How Will Universal Health Care Change Nursing?

allnurses Guide · Jun 19, 2009

UKPedsRN · Jun 19, 2009

1rrrn - what if doctors and nurses got control of the system instead of the insurance companies trying to ram people through the production line? what if drug companies had fair prices and fewer side effects? it is going to get better for patients and therefore nurses! but, i wouldn't count on 1000 bed hospitals being there forever.

what planet are you on? universal healthcare will mean the government trying to ram people trhough the production line - i know i work in the nhs. doctors and nurses have very little say in anything here- government targets must be met at all costs, and if the illness/diagnosis you have doesnt have a target - well you may as well forget quality care.

the drug companies will continue to make their money, irregardless of who is paying them, the drug companies extract billions out of our government every day.

having worked in the nhs and in the us, i can tell you where i would prefer to have my insurance and my health care and it is not the nhs!! and i can also say that my worst employer in the us was 50 times better than any of my employers in the uk.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Jun 19, 2009

More myth-busting and this has been said for years but people are still not getting it.
And of the remaining uninsured, 6 million lack insurance for only a few months.

The bottom line: About 8.2 million Americans, not 45 million, are chronically uninsured and low-income. And they are the working poor. They have jobs but, because of the high cost of insurance, no coverage. ... "

I get it just fine. It's just my opion that lacking insurance "for only a few months" is unacceptable and "only" 8.2 million uninsured is unacceptable.

What I don't get is how we can afford to go to war, but we can't afford to take care of our own. Most of us get our insurance through our workplace. Yet how many actual work -years do we have? We will all be unemployed at some point. If you're lucky that point will be after age 65 when you're covered. If not....you lose everything. It's not right.

I'm only offering my opinion, and have no wish to argue with anyone with a different opinion, so please don't get upset and try to change my mind. I've been around for a long time and I've seen all sorts of good people fall through the huge cracks in our so-called system. It's not right for us to choose to do that to all those people. And we do choose--every single time we hit that voting booth and pull that lever. We choose. So far, we've chosen to bankrupt families with a devastating illness / trauma, and we've chosen to support greedy insurance companies who don't want to pay for livesaving therapies.

It's not right. It's just not right. There has to be a better way than this. Those who don't want to go with universal healthcare need to think up something really really quick, because the rest of us need solutions now.

FireStarterRN, BSN, RN · Jun 19, 2009

One thing it will do is allow many nurses to go to per diem instead of clinging to full time jobs merely for the health insurance.

We'd have to ask our Canadian colleagues as far as wages. Their nation is fairly equivalent to the U.S. in lifestyle and standard of living, yet they have universal coverage.

looking4wrd · Jun 19, 2009

Spidey's mom, thank you for all of the information you posted. I hope everyone reads it. We all need to do our own investigating of this issue and not take for granted everything coming out of the White House. This is a HUGE political issue with lots of emotion on both sides and for us to believe everything we are "fed" is ridiculous. If you do your own investigating, like Spidey's mom did, you will find more accurate statistics and information. Unfortunately, since this is a HUGE policital issue, if you sit around blelieving everything that comes out of the White House you will be seeing everything through rose colored glasses.

amjowens · Jun 19, 2009

At first, I was thinking that universal health coverage meant something like Canada/Europe...a socialist-type system, and imagined long lines, etc. After reading what I can about the FACTS..the actual proposed plan, I am shocked at how much it does make sense, ...as well as the numbers of businesses that are limited due to health care costs/the number of hard-working Americans who are struggling. Politically, I try to stay in the middle, so I can see both sides, but I'm seeing more and more the scare tactics of the right. My boyfriend and I have differing views on the health care issue (he's a physician), and he's not even looking at the facts of what Obama is SAYING...health insurance requirements (kind of like auto requirements) for all so that the system flows again and we're not paying for the HUGE number of uninsured, KEEPING competition by utilizing current private health insurance systems (but ridding of the greeeed/unfair practices), minimizing the GOV'T run Medicare/caid which have been a flop overall, and yeah, making sure those who can't afford health coverage get it. Not exactly government-run hospitals..It's so scary to me how the media/untrue scare tactics, and especially, concern for oneself over the concern of the whole "neighborhood" can lead people to think to a point that they turn off their hearing to the facts...if we're going to talk history, now that's some scary stuff.

WannaBeNrse · Jun 19, 2009

Universal healthcare means less cost, more choices, and better care and outcomes for everybody. If you don't believe this, do some research regarding different healthcare systems. No system is as expensive as ours, yet the care we get is still mediocre at best. Worldwide, we are only #23 in life expectancy. We are the only developed country except for south africa that does not grant health insurance for all of it's citizens. Our infant mortality rates are much higher than they should be in such a great country.

I honestly do not know what everybody is so afraid of. Obviously, something needs to be done. Yeah, I know, some of you are gonna tell me about big government and how "they" are pretty soon gonna control everything. But you know what, at this time, the control is in the hands of the private insurance companies, and there motivation is and always will be money. Healthcare should be primarily about helping people and saving lives, as idealistic as this may sound, it should never, ever be about money first.

Yes, it may affect our pay. But if it means healthcare for everybody, I gladly take a pay cut. There simply is no excuse for leaving people without healthcare in this country, the richest nation on the planet. And if it means we all need to sacrifice a little, I am fine with this.

By the way, medicare is a government program, and most people gladly accept their medicare coverage once eligible.

To quote Martin Luther King Jr.: "Of all the forms of inequility, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane."

Fiona59 · Jun 19, 2009

One thing it will do is allow many nurses to go to per diem instead of clinging to full time jobs merely for the health insurance.
We'd have to ask our Canadian colleagues as far as wages. Their nation is fairly equivalent to the U.S. in lifestyle and standard of living, yet they have universal coverage.

Thanks for asking BUT whenever we explain our system we get shouted by down by some very vocal poster. Whenever we post something we have the nightmare scenarios posted that every system will unfortunately run into, we get "but that would never happen here in the US" or "they sent the patient to the US"(but fail to understand that the taxpayer paid for it all).

Yes, we have universal healthcare and a similar standard of living BUT we are also a very unionized workforce which is something that seems to be an abomination to US posters.

So, I don't think you'll get to many Cdns. wanting to enter this debate.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 19, 2009

Perhaps not the end of healthcare, but definitely the beginning of a crappy healthcare system. As unfortunate as it is, the US doesn't have enough staff, all staff (MD, nurse, techs, ect.) to support universal healthcare. Just my humble opinion.

In my honest opinion, the healthcare system in the U.S. has already been crappy for the past twenty-something years.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Jun 19, 2009

I don't know why people are so afraid of the government "controlling their health" when right now the insurance companies are doing it.

looking4wrd · Jun 19, 2009

I would LOVE to hear Canadian's perspectives about their plans, as it is true that I hear a lot of nightmarish stories. It would be nice to hear the GOOD things about it. Anyhow, back to the OP's question...how will it affect nursing??

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 19, 2009

Here are two personal examples of my troubles with employer-sponsored healthcare.

I had a pelvic/abdominal MRI in 2005. Although I had coverage from two different insurance companies at the time the procedure was performed, both entities refused to pay the bill because they deemed the MRI "experimental." I was stuck with the $4,900 bill.

I had an overnight hospital stay last year. My employer-sponsored health plan provided 80/20 coverage, meaning that I was responsible for 20 percent of all covered medical expenses. The overnight hospital stay cost $20,000 and I had to pay $4,000 out of my own pocket. I am still making small monthly payments to the hospital so that the medical bills don't destroy my credit rating.

I would absolutely love having a system similar to Canada's, where citizens pay $49 monthly for their healthcare regardless of pre-existing conditions. Taxes might increase, but my medical bills will be nonexistent. This is a trade-off that I am willing to settle for.