Socialized health care or private market?

If your country has mandatory universal health care, would you want to change the way your country handles health care, or are you happy as it is?

No. Of course its not perfect, its never going to be perfect. The universal health care provides everyone access to health care and I think that everyone in this day and age has that right regardless of how much they earn or not. Of course the burdens on the public health system are enormous but the government does have incentives and is still working on ways that does and will encourage more people to opt towards private health care to ease the burden on the public health care system.

The NHS could do with some changes.

Aside from waste of space government targets which simply foster a culture of point scoring I believe it offers some unnecessary treatments. If you get a tatoo then decide 20 years later it was a mistake why should you get it removed free? Same goes for fertility treatment, yes having kids is a wonderfull experiance but not having them the normal half a bottle of red wine and not taking proper precautions way is bloody expensive.

Cancer drugs for a patient for a couple years or fertility treatment and plastic surgery for people with low self esteem?

where i live you can only have tattoo removal if you can prove it was done against your will, and who can do that?

fertility treatment is availiable only to couples that fit a very strict criteria with no living children and at set health standards, and they only get one cycle.

plastic surgery is only availiable where the patient has say lost 20 stones, had breast surgery for cancer leaving assymetry, car crash facials, bat ears for small children, acromegally that sort of thing.

But i agree there could be some common sense changes.

If anyone needs a tattoo removed it might be worth checking different health authorities.

Times

187,063 is an awfull lot of people that need them removed to "secure mental health wellbeing".

you cant get hardly anything done where i live

But yeah, that seems a lot of cash spent on tattoo removal that could go into acute care.

Private market is the best way to go. Keeping things out of the hands of he gobermint is always best. A person needs to pick the healthcae program that they can afford and go on with living.

And if they can't afford it or the insurance company won't cover them?

Edited to add

And remember to be carefull who your parents are. Being born into a poor family could seriously damage your health.

If a person is truly disable and can not work, can't function because of health issues than by all means they should recieve help. There should also be a review process in place. If a person is just lazy and will not work, living off entitlements because of this factor no.

Health outcomes often better in Canada than U.S.: review
April 18, 2007 | 11:20 AM ET
The Canadian Press


The death and disease rates for patients in Canada are the same or lower than those for people with similar diagnoses treated in the United States ? even though per capita health-care spending is higher south of the border, a study suggests.

The findings ? from Canadian and U.S. researchers who crunched data from 38 studies ? were published in the inaugural edition of Open Medicine. The online medical journal launched Wednesday in the aftermath of a rift last year between some editors and the publisher of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

'What it shows is that despite an enormous investment in money, we do not see better health outcomes [in the U.S.]'
? Study author Dr. P.J. Devereaux"In looking at patients in Canada with a specific diagnosis compared to Americans with the same diagnosis, in Canada patients had at least as good an outcome as their American counterparts ? and in many situations, a better health outcome," said one of the 17 authors, Dr. P.J. Devereaux, a cardiologist and clinical epidemiologist at McMaster University in Hamilton.

"And that is important because in the United States, they're currently spending a little over $7,100 per individual on health care annually, whereas in Canada we're spending a little over $2,900 per individual annually," he said in a telephone interview from Brantford, Ont.

The study covered data on patient populations in the United States and Canada from 1955 to 2003. To conduct their meta-analysis, researchers identified almost 5,000 titles and abstracts. Of these, 498 appeared potentially eligible on initial review. Eventually, 38 studies were deemed to be eligible.

"Overall, Canada did better, and in fact we found a statistically significant five per cent mortality advantage [of survival] to people with diagnoses in Canada compared to their counterparts in the United States," Devereaux said.

To view the article in its entire, go to:

https://www.openmedicine.ca/article/view/8/1

Please note the amounts spent per capita in Canada and the U.S.

Private market. But the insurance companies need to start paying what they are suppose to, and not follow what medicare does. I work in a docs office, and the inurence companies are reallysomething else. I just want to tell them, Hello, you were hired to do a service by a consumer, jsut pay the dog gone thing and quit having us spend hours of time filling out papaerwork, and dening payment to the patients.

"Hello, you were hired to do a service by a consumer"

I fully and clearly understand your position here, but this statement has some flaws. They were hired to provide a service where they set the standards and guidle lines; it is there rules that we must follow

We need universal healthcare in this country for people who can't afford insurance. It wouldn't be that difficult to create a formula for figuring out who is eligible & who isn't.

If a person makes 100 grand a year & is single, or married with no kids, then they ought to buy their own insurance.

If a person earns 100 grand a year, is married, has 4 or 5 kids w/one or more in college, & takes care of an elderly relative or two, then maybe that person should get a insurance premium subsidy.

People who live near, at or below the poverty level should get free health insurance, or free treatment.

Paople shouldn't have to face the prospect of becoming homeless just to pay medical bills.