BF2S Forums Should U.S. government play a role in managing health insurance?

I don't know the answer, but from what I read it seems that about 1/3 of every dollar earned in distant to near future will be spent on healthcare.

IRONCHEF wrote:

And yes...raise the friggen taxes already!  I'd gladly have a 5%-10% increase in taxes to pay for my healthcare and that of others because I'd still be saving money in healthcare allowing me to pay for extra healthcare services if needed.

Sure, you might be willing.  But not everyone wants to.  The government ought to intelligently spend the money they already get from taxes before they start taking more.

How many agree that if people would exercise regularly, and eat properly, there wouldn't be a need for high costs in health care?

ReDevilJR wrote:

How many agree that if people would exercise regularly, and eat properly, there wouldn't be a need for high costs in health care?

Health care costs are not high because we're fat asses.  Costs are high because there is a pimp managing the doctors and patients and this pimp is in it for the money, not the health care.  Go see Sicko..or just pay attention to how your hospital bill is paid/managed.  it is said that 33% of the health care costs are just in overhead..management of the billing..something the doctor should do himself.  This is why single payer healthcare is ideal for our country given our reluctance to give a shit about those 45 million (the size of californiain population) who can't get healthcare.

Health care will never be right as long as it is controlled by corporate interests whose sole purpose is to make money.  I haven't been to a doctor in years, but I had to go recently.  Somehow I had hurt my knee to the point where I had fluid building in the joint.  I put it off as long as I could, but eventually had to go to the emergency room when I could no longer bend it enough to get into the car.

Per my insurance I had to pay a $100 co-pay at the time I went to the emergency room.  The total bill for the emergency room was $750.  I paid that $100 up front and still had to pay $350 on the back end after the insurance had paid.  After years and years of paying and never going to the hospital, I had to more than 50% of a simple hospital visit, and I had insurance.

Maybe government run health isn't the answer.  Maybe treating them more like the utilities is the answer.  As a utility companies are treated as an oligology.  As such, they are somewhat regulated, and must appear before a panel to plead their case as to why they should be allowed to change rates; this only happens in upwards rate changes.  They may also be limited to the amount of return they allowed.  The utlities in Utah are only allowed like a maximum of 15% return.  Anything else must be invested in infrastructure or returned to rate payers.  Regulating them by requiring them to make a case as to why they should be allowed to make a rate hike, as well as limiting them to a reasonable return, say in the area of 13-18%.

I'm an Aussie so I didn't vote as this is up to the sepo's

We have universal health care like every other OECD country except the US, what it does is set a minimum level of health care which any private hospital or service needs to meet or better otherwise people just go to the public system. The public system is far from perfect and if you don't have private cover of some type then you pay more tax so there is plenty of incentive for those how can afford private cover to get it.

The biggest problem is mainly people going to the government hospital for general GP visits and clogging up the hospital and the "waiting list" for general surgery (ie non-life threatening conditions). Then again for basically free health care that's the price you got to pay, if you want better get private cover lower your tax and get a government rebate of 30% of the private insurance cost.

Also we don't really pay that much extra in tax compared to Sepo's, then again we only help out in US invasions and don't invade countries on our own which is where most of the US tax dollar seems to be going. Oh we also control our boarders so we don't end up paying for other countries health care costs too (well except those Kiwi's)

(Edit for typo-dyslexia)

Last edited by Fred[OZ75] (2007-08-07 17:48:55)