There has been a lot of discussion recently about "universal" health care and there have been some myths touted as facts and some misconceptions about the abilities of such a system to truly meet patient needs. I do not know if there is one single ideal system anywhere in the world.
What I want to do is open a discussion so that those who do not live with a universal or national health care system can ask questions about how such a system works. I am hopeful that this will start an international dialogue where you can see what does work and what does not work. I hope that out of such a dialogue, open honest and sharing we can all come away with ideas that might help fix the problems we have within our own systems.
Some of the statements about Universal health care I have seen include:-
1) Nursing wages are less within a Universal Health Care System
2) Taxation to pay for such a system will bankrupt the average employee
3) Research is unfunded and less
4) Waiting lists/wait times cause unneccessary deaths
5) The system will be abused with people demanding more because it is free
6) resources will be wasted on the undeserving
7) public health funding will suffer
Please make take this opportunity to explore health care across the world. Ask yourself - if I had the ability to wish into existance the ideal system what would work and what would be a waste of money??
