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[ickyzenpoet]

I've been thinking about universal health care for quite some time. I've seen a lot of people avoid medical visits because they couldn't afford them, and I've seen people hold fundraisers like spaghetti dinners and car washes in order to pay for long-term healthcare. I don't think a country as wealthy as ours should allow this sort of thing to go

Comments

[superboner]

+1

Very well said.

[progfan]

Most of the time, a cold doesn't need a doctor's visit.

I was shocked when I found out that people actually go to the doctor's office for colds. I never even considered that, since I figure it will run its course and I wasn't at risk of dying or anything.

And hey, I've survived about 8 years without insurance, with plenty of colds and flus in that time...

[ickyzenpoet]

"I figure it will run its course and I wasn't at risk of dying or anything"

Wise words that far too few people grasp. And also the reason healthcare needs more of an overhaul than changing payment methods. We waste so much money on treatments, tests, exams, etc. that are unneccessary--if we could cut those costs, universal health care would be more fesible. But people expcet their doctor to be available 24/7 for every sniffle and splinter.

nice

[bob921]

That's one of the most well-thought-out essays I've read on universal healthcare in a while, and it's nice and radical. We always have to remember when we compare institutions in the US to those in other countries, that they are in different contexts and paradigms. Therefore, we need to seek a full change in the way we do things, not just some of it.

[spacehen]

Did you see this article in the New York Times today? I thought it was a pretty nifty idea.

[ickyzenpoet]

That's awesome. I'm always surprised by how many people start their story of how they landed in the hospital with, "I started having this pain about three months ago..."

It would be better if the clinic took Medicaid, but it's obviously a new thing.

“I never heard anybody tell me, ‘I lost my blood pressure medication,’ ” he said. Haha, that's my favorite. So true. That's another thing bringing people to the ER--they "lost" their pain medication (or their friend stole it, or it's a "bad batch" and doesn't work, or their roommate's dog ate it, or they dropped the pills down the sink). If doctors had more time with patients (and if our country wasn't so deleteriously wack about fighting drug addiction), they could address addiction instead of writing prescriptions in the hops people would change doctors.