OPEC accuses U.S. on oil prices

[svcta]

What about those who truly want to perform, but cannot.

Those who can not are already taken care of, aren't they?


And for Goggles,
I see your point, and can't really argue it. But surely a requirement to carry coverage isn't going to lower these costs at all. It eliminates the free market and only leaves us more vulnerable to lobby groups. It's a huge golden egg for health care companies, I would think.

 

[Donald]

What about those who truly want to perform, but cannot.

I don't mind social progams to help the handicapped.

Seems under the current administration, we have a pretty healthy dose of both. Wait, is it greed? Or corruption that we are riddled with?

Both, I'm sure. Name one administration that didn't have both. That is why I choose to limit the growth of gov't. We can create laws to protect us from corporate greed and corruption to an extent (Enron ring a bell) Its almost impossible to create laws against gov't greed and corruption much less enforce them.

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

svcta: Health Care Costs:

Here are two facts comparing Canada and the US:

Looking at ALL the health care money spent in the entire US in one year:
17% of the monies go to administrative costs.

Looking at ALL the health care money spent in the entire country of Canada in one year:
4% of the monies go to administrative costs.

So, if we adopted just the ADMINISTRATIVE system that Canada has, we would save 13% of our health care dollars every year

If we CHOOSE to, we could use the 13% to cover EVERY uninsured American. Everyone could pay the exact same amount of money that we pay now, and every American would be covered.

Of course, there are consequences. If we actually did the above, tens of thousands of health care workers would lose their jobs, as they wouldn't be needed using the Canadian-style administrative system.

More importantly, however, the really wealthy people that control the health insurance companies would be out millions of dollars every year. They would not like this, and they would do everything in their power to retain the current bloated health care administrative system that we have today.

cliff
GRB

 

[sat74]

Hi!

svcta: Health Care Costs:

Here are two facts comparing Canada and the US:

Looking at ALL the health care money spent in the entire US in one year:
17% of the monies go to administrative costs.

Looking at ALL the health care money spent in the entire country of Canada in one year:
4% of the monies go to administrative costs.

So, if we adopted just the ADMINISTRATIVE system that Canada has, we would save 13% of our health care dollars every year

If we CHOOSE to, we could use the 13% to cover EVERY uninsured American. Everyone could pay the exact same amount of money that we pay now, and every American would be covered.

Of course, there are consequences. If we actually did the above, tens of thousands of health care workers would lose their jobs, as they wouldn't be needed using the Canadian-style administrative system.

More importantly, however, the really wealthy people that control the health insurance companies would be out millions of dollars every year. They would not like this, and they would do everything in their power to retain the current bloated health care administrative system that we have today.

cliff
GRB

Just like there will never be a system like the Fair Tax because it would put the IRS and all the tax accountants out of business! This country is so corrupt and in bed with each other its shocking!

 

[jetflyer]

Sicko was an eye opener to me. The depths of the corruption go really far in America.

Money rules Washington.

 

[FlickerFade]

Money rules Washington.

Money rules this country, thank God! We are capitalist. If we weren't we wouldn't be the envy of the world in so many areas. Aviation for one! Health care for two. We have the best health care in the world, infinitely better than Canada or the UK. Innovation is where our country is so dominant because of the profit motive.

Now to say that the health care issue is a one-issue problem is too simplistic. It's government regulation (costs hundreds of millions of dollars to bring a drug to market), it's lawyers (who don't produce anything, and just look for the next pot of money to go after), it's Chicken ess politicians who want to demagogue for votes vs. find balances solutions, it's people who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions (and pay for a new car before they pay for health insurance), it's insurance companies (who live too much for share price vs. their service), etc, etc, etc.

Any of the problems discussed here are infinitely complex.

 

[sat74]

If we weren't we wouldn't be the envy of the world in so many areas. Aviation for one! Health care for two. We have the best health care in the world, infinitely better than Canada or the UK. Innovation is where our country is so dominant because of the profit motive.

I hope you dont really think this way! This is just another ignorant "America is the best" statement that does not work anymore. We might have been #1 at many things, but not anymore!!! Not even close!!!

The World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems.
Source: WHO World Health Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rank Country
1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
41 New Zealand
42 Bahrain
43 Croatia
44 Qatar
45 Kuwait
46 Barbados
47 Thailand
48 Czech Republic
49 Malaysia
50 Poland
51 Dominican Republic
52 Tunisia
53 Jamaica
54 Venezuela
55 Albania
56 Seychelles
57 Paraguay
58 South Korea
59 Senegal
60 Philippines
61 Mexico
62 Slovakia
63 Egypt
64 Kazakhstan
65 Uruguay
66 Hungary
67 Trinidad and Tobago
68 Saint Lucia
69 Belize
70 Turkey
71 Nicaragua
72 Belarus
73 Lithuania
74 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
75 Argentina
76 Sri Lanka
77 Estonia
78 Guatemala
79 Ukraine
80 Solomon Islands
81 Algeria
82 Palau
83 Jordan
84 Mauritius
85 Grenada
86 Antigua and Barbuda
87 Libya
88 Bangladesh
89 Macedonia
90 Bosnia-Herzegovina
91 Lebanon
92 Indonesia
93 Iran
94 Bahamas
95 Panama
96 Fiji
97 Benin
98 Nauru
99 Romania
100 Saint Kitts and Nevis

 

[414Flyer]

If you actually believe that quality and accessablility of health care here is 37th in the world, I would like to sell you a Palm tree grove outside of Minot.

 

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

If you actually believe that quality and accessablility of health care here is 37th in the world, I would like to sell you a Palm tree grove outside of Minot.

That was quicker than I thought. OF COURSE the WHO has NO CLUE. Whatever....

 

[Dizel8]

If you actually believe that quality and accessablility of health care here is 37th in the world, I would like to sell you a Palm tree grove outside of Minot.

Qaulity, perhaps, but probably. Accesibility, not even close.

When I was overseas, more specifically northern europe, I was never worried about access or cost. Over there, good medical care was considered a basic right, not just for those who happened to have the right insurance card, but for all. It sounds crazy, but I cannot tell you how liberating that was, that your health was more important than money.

The quality in the US is very good, you get more xrays, MRI, CT scans than you can shake a stick at, but cost wise is it getting out of hand. The cost of medical care in the US is outpacing inflation by a large margin.

To protect my heart, I had a couple of glasses of red wine, otherwise, I would continue standing on my "soapbox" .

However, I should say no, I don't want to live anywhere else, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see us getting a handle on this, because status quo and watching insurance/cost of care skyroccketing, is not a solution I prefer.