jsgoddess - Good question !
You sue the Health Care Authority, e.g. the ‘group’ to which the hospital (or whatever) belongs.
Who pays ? Ultimately, the public do.
But how ‘bout this, who ultimately pays for your malpractice suits ? Right, it’s in your next premium cos it sure as hell doesn’t come out of shareholder dividends or Board bonuses.
I guess what scares me is the thought of the government having a say over my health care. Let’s take Eva’s situation and expand it a bit. Say it wasn’t just broken but nearly taken off. Now in a private system, Eva gets to decide that she will endure multiple surgeries and long rehab in order to save her foot(Asuming it’s possible). After all, she and her insurance company are paying for the services. Who gets to make that call in Cuba? Or the UK? Is that level of technology even present? I’m guessing a cost based government system would just take the foot. See, that’s why I want the doctor working for me and not the goverment. I’m also guessing that’s why americans spend a lot more on health care as well. I also wonder why there is a thriving private health care system in the UK? I mean if it’s free and wonderful?
One thing I’ve noticed the conservatives saying here is that of course we (in the US) have health care for the needy who are on welfare.
This seems to be a common attitude among conservatives - that the only poor people are the ones on welfare. What planet are you all on? There are a lot of people in this country who work at hourly jobs, making anything from minimum wage to, say $20/hour. They get no sick pay, no holiday pay, and no benefits, certainly not health insurance. Often they are single mothers raising children, so they are paying food, rent, clothing, and child-care in order to hold their jobs. They are not eligible for welfare, food stamps, or Medicaid because their incomes are “too high.”
These are people who never see a GP, because the only way they can go to a doctor is to go to the ER, which can not turn them away. These are people who have several teeth pulled in their 20s because they can’t afford to go to a dentist, and certainly can’t afford a root canal or a crown! Getting medical treatment means not making the rent, and staying home to recover from an illness or injury means missing out on desperately needed pay.
Generally speaking, these people are not lazy or unmotivated. They are, and have always been, POOR and uneducated. By the time they were old enough to recognize what needed to be done to lift themselves out of poverty and ignorance, many were trapped by the fact that they had children themselves.
The working poor, folks. We’ve got a lot of them, and we’re not doing jack shit for them. Let’s not fool ourselves that the needy are all taken care of.
Hammer are you more in control of your health care when you have an insurance company controlling it? They, after all, had better show a profit! Personally, I’d feel more comfortable in the hands of an organization whose first requirement was to serve the people.
I don’t understand the attitude that so many people have that equates government work with incompetence. And I don’t understand the concept that having a for-profit layer reduces costs. Do you know anyone in real life who doesn’t try to do a good job at their job? I’ve never met such a person! Bureaucracies are not exclusive to the government, you know.
Plus what about the long-term cost impact of people who never get basic preventive care or let minor things go because it’s too expensive to treat them out of pocket, and then end up needing much more expensive care at government expense because the situation becomes emergent?
High blood pressure? Asthma? Diabetes? Early-stage heart disease? What about my cervical cancer ofa few months ago, which was caught on a routine Pap smear and fixed with immediate (outpatient) surgery under local anaesthesia? If you let cervical cancer develop past the stage mine was at, it frequently requires much more invasive surgery, even a hysterectomy, and is likely to spread to other organs and eventually be fatal, instead of the 99% complete cure rate it has when caught at the stage mine was at?
A Pap smear out-of-pocket is expensive for people on a limited budget if not covered by insurance, but not nearly as expensive as major abdominal surgery, drugs, chemo, and early death (possibly leaving behind children, who will have to be supported by somebody).
Skimping on medical care can have all kinds of public health ramifications, and non-health-related ramificaitons, for which the taxpayer may eventually end up opciking up the tab. How many people end up disabled and supported by SSI and/or disability insurance because they don’t deal with medical issues?
AvhHines. I am in control because I have a contract that specifies what will and won’t be covered with my insurance company. If “I” don’t like the terms I can choose another company, or I can simply pay out of pocket for services. If it were government controlled what kind of choice do you think I would have? Personnally, I think insurance companies are bad for health care. Look at the cost of any procedure not covered by insurance. They go down just like any other service that is not artifically boosted. As for the op I forgot to give an actual answer. No it is clearly not a right. It’s a nice to have. I wouldn’t mind a program that you could choose to participate in or not.
*If “I” don’t like the terms I can choose another company, or I can simply pay out of pocket for services. *
And what AvhHines is saying is that for many, they CANNOT pay out of their pockets, and their insurance doesn’t always cover it. And even then, what about those of us who can’t afford insurance.
What about those of us who have teeth falling out at age 20 and can’t afford to get their cavities filled?
Does universal health care cover dentistry? I just read a story about dental care in Wales that didn’t lend much hope.
Julie
Never said I was opposed to a system to help catch those that fall through the cracks. I just don’t want it to be a viable alternative for those with jobs/insurance. The question is about rights and I don’t see it as a right. You have a right to pursue happiness. That happiness is not garunteed.