What Will Be Obvious After Tonite

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by SCUDSBROTHER

Well,I don't even know if it implies to you(Christianity.) I do think people who are against universal healthcare are against it due to the 2 reasons I mentioned(don't like the poor,or are simply selfish.)Christ warned against both.The reason I bring it up is because this religion is constantly brought up during an election year.I just think people accent only the parts of the religion they like.I think people against universal healthcare are on the exact opposite side Christ would take(based on pretty much everything he said.)Really though......o.k.,look,we are paying twice as much per person(compared to other industrialized nations) for our care.Do you really think we are getting our moneysworth here?If it's not all mainly due to lawsuits,and defensive medicine,or waiting lists (in other countries)then we have a huge problem here.There is no way this hi cost of care can continue.Regardless of whether we have universal care or not,we have to start spending what other countries do per person(half what we spend.) It's not a choice.Baby boomers are gunna start retiring.The price of medical care will have to be controlled.There simply won't be enough people paying payroll taxes to keep up with the medical costs of the country.It doesn't add up.They aren't gunna raise taxes on the wealthy.So,what are they gunna do?

People bitch about the teachers' union. The most destructive union in the world is the AMA. They have successfully blocked every and all attempt not just at universal care but any kind of reform. The bigger problem is HC reform .... how care is delievered and what happens to that point.

The AMA limits med school entrants, then encourages people to quit during residency. Choke down the supply of doctors, and ensure that their costs remain high. They limit the number of jobs (even routine work) that can be done by non-doctors.

Most important, the AMA insists on self-policing, and has a code of silence, even for incompetents.

Guaranteed jobs for doctors, and screw the public good.

A book I have, written by a guy named Coddington called The Crisis in Health Care: Costs, Choices, and Strategies, predicted these outcomes under our market-based system:

More than 40 million uninsured
Continued gaps in safety net coverage
Double-digit health plan rate increases
Smaller employers cutting coverage or even dropping health plans
Increased co-payments and deductibles for employees
Large rate increases for private insurers in shrinking markets
Numerous failures of HMOs and withdrawal from the market by larger insurance companies
Continued cost shifting in an increasingly fragmented market
Continued inflation of health care costs

This book was written in the late 70's.

There is only one way to move toward universal HC and that is to open Medicaid/Medicare to buy-ins. But the stakeholders, especially the AMA are not going to let this happen until their last ounce of blood gets spilled. They have too much at stake. Why would they give it up willingly? Of course they won't.

The insurance companies are not the true bad guy here. The AMA is.

You won't see univ HC until these two things happen:
1. The US public becomes far less tolerant of the uninsured issue than it is now.
2. You bust the AMA.

F'k all the doctors and med students who moan about working 60 hour weeks to support their family and because their job demands it. Bullshit. Lots of people work big hours. You do what you need to do to be successful.

And double F'k the ones who cry about their student loans.

good luck.