What Will Obama-Care Mean For You?
No, he's not suggesting a national health service like they have in the UK. He can't -- it would surely make him unelectable. And sure, it's purely speculation on my part, but the way the Democrats see government as a sort of Big Mommy, I suspect that that's eventually part of the plan. If so, let's see how that might play out.
DeadFishWrapper, up in Oregon, blogs about health care tourism in the UK. India is the most popular destination for everything from heart surgery to hip operations. Heart surgery?! A far cry from budget Botox and cut-rate plastic surgery you'd think people with already paid (taxpayer-paid) health care would be going for. DFW links to a story from the Daily Mail from 2007:
Record numbers of Britons are travelling abroad for medical treatment to escape the NHS - with 70,000 patients expected to fly out this year.And by the end of the decade 200,000 "health tourists" will fly as far as Malaysa and South Africa for major surgery to avoid long waiting lists and the rising threat of superbugs, according to a new report.
... Almost all of those who had received treatment abroad said they would do the same again, with patients pointing out that some hospitals in India had screening policies for the superbug MRSA that have yet to be introduced in this country.
Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said the figures were a "terrible indictment" of government policies that were undermining the efforts of NHS staff to provide quality services.
New research shows that growing NHS bureaucracy has left nurses with little time to see patients - most spending long periods dealing with paperwork.
Of course it has. This is government bureaucracy brought to health care.
My 70 year old father, who just recovered from prostate cancer surgery, was born with one kidney, and has chronic vasculitis was coughing up blood and visibly retaining water in his arms, legs and face -- sat in the emergency waiting room from 11:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. before they could see him. Welcome to Canadian health care, eh? I know things aren't all peaches and cream down south -- there's already too much bureaucracy -- but holy shit...getting the government MORE involved does not make it better!
moreta at September 11, 2008 8:52 AM
Yup, why would I want the same goofs that work at the DMV taking care of my health care? It would be a disaster, but close to half of the people out there want it. I think the SouthPark estimate of intelligence is on the low side.
mbruce at September 11, 2008 9:43 AM
> Welcome to Canadian
> health care, eh?
If he'd been working as an elected official he'da been in and out by 2:30p.
Well, that's what I heard....
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at September 11, 2008 10:19 AM
If you think health care is expensive now, just wait till it's "free".
My own encounters with the Canadian health care system have been entirely satisfactory. I only had to wait a few days for an MRI scan when I needed one. But that's because people in our county donated millions of dollars to our hospital so that they could buy the technology and hire first-rate doctors. My family donated as much money as we could, since we know that if we want to demand nothing but the best medical care, we have to be willing to pay our share for it.
Over the past few years, dozens of Canadian women going into premature labour have had to be bundled into helicopters and flown across the border to give birth, because there weren't enough neonatal facilities available at home. Of course, preemies born in the U.S. automatically become American citizens. If Canadian politicians & journalists are embarassed by this state of affairs, they're not showing much sign of it. Instead they keep prattling on about how inhuman the American health care system is because X percentage of Americans don't have health insurance.
Martin at September 11, 2008 10:23 AM
It's fascinating to me that when the topic of health care is brought up, there are a flood of comments from Canadians, myself included!
I have paid CLOSE attention to the Health Care Debate in Canada over the past few decades. Two things are clear:
1. The health care unions and their friends on the left espouse endless rhetoric but little fact. They simply don't want to face the reality that our health care system is broken. The result? Waiting lists for many ailments are long and growing.
Example: A close friend of mine, John, is in his late 50's and lives in Vancouver. For the past year he has had ever increasing problems with his heart. Several times he had to be rushed into the Emergency of his local hospital. John went to see his doctor, who immediately referred him to a heart specialist. He then had to wait ... and wait ... and wait. His wife, Fiona, said to me, "We're now in a waiting game to see which will come first, the specialist or the graveyard." Morbid yes, but accurate. In the end, John had to wait 10 months to see the specialist. About a month after that he had the operation he had required nearly a year before.
2. Many Americans who want things changed often cite Canada as THE model that the U.S. should strive for. Any Canadian with a brain always laughs at this nonsensical proposal.
I do not know what the solution is to your health care issues but please don't make the mistake of assuming that all is well up here.
Incidentally, as each year passes, there is more & more private health care in Canada.
Robert W. at September 11, 2008 4:43 PM
See the following blog entries by a doctor in Emergency Medicine who is leaving that practice because of the waste and bureaucracy imposed on him. Medicine gets worse as government imposes regulation and quality standards.
Being a doctor would be fun. Maybe I can do the next best thing by being a government employee and accountant. Certainly there are few people of quality who will become the real kind of doctor, after the job is the lowest level for some government agency. Read and open your eyes. Here are my suggestions, with excerpts:
+++ http://docsontheweb.blogspot.com/2008/08/reasons-im-leaving-emergency-medicine_31.html
We stick people with huge needles, we do minor surgery, we occasionally do major surgery (but always fail as cracking someone's chest open in the ER rarely works to get someone fixed and eventually home), we jump-start hearts with thunderous doses of electrical current, we break terrible news, we pronounce babies dead, we pronounce old folks dead, we save lives, and we make mistakes.
The thanks are few these days given the horrendous wait times and huge bills. I am caught between the realization that I AM, in fact, doing an important job, and the realization that my common sense solutions are NOT appreciated, and will not be implemented anytime soon.
+++ http://docsontheweb.blogspot.com/2008/08/reasons-im-leaving-emergency-medicine_26.html
To me, medicine today is a turd because we call patients 'customers', try to do better 'customer service' with all comers, most of whom do not meet the traditional definition of 'customer' (ie someone who pays for their services), worship at the feet of a terrible unfunded mandate called EMTALA, and also worship at the feet of a bunch of worthless committee hacks called TOFKAJCAHO (the organization formerly known as JCAHO).
We also shuffle money from the folks who actually gave more than a second's thought to their health to those who have made, and continue to make, poor decisions. In other words, there are tons of doctors and hospital CEOs and legislators who fancy themselves as modern-day Robin Hoods. They are not, they are the Sheriffs of Nottingham, but then again who am I to say, I think the thing at the top of this post is a turd
EMTALA has killed the best medical system in the world, and why? Because some douchebag legislators thought that it would buy them votes (and they were right). I also know how to fix our mess, but, since I major in plain-talk, I will never be elected nor will anyone who says this and here it is.
+++ http://docsontheweb.blogspot.com/2008/08/reasons-im-leaving-emergency-medicine_19.html
I wanted, within the walls of the ER, to be in charge. I figured that, being Board Certified and subject matter expert would allow me to be benevolent King in the ER. Oh how wrong I was!
The real power in medicine today and the ability to effect meaningful change is not vested in practicing physicians. It is vested in the clipboard carriers... the makers and enforcers of policy and procedure, and the 'owners' of the 'business'.
Example: Three years ago at my current institution the method for performing urinalysis was changed from the simple dipstick method (with dedicated lab confirmation and culture when needed) to the whiz-bang (nice pun eh?), can't miss, lab-run urinalysis.
Besides being a huge waste of money this extended patient stays in the ER for no good reason as the lab UA takes longer.
Andrew Garland at September 11, 2008 4:45 PM
Hi Amy, I know I've not been around for a while (new job more work more money, more taxes, sigh) but you're reading the Daily Mail again.
It'll rot your brain m'dear.
I'll agree though, the NHS has it's problems a lot of them brought on by the idea that adding more managers to a project makes it run better.
Of course for laughs we now have a new plan going into place so people on a reduced income will get cheaper fuel tariffs. Now I'm all for not freezing Grannies in the winter but surely the other huddled masses can just huddle together for warmth or get a job.
Just worked out I'm paying just under a third of my wages as tax right now, before you look at VAT and fuel tax.
Ho hum.
Simon at September 12, 2008 5:29 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/09/11/what_will_obama.html#comment-1589773">comment from SimonAnd the National Enquirer broke the John Edwards affair. What, pray tell, is wrong with the story?
Amy Alkon at September 12, 2008 5:49 AM
Andrew, your post goes to what I say about health isurers too. They are getting very picky about what they will and will not cover and as long as they get away with that, will continually increase what they won't. Those clipboards are what you see most of in the ER for sure -- not doctors and nurses and the insurers have a lot to do with it.
Not sure what the answer is. If we are going to trust it to private insurance, then there needs to be some kind of oversight of them. And medical conventions didn't used to be held solely by big pharma.
I'm in poor health but have little faith in modern medicine. That's frankly what I know about the health care system.
T's Grammy at September 12, 2008 8:56 AM
Unfortunately, corporations (HMOs) don't have a stellar track record either - they bury doctors in paperwork and reduce incentives for proper care. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51364 So I'll agree that there are plenty of problems with nationalized healthcare, but it doesn't seem like private industry has provided a credible alternative. Damned if you do, damned if you don't?
CB at September 13, 2008 3:11 PM
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