will universal healthcare ( in the usa) cut RN pay?

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I been hearing this debate off and on for a long time about how if Obama gets universal healthcare to go ( if he gets elected of course)though in the US that nursing pay will be cut dramatically. I would think this has to do with the fact that we would all be working for the government and that there will no longer be competition. There are many people in my nursing class that said they will leave nursing if thats the case. I also talked to several doctors that said the same thing about medicine in general. Im just curious if anyone has some good info about this. Thanks

Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

The point with UHC is that we are all paying for it.

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We are not all paying for it. UHC does not make everyone pay the same amount. The ones who will use it the most will pay the least. Once the government starts laying out the cash health care costs wil increase dramatically. Look no further than public education. Once student loans and grants become available a college education has gone through the roof.

The point with UHC is that we are all paying for it.
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We are not all paying for it. UHC does not make everyone pay the same amount. The ones who will use it the most will pay the least. Once the government starts laying out the cash health care costs wil increase dramatically. Look no further than public education. Once student loans and grants become available a college education has gone through the roof.

Your against student loans and grants as well? The argument for UHC is not to get someone else to foot the bill but to cover those that are without health insurance through the use of a larger pool. This is why such systems are working in almost every 1st world nation.

Good, hard working people are without health coverage. Watch the Video presentation Critical Condition on Sept 30th to see how working Americans are being screwed by the insurance industry. Almost all of us are a major illness or accident away from being on the role of the uninsured and left at the mercy of what little charity s available. The links below are examples of real people that despite their best efforts have fallen short at no fault of their own.

I hope that you can find the compassion and empathy to take another look at the need for universal health care. Americans deserve better than what our goverment and the insurance industry is currently providing.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=amdo1fp3d9

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=amdo1fp3d8

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CRNA2007 -

You seem mighty fisty tonight. Healthcare should not be for-profit.. period. .

It is a business - no one has the right to say doctors, nurses, hospitals, aides, x-ray techs, housekeepers, lab techs, surgical techs, medics, etc., don't have the right to make money at their job.

Health care facilities should be able to make money.

steph

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.
We are not all paying for it. UHC does not make everyone pay the same amount. The ones who will use it the most will pay the least. Once the government starts laying out the cash health care costs wil increase dramatically. Look no further than public education. Once student loans and grants become available a college education has gone through the roof.

Well of course we're not all paying for it now, because there is no UHC in place. Most countries that have UHC in place have a flat tax so while everyone is not paying the same absolute amount, they are paying the same proportion of their income.

Once the government starts laying out the cash? As if the government is not already laying out the cash, and as if health care costs are not already ridiculous. I can't see how having UHC will make this any worse, and it might just make it better.

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As an aside . . . .My husband called me this morning - there was a fire on his job caused by a piece of machinery that cuts the trees. Response by the "Forest Circus" (aka Forest Service) was amusing to my dh . . . and one of the supervisors with the Forest Circus laughingly said to my husband "And people want the folks responsible for running this outfit to run health care????".

steph:coollook:

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
It is a business - no one has the right to say doctors, nurses, hospitals, aides, x-ray techs, housekeepers, lab techs, surgical techs, medics, etc., don't have the right to make money at their job.

Health care facilities should be able to make money.

steph[/quote

With single payer such as Medicare facilities remain the same.

It is so simple.

Everybody in. Nobody out.

Everbody who pays now and those with an income pay with single payer.

Those who are disabled with no income will be in.

With guaranteed healthcare many disabled people will be able to work because they won't have to be destitute to have Medicare. Then they will pay too.

Young people who gamble their health will hold out until student loans are paid will have healthcare. Their premiums will be part of their payroll deductions.

People who choose to attend school and not work at a job that provides healthcare will not have to worry about how they will pay if a tragic accident or illness occurs.

http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/files/facts_singlepayer_top10.pdf

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Specializes in Psych, CVICU, SICU, MICU, PICU.
It is a business - no one has the right to say doctors, nurses, hospitals, aides, x-ray techs, housekeepers, lab techs, surgical techs, medics, etc., don't have the right to make money at their job.

Health care facilities should be able to make money.

steph

Please Steph, before you comment, read what I said. Why would I say that health care workers do not have a right to make money, when I am an RN myself? Though

I am definitely anti-corporation and anti-capitalist.

Back to the subject. I feel that Universal Healthcare will still pay healthcare workers salaries, and a lot of the hype created are rumours created by the insurance companies and corporate hospitals to place fear in healthcare workers in attempts to stall the bill. I would venture to go one step farther, and say those people arguing against universal healthcare are in positions that may be affected by the change.

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We are not all paying for it. UHC does not make everyone pay the same amount. The ones who will use it the most will pay the least. Once the government starts laying out the cash health care costs wil increase dramatically. Look no further than public education. Once student loans and grants become available a college education has gone through the roof.

If everyone is in the risk pool costs come down. (along with a consistent benefit set.) Paying a consistent percentage of income is not unreasonable. Right now we have 1/3 of our populace unable to afford adequate coverage. Family coverage is easily 1000/month. With 1/3 of our populace supporting families at 200% of poverty or below that represents 25% of their income going to health care. Absolutely unaffordable for a family. With 27% of their premium dollars going to expenses that is a tremendous upwards redistribution of wealth. (270$/month.) That 250 dollars/family would pay for a lot of preventative care.

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Specializes in NICU.
If everyone is in the risk pool costs come down. (along with a consistent benefit set.) Paying a consistent percentage of income is not unreasonable. Right now we have 1/3 of our populace unable to afford adequate coverage. Family coverage is easily 1000/month. With 1/3 of our populace supporting families at 200% of poverty or below that represents 25% of their income going to health care. Absolutely unaffordable for a family. With 27% of their premium dollars going to expenses that is a tremendous upwards redistribution of wealth. (270$/month.) That 250 dollars/family would pay for a lot of preventative care.

This is where I have a problem. It would be nice if everyone were to contribute, but as it stands now in this country, those with families (read: only people with minor children) and lower incomes pay next to nothing in taxes (some even get more money back) but use the most resources. So using this model, as the gov't often does, I would still be paying for far more than I could possibly use and have to deal with the realities that I think UHC will bring (ie ... only certain conditions covered, larger deductibles for those with higher incomes and such.) I just can't afford that and I think it's unreasonable to require that I give a larger portion of my (very hard earned) income than others. It concerns me quite a bit that I will still be penalized for being a responsible citizen.

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This is where I have a problem. It would be nice if everyone were to contribute, but as it stands now in this country, those with families (read: only people with minor children) and lower incomes pay next to nothing in taxes (some even get more money back) but use the most resources. So using this model, as the gov't often does, I would still be paying for far more than I could possibly use and have to deal with the realities that I think UHC will bring (ie ... only certain conditions covered, larger deductibles for those with higher incomes and such.) I just can't afford that and I think it's unreasonable to require that I give a larger portion of my (very hard earned) income than others. It concerns me quite a bit that I will still be penalized for being a responsible citizen.

Do you really make that much money that you would be paying a larger portion than every one else? And you have insurance that covers everything with an itty bitty deductible? Where do you work and how do I get your job?

BTW, you already pay for poor people with lower incomes and children... it's called KidCare, Medicaid, and Welfare. UHC would be for the rest of us who work our butts off but may not be so lucky as some of our peers. I know that I already pay far more into health insurance than I have used or most likely will ever use... but insurance is supposed to be a safety net. I truly hope for your sake that you will never "get your money's worth" out of your insurance.

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Friendly reminder to keep things on topic and about the effects of UHC on RN pay.....thanks.

Back on topic... When I was with a doctor in private practice I learned a lot about what each insurance company paid for each service. At one point the doctor was trying to decide if he should drop Aetna US Healthcare (a private insurance) or NJ KidCare (medicaid). He dropped Aetna... because we were losing money with them and they didn't cover anything for the patients anyway. It turns out that KidCare (goverment plan) was superior in both respects.

I don't think that UHC will lower nurses wages. Medicare is a different story... but it was created in a different era.

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