You know the only think I don't like about people comparing healthcare of any kind to Canada is the simple fact we have 317m people vs. Canada's 40m or so.
Doing SIMPLE math. Healthcare could never be free and the reasons why so many things like Medical/Medicare are failing horribly. I don't know the solution and likely there isn't one except mass elimination until the scales balance. No need for arguments or replies Mr. President to be. Just saying things are not easy. (This coming from one who just now got screwed from Covered CA since I had to reenroll and will have to each year. They WON'T let me keep my current Blue Cross because I am currently not making money at the job and are going to FORCE me to sign up for Medical. Then of course when I start making money they will cancel that and I'll be screwed all over again.)
You know the only think I don't like about people comparing healthcare of any kind to Canada is the
I suspect that you'd actually have economy of scale working more in your favour than it does up here. What Canada has is a single payer system, where taxes fund the scheme and all payment goes through the government, for what's covered. (It's not actually a national system, but a provincial one and what's covered varies from province to province. For instance, here in Ontario, dentistry is not covered; in BC, it is.) This gives the government a heck of a lot of leverage with providers, including drug companies and other companies, (at least for hospitals and provincial drug plans), as well as doctors, to keep costs down. Let's say Michigan adopted the same system as Ontario. The legislature at Lansing would decide how much it would pay doctors for every consultation, what procedures it would cover and how much it was willing to pay for whatever drugs and devices it covered. Dentists and opticians would still get to levy their own fees, since those would not be covered and drug manufacturers would get to charge as much as they wanted for drugs that Michigan didn't buy for everybody. The Secretary of Health at Lansing would also oversee the running of every hospital in Michigan and their funding. This would end competition between hospitals and force them to treat anybody who came to their door, instead of cherry-picking those who had Blue Cross and could afford better than base-level care. The Secretary might also oversee things like air ambulances from remote corners of the state, (hopefully better than the Minister in Toronto oversaw Orange Air!), or a toll-free health questions line to help people take better care of themselves, not to mention 9-1-1 coverage, (in partnership with the FCC of course.) It's not a perfect system that we have, might not be as good as Obamacare, but it's something.
I suspect that you'd actually have economy of scale working more in your favour than it does up here
Well still doesn't work I know many that had insurance and now can no longer afford to pay some jumped 3x more while many of those who couldn't afford can. Honestly I think someone basically decided to charge those who had money more and drop the price for those who didn't. Problem is, in this economy with a full family making more doesn't mean much and previously paying nearly $700 a month with Kaiser now becomes $1300 a month. That is neither right nor fair... But if you don't have it you get fined.
All I can say to that is simply... HOW can you be REQUIRED to buy something or ELSE. This isn't taxes nor is this some sort of fee for a service or anything like that. You are required to buy insurance or else. Legal not likely but it's being done.
Well still doesn't work I know many that had insurance and now can no longer afford to pay some jump
All I can think is that Obama had to compromise with the insurance companies to get any kind of universal health coverage. It's a bad compromise, but given a choice between some progress and no progress... I pity Obama almost as much as America's endangered middle class.
Driving in Ontario is kind of like that. The last time we elected a Conservative government, (capital C to designate the political party, as opposed to the philosophy), they brought in a law to force drivers to buy insurance. The previous New Democratic government had mandated no-fault car insurance, which significantly decreased insurance rates; the same Conservative government cancelled no-fault on the pretext that making insurance companies settle all claims in court would be more fair and ultimately lower insurance costs for good and careful drivers. Insurance rates immediately took off like a rocket, of course. But at least we have the option of not driving... in any town or city with decent public transit, that is. (I lost my license for medical reasons; I'm lucky I live in the Greater Toronto Area because there aren't many other places in Ontario where I could live.) So I understand and pity Americans.
OMFG All I can think is that Obama had to compromise with the insurance companies to get any kind o
saberkenji
