Having worked in a country which has socialized medicine I can certainly see the pit falls and the benefits. What I don't understand is the fear behind having socialized medicine In my opinion socialized medicine has more positive benefits than negative benefits.
The first and the most obvious concern is the cost to the patient and their family, we all know how devastating an illness can be for patients and their family many times I have witnessed the despair when a diagnoses meant further treatment which insurances question and in some cases wont cover. I have seen patients needing costly drugs to keep them alive and being unable to afford them, causing repeated admissions to repair the damage so called none compliance has caused. The first question in none compliance is were the pts actually refusing to take their medication or was it simply they could not afford to buy their medication because they don't have enough money and other bills need to be paid first? If the real reason is the cost then surely it would be more simple of we provided these medications at a more effective price or that all medications cost $5 no matter what they had? Outrageous I hear you shout but the cost of the repeated admission is far more costly than by helping prevent a repeat admission, by providing medicine they can afford.
How about blood tests could these not be done in the doctors office before the pt leaves for home and forgets to go and have a blood draw, or simply cannot get to the lab to have them drawn. I have personally waited in doctors office hours (and paid for the privilege) then been sent to the lab, miles away to sit and wait for blood work to be done. Why could the doctors not employ somebody to be at the office to draw blood on patients?
We should be looking at improving preventative medicine rather than patch it up and see.
Many times I have seen patients discharged with a new diagnoses of diabetes, no follow up at home can be organised because in my city nothing exists to assist these people. There should be a diabetic home nurse who monitors these patients in their own home-rationale, this would again help prevent admissions for diabetic complications, and none compliance.
So you wonder what has this got to do with socialized medicine. Well, in the UK if you have...
Children
Over 60 for women and over 65 for men
Diabetes
Asthma
Thyroid problems, etc...
...then you get all your medicines for free.
There are in place specialized RN's who focus is on preventative care in the community. There are telephone help lines which anybody can utilize for free.
Maternity care is free a midwife will be assigned to you for the duration of your pregnancy and up to 6 weeks later. The cost of the birth-nothing no matter how you deliver.
I have been asked what kind of care do you receive in a socialized medicine country and I ask them, I am a product of socialized medicine you tell me how my care differs from nurses who have paid outrageous amounts of money to train as a nurse?
Of course even in the UK you can have private care if you chose to pay, this is an advantage if you need hip replacements, knee replacements, eye surgeries-other wise you may have to wait. There are initiatives in place to reduce waiting times for surgeries in the NHS and I hear that dr's can now book surgeries from their office at hospitals all over the UK which helps reduce waiting times, plus hospitals get fined if they don't meet their quota.
I agree MRI's and CT's are not as freely available, but again initiatives are in place to improve the waiting times. Emergency care no different all patients will receive emergency care.
Poor conditions yes there are poor hospitals and there are excellent hospitals, no different to Phoenix AZ.
Specializes in psychiatric, UR analyst, fraud, DME,MedB.
you go girl Lamaze !!!! ....to the point !!!! Ladies and gentlemen , as nurses we should be in the front line, promoting this health care reform....immedicately !! Do not give the insurance company and the special interests lobbyist to more delay tactics. The American people can not get any health care unless they are filthy rich or filthy poor ---------and leave the ones in the middle holding the tax bills , and excessive insurance premiums.
I can see the poor ( I am getting there real fast, and I am a nurse supporting a daughter and a grandaughter, and they are in Medicaid because I can not afford their health care ???? Do you know how that hurts ? and they do not get an "efficient" treatment because they are not paying customers ????).
If people do not get any treatment because they could not afford it --we could have epidemics galore in the future because of untreated diseases .....among other things. Look , I am not against capitalist, this is part of Americas kudos, but not greedy capitalists ........at the expense of our American people !
you go girl Lamaze !!!! ....to the point !!!! Ladies and gentlemen , as nurses we should be in the front line, promoting this health care reform....immedicately !! Do not give the insurance company and the special interests lobbyist to more delay tactics. The American people can not get any health care unless they are filthy rich or filthy poor ---------and leave the ones in the middle holding the tax bills , and excessive insurance premiums.
I can see the poor ( I am getting there real fast, and I am a nurse supporting a daughter and a grandaughter, and they are in Medicaid because I can not afford their health care ???? Do you know how that hurts ? and they do not get an "efficient" treatment because they are not paying customers ????).
If people do not get any treatment because they could not afford it --we could have epidemics galore in the future because of untreated diseases .....among other things. Look , I am not against capitalist, this is part of Americas kudos, but not greedy capitalists ........at the expense of our American people !
CHANGE MUST HAPPEN NOW TO OUR HEALTH INSURANCE.
We do need changes to our health care system. But there's no way in he** I'll agree to pass a bill first so I can find out what's is in it, according to Pelosi!!!
you go girl Lamaze !!!! ....to the point !!!! Ladies and gentlemen , as nurses we should be in the front line, promoting this health care reform....immedicately !! Do not give the insurance company and the special interests lobbyist to more delay tactics. The American people can not get any health care unless they are filthy rich or filthy poor ---------and leave the ones in the middle holding the tax bills , and excessive insurance premiums.
I can see the poor ( I am getting there real fast, and I am a nurse supporting a daughter and a grandaughter, and they are in Medicaid because I can not afford their health care ???? Do you know how that hurts ? and they do not get an "efficient" treatment because they are not paying customers ????).
If people do not get any treatment because they could not afford it --we could have epidemics galore in the future because of untreated diseases .....among other things. Look , I am not against capitalist, this is part of Americas kudos, but not greedy capitalists ........at the expense of our American people !
CHANGE MUST HAPPEN NOW TO OUR HEALTH INSURANCE.
I hear you loud and clear, but with the current version of this plan your daughter and grandchild will still have Medicaid. In my state of MA we have universal health, but cases like your family would be Medicaid. In MA we have the highest insurance costs but no one is denied care.
Specializes in psychiatric, UR analyst, fraud, DME,MedB.
I live in a state where Universal Health Care is the law. I am happy with the current system although we are Number One in health care costs. I would not oppose a "Universal Health Care System" if it was based on my home state.
I am for a health reform that will allow access of medical care to all.:) Sure a big chunk of it comes from taxes, but at least it will be used for the American people health care instead of wasting the money in something else !!!!How this is done is definitely better than letting a private insurance companies run the whole gamut of health care delivery. If they can, they will send all the pre existing customers to the "Soy Green " factory and that includes children w/ cancer or incurable diseases, and of course , the helpless elderly.
Not everybody can afford an expensive health insurance. Maybe you can afford now , becaseu you have the means of paying cause you have a job or independently rich ? . Suppose you lost your job ,or a member of your family is dying of an "expensive" disease, and you can not get any treatment...........waht are you going to do???
To get the correct facts and what the HEALTH REFORM can do , please go to ; WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV
I hear you loud and clear, but with the current version of this plan your daughter and grandchild will still have Medicaid. In my state of MA we have universal health, but cases like your family would be Medicaid. In MA we have the highest insurance costs but no one is denied care.
Your health care costs (including the premium - not a tax- for health care will be lower than the one in MA now), as health care charges/costs will be lower, especially medications, hospital and DME, as cuts will not be in staff, but in frills such as decorator hospital lobbies, each hbospital having all the bells and whistles, etc. The reason medications cost much less in Canada, is because the department of the government there, that purchases them has greater negotiating power than any one pharmacy chain possibly could. They represent higher numbers of people and $$$.
Although we hate to think that it really matters, but peoples' dignity is retained and enjoyed, when we aren't constantly fearful of paycheck draining through health care costs, putting food on the table, and the need to pay the rent/mortgage late or not at all. Most of you probably expect at least a dozen staff members to be working in your doctors' offices. The miscommunication due to that, is rampant!
I worked in a pediatrician's office when I arrived in this country from Canada in 1963, and was the sole employee there (other than his wife, whio did the billing). I scheduled appointments, triaged phone calls, greeted patients, escorted them and their parent(s) to a room where I weighed and measured them; and after their office visit, I carried out the doctor's orders for obtaining prescriptions, gave immunizations, and examined urine specimens and drew blood for testing, teaching all the while for their greater understanding of the illness they had, called radiology for their appointments, etc. We saw about 35 patients daily. I also counselled new mothers, and made occasional home visits to give 2nd bicillin injections and lactation consultation. It wasn't too much......
I am for a health reform that will allow access of medical care to all.:) Sure a big chunk of it comes from taxes, but at least it will be used for the American people health care instead of wasting the money in something else !!!!How this is done is definitely better than letting a private insurance companies run the whole gamut of health care delivery. If they can, they will send all the pre existing customers to the "Soy Green " factory and that includes children w/ cancer or incurable diseases, and of course , the helpless elderly.
Not everybody can afford an expensive health insurance. Maybe you can afford now , becaseu you have the means of paying cause you have a job or independently rich ? . Suppose you lost your job ,or a member of your family is dying of an "expensive" disease, and you can not get any treatment...........waht are you going to do???
To get the correct facts and what the HEALTH REFORM can do , please go to ; WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV
I guess I would go on Medicaid like your daughter does.
Funny, the doctors I work with say working with private insurance is easier dealing with Medicare or Medcaid ( which does not pay it's bills).
Sure, because they want to anything they can, to keep doctors' allegiance to their interest - in themselves (the hierarchy of insurance company (mainly Blue Cross, which by any other name, is still the same, a monopoly, which is illegal).
I've heard that medicaid and Medicare is more likely to pay doctors' bills with alacrity, unless fraud is suspected. The cases of fraudulent billing have been discovered by the government subsidised programs, rather than private insurance companies - guess why.
Specializes in psychiatric, UR analyst, fraud, DME,MedB.
hello ladies , thank you for the exchange of opinions. i feel i needed to quote the presidents plan here, so you can read it yourself and think about the changes proposed; you can ge this from the whitehouse.gov.
"his proposal would provide coverage to 31 million uninsured americans and set up a new federal system to review private insurers' premium hikes.
the [color=#990000]president's plan, would end discrimination against americans with preexisting health conditions, provide assistance in the form of tax cuts to make health insurance more affordable, require plans to offer family coverage for adult dependents up to age 26, prohibit annual and lifetime limits on insurance coverage, and stop companies from canceling coverage. it would also expand medicaid for low-income americans and reimburse states nearly the entire cost of the expansion for six years.
the freshest feature would require private insurers to submit premium increases to state or federal officials for review, and unreasonable increases would have to be reduced. a new health insurance rate authority would monitor the rate review and track insurance pricing.
medicare changes
for medicare beneficiaries, the obama proposal would close the gap in drug coverage by 2020, provide a $250 rebate for those in the gap this year, and provide free annual physical exams, screenings and other preventive health care. it also would reduce overpayments to insurance companies that offer medicare advantage plans by requiring them to competitively bid against comparable costs in traditional medicare. and it would boost the fight against medicare fraud, waste and abuse.
"with both the house and senate passing health reform legislation, our nation has come too far to stop now in our efforts to reform our current system--a system that is bloated, inefficient and doesn't work for everybody," said aarp executive vice president nancy leamond. "
that said , i rest my case as to why we need to initiate the change now. we will tweek the fine tunings of the health reform as we go forward.
This is a critical time for all the health care uninsured, underinsured, recipients of health care who are charged excessively and unable to pay the medical bills they have; and Medicare covered people in America. The Reform of Health Care bill will be voted in or out this week!
Please, everyone call your congresspeople and urge them to vote for the bill. Without it, much time will be lost for those whpo are barely surviving due to the health care financial crisis in our country. While health insurance companies have tens of billions of profits, the peoplke here are losing their homes, health, and lives due to that averice.
Specializes in Critical Care, Education, and Acute Care.
Socialism cannot survive without raising taxes. Taxes have never been levied for the benefit of the taxed. There is no worse tyranny than to force a person to pay for what they do not want merely because you think it would be good for them.
Now I ask you: what is it you want us to pay taxes for? Tell me what I get and perhaps I'll just buy it.
....to the point !!!! Ladies and gentlemen , as nurses 
we should be in the front line, promoting this health care reform....immedicately !! Do not give the insurance company and the special interests lobbyist to more delay tactics. The American people can not get any health care unless they are filthy rich or filthy poor ---------and leave the ones in the middle holding the tax bills , and excessive insurance premiums. 
MaritesaRN
427 Posts
you go girl Lamaze !!!!
....to the point !!!! Ladies and gentlemen , as nurses 
we should be in the front line, promoting this health care reform....immedicately !! Do not give the insurance company and the special interests lobbyist to more delay tactics. The American people can not get any health care unless they are filthy rich or filthy poor ---------and leave the ones in the middle holding the tax bills , and excessive insurance premiums.
I can see the poor ( I am getting there real fast, and I am a nurse supporting a daughter and a grandaughter, and they are in Medicaid because I can not afford their health care ???? Do you know how that hurts ? and they do not get an "efficient" treatment because they are not paying customers ????).
If people do not get any treatment because they could not afford it --we could have epidemics galore in the future because of untreated diseases .....among other things. Look , I am not against capitalist, this is part of Americas kudos, but not greedy capitalists ........at the expense of our American people !
CHANGE MUST HAPPEN NOW TO OUR HEALTH INSURANCE.