Replies to post #703603 on Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[borusa]

Absolutely Dead On. Wish I had said that, will settle on repeating it:

And where you can find high quality healthcare at an affordable price abroad will most likely be in one of those so called "socialistic" healthcare systems which you hate so much.
Ever wonder why our healthcare system ranks so low among modern industrialized countries, but at the same time costs more than anywhere else? It is because it's main purpose is not looking after the public's welfare. It has been designed to maximize profits for the healthcare industry (primarily the Pharmaceutical companies) while maintaining the illusion that it will provide good affordable healthcare for all. I live abroad now, and I use the healthcare system (what you might mistakenly call an "evil socialistic" one), and it is far more affordable and at least as good as what I've had in the US. At the same time, it is not as huge a drain on government finances as the healthcare system in the US is. There is also more emphasis on prevention, which saves health dollars. Prescription drugs cost much less.
I don't know if getting rid of Obamacare would be a step in the right direction or not, it all depends on what replaces it. What we had before was not working and pretty much everyone agrees changes must be made, but Obamacare is also flawed in many ways .... although perhaps it's a start in the right direction. I am not optimistic that we will get very far in the right direction though ... not as long as the Pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies etc. are the ones controlling what can and can't get through Congress.
It is just another example of what is bringing down our country ..... everything is done for the benefit of the special interests (who can buy off the Congress), with the welfare of the people taking on secondary (if that) importance. The government can't be everything for everybody, but it should at least be fair in how it goes about it. This problem with the system needs to be fixed first and foremost before tackling all the other big problems, or we wind up with a lot expensive programs which don't serve the people well (unless you think of Corporations as people, as the Supreme Court does).

[arilau]

I am not optimistic that we will get very far in the right direction though ... not as long as insurance companies etc. are the ones controlling what can and can't get through Congress.

You forgot to mention the Doctors and Hospitals milking the Ins. companies who in turn pass the extra cost to the helpless patients.

In the mean time,the Population,each generation is born into more blatant corruption and more cynicism.The kids start their lives with a deficit in ethics and morals."Take care of #1" is the learned principle.
Many of those kids take,later on, high positions in our society...

The Healthcare system is only one of the symptoms of a sick society.

[brightness]

The top destinations for American "medical tourists" are Mexico, Thailand and India, where the Americans seeking medical services on those trips would be paying cash.

People in those "socialistic" healthcare systems of Western Europe and Canada that you love so much constitute the majority of medical tourists visiting the US.

What Michael Moore did not tell you in his Potempkin Village documentary of the Cuban medical system is that the typical Cubans go to squalid local hospitals not shown in the movie. Since Moore's crew and patients were not paying the Cuban government for the medical services that they received, unlike the typical American medical tourists going to Mexico, Thailand and India (where the payment help the local economy even more than the service itself), what Moor was doing was something between Genocide and taking candy from the proverbial baby.

Pharmaceuticals are cheaper overseas only because drug research is subsidized by Americans. The hospital you are using overseas are located in areas where expats concentrate; i.e. the better parts of the country (like the equivalent of Upper East Side or Upper West Side of Manhatten). Of course they are better than the average hospital of the country. You were not experiencing the months of waiting that is typical of local hospitals in Western Europe and Canada. Why do you think so many Western Europeans and Canadians come to the US for medical services?

Since you are so worked up about medical industry seeking profit, when was the last time you volunteered at a hospital or a pharmaceutical company? What makes you think Europeans and Canadians are the Socialist Newman donating their lives to "the Greater Good"? Why do you think the typical biotech and pharma company in the US is full of young interns from Europe? Since you don't volunteer yourself, but demand others to provide voluntary service (using government coercion if necessary), you are essentially advocating slavery.

There were indeed many problems in the American medical system, most of which were the result of earlier government meddling, especially that of LBJ. Obamacare is a step in the wrong direction, and will make it even worse.