What Does NOT Happen In Countries With Universal Health Care

There are so many stories, so many ways that people are made to suffer because of financial limitations that it has become almost acceptable to live this way.

This video has one of the many stories of insurance companies denying coverage to pay for ONE person’s income. Personally this story is unbelievable to me, but apparently this story is common too.

CEO is paid millions while people are denied service and health care by the company.

O.K. so what is the solution here? There have been debates over private versus public health care, profit over the social need to care for each and every person, and certainly debates over the way health care is seen as either a corporate business versus the responsibility of the society and government to see health as a necessary service.

There are videos playing as advertisements on the media that have spotlighted horror stories about health care in countries where the health care systems are seen as “socialism” or even as some kind of horror in and of itself. What is missing are the videos of the people who are dumped on the sidewalk outside of hospitals because those people are old, need health services and either they or the families cannot afford the medicines, the support, the care necessary.

People living in countries with Universal Health Care are horrified when they see this inhumane treatment of people who have lived a long life. These people have raised families, probably worked hard, yet this is the treatment they get when they get ill or need care? THIS is totally unacceptable in a civilized society.

Get something straight, here. Grandparents, the elderly, are NOT dumped in countries where there is universal health care. Yes, some people wait for surgery that is ELECTIVE, meaning non-life threatening, but if there is any indication of a life-threatening condition, then the surgery or other care is immediately done.

No system is perfect, given that human beings are not perfect, not machines who can just make precognitive decisions that are all-knowing, all-seeing, but from what is currently happening in the U.S. there is obvious room for improvement. Children are literally dying from lack of care, and people are literally dying because of the lack of money. Even those WITH insurance are dying because of a truly bizarre practice of reneging on coverage post-surgery.

In those countries where there is universal health care, medications are given that are generic first, unless the doctor specifies otherwise by stating “no substitutions” on the prescriptions. The generic versions of the medications MUST be as effective as the brand-name by law. The companies that produce the brand-name medications are saying they put far too much money into research and development, but the reality is that the percentage of the money spent is very low. Profit is the main goal with these companies too, and generic medications are less profitable.

Universal health care also gives the patient the power of choice. If one doctor is not satisfactory, then the patient can easily find and see another doctor. The care is there, for the patient to choose, and the doctors are certainly NOT suffering from lack of income.

The lies that are out there about the idea of universal health care are totally bizarre, and for some people, a form of fear mongering that echoes the Bush claims of WMD’s.

Some countries even have care and private nursing for the elderly, the house-bound, those who have no means to get to medical services, and some countries even pay for housing and care for those same people. Imagine having a nurse and a doctor go to the patient in a place where there are people who care daily for the patients. Imagine the patient paying $6 for a medication instead of $80, and no charge for going to a clinic or diagnostic lab for treatment!

Bottom line here? Patients are the ones who have the power of choice, and patients are the ones who are the beneficiaries of heath services. Doctors are quite well paid, and there are no bureaucrats “rationing” care. Yes, there are limits on some things like using highly expensive treatments when less expensive treatments are just as effective, if not MORE effective. But if those treatments are not quite the ego boost that some people need, they are quite welcome to find those very expensive treatments as long as the patient is willing to pay the difference.  The basic cost IS covered, however.

Ambulances go to the scene of accidents and pick up patients and take them to the nearest hospital without charge. Even air ambulances will do that, and not charge the patients. Yes, there is NO cost to the patient for an ambulance! No-one is asked for their wallet before anyone cares for a seriously injured person, and that would be considered bizarre if that happened.

Get the facts straight before you decide that “socialized” medical services are, somehow, evil.

There have been literally decades to debate, to research, to find facts, to get information, yet somehow some people are demanding more time. Why?

The only answer I can see is that those people demanding MORE time are either very glad to keep the status quo, or they have a vested interest in keeping the companies profitable, or they are fearful that the change means that every single citizen is, in fact, equal to them!

Enough already, there has been plenty of time to find the facts, GET ON WITH IT!