Speakeasy forum: Just met a guy at K-Mart

I'm saying it's a start.

Diana

Then object if lawyers, Congress, Pelosi, and the Supremes don't want to read the whole thing before voting or ruling on it.

Flat out, why does it cost so much. For doctors and the health centers, they know what is needed and should be prepared, afterall they're just waiting for a "client" to step-in. Why should it cost $20K to rejoin a finger, or when you're there $6 for an aspirin. Sure there are costs a client may not see, but when the bill comes, they sure pack it on. They do have the "bulk" of whatever medical needs get required, they're practically the only game in town, yet EVERYTHING is a premium for this or that. Even with insurance for the purpose of covering your medical needs it always falls short. I rarely hear anyone say, they walked away and didn't have to pay yet more. Gawd, let's hope that it isn't "DECLINED or not covered" then see why the main reason for bankruptcies are for medical reasons. Then once it's done on actual medical needs that drugs costs so much for continued use. -----Willy

Then why does it work for other countries that seem to control their costs or if you like have a "socialized health care", yet for the most part it just works. Using your example for costs, then the costs aren't truly reflective of the needs but some marketing scheme. If this is going to be the game of life, then why not play real hard ball and go for those that make this all too difficult. if the health and drug industry want to pad the elected servants, then why make those servants truly service the public not the private side of health care. -----Willy

Socialized health care may "just work", but how well? For instance, is there a difference in wait times with a socialized systems in other countries and wait times in the current US. system?

Willy, I wouldn't classify my comment as BS. I think that was caused by strong feelings on your part, so let's try to look at it without excessive emotion. My cousin needed an artificial hip about a year or so ago. He did put off making the decision to have it done for a few weeks, but once he decided to go thru with it , it was done in less than a month. To be honest, some of the delay was on his part, setting up the surgery date to better get along with his work schedule. When I lived on the farm before, my wife found a suspicious lump. The doctor scheduled a biopsy. In about a week it was done and the results were not good. The doctor wanted to schedule surgery for less than 5 days after he saw the results. The surgery was done about 2 weeks after the biopsy results came in. The increase in delay was 100% due to my wife, who needed a short while to face up to the surgery.
About 2 weeks ago, the doctor decided I needed an MRI, and it was done in less than an hour. The hospital had an MRI, so doing it so quickly was easy. My elderly mother needed one a few days ago, and in a matter of days she got it. Same exact area, but a different hospital. They had an MRI too, and there was no problem. The point is that MRI machines are not hard to find in this area. Even the "pill rolling" pain clinics that re the subject of prescription drug abuse start off with an MRI to run up the bill, the machines to do one are that easy to find.
With the current health care system in the U.S., some equipment might be considered to be "overbuilt" by some people. In a system of socialized medicine, this might not happen, but the result could be much, much, greater waits to get access to the ones that are available. From the viewpoint of someone needing a machine, the U.S. system could easily turn out to be to their advantage, even though some people might consider some things to be "overbuilt".
I guess I should bring up another thing, as it is happening to me right now. A visiting nurse saw my electric wheelchair and told me it was "old technology". She said I needed one of the more modern ones, as It would let me do more things. She asked if she could call guy in her office, have him come by, and look into getting me a new, modern one. He showed up in about 5 days. 2 days later (yesterday) he called me up and said he had the paperwork. ready to have my doctor sign. Once the doctor did, the chair would be built and shipped. This takes 2 to 3 weeks for it to arrive at the house. I think that's quite fast. That's with the current U,S. system. With a European style socialized medicine system, do you think I would have gotten such speed getting a new chair? Personally, I don't think so.
The U.S. system does have problems, but I think they can be solved without changing the entire system type into a European- style socialized one. With the current U.S. system, there may be problems, but there are also things that work out better for the patient as opposed to under a socialized system. I don't think that trying to upend and change the entire system in one fell swoop with 2200 pages of a law was a good idea. It would appear that I'm not alone in this viewpoint.