health care reform?

[iheartmaytag]

The private insurance companies are too large and too powerful to ever allow universal coverage. Look at the Medicare Part D fiasco.

The entire industry needs to be completely overhauled. Don't allow the insurance companies to base your premiums on if you are slow paying your Sear's account. Don't allow an insurance company to dictate to your doctor what your care should be. The drug companies and insurance companies are in bed together and they are happy whoreing together; if one of us little people get pushed aside--oh well.

 

[launderess]

France

Offers perhaps the closest thing the United States could use as a jumping off poing for universal health care.

The French system is slightly like the United State's Medicare and Medicaid program in that the government is the single payer, but IIRC one purchases the plan via various insurance agents. As with most other things in France, the basic plan is the same for everyone in France (central government don't you know), but one is free to purchase priviate insurance to cover things not offered by the state plan.

 

[ronhic]

Australia

...is similar.

- There is good basic coverage for all.

- If you have additional private insurance before you're 30 and maintain it you always pay the 30yr old rate

- If you decide you don't want any private coverage, you pay extra for medicare based on your income.

The link below is quite good and if you click on the blue 'medicare' under the bolded 'MEDICARE' it takes you to another interesting link about who can and can't.

A good statistic is that in the 04/05 financial year they provided 236 million services....

http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/about/whatwedo/medicare.jsp

 

[whitekingd]

Universal health care, yes.

But the U.S. Government doesn't run ANYTHING efficiently. We mustn't let them be in control of health care!

 

[gizmo]

One thing being missed by the "everything governments do is bad" brigade is the role a government backed insurance system has in forcing the hand of the competing private insurers.

In AU we have a very good government owned system called Medicare. You also have the right to choose private health insurance, which provides extra services not covered by medicare (dental, chiropractic, physio, etc) and offers a higher level of accommodation (private room instead of shared ward, for example.) It can also offer faster service for non-urgent procedures.

The fact that there is a low-cost option which provides excellent care is a "market force" which places downward pressure on insurance premiums and pressures the companies to process claims in a speedy, efficient and friendly manner. Most health insurance companies offer a range of "free extras" such as discounted or free gym memberships, discount purchasing or loyalty point schemes, and other sweeteners. They have to do this because they have to actively attract customers. The basic Medicare system is pretty good, few people actually fear going "uninsured", so the whole for-profit health insurance industry has to work pretty hard to attract customers. Contrast this to the USA where people are dead scared to go uninsured, as a single hospital visit could bankrupt them, so they eagerly pay exorbitant premiums to insurance companies who are difficult to deal with, slow to pay up, and whose policies are full of escape clauses, benefit limits and other nasty fine print.

More later - past bed time.

Chris.

 

[wilkinsservis]

Gizmo is right about the Austarlian system but also...

The American and Canadian systems seem to suffer with two extremes-the American with its lack of universality and the outrageous fact that those who most need health care cant get insurance to cover them and the Canadian with its lack of choice and rationing of services.

Gizmo rightly points out the downward pressure that a good universal public health insurance scheme places on private insurers making them offer good, relevant and competitive products. But I need to add that there are some important forces that the privately insured allow others to bring to bear on the public sysytem. My being able to have my arthritic hip replaced a week after diagnosis as a private patient allows the uninsured to bring moral pressure to bear on the politicians in charge of our public system by asking why other people need to wait years to have a hip replacement with its associated pain suffering and disability.

The private sector is also more responsive and adaptable to technological innovation and improvement. In recent years many new techniques have been introduced first to private patients but the skills and knowledge quickly spreads to doctors in the public system as doctors can bring pressure to bear in the public system to introduce improvements that they have already seen benefit their patients.

Hence the privately insured patient has alot to thank Medicare for in Australia in offering a rational alternative to buying the private insurance products, but also the uninsured can thank those who do insure for creating higher expectations of and greater choice in the health system in general.

Trust me I'm a doctor...

Peter