Universal Health Care

[meteoricpath]

This is in a follow-up to yesterday's more tongue-in-cheek post.

The important realities of universal health care is not only that it exists in all the developed countries of the world aside from the US, or that health care is a human right for all people, or the actuality that we do have socialized health care plans in America (it's called

Comments

[roundballnz]

Great post there ( yeah I cracked up at yesterdays as well ...)

Not being from the US its always befuddled me why you would set-up up & keep a healthcare system that ties your access healthcare via employment.

[meteoricpath]

thanks. and yes, it is based on the (protestant work ethic) mentality that anyone who is mentally/physically able to work will, and so the majority of people will be covered. aside from corporate greed (which is no small factor), a major reason health insurance in the US is coming undone fairly rapidly these days because of the recession and subsequent inability for many people to find work, much less full time work with benefits like health insurance.

it's a really massive problem: "Although nearly 46 million Americans are uninsured, the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations, and those countries provide health insurance to all their citizens." from http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml

[kindaubiquitous]

That always confused me growing up! It made no sense to me why that should be tied together, especially when so many people don't work enough hours in one place to qualify for healthcare. Someone once explained that it came about during WWII in the US as a loophole in salary cap laws (benefits not being salary), and that it just became standard afterwards. I think the inability to get rid of this system epitomizes the influence of corporate interests in the US.

[meteoricpath]

I think the inability to get rid of this system epitomizes the influence of corporate interests in the US.
*nods*

[kindaubiquitous]

Well put man. At this point I don't know if even the public option will work, let alone an eventual universal one. The right finds it so easy to tie the concept of choice and free market to the concept of freedom itself, to the point that the populace doesn't care that they're being screwed over so long as they can decide who's going to screw them over (or perceive they have a choice in who is going to screw them over).

Many see Europe as an object of derision, to the extent that "European" as an adjective used to refer to policy becomes almost an expletive. I struggle to see how intelligent people could complain about high taxes when they'd be paying a hell of a lot less on healthcare through the government instead of through private channels. I refuse to believe that people are really that ignorant, and I don't believe that the entirety can be accounted for through Corporate America and its agents disseminating lies, so I'm just left bewildered.

[meteoricpath]

Yes, the fear mongering does seem to strike a cord in many, and Americans are noted for their xenophobia toward the Rest of the World, yet I remain cautiously optimistic.

[kindaubiquitous]

I tell you, it's bloody heartbreaking that that perception exists worldwide. Perceptions of American arrogance likely predate the World Wars, but I place blame for the current situation on the Bush Administration. The frustrating thing is that the right claims that Obama's willingness to talk to (read: NOT make concessions to) nations such as Iran and NK is a threat to national security. Apparently pissing off the world's greatest powder keg (Middle East) by frequent bombing and strong-arm tactics is a better solution.