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| Headline | Paul urges health care reform |
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| Author | Comment |
Scaaty
Sep-20-2009, 12:20 GMT
Ireland
 | Usually travel insurance has an extra clause if you want cover for US. However if you are over 70 and like to travel a lot you can only get yearly travel for Europe (includes west Russia!) but if you want to go the States or Asia you have to get special insurance for that! |
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neongoddess
Sep-20-2009, 18:16 GMT
USA - United Staates America
 | I think the main problem most Americans have with the idea of a "public option" (government-run) healthcare system is the fact that it will cost lots and lots of taxpayer money to run. However, we already have government-run healthcare programs in this country (Medicaid, Medicare, Healthy Families, etc). They are super inefficient and do not provide the best service, but "poor kids" in this country ARE eligible for free healthcare already. I think some people who are pushing for a public option don´t realize that there are ALREADY public options here! The existing public options just need some major reform, IMHO, because they kind of suck. |
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nancy
Sep-21-2009, 07:22 GMT
USA - United Staates America
| As an R.N., I have to agree with you whole-heartedly, Neongoddess. |
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Bodo
Sep-21-2009, 09:28 GMT
Austria
 | Hi
Yes it is true, this costs a lot of money for the public.
In Germany the health care system costs 10,6 percent of the whole states income (GDP), and 77% of that is paid by the public hand, the rest was private.
But, what is much more interesting to me, are these figures.
http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/chcm010307ot
h.cfm
It shows you how much money per person is spend over a year, just for the health care.
I just take the example for Germany and the USA:
USA 5711 USD
Germany 2983 USD
So neongodness you are absolute right when you say that the US System is inefficient, but it is not only the public system, also the private system. You pay WAY too much money for your health care there. I do not know exactly where this money is spend - but I would say most of it goes to the health insurances, to the pharamcy companies, to the lawyers which work for the insurances, and to the politicians which get paid to vote against a public system.
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Bodo
Sep-21-2009, 09:43 GMT
Austria
| Well, and then I was reading this:
http://www.oralchelation.com/calcium/DegenerativeK
neeJoint/p28.htm
Now it makes sense that in the USA health care per person costs more than in Germany.
For a simple Appendectomy in Germany the hospital gets paid 2822 Euros (year 2008)
But it is much more complex and unfair in the USA. This article is from the year 2003.
If you are not insured, you have to pay 14.000 USD for this operation.
If you have a HMO insurance, this insurance only has to pay 2500 USD for this operation.
And the public systems in the USA:
Medicaid has to pay: 5000 USD
Medicare has to pay 7800 USD
For the same procedure, a price range from 2500 to 14.000 USD.
The real price might be somewhere in the middle (maybe 5000 USD?), but this is how the private market works - if you have more money and customers, you can assign the price.
And then it looks like as if the public systems are inefficient... well they can not competete with the wealthy private insurances, if they only have poor customers.
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Scaaty
Sep-21-2009, 17:29 GMT
Ireland
| Thats amazing figures Bodo - the rich get richer and the poor poorer |
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Jozsef
Oct-23-2009, 11:54 GMT
Romania
 | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJIMCT2zo_s&fea
ture=related |
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