<p>How do you feel about the following statement on a scale of 1-5, 1 being completely agree, 5 being completely disagree: We need to have a socialized general healthcare system in this country?</p>
<p>I spent five years living with socialized medicine in Germany. I’d go back to it in a heartbeat. No copays, no paperwork for me, and my doctor not the insurance companies decided what I needed. So I’m a 1 - or even a 0. :)</p>
<p>I’m from Europe originally and the medical system here scares me to death. I recently had to make the decision to not renew a couple of my prescriptions because financially it is a choice between my Husbands medication that is life and death and mine that would make my life less painful and uncomfortable. And we have insurance. So I also vote 1.</p>
<p>I am uninsured due to a pre-existing medical condition. And we pay $1500 / month to insure my spouse and two children. In addition we pay $1200 a year for our son to participate in his university’s insurance program. Our family’s insurance has no drug prescription benefit so we pay full price for medications. Every day I pray I won’t be diagnosed with a serious disease requiring surgery, hospitalisation, or expensive therapy. So, yeah, I would vote for 1.</p>
<p>Ditto…have had it before, was grateful I did…I’m a 1 - or even a 0…</p>
<p>I completely agree- I’m a 1. </p>
<p>Medical costs are exorbitant, and one illness can wipe out a family if they are not covered adequately when illness strikes. Private coverage can easily run $1500 a month for a small family , and it doesn’t matter if your income is $3000 a month, or $30,000 a month, and that’s not including co-pays or deductibles. Health insurance is the largest single expense for many people in this country, and I believe the major reason average people have a difficult time saving money the way they did, say, 20 years ago.</p>
<p>Our family has lived with US style insurance (we had a few HMOs and also at another point Aetna), and nationalized healthcare in Canada.</p>
<p>The latter is not always perfect, but we much prefer it. I can’t think of a single person I’ve met in Canada who wants a US style system. That means something. </p>
<p>We don’t need to save for catastrophes or worry about whether our jobs provide benefits. We will never shell out many thousands a year in retirement like our parents do. We have no implications to worry about like how our kids will be covered when they graduate, what the coverage will be if one quits their job, or whether one gets coverage for co-existing medical problems. </p>
<p>No bills, no copays. We see any doctors we want, never any restrictions like that. No one has ever second guessed the procedures/tests/drugs we need nor does one wait for such an opinion. The wait times can be a pain sometimes but its a rational system, with priority given to health need not wealth. Our D has a lot of different med. issues- sees many specialists so we are well used to teh system- but its never ever been a problem. And some perks are just fabulous- like one senior in our family has her geriatric specialist and psychiatrist who do regular house calls. Our cancer survival rates and longevity are extremely good. Apparently the Canadian govt spends less on healthcare than the US govt does on theirs. Go figure.</p>
<p>Its the deductibles and copays that bankrupts policy holders. </p>
<p>DS has a HSA policy because he needs the high deductibles and the higher coverage to protect his assets and future earning power. Although his premium is reasonable, the deductible is high enough where he has to invest in the saving portion of the HSA. If the premiums and savings contributions are added together, its $300/mn, w/o vision or dental, 50% of meds. Good or Bad for a healthy 23 yo? </p>
<p>If however he had no assets, a much lower premium insurance would be warranted. A 50% deductible would be acceptable because he would just declare bankrupcy and still have half of the medicals paid.</p>
<p>His premiums will increase 12% at renewal.</p>
<p>We have good medical insurance only because H has a job that provides it. Since I have a serious chronic condition & H also has some health conditions (including asthma), I am otherwise pretty uninsurable. My kids will lose coverage under H’s polilcy when they turn 22 and they both have pre-existing chronic health conditions, which mean it is really important that they never allow their coverage to lapse or they will have difficulty getting their conditions covered.
I’m a 0 or 1 also.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I know private insurers will lobby & fight tooth & nail against having national health insurance because they prefer things the way they are.</p>
<p>I have also lived with both and would never vote for socialized health care. I would, however, vote for some system of providing health insurance for people without it.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in both the U.S. and Canada while raising a family, so have experienced both systems extensively. While in the U.S., we had the absolute best health insurance possible through my husband’s employer. Even at that, it didn’t compare with the care (and the lack of huge hassles) we received, and now again receive, in Canada. When given the chance, we returned to live in Canada permanently, and have no regrets. Since returning, we’ve been through a life-threatening illness with our youngest D and the care has been spectacular. </p>
<p>Canada’s system may not be perfect but it’s a heck of a lot better than that in the U.S. The issues that I’ve seen people face in the U.S. are appalling and heartbreaking, and these are people who DO have health insurance! Other than the cost, I truly do not get what people are so afraid of.</p>
<p>I would give it a 1, too.</p>
<p>When I grew up in Germany, many people complained about the 12% “tax” that was taken out of their paycheck every month to pay for health care. But 12% is still less than many Americans are spending, and we could see a physician or dentist or psychiatrist or have major heart surgery any day without worrying about the bills. And the health care system would even replace your salary (up to a certain limit) while you are recovering.</p>
<p>A 1 vote for me, too.</p>
<p>curious that no one has questioned the OP on what is meant by “Socialized Medicine”, a term most often used by proponents of the status quo as a scare term.</p>
<p>I suspect the OP got far more than expected.</p>
<p>FWIW, I think we’re really talking about a government run single payer system?</p>
<p>I was merely referring to the most commonly used term for national healthcare, in hopes of reaching a broader audience. That’s all. I’m actually in favor of “Socialized Medicine” (I’m a 1).</p>
<ol>
<li>I had a business with offices in the U.S. and Canada. EVERY employee wanted to move to the Canadian office because of the superior health care folks there were receiving, at lower cost.</li>
</ol>
<p>You actually need co-pays and deductibles in a socialized system to ensure no over utilization occurs. Medicare has significant deductibles and co-pays.
To properly do it, you would have to restructure the entire American medical system. Only a third of physicians are in a primary care field. In Europe, 2/3s of physicians are in a primary care field. You would have to have a rather closed drug formulary, and prescribers hate that. You would have to determine what is the best treatment economically. Also, you would have to deny treatment to certain groups for who the treatment is not economically worth it. That is what is done in many socialized medicine programs.</p>
<p>I’m definitely a “1” </p>
<p>Our patchwork system needs an overhaul. Medicare for all.</p>
<p>
And our current insurance driven system is different to this how? I cannot afford one of the meds my doctor wants me to have because it is not yet available in generic for so our prescription plan covers such a small portion of the cost that it is just not possible for me to afford it. My prescriber understands that so prescribes an alternate. She probably hates it but…</p>
<p>I can give you a whole list of anecdotal stories from people I personally know. My 8 year old daughter whose surgery to repair 3 fractures and put pins in her ankle was considered outpatient surgery by the insurance and they didn’t want her to spend the night in the hospital. The ortho hated that. My best friend’s 3 month old son being treated for liver cancer and the insurance refusing to allow the pharmacy to give his extremely stressed and exhausted parents more that one days dose at a time of the anti nausea to stop the constant vomiting. The pharmacist hated that. Or to allow, without a prolonged fight, a nurse to come to the house just a few times to help his Mom learn how to deal with cleaning his central line (no air bubble or your baby will have a heart attack and die) or give him shots. (she got to practice on a styrofoam cup in the hospital). My friends Mom who had a double mastectomy and was out of hospital the next day with family having to deal with the drainage tubes…</p>
<p>I was raised in a socialized medical system and had never ever experienced anything like that. I will admit that there are long waiting list for non urgent procedures. I could live with that.</p>
<p>1 No doubt about it. We need universal single-payer health care desperately. If that’s what you mean by “socialize medicine.”</p>