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

I had to laugh at this post. You purport to know everything about me but someone does the same to you , you start getting all defensive. Are you really even a nurse? I don't know of any other nurses that come on here with direct personal attacks like you have been displaying.

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J-O-L-I-E- How do you know how much I pay in taxes? You know nothing about me, as I know nothing about you. All of the above charities sound good.. sounds like the United Way charities, to me.. which I do not support because the only charities that they will support are pro-life. I could give numbers, too, but I am not impressed by a person solely upon the money they make. I learned a long time ago that money does not make a person, and those that talk about it most have the least money at their disposal. Irregardless of how much money you have or how much taxes you pay, you have no right to sit in judgement of others.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Guys, come on.

This is a debate about issues, not about individual posters. Please, please, please don't make it personal. It doesn't really matter what organizations Jolie contributes to, nor whether tfunk's story is really real. There are people on both sides of the issue who are very very nice people....and the opposite may also be true.

So please......keep it about the issues.

E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y. :) Thanks.

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Gotta say, my European friends are very very happy with their UHC. That includes various countries - Finland, Germany, the UK....and I'm sure the list could go on.

and they have better quality care AND greater access...

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Specializes in Psych, CVICU, SICU, MICU, PICU.
That coming from someone with 30 posts in 3 1/2 years? Hmmm, makes me wonder who your alter-ego is. Who says that her opinion is the losing one? Maybe others just aren't into bantering about this issue. It really is pointless. The foundations of our beliefs are firm and a few sob stories aren't going to change them. Just has rational thoughts don't change your opinion.

I find your posts to be very offensive. You don't know anything about these two and yet you judge them for their political beliefs. They could be the best nurses around and still not want to pay for their patients' healthcare. It doesn't make them bad nurses, it simply means that they want to be in control of their money. If I want to pay for someone's healthcare then I'll donate (non-tax deducted) money to them.

Yes.. I wondered in here again from google. I had not actively been in this forum for a while. No, I do not claim to know anything about these people.. as they know nothing about me. You are right, there is no reason to banter this issue. I spoke out of anger, and that is always wrong.. no excuses. I am sorry.

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Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.
And Obama's experience and foreign policy experience would be???

Sorry, but taking a highschool trip to Europe doesn't cut it for foreign policy.

I dont know, I learned a lot on my European High School trip I took.

Wont tell you what I learned. 3 decades ago.

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Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.
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.

In this great country, there is no reason for schools to cost so much. Schools should be of much lessor cost. Colleges and Universities included.

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Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.
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.

And this should not surprise you at all. From the earliest days of this country The strong have always provided for the weak. Its the nature of who we are.

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Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.
Why are people afraid to help fellow Americans? No such thing as self sufficient, Jolie. At some point in your life you have received help from someone. Most likely the government.

No one is afraid of a self sufficient person. Only those that now deem themselves better than the less fortunate.

In this country the strong have always looked out for the weak.

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:sofahider"Irregardless" is not a word. 'Tis a double negative. :specs:

steph

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I am going to be presumptious and respond here in defense of CRNA.

No one is measuring accomplishments by the standards of high earners. Based on our tax return, many of the posters here would label us rich. If you visited my home, I believe your opinion would be different. Our home is modest. Our cars are not the newest or best. We spend most of our earnings on daily living expenses, and the rest goes to savings and a few indulgences. We heavily support charitible organizations of our choice, both with time and money.

What I am trying to say in my posts is that being able to provide an acceptable standard of living, provide healthcare for one's family, and contribute to worthy causes has much to do with graduating H.S., marriage before parenthood, full-time employment, and living within one's means. These are not lofty or unreachable standards.

Your response says it all. Just like you, I have attended college and make a good living as a nurse and with the combined income from my job and my wifes we make a pretty good income, on paper. It takes much more than what most people think to get to a healthy middle class. Your situation and mine, only support the idea that those that are slightly less well off than we, are very volunerable and are indeed one pay check or lay off away from bankruptcy. One of the top reasons associated with filing bankruptcy is medical bills. Many of these people that you and others lable, have insurance are working full time, are married, graduated high school and are living within their means until they reach their insurance cap or are denied care or terminated from their policy on some BS loop hole.

I have seen patients reach their insurance caps and then be denied options like nursing home near their family. outpatient pt/ot or home care and the meds they need at time of discharge. No one plans for maxing out that million dollar policy. As a nurse you know how easy it is to get to a million. I hope that you will consider this and have a little more compassion for those less well off and yes lucky than you and me.

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Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.
:sofahider"Irregardless" is not a word. 'Tis a double negative. :specs:

steph

GWB uses it often. Is that not giving it a presidential mandate

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The original question, will universal healthcare ( in the USA) cut RN pay?

In the long term, I doubt it. Supply and demand controls much of our economy and salaries. In the short term, if universal healthcare is suddenly implemented, I suspect there would be enormous changes in everything.

Government screws up most everything it controls. Look at the education system. Yuch. We are where we are now because of governmental regulations that requires that anyone who has an emergency can go to the ER and not be refused. This, of course, can result in millions of dollars of unpaid bills in each hospital. This results in having to charge those who do pay even more to make up for the losses. At some point, insurance companies have to charge more for the inflated prices caused by the non-payers. At another point, insurance becomes too expensive for the average person to afford. There is a cause and effect to all decisions made.

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