Posted on 07/12/2004 12:37:27 PM PDT by RetiredArmy
Gee, if Canadian upper class is jumping the lines, can you imagine what the John Kerry's and Heinz's will do???? hmmm, lets presently they get preferential insurance and health care for life, they get bennys and special stipends for life, so of course they would want to lead the other Socialists to the line of the clinic, by being first in line???? And being a man of the people, he would give up all his "priviledges"? When jellybeans fly outta a ducks $#$%^!!
Then with the greatest chutzpah and corlones in American history, try to ride into power with a Canadian system.
No one seems to have a problem with the U.S. health system from a quality aspect, its only the price which is driving this movement to socialization.
It seems to me that socialized medicine is throwing the baby out with the bathwater as there's no evidence that the same quality of care would be any cheaper, especially since no socialized system is yet able to provide the quality of care that the U.S. system does in order to do any sort of cost comparison.
Yet the same people who are pushing for this, are against any sort of meaningful tort reform, which puts major upwards pressure on healthcare prices, and are also against eliminating the layers of government-imposed regulations on healthcare professionals both within and without the government-funded "insurance" organizations. Not to mention the quagmire that is the FDA...
We used to have quality health care that was affordable, and it was before the government and the trial lawyers got involved. More government certainly isn't the solution.
The Left by definition is superior to the great unwashed. There will be two systems, one for the elite, one for every one else. Average folks just need to do as they're told.
"Socialized medicine has nothing to do with fairness or efficiency but everything to do with raw power and control."
You both make the same point, and I agree with both of you wholeheartedly.
Our friends lived in Alberta, where are you?
I guess we have to wait for the official Canadian rebuttal to see how this is all Bush's fault.
Your first hand information is appreciated.
The other major problem has been fed by liberalism - cradle to grave healthcare entitlement.
People also are far removed from the costs of the care they receive. Case: A buddy of mine showed up at soccer practice (for the kids) with gauze, bandaids and other evidence of a hospital visit. He said he had been feeling a lack of energy lately and told his doctor ($10 copay). The doc referred him for a full host of heart/stress/health tests that included a CT scan (?) and other high-tech procedures ($35 copay). He's fine - just needs to fix his diet and exercise more. His feeling was that it was a good deal for $45! I know the argument - if the procedures found something wrong that could be fixed, then it was money well spent.
Everything is inflated at every level. There are no easy answers.
"Y Wonder how it will affect the cash flow of lawyers such as Edwards who depended on the deep pockets of private medical practitioners and organizations as a source of their malpractice mega-awards for birth defects such as cerebral palsy? The federal gubmint may not be as lucrative a target"
it's all a part of their marxist plans, my friend.
first they destroy it (trial lawyers)
then the sound the alarms in the media and proclaim it a crisis.
then they replace it.
>>but we need our RNC boys and girls to come up with a solution before the voting public without insurance becomes the majority.
Allow me to explain how we got into this mess in the first place. Health care was never considered to be part of a person's employment package until the government implemented wage and price controls during WWII. Then, employers started offering health insurance as a way to attract employees without violating the wage and price controls. Somewhere along the line, the IRS said ( perhaps by a law ) that health insurance benefits were not taxable. Once companies took the responsibilty of paying for health care services away from the consumer, the whole thing went to pot. HMO's were a direct result of the spiraling health care costs 20 years ago and were promoted by the government. Of course, the fundamental problem of not having the consumer paying for goods and services directly only got worse with HMO's and now politicians, being who they are, go after HMO's as the culprits.
The solution to the crises of health care costs is simple: Make it a taxable benefit like all other benefits. Then employers will stop offering it to employees. Once employees spend their money on health care services like consumers, the costs of health care will decline dramatically and everyone will have enough money to pay for catastrophic insurance ( with a ~$2-~$3 deductible ). The solution is simple. Howerver, implementation will be impossible with the economic nitwits running this country. The level of economic ignorance demonstrated by the sheeple is truley outstanding.
Somewhere in this solution is a place for tort reform which will help as well.
>> The Democrats would love to make voters dependent on them for their health care.
The republicans passed the perscription drug benefit plan.
>> if he did not have to pay up to 50% taxes on all his income!
You seem surprised. Between fica, medicare, federal, state, property tax, sales tax, phone tax, gas tax, etc, I pay 40% to 50% of my income in taxes. If I include my state ordered alimony and child support ( a whole other issue ), 5/8's of everything I make is stolen from me by the government. Now are you surprised?
I'm in Ontario. My father and aunt received good care here when they were ill with terminal cancer. My father's prognosis was very bad and he declined treatment with chemo, which probably wouldn't have done any good (kidney cancer, already metastasized when found). My aunt got into treatment very soon after her lung cancer was discovered, but alas it couldn't save her.
My uncle in Alberta recently had some chest pain and other problems related to the heart, and he got to see a specialist and had a coronary stent inserted into the narrowed vessel quite soon after the problem appeared.
OTOH, for problems that are more of a quality of life issue, like hip replacements, the waiting list can be quite long, like more than a year - a long time to live in pain with limited mobility. Also I have certainly heard stories of people diagnosed with cancer who had to wait weeks before they could get into treatment, although that partly had to do with a shortage of trained cancer treatment workers, which has happened in the US, also. But then the free-market US system is better at luring nurses and health care workers away from other countries, including Canada, when such shortages arise - it's all the US's fault ;) <-- note winky smiley.
>>I am firmly convinced the "rat" party is destroying the US medical system via its trial lawyer contingent.
The republicans passed the perscription drug benefit plan.
I have been to the 3 western provinces Nova Scotia & New Brunswick. You have a beautiful country that I have always loved & respected. I was very surprized to learn that all Canadians didn't feel the same about us. It hurt my feelings actually.
Yeah I can vouch for the heart attack and cancer treatments, my dad had a big heart attack and he was rushed bigtime, he also had no wait for a bypass in his leg, went in on a Saturday, Dr told him to meet him at Victoria General Sunday afternoon, bypassed Sunday evening...
I lived in BC, electives could take some time. My wife had a toe that was in an awkward position due to breaking it and not getting it fixed, she waited 3 months for a quick fix day surgery.
Critical takes priority (why let a good standing tax payer die right)...
The taxpayer has quite a burden in Canada, with a population that is about 10x smaller than the USA, the Feds really stick you with the taxes.
In my opinion, at least, the great vast majority of Canadians have nothing at all against Americans, but a lot of them do exhibit anti-Americanism against the country as a collective entity, if that makes any sense at all. I get the same sort of feeling here quite often.
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