I'm always amused when I hear or read what you have stated in the first part of the above quote. Have you ever been on an HMO? If so then you know that you might have to wait up to a month to see your doctor if you have the flu. "Well, he has an opening in March. Will that work for you?" "NO! I'll probably be dead by then! But thanks." And you can't get your emergency room visit paid for unless you get it approved first by your PCP (Primary Care Physician). So, bottom line is you end up waiting anyway and paying monthly for the privilege.

The second part of the above quote is always a sensitive subject. Illegal immigrants are in this country and continue to come to this country. That is a fact. And the situation is not going to change overnight. Period. That being said, if we demand that a person coming into the emergency room be a citizen prior to receiving care, then we are potentially exposing the population of this country to grave peril. Let's say an illegal immigrant is showing symptoms of a bad case of the flu. He feels like crap. BUT, he won't go to the doctor because of fear of being deported. Later, these symptoms progress and he starts bleeding from various orifices. Guess what? He doesn't have the flu. He has some form of hemorrhagic fever (Marburg or Ebola) and because he wasn't diagnosed early he has just exposed a large number of people to this virulent, contagious disease. On a side note, the clinic system I described in my earlier post will take as members anyone without verifying whether or not the potential patient is a citizen. Guess what we found? The pay. They pay on time. AND, they pay the full amount. In fact, their record of payment is far better than the actual citizens. It's strange, I know. Now, does this mean that the US shouldn't address the illegal immigration situation? Of course not, but we must keep in mind the public health ramifications of denying healthcare.

The last part of the above quote is spot on. I couldn't agree with you more regarding the strain on healthcare caused by the relative good health of our population. The main problem with the system is the same problem inherent in the "trickle down economics" philosophy. It doesn't take into account one very real aspect of business: GREED.

Thanks!

SG

I've lived in the US for over 25 years, and the health care system here has never made any sense to me.

Greed is good that's what makes us work harder. We have problems here, but I would take our system than any other system. I would rather wait a month than have to wait for six months or even up to a year to have a procedure done. That is your universal health care, you can have that.

I just can't believe that in the early part of the 20TH century we had a better understanding about allowing people to enter our country. If they came in on a boat they were not allowed entry into the general population until everyone on that boat cleared inspection.

This concerns me with us not controlling our illegal immigration problem. We beat polio here and now it is on the rise again. It is from people coming from across the border, I wish we could send them all home.

Or force our friends down south to have a better health care system, good luck with that one. Is our system here 100% perfect?, no it is not. I think it is strained and that is a very big problem. Our problems will get worse as more government controls it.

The government does one thing well, print and waste more of our hard earned money. I hope that on both sides we can discuss all of the problems and work on them to improve them. I just resent as a US citizen that they allow people who are not suppose to be here get treatment before an American citizen that is a joke.

Don't even get me started about Brazil, wow that is truly an adventure having to get medical attention there if you don't have the money. it's a great country though.

Those stats are totally OBSOLETE.

Those are from year 2000.. You MUST be KIDDING.

The world has changed A LOT since 2000 and you know it.

The pharma business is one (if not the most) profitable companies in the world.

And the media wants us to believe that Coca-Cola or Microsoft are the most profitable, LOL. :)

That's not the point, dude. We are talking about normal people, like you or me.

Of course, If you are Donald Trump, you will have the best doctors in the world and you will have no problem to afford those abusive fees.

We are talking about having a Health Insurance and still have to pay extra fees for everything.

you stated u.s healthcare is one of the worst- wrong. so you think we went from 37th to one of last of 190 countries in 8 years- wrong. cuba's is better- wrong.

what country are you from? let me know and i can find several things wrong with it in a matter of seconds, from imperfect healthcare to government corruption.

fucking hypocrite, post a lame ass thread about your own country, foreigners who watch a hollywood movie then bash american healthcare has been overdone here.


so you watched a pirated version of SICKO and now you come here to bash, congrats, you're a hater based on movie.



point fingers at your own fucking country.

the us health care system is the best in the world to make profit, it is up there next the the energy sector. why do you think it is not being "fixed", too many people making mega bucks on the way it works and they are willing to pay politicians and lobbyist tons of cash to keep it that way...

generics do not always work as well and are not always that much cheaper.

LOL.. you sound like the classic republican.

Just open your eyes and take a look at how MANY AMERICANS in this very same thread are complaining about the American heath system.

Sicko. All said.

there you go yapping about shit you have no idea about other than what you see on the tele or movies. classic republican? riiight.

i never said OUR healthcare system is healthy. as a self-employed diabetic of 25 years i have 1st hand knowledge of the issues with it.

and i have absolutely no problem with people who have experience with our healthcare system criticizing the system, even our neighbors to the north, although it's interesting that 1/2 think we go there for healthcare and the other 1/2 think they come here for healthcare.

but you're just a coward hiding behind a keyboard bitching about something you've only watched a movie about and posting about here because you still think it's cool to come here and bash america

i'd wager you are still on mommy and daddy's healthcare plan and don't even know/understand the healthcare system in your own fucking country.

again- what country are you in? i can dredge up shit about it in a few moments and start a thread bitching about how shitty your country is, that's easy.

Again, check this thread, nazi. The american health system is totally destroyed. Read what your fellow patriotic Americans are saying. Even CUBA is better than USA in terms of Health. :winkwink:

I have my own healthcare plan. I'm sure your mom pays you yours. Anyway, keep paying 10k per month in extra fees dude or switch over to some decent country where they don't play with your health.

Bye idiot. All said.

Viva Michael Moore! :1orglaugh

i see reading comprehension is not your strong suit.

& obviously too much of a coward to answer re: what country you are from.

um, don't mean to burst your bubble there.. but you have the best doctors because they are paid the most.

If I moved over, I would still keep on paying my universal health insurance, just in case I would get seriously ill or something.

For 70 $ a month I get everything covered, I pay just for my dental, which is still about 10 times cheaper than in US or western EU, meds are pretty cheap too (most of the very usual meds like headache killers etc. are below $5 ), quality of service pretty good.

Yes, there are longer waiting times indeed because of lot of senile geronts in the waiting rooms who haven't got shit to do, but overally I was always pretty satisfied with the service, always bringing my laptop with me to the waiting room so I can work.

we have the best doctors because we have the best schools, and a lot of them. even if another country paid doctors more than they make here, there would still not be a mass exodus of medical school grads to that country, not enough to upset the balance anyway.

besides, doctors are the problem, the system is the problem.

We pay a lot for employee health insurance... Employees with families get the best BCBS at a cost to the company of $1300 month, single insureds are around $600/month. It's real money, folks.

Brad

That seems real high. We have a pretty good company plan at United Health Insurance. For individuals it's under $300 and families under $600 I believe. It's not their best, but the 2nd best.

Have you checked out ehealthinsurance.com? You can call them and they'll run quotes on half a dozen companies for you.