Are you in favor of Emergency Rooms being able to turn you away if you cannot pay?
Assuming you’re not, and that you agree that nobody should be turned away, then, you’re ALREADY in favor of government control of who gets healthcare.
All the rest is just arguing about the way it’s implemented.
The current system is hugely inefficient. A single payer system (perhaps not exactly what we have today, but with some updates) could be way more efficient, eliminating huge amount of overhead that’s not actually part of the care today.
Then again, you could just kick people to the curb to die if they can’t afford care, or after they’ve gone bankrupt and can longer pay anymore.
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I’m not sure why every reporter doesn’t ask politicians this exact question. Presumably, none would say to kick people to the curb to die in a sound bite. A literal Death Panel without having to stretch any meaning at all. In theory, Republicans are all about fiscal responsibility, and it certainly sounds more responsible to have a fully functioning system that doesn’t rely on the most expensive Emergency Room care for everything and instead works to reducer overall cost throughout the system. So, it’s either to the curb to die, or fund the most expensive least efficient care, or just maybe figure out a way to manage it all that’s more efficient.
Side notes:
1 - The republican election machine is clearly better then the democratic one, otherwise we would have seen arguments and ads like this for years.
2 - Nothing actually matters anymore, so even if we do see this type of thing now, it’s not going to matter.
This simply isn’t my experience at all with finding a new doctor and a dentist, both of which I’ve done in the last few months for both my wife and me. I had non-emergency appointments scheduled within a week with a new dentist and within about two weeks for a doctor. Adjust your handicap my the fact that I’m in the Bay Area and have a larger pool to choose from, but I didn’t make more than a couple of phone calls.
And, enlighten me, show me some hard data on wait times between systems. I’d actually like to see some of this.
That assumes that all of those straight ticket “R” women in Utah identify as feminsts.
I’d hazard to guess that most of the women who do call themselves feminist are already voting for progressives, but the mormon majority is another animal entirely.
I’m relying on soft anecdata, which admittedly may be skewed by shopping for elite care providers. However, in my experience and most others I know it is not uncommon to go down a list of internists, dentists, and psychiatrists until you can hit one taking new patients-- and even then it’s a few months out.
Edited to add:
A quick look through my records shows that I waited 3 months two years ago to see a gastroenterologist for an office visit, and two months after that for (warning TMI) a colonoscopy.
A sure sign that someone is drinking the right-wing Kool-Aid is when they say “look it up” instead of citing reliable sources (see also “educate yourself”). As if “I’m a man therefore I’m not a feminist” isn’t a dead giveaway.
I’ve seen this many times before. You look it up, post contrary sources, and are met with, “Keep looking, you’re an idiot, you didn’t find it!”. Sometimes you can goad them into posting their sources, sometimes they reply with, “Nuh-uh, you can’t make me!” like some 5th grader. But when they do, those sources are usually…completely biased garbage full of half truths if you’re lucky.
I was thinking a bit more on the way over to work, and some specialties are certainly impacted – my father in law has Alzheimer’s and, for reasons not relevant here, my mother in law decided she couldn’t deal with the anxiety of an appointment with a specialist and so cancelled it a few days before – and then was shocked and horrified that the next appointment was 4.5 months out.
I’d really be interested in data that took waiting times from the front end to access to specialists across systems and across specialties. I can go straight to a specialist here in the US (assuming I get the appointment – YMMV) and, as I understand it, I have to filter through GPs in a lot of single-payer systems to get to the specialist.
It’s always the same old BS from the “free” market crowd. Another favourite is the old Libertarian trick of pointing to government programmes that have been deliberately underfunded for years by the small-government legislators they support and then saying “see, they don’t work! The private sector and the market are the only alternative.”
One thing I wouldn’t ascribe to bad faith on the part of Libertarians is their avoidance of discussing the benefits of economies of scale, standards-based efficiencies, preventative measures, and other basic business concepts. I’ve encountered enough of these Galtian tycoons on-line and in meatspace to know that this comes from a level of ignorance that would make me hesitate to entrust them with the operation of a child’s lemonade stand.
Thanks. As a matter of principle I like to keep my Mute list short.
I would like to see this data as well. If I find some, I will share.
Like I said, I expect wait times. But wait times may not all be equal. I live in a major city with a well regarded medical school and lot of hospitals. I also shop for care providers by recommendations from others and I always look up credentials. I am fortunate in the health plan that is available to me. My wait time may be higher than someone less choosy. My wait time may be higher or lower than someone who has a more restrictive plan. I don’t know. But I would like to see the hard data as well.
Well, that is a pretty fair sample size that examines a broad spectrum of demographic experiences and jurisdictional variances. Interestingly, I’ve conducted my own, similarly structured survey! I’ve been going to the same doctor for over 13 years now. When my children were born 11 years ago he became our entire family’s PCP. Since then he has moved his offices fromour very small rural NY town to a nearby rural town with a significantly higher population. Whenever a friend asks me who I recommend I cheerfully offer my highest recommendation (I’d say this is at least 5 families and/or individuals). However, not a one of them has been able to secure an appointment or even get on a waiting list. There are very few other true family practices in this area (impersonal walk-in clinics abound!) and none are as well regarded as mine. Fortunately, plain dumb luck is a major feature of the US healthcare system, so I’m all set!
Or the always-popular “legwork” admonition which, in addition to positioning themselves as unimpeachable authorities who have no need to cite credible proof and statistics, carries the added bonus of implying that you are a feckless layabout too distracted by checking for the latest government handout to arrive in the (taxpayer funded!) mail instead of doing your basic due diligence. You should be ashamed.
Yeah, ALZ sucks. And thanks. In his case we knew it was coming – his father got it at about 60, he’s 78 and diagnosed for a year (probably had it for 2) – but I think the weird part is that in his case it just seems this staircase going down – it’s not gradual. He’s about the same for weeks, then, thump, down a notch. That notch doesn’t come back, so each drop raises a kind of new level of grief about it. He can engage in conversation, but if he tries to ask a question, he can’t formulate it properly. That particular subroutine – I WANT TO KNOW MORE! – just disappeared.
Might argue that plain dumb luck is critical to success in just about any facet of USian life. Try being born rich on for size! It worked for Turnip, it can work for you!
Canadian here. Not really. I can call my doctor’s office in the morning and have an appointment with my doctor on the same day unless he’s on vacation. I can’t do that with my frickin’ hairdresser. I am seeing specialists for an issue, and despite it not being a lifethreatening crisis, appointments have been in a matter of weeks with zero out of pocket. If it was more urgent a problem, it would be quicker, because service decisions are done based on medical priority, not ability to pay.
Try selling these myths on a forum where people don’t have personal experience with the systems you cite, you might have better success.
