Universal Healthcare - A Bad Idea

I take bextra and have a sulfa allergy. I have also had a problem with mobic.

 

I'm sorry to hear that, but the chances of something that bad happening are very small, not worth paying into it my whole life in my opinion.

 

I'm not contesting their importance; I'm saying that these companies marketing and administration budgets dwarf a relatively tiny R&D budget because all the most expensive work (ie: the doctors that administer the tests, the machinery it's done on, the facilities the study occurs in) is almost always done within the confines of Universities, alot of times funded by the National Institute of Health as research, and yet the universities themselves are almost always aligned with big pharma. If the research turns out to be profitable; it's under that big pharma companies patent. You can't get much more against free market than that, imo...

 

Bextra is not a sulfa drug, but many people people with a sulfa allergy are also sensitive to it.

 

I know that some, but not all research is taxpayer subsidized. I am not sure exactly how that works. A lot of drugs are branded by big drug companies to be promoted, but money is paid to the firm that did the research. I would think that the drug industry pays back at least some of the cost to NIH and to universities. I do not really know about all that, though.
I do think that price gouging goes on. I do not know how they justify some of the prices that are charged. What I do know is that drugs are being discovered quiker now than ever before in history. Great improvements have been made in the 9.5 years experience I have. Improvements in the safety net have also occured, and the price for that is very high.
I don't know the figure on advertising expenditures. I do know that drug companies can no longer offer doctors exhorbitant gifts for prescribing their products, so, in many cases, drug reps report to me that marketing costs overall have gone down. I agree that the advertisements are a waste. It is one thing to advertise that a condition now has treatment options. I am appalled by ads saying "call your doctor and ask about_________."
I do not beleive in government negotiating prices on any product intended for private use. It is on thing when the government is directly the consumer, buying products for its own consumption. When the government starts negotiating drug prices for citizens, why stop their? They could do the same with any comodity. I think it is anticompetitive at best, and opposes the free market.

 

One of my best friends just came up with something possibly cancerous on her pap semear. This needs to be checked out right away. But...She can't. Her parents are self employed and don't have health care.

We should have some kind of universal healthcare system in this country. If one doesn't like the government healthcare, one can have the option of going to a privatized hospital. Simple as that.

 

I noticed that the one big argument people use against universal health care is that it'll bring down the quality of the medical care you receive. Personally, I think decent health care for all is better than outstanding health care for a select few....but that is beside the point at the moment.

For the people who use that argument, I'd like some statistics on overall American health vs the overall health of British, canadians, and other countries that have UHC. If the majority of Amerikans have better health than these other nations, you might have a slightly reasonable argument, but the last I heard, most americans are generally more unhealthy than anyone else.

 

Also, if people don't think the quality of government healthcare isn't up to snuff, they can go to privatised hospitals.

 

That's the point though, why should people pay into a government health care program if they're not gonna use it.

 

I'm sure the 43 million Americans who can't afford healthcare will.

 

By that reasoning why should we pay for public schools we don't attend or social security we don't want or road repair for streets we don't drive on or libraries we don't visit or for police we don't call and fire depts we don't call?

Public use should be supported by the entire public.

 

People always talk about the 30 million Americans that don't have health care(it's not 40 million, 1/4 of people that don't have it dont have it by choice and if you were with without health care for 1 week in the past 6 months you are considered uninsured, so don't always trust the figgures) but no one ever talks about the over 260million Americans that do have health care.

 

But that's still millions of people. You can't argue that no one will use the new healthcare system when tens of millions will.

 

Yes, tens of millions will and tens of millions will get better health insurance then they have, but tens of millions will also have to pay into a system they don't wanna and tens of millions will wind up with worse health insurance then they have if it was fully socialized. But I look at it this way, out of 30 million that don't have health insurance, how many are dead beats who live off welfare and how many are immigrants who even without insurance have much better health care then where they came from.

 

You don't know anything about these "dead beats" so I suggest you stick to subjects that you don't have to pretend you have knowledge on.

Your selfish view of life is going to come back and bite you on the ass when you are down and out. But then I am sure you will happily become a dead beat and accept welfare if necessary too.

And don't give me that bullshit about the people who abuse the system, have tons of babies, etc...that is nothing more than an naive world view. But look who I'm talking to. The 16 year old who thinks that he will never pay health insurance, and would rather just hope he never has to see the doctor. Good luck to your future family...

 

There aren't as many "dead beats" living off as welfare as some of you would like to think. It's not like you can go into a welfare office and get a check, you gotta work HARD for that shit. You can't use that as a reasonable excuse.

I agree with what shane has to say. You pay for public schools that you don't go to, you pay for public roads that you don't drive on....why is healthcare any different? UHC works for everyone's best interest. It would help keep down the spread of certain diseases, it would help keep all those "dead beats" off of welfare because if you're healthy, you have no excuse to not work.

This is only one example out of thousands, but it works. My step mother worked hard all of her life....about 3 years ago she had a stroke, was diagnosed with cancer, had 2 more strokes, and now has MS. She is no longer able to work, and because of this she lives off of her disability check and medicare. She couldn't see the doctor while she was working because even though she had insurance, the out-of-pocket expenses were too high. Her medical/living expenses are costing tax payers THOUSANDS of dollars every year, and will continue to cost that until the day she dies. IF she would have been able to recieve treatment for her problems before they got too bad, she could still be working today.....think about it, maybe 5,000 dollars in preventive care, versus something like 15-20,000 a year now for all the medications, doctor bills, medical supplies and other shit she's gonna have to have for the next 30+ years.

Can you seriously say that tax payers would be getting shafted under a UHC system?

 

What was your friends parent's plan. Did they save money for such a situation. If they are genuinely too poor, they should qualify for state medical assistance. If they make enough money, but have not been responsible in planning, that is not my fault. I shouldn't have to pay for ones irresponsibility. If everyone would take care of themselves, we wouldn't have so many problems. Also, if your friend talks to the doctors office/hospital, they will set up a payment plan. Another option, almost every metropolitan area has a free clinic, funded by donations, both private and corporate.

If we had government healthcare and private healthcare, private healthcare would go out of business. How would they be able to compete?

 

Don't tell me I don't know deadbeats, I've seen the welfare system abused 1st hand including by members of my own family and you know what, when you've lived part of your life in the ghetto of a city, then you can go and judge the welfare system for what it really is.

 

NO preventative treatment exists for MS. Medicare does not cover prescriptions, how does she afford the $1000/month MS treatments? I hope she still has either private insurance or medicaid, because the gaps in medicare (the Government Insurance) are outrageous.

How about we also start giving out free groceries, so people will stop eating fast food, that would dramatically cut down on healthcare expenditures. Maybe we should also give everyone a car and unlimited gasoline/maintenece, so they can get to work. After all, if they can't get to work, they can't contribute to the tax base. Hell, while we are at it, lets give all junkies free heroin, it would dramaticly reduce street crimes.

Can you see the problem? Where does this stop? Healthcare is not a birth right, no more than toothpaste or toilet paper is. Everyone needs to be responsible for themselves. Obviously, people have situations occur and they need a helping hand. I have no problem with that, but this idea of government funded entitlement programs is absurd.

 

It's not irresponsibility, it's the plain and simple fact that health care costs way too much for any average person to pay for. If you only have to visit a doctor occasionally, that's one thing....but when something unexpected like cancer or other serious illness becomes an issue medical costs can go through the roof. Tell me, do you have any $$$ stashed away in a "just in case I get cancer" fund? Or how about a "just in case I am ever involved in a serious accident and can no longer work" fund? As for "free" clinics....they are a joke, the have waiting lists months long, and often have to turn people away due to lack of funds.

The government runs it's own utilities in most places, but this doesn't put the big electric companies out of business. There are public schools, but there is no shortage of private schools in this country. Your argument makes no sense.