So what's going to happen to health care now?

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So, for better or worse, we have a new President. What do you think will be the future of health care and the future of nursing as a profession? Will we be better off as nurses or worse? Will we be better off as patients or worse?

Not looking for a political argument....god knows we've had enough of those in the past few days. Emotions are running high and we all have opinions. I'm just curious as to what we can expect.

Specializes in geriatrics.

As some posters have mentioned, health care is never free. Canada has universal health care, but it's the bare minimum. You want frills or extras? Sure, at an added cost.

More importantly, health care is never free. Canadians pay very high taxes for the services we have. It's a tiered system, but roughly 40 percent of my pay every 2 weeks is gone to various taxes.

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As some posters have mentioned, health care is never free. Canada has universal health care, but it's the bare minimum. You want frills or extras? Sure, at an added cost.

More importantly, health care is never free. Canadians pay very high taxes for the services we have. It's a tiered system, but roughly 40 percent of my pay every 2 weeks is gone to various taxes.

Canadians pay a lot less per capita than Americans do for healthcare, and have significantly better outcomes.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

My point Elkpark was that healthcare is not free. Furthermore, I've lived in Canada all my life, and I'm now working in the system. It's been deteriorating significantly over the last 10 years, and many Provinces have quietly moved to a two-tiered system.

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Geez! Relax, everything's is going to be fine. Don't read into all the media hype, listen to them you would think the world was going to end.

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My point Elkpark was that healthcare is not free.

Did anyone suggest that it is?

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It could be a fun exercise to guess how people will think of things if the ACA goes away and they still can't afford policy premiums or they don't qualify for what's available. Who will they blame then if Trump does just what he says and it makes a bad situation worse? I think they'll keep blaming Obama anyway lol.

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Impeached? For not having lobbyist around? For not signing bills with earmarks? For not taking a salary? That professor is an idiot! The man has not been sworn in yet and he's already being impeached. I'm optimistic that things will get better.

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What I find interesting is for my family of 3 we paid 345 roughly for blue Cross before Obamacare. Then once Obamacare happened, they dropped us. Then the only thing would could find was is the 800s. I dont even make that. If Healthcare was a right for all, I'd say hey, what about my family's health? My son keeps getting the run around for Peach state or peachcare. So not even my 5 yr old has insured 😔 I don't know what to do...

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Mfs1, first of all, why are you yelling? Are you aware that Obama could not have done all that to you? Keep in mind the real jerks here are the members of the house and senate who no one shows up to vote out. Obama can't do much without getting past those people.
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The problem with the ACA is that it does nothing to make healthcare affordable. It is all about health insurance which is NOT thebsame thing as health care. People don't need affordable insurance, they need affordable health care.

I read about people paying $800+ for insurance. that is almost $10k before they have even set foot in a doctor's office. Most of those people wpuld be better off paying OOP for doctor visits and maintaining a major medical/hospitalization plan.

Insurance is a business. They dont stay in business unless they bring in more in premiums than they pay out in benefits. Therefore, only those with the highest costs are going to be better off with a traditional plan than paying dor their own care.

We need to get past the idea that we need i expensive insurance and worry about whether or not people have affordable healthcare.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Did anyone suggest that it is?

Well, it seems a lot of people expect it to be free. I've known a lot of people with high disposable incomes who refuse to pay their own money for any type of healthcare. They'll buy the latest cell phone, but don't see why they should have to pay their own money to have their broken foot x-rayed.

I had a catastrophic policy that also covered some routine care. The premium was low, the deductible not too high. I paid out of pocket for some things, but I knew if something terrible happened I wouldn't be financially devastated. I also didn't have to work at a regular job to have insurance.

That policy was a casualty of the ACA. When I looked on the exchanges to find a replacement policy, I was shocked at what was considered "affordable." I was lucky enough to increase my hours at work to be benefit-eligible, but I miss my freedom.

I hope President-elect Trump can bring in some form of affordable catastrophic coverage. No reason people shouldn't pay for some of the services they get, and at least have peace of mind when something major happens.

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When I look in the crystal ball I don't like what I see. Fewer reimbursements to hospitals means more unethical treatment of the poor, such as the time my former hospital made me discharge a non-English speaking uninsured lady that needed her gallbladder out, and gave her a cab voucher to go to a neighboring, non-affiliated hospital's ER in the hopes that THEY would take her gallbladder out. Other worse outcomes for patients will push healthcare costs up as hospitals rush to save money in the short-term by further cutting staffing, making working conditions even worse than the already intollerable ones we struggle with now. This will further compound the nursing shortage, which will in turn lead to higher pay to get staff to work in these ever-more oppressive conditions. Public health funding on the local level is almost nonexistent, and funds are already threatened on planned parenthood. Regardless of feelings about the life/choice debate, the CDC's website identifies today's youths chances of getting incurable STD's and unintended pregnancies are trending higher and higher, while what little funding for sex education is going to be slashed, which will result in further rises in these rates.

In summary, I believe the policies by the incoming "leaders" are going to steer our healthcare ship into turbulent seas, and we'll find ourselves using little buckets to bail all the water out of our leaky old barge while we try not to let the whole thing sink throughout this tumultuous misadventure.

I'm upset, but it's lighting a fire in me to learn more about how to gear up for the fight ahead to set sail to calmer seas, more able to go the distance.

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