Arianddu wrote:Ehwmatt wrote:For every close-minded conservative, there's a liberal whose out-of-control emotions and "sense of justice" trump any practical concerns.
And for every American saying 'it can't be done because this is America' there are a dozen non-Americans saying 'sure it can, you've just got to think a little different.'
For what it's worth, I don't know of a single medical practitioner in Australia who left the industry when Medicare was introduced, but I personally know about 80 who have left in the last 10 years because Australia introduced insurance and litigation laws more similar to the US and their insurance premiums soared so high they can't afford to work.
Many doctors that we lost to the US are now coming back to Canada because of this and the fact that they are
sickened by HMOs and how insurance companies are impeding their ability to treat patients. The idea that doctors
are not fairly and well compensated in a universal system is ignorant assumption - my mom's doctor drives a Jag
not a Malibu. Besides, I want a doctor who went to medical school because he or she has the skill and passion for
it, not because of greed. In other words, I want Hawkeye Pierce, not Frank Burns. The only shortage we have
in medical schools here is available spaces, not highly motivated applicants.
Just because Medicare and Medicaid are poorly instituted government programs does not mean that a newly designed
universal healthcare system has to suffer the same fate. And the outrageous cost of prescription drugs in the US
is due more to the fact that these billion dollar companies know that people will pay whatever they can as long as
they can to survive and no one is stopping them. Money should not determine who lives or dies. Everyone has the
right to universal healthcare. And I'm a Western Reform-Conservative (Canadian term - I think the equivalent
would be a Republican from Texas, but not George W
).
I live in a very small town of about 9,000 and we have excellent doctors. If I get sick or hurt, I can go to the hospital,
show my CareCard, get well cared for, and never see a bill or worry that surviving might bankrupt me. And if I need
a state of the art facility, the government will fly me there and pay for it. There are shortages, waitlists and
problems, mostly due to Liberal cuts in spending a decade ago, but they are being addressed. I would rather
have access to a good facility than have the best facility in the world that left me outside to die because I didn't
have insurance. If other countries can do it, the US should be able to do it and do it better.
I know Mel and Lynn remember that!
Not sure what the other 10 or so people thought. 
