I am watching Michael Moore's "Sicko" for the first time....

I'd like to add that while public healthcare would be expensive, at the moment our healthcare costs more (and covers less people) than other nations with public healthcare. It's something I've heard quoted a lot, here's one article that mentions this fact: http://www.kentucky.com/216/story/723248.html. It's probably worth noting too that Canadian taxes aren't particularly higher than in the US, in fact they're frequently lower (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/fq/txrts-eng.html) so it would be a mistake to connect public health care absolutely with higher taxes.

Too, to the idea that people will use it more if it's free, I've found from living in Canada that people tend to go more the other way, feel bad about using it and not go often enough (it's a problem here with people waiting too long to see a physician out of guilt).

No country has found the ideal system for health care, but I don't see why the fact that other countries aren't perfect = the idea that our system is just as good - they may not be ideal, but they're on the right track at least. I think it's funny how "socialist" is such a bogeyman term, some systems should be socialized, the fiercely independent get-rich American dream mentality need not be applied across the board (I might argue it shouldn't be applied at all, but that's another discussion)

I'm fairly conservative politically, but in this one area I am unabashedly in favor of abolishing our current patchwork "system" of healthcare and allowing government to collect the funds for universal health care---NOT health "insurance". I want to see the insurance industry completely OUT of the picture. Insurance companies are why costs are out of control, why our paperwork is ridiculous, why average people don't get care until they're so sick they wind up in the ER, why so many desperately needed procedures are never done (consider weight-loss surgery) even though they would save lives and money in the long run.

I wouldn't want politicians to oversee the actual system, especially not at the federal level. Instead I'd have panels made up of healthcare professionals (INCLUDING nurses!), financial and legal experts, and knowledgeable laypersons to administer health programs at the state level. Who better than the states themselves to determine the needs specific to their populations?

But however we get there, we MUST establish access to basic medical services for every citizen of this nation and get the profiteers out of health care. Nothing less will suffice. And that's all I have to say about that.

I don't know the answers but I sure wish something was done, one of the things we look forward to with me being a RN is the great medical benefits the hospital I want to work at has. For full coverage medical and dental for my whole family will come out to 250 a month. My husband is self employed, for us to Ins our whole family now with a high deductible to lower the premium was 932 a month. That is a few hundred shy of my rent! Not to mention we rarely go to the Doctor, and are all pretty healthy but I am to scared of the WHAT IF's to not have it for at least my children. To save money for us now, my husband and I do not have Ins. I have to have it for NS so I will get it in a few months. I really wish something would happen to make it more affordable.

I am all in favor of Universal Healthcare but I am not willing to pay more in taxes than I already pay.

I watched that movie for the first time just a few weeks ago........actually I posted a thread afterwards curious as to how social medicine would affect me as a nurse.......got some interesting feedback!
The movie does get ya thinkin though doesn't it?!!?!?

I want universal health care as well, but take everything you see in a Michael Moore movie with a grain of salt. He's from around here (Flint) and either the Detroit News or Detroit Free Press did an article on how his movies use selective editing to manipulate their points rather than to potray the a picture consistent with reality. They also had fact-checkers tear up a lot of the movies as well. This was before "Sicko" but once a source is tarnished for me, I don't go back there again.

I've never seen "Sicko", because I don't like Michael Moore and have no use for his radical bombastics. However, I've been speaking out in favor of UHC for over 20 years, having been uninsured AND underinsured and denied two desperately-needed surgeries. I'm also paying nearly $500 a month for my current employer's health coverage, which is as bad as having NO insurance since it won't cover any of my pre-existing conditions. In addition, I've gone through one bankruptcy due to medical bills and may have to file again at some point in the future since the bills are mounting up fast now that both my dh and I are older and have to see our PCP every 3 months for "maintenance".

The OP should be incredulous.......Michael Moore is a MASTER of Propaganda!

As someone who has always lived in Canada, I think that some people don't realize some of the consequences of having a socialized healthcare system.

I am known to simultaneously praise and hate our system at the same time.

Some big problems off the top of my head.

1. The doctor shortage....We probably have the same proportion of people without GPs as you guys have without insurance. If there are no doctors in your area...you are out of luck so...

ETA: The doctor shortage is related to the non-competitive pay that socialized systems pay...

2. The ER is used and abused. There is no other choice. (See above)

3. Shortage of doctors and funding creates... wait lists. Even Canadians don't realize how dismal it is when it takes months to see a specialist, a year to have an MRI, months to start radiation of a diagnosed cancer... until they experience it themselves, and there is no exaggeration there (anyone can google wait list times in Canada for any of the above). We don't have a two tier system, so your option is to wait, or leave the country ($).

This is no where near an inclusive list.

Michael Moore is biased and shows one side of the story. Our system is just as weak and broken, it's just a different type of weak and broken. The grass is always greener...

I pay $175 or thereabouts every pay period for my family's insurance. All 3 of us are healthy - I take Zoloft for depression, OCPs, and Lunesta for insomnia r/t nightshift. Other than that, no meds for any of us. My employer pays about $350 every pay period for my insurance.

Take my $175 and my employers $350 = $525. If my employer didn't have to pay that, and I didn't have that taken out of my paycheck going straight to the insurer - hey, take that and fund UHC. Do that across the board, I don't know that anyone would need to worry about their taxes going up.