I have never, ever been a fan of "Universal Healthcare." There are throngs of people out there who buy into the hype of it, thinking that it will cure the Nation's healthcare issues. But very, very few realize what true Universal Healthare is -- how it impedes choices in healthcare and the availability of specialists. The article below sums it up nicely. As always, bold emphasis in the piece below is mine.
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Welcome to Universal Healthcare, Obama-Style
(part one of a two-part series)
Do you want universal health care? Then be prepared to say good-bye. Good-bye to friendly nurses and administrative staff, freshly painted hospitals and clinics, magazines in the waiting area, complaining after 15 minutes have gone past your appointment hour, choosing your doctor or specialist, choosing your hospital and clinic, short waiting lists for specialty areas, being seen the same day (unless absolute emergency) and soap in the bathrooms. Sound good?
Obama, along with many others, wants a universal health care system. The United States is the only developed country that doesn’t have universal health care and that we are ranked 37th on the WHO health care rating have misled many into agreeing with him.
On the WHO health care ranking the US is 37th over all. What isn’t explain is that 37th is a combination score of being number one in responsiveness to patients’ needs, in choice of provider, autonomy, dignity, confidentiality and timely care and 54th in fairness. This is because WHO does not agree with us having Health Savings Accounts and because they believe that Americans pay too much out of pocket. Careful though, the French pay almost as much as we do out of pocket and their system is supposedly the best.
The US health care system does need reform and since Europe and Canada have it, universal health care would be the logical conclusion. But do you or Obama know what you are asking for? I do. I’ve lived it.
Despite our WHO ranking we are number one in survival from cancer to AIDS. For overall cancer in men the US has an almost 63% five year survival rate compared to 59% in Spain. Women have a little over 66% five year survival rate in the US with close to 50% in Spain. Overall the US is 15 percentage points above the average European survival rate. We lead in technology as well. Spain has more CT scanners and MRI unit per million people than France (number one on the WHO list), but they have half the number that the US has.
Why am I talking about Spain so much? It’s there that I have my first hand experience with universal health care as a resident. Spain is seventh on the WHO ranking and they are famous in many categories of medicine including cardiology and pediatrics. But for an American, the system leaves you wanting more.
The Spanish system is run by each region with the central government providing their budget. A Spaniard is assigned a clinic and hospital based on the neighborhood that they live in. Going outside that clinic and hospital (unless in an emergency) is impossible. What happens if you want to change? You move. Or buy private insurance. (12% of Spaniards buy private insurance to get around the public system). Spaniards are assigned a family doctor at their clinic and they must see him/her in order to get to anyone else. This is the check and balance to make sure people don’t crowd the specialists. Normally the family doctor tries to fix everything, even if he/she doesn’t know too much about the issue. For example, instead of calling someone to see what my doctor could prescribe for allergies while I was breastfeeding she just refused to prescribe anything. Problem solved.
Let’s talk about waiting; and not just waiting forty-five minutes for your turn to see the doctor. On average it takes about 65 days to see a specialist; 71 to see a gynecologist. Until I found out that my husband’s second cousin worked in the specialty clinic I was assigned to, it was going to take over six months to get some tests done. With her in the clinic the time was reduced to three months. Always look for someone in the system when it is government run. Things will get done sooner.
You might still shrug your shoulders at me and continue on your universal health care war path. Especially when I tell you that the majority of Spaniards are happy with their health care system. Here’s the thing though, there is a fundamental difference in what Spaniards and Americans’ expectations in regards to patient care.
There is no doubt that the United States has the best customer service. From restaurants, to department stores to hospitals, customer service is top priority; but it is not everywhere else. This is obvious in universal health care systems. When salaries are controlled by the government and annual raises are standard instead of based on merit, performance or patient satisfaction, imagine the difference in care. While some doctors seem happy with their jobs, many of them act as though you are interrupting them when you walk through their door.
The difference can be seen just by walking into a hospital like Ramon y Cajal in Madrid, one of the best in Spain. An American would think they had just been transported to Cuba. The walls are in need of paint, the floors look about fifty years old, many elevators don’t work, patients are left in the hallways for hours at a time and transport to the morgue is done in the same hallways and elevators that patients use. Television is not free, but must be bought through a card system and there is never soap in the dispensers in the bathrooms. Like I said, the difference in expectations is quite large. And privacy? Oh, please. These are doctors, my husband always tells me. But it is strange to get undress in front of them and not be given a robe to cover up with.
The Spanish system has improved greatly in the last forty years and the technology has advanced significantly, which is why I think most Spaniards are comfortable with the level of care they are given. They have seen a great change. But they also don’t realize that it could be so much better.
Implementing Obama’s plan isn’t going to be easy. Most country in Europe controls the number of students studying medicine, something that would be practically impossible in the US. The competition in practicing medicine also isn’t there. In Spain students take a national test after finishing their studies in order to choose specialties. Whoever gets the highest ranking chooses first, then so on. When a specialty is filled, the rest of the students have to choose their second or third choice. Once locked into a specialty it is very hard switch as salary and placement is based on the hours that you work. If you switch you start at the bottom again. This may add to the reason that half the doctors always seem in a sour mood. Working your third or fourth choice after so many years of studying wouldn’t make me happy either.
Obama is going the route that he and the majority of his base believe is best for the country. His plan, while appealing on crisp, white paper, doesn’t show the reality to the American people. Not only because he doesn’t know exactly what a universal health care really means and the bad things it brings with it, but also because many of his points either don’t make sense or have no facts to back them up.
================
Welcome to Universal Healthcare, Obama-Style
(part one of a two-part series)
Do you want universal health care? Then be prepared to say good-bye. Good-bye to friendly nurses and administrative staff, freshly painted hospitals and clinics, magazines in the waiting area, complaining after 15 minutes have gone past your appointment hour, choosing your doctor or specialist, choosing your hospital and clinic, short waiting lists for specialty areas, being seen the same day (unless absolute emergency) and soap in the bathrooms. Sound good?
Obama, along with many others, wants a universal health care system. The United States is the only developed country that doesn’t have universal health care and that we are ranked 37th on the WHO health care rating have misled many into agreeing with him.
On the WHO health care ranking the US is 37th over all. What isn’t explain is that 37th is a combination score of being number one in responsiveness to patients’ needs, in choice of provider, autonomy, dignity, confidentiality and timely care and 54th in fairness. This is because WHO does not agree with us having Health Savings Accounts and because they believe that Americans pay too much out of pocket. Careful though, the French pay almost as much as we do out of pocket and their system is supposedly the best.
The US health care system does need reform and since Europe and Canada have it, universal health care would be the logical conclusion. But do you or Obama know what you are asking for? I do. I’ve lived it.
Despite our WHO ranking we are number one in survival from cancer to AIDS. For overall cancer in men the US has an almost 63% five year survival rate compared to 59% in Spain. Women have a little over 66% five year survival rate in the US with close to 50% in Spain. Overall the US is 15 percentage points above the average European survival rate. We lead in technology as well. Spain has more CT scanners and MRI unit per million people than France (number one on the WHO list), but they have half the number that the US has.
Why am I talking about Spain so much? It’s there that I have my first hand experience with universal health care as a resident. Spain is seventh on the WHO ranking and they are famous in many categories of medicine including cardiology and pediatrics. But for an American, the system leaves you wanting more.
The Spanish system is run by each region with the central government providing their budget. A Spaniard is assigned a clinic and hospital based on the neighborhood that they live in. Going outside that clinic and hospital (unless in an emergency) is impossible. What happens if you want to change? You move. Or buy private insurance. (12% of Spaniards buy private insurance to get around the public system). Spaniards are assigned a family doctor at their clinic and they must see him/her in order to get to anyone else. This is the check and balance to make sure people don’t crowd the specialists. Normally the family doctor tries to fix everything, even if he/she doesn’t know too much about the issue. For example, instead of calling someone to see what my doctor could prescribe for allergies while I was breastfeeding she just refused to prescribe anything. Problem solved.
Let’s talk about waiting; and not just waiting forty-five minutes for your turn to see the doctor. On average it takes about 65 days to see a specialist; 71 to see a gynecologist. Until I found out that my husband’s second cousin worked in the specialty clinic I was assigned to, it was going to take over six months to get some tests done. With her in the clinic the time was reduced to three months. Always look for someone in the system when it is government run. Things will get done sooner.
You might still shrug your shoulders at me and continue on your universal health care war path. Especially when I tell you that the majority of Spaniards are happy with their health care system. Here’s the thing though, there is a fundamental difference in what Spaniards and Americans’ expectations in regards to patient care.
There is no doubt that the United States has the best customer service. From restaurants, to department stores to hospitals, customer service is top priority; but it is not everywhere else. This is obvious in universal health care systems. When salaries are controlled by the government and annual raises are standard instead of based on merit, performance or patient satisfaction, imagine the difference in care. While some doctors seem happy with their jobs, many of them act as though you are interrupting them when you walk through their door.
The difference can be seen just by walking into a hospital like Ramon y Cajal in Madrid, one of the best in Spain. An American would think they had just been transported to Cuba. The walls are in need of paint, the floors look about fifty years old, many elevators don’t work, patients are left in the hallways for hours at a time and transport to the morgue is done in the same hallways and elevators that patients use. Television is not free, but must be bought through a card system and there is never soap in the dispensers in the bathrooms. Like I said, the difference in expectations is quite large. And privacy? Oh, please. These are doctors, my husband always tells me. But it is strange to get undress in front of them and not be given a robe to cover up with.
The Spanish system has improved greatly in the last forty years and the technology has advanced significantly, which is why I think most Spaniards are comfortable with the level of care they are given. They have seen a great change. But they also don’t realize that it could be so much better.
Implementing Obama’s plan isn’t going to be easy. Most country in Europe controls the number of students studying medicine, something that would be practically impossible in the US. The competition in practicing medicine also isn’t there. In Spain students take a national test after finishing their studies in order to choose specialties. Whoever gets the highest ranking chooses first, then so on. When a specialty is filled, the rest of the students have to choose their second or third choice. Once locked into a specialty it is very hard switch as salary and placement is based on the hours that you work. If you switch you start at the bottom again. This may add to the reason that half the doctors always seem in a sour mood. Working your third or fourth choice after so many years of studying wouldn’t make me happy either.
Obama is going the route that he and the majority of his base believe is best for the country. His plan, while appealing on crisp, white paper, doesn’t show the reality to the American people. Not only because he doesn’t know exactly what a universal health care really means and the bad things it brings with it, but also because many of his points either don’t make sense or have no facts to back them up.
3 comments:
You forgot to mention that with the American system of healthcare which is increasingly becomeing marketbased, people often die becasue they can't afford being able to get basic preventive care. Those who try to use the emergency room are turned away or get to use it thereby turning the visit into a several thougsand dollar visit which should have been taken care of in a doctor office but for the lack of insurance. We all pay for the inappropriate use of emergency rooms. Additionally, we now have the working poor who can't afford to pay for the ever diminishing employer sponsored healthcare. So yes, America is the land of plenty but only for those who can afford to obtain things, including healthcare. So in conclusion, I am convinced that lots of Americans would trade having to wait for some care rather than not being able to obtain any care due to their inability to pay for it.
I am sorry, but it is not my job as a taxpayer to not only pay for your healthcare but to have to do so AND have to take shitty "universal healthcare" for my family and me as well.
If you want healthcare, get off your lazy butt and get a job. It's not that hard.
My husband and I both work our butts off to be able to provide for our family and to be able to have quality health insurance. I work in health care and see everyday the vast amounts of people who abuse Medicaid and rant about how they want "universal healthcare" so that they get even more for free.
Not, it's not free and it never will be. Those getting the dull end of the stick up our butts are those who have jobs and pay taxes. We'll be paying even more in taxes to pay for healthcare for the lazy. And we'll also have to take the B.S. that goes along with everyone having the same healthcare across the board.
P.S. ERs cannot legally turn people away and people can get care if they need it even if they can't afford it. I know this not only as a health care worker, but as someone close to someone who can't work due to migraine issues, who also refuses to go on Medicaid.
Your post reeks of the liberal propaganda that is running rampant out there. These are the kind of B.S. scare tactics into which the Obama camp wants the population to buy.
The issue is not as dire as you liberals want the masses to believe. It all comes down to getting off your lazy butt and taking care of yourself instead of thinking that the hard workers of the U.S. owe you something.
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