americans wait longer to see primary-care physicians than patients in britain, germany, australia, or new zealand--all countries with strong public-health systems.
nearly one quarter of americans reported waiting six days or more for an appointment with their doctor. new zealand scored best, with just 3 percent waiting that long, followed by australia (10 percent), germany (13 percent), and britain (15 percent).
canada rounded out the bottom, with more than a third waiting six days or more. similarly, america shares with its northern neighbor the dubious honor of being ranked last in terms of patients' ability to make same-day appointments.
only 26 percent of americans and canadians reported being able see their doctor on the day they called, compared with 60 percent in the netherlands and 48 percent in britain....
she shouldn't be going to the ER, that's the problem, people using the ER for primary care
My thoughts exactly!
I see people like this all of the time in my ED. I always refer them to the free clinic I work at, if this woman were to come there she would be seen and cared for by the physicians there throughout her illness.
I live in a small town, we have 2 free clinics there. In the major city I work in there are 11 (2 are peds only). They see everyone that comes in regardless of ability to pay. They provide preventative medicine as well as care for chronic illnesses. We also refer them to the proper resources to help them with other aspects such as Rx benefits and housing.
The care is here for everyone, they just need to be educated on how to receive it.
As I have said before, it may help for some to watch the documentary, "Sick Around the World." It may enlighten some.
But I guess it should be okay for the government to have more control over our health, I know they have our best interests at heart and they do do so well financially in all of the other areas, not to mention there great use of health care resources thus far. They know what's best for me and my family-much more than I do, and I know if one of my children were to get ill, they would treat them fairly (rolling my eyes).
I googled several combination's "free hospital care" "hospitals offer free care"
ect...ect...ect...
Got thousands of hits.
So, what have we learned here?
1. The # of people without insurance reported in the media is Bo-gus.
2. Millions of people who qualify for govt. assistance, for whatever the reason haven't signed up. If the govt. can even distribute the available funds in these programs, are we supposed to believe.............nah.
3. Our government runs through money like toilet paper at a diarrhea convention. Butt, we knew that.... (yes, I threw a butt joke in there, just making sure you were paying attention).
4. Medicare & social security will be broke when the boomers hit 65. I know that's not news....still though, you have to consider the track record. The best predictor of the future is the past.
5. If you run the numbers, this plan is not sustainable. Hawaii proved that in 2006.
Personally, I'd like to see something reasonable in tort reform & simplify billing, ICD9 is a nightmare that costs EVERY TAX PAYING CITIZEN a fortune.
When Vioxx went on trial people that could not prove damages.....heck, people who never even took the drug.... filed hoping to hop on the gravy train. (They should be fined & thrown in jail IMHO).
Read some of the pharma blogs, not the marketing side, read drug development blogs.
80% of the life saving drugs developed in the world come from right here in the USA.
While I dislike their presence in Washington (shame on you Obama, you promised to keep them out, but you are up to your elbows in their pockets...and those are some DEEP pockets).
If we strangle pharma, we strangle ourselves (that's the way it is, you don't have to like it).
I'm through ranting now.....return to your regular viewing......
americans wait longer to see primary-care physicians than patients in canada, britain, germany, australia, or new zealand--all countries with strong public-health systems.
nearly one quarter of americans reported waiting six days or more for an appointment with their doctor. new zealand scored best, with just 3 percent waiting that long, followed by australia (10 percent), germany (13 percent), and britain (15 percent). who did the poll, and how many opinions were polled?
canada rounded out the bottom, with more than a third waiting six days or more. again, how many were polled, and where were they? sounds like a rural area! similarly, america shares with its northern neighbor the dubious honor of being ranked last in terms of patients' ability to make same-day appointments. those who i know in canada, get next day appointments when their need is appropraite), unless of course, they request one at 7pm
only 26 percent of americans and canadians reported being able see their doctor on the day they called, compared with 60 percent in the netherlands and 48 percent in britain.... it's important to be assertive (not aggressive) when calling for an appointment, when the telephone answerer seems not to recognise urgency when they hear it!
polls are only as good as the source of them planned it to be. most times fewer than 100 people are questioned, and their coaching leads to misleading answers! sensationalist rags like newsweek want their products to sell, so i'd believe it if it was a direct and approved quote from a scientific organisation, only.
"14 million of the uninsured are fully eligible for government assistance through programs like medicare, medicaid, and schip, yet for some unknown reason, don't apply for benefits." quote from ozoneranger's post #23
where do you unearth stats such as those in your post? certainly not from the links offered therein!
medicaid for one, won't look at any application unless the person has no money, and earns/gets less than $1200./month!
"there is, in fact, an entire network of hospitals dedicated to providing care, at no expense to the families they serve." quote from same post
st. jude's is not a possibility for families with children other than the patient, who need to attend school; and family members who must go to work daily. cost of gas, meals away from home, etc. are prohibitive!
"if millions of americans aren't availing themselves of taxpayer-funded coverage, why should we think that an even bigger government healthcare bureaucracy would solve the problem" quote from same post
there are many people who won't set foot in a dpss office, due to wait time, need to fill in lengthy forms without understanding them, pride, disbelief in "system", etc., etc., etc. there is a sense of acceptibility when everyone uses the same/similar funding source for their medical/health care
"14 million of the uninsured are fully eligible for government assistance through programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP, yet for some unknown reason, don't apply for benefits." quote from ozoneranger's post #23
Where do you unearth stats such as those in your post? Certainly not from the links offered therein!
Medicaid for one, won't look at any application unless the person has no money, and earns/gets less than $1200./month!
In my state, it doesn't matter how poor you are, you will not get Medicaid unless you are 1) under 18, 2) pregnant, 3) permanently disabled, or 4) have one of a v. few (four or five, I believe) specific chronic diseases. If you don't fit into one of those categories, you are just SOL.
Also, there are no free or reduced price clinics/services in my county at all (although we certainly have plenty of poverty!) I tried to find assistance for a friend of mine a few years ago who was unemployed and needed a colonoscopy, and there was no assistance available. Period.
"merritt hawkins, a consulting firm that specializes in recruiting physicians and other health care professionals, surveyed more than 1,150 medical offices in 15 cities. the survey measured average appointment wait times in family practices as well as four specialties: cardiology, dermatology, obstetrics/gynecology and orthopedic surgery.
the survey found that, on average, wait times have increased by 8.6 days per city. boston had the longest wait, averaging 49.6 days, followed by philadelphia with 27 and los angeles with 24.2. the shortest was atlanta with an 11.2-day wait.
in all cities among all the specialties, the wait was 20.5 days.
tthe survey surmises that long wait times in boston could be the result in part of the 2006 health reform initiative that requires nearly every massachusetts resident to get health insurance.
(yes, I threw a butt joke in there, just making sure you were paying attention)..thumb.gif.041bac93584716f6dc9882dcd8cf500a.gif){kind=small}
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UKRNinUSA, RN
346 Posts
BTW, USA does not hold the patent on liberty and freedom. Ask any European who enjoys national health care if they are "enslaved".
The feudalistic society that we are rapidly heading toward WILL enslave you.