about; we had already used up our (measly) allownace for Occupational therapy- the only thing they covered anyway.

At ten grand plus a year, I would call it a privelege. Now that my son has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, let's see how long that privelege lasts.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Insurance rates are out of control for those who pay out of their own pocket for it. The fact that there are insurance companies trying to drop clients because of the client's illness is horrible and wrong. Reminds me of the Rainmaker...

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"if they budgeted they could afford to have it"

We do not have the best insurance, we don't have the worst. But at nearly ten thousand a year for 3 healthy people......

If our household income was 20- 30K year, it would take a budget miracle to make that affordable.

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Specializes in medical.
Healthcare reform in America will create more jobs. At present, it's really hard for new grads to get jobs as so many Americans are not insured, and that means less hospital business. The only tax increases will be for all the executives out there making an absurd amounts of money. Healthcare should be a human right, not a privalage!

Healthcare should be a human right, hmmm... as long as I don't have to pay from my taxes for somebody else!

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

You pay for other people by way of taxes either way. You know, you pay for medicare it comes out of your check biweekly...i.e. you are already paying for someone else.

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