i actually like his stance on disability rights, but i don’t think a universal healthcare system is ever going to work…..look at canada, they’ve got people waiting 6 months for an MRI! if that’s used for a diagnostic tool for, say, cancer, i could be dead before i’m diagnosed! i don’t think it’s fair to take healthcare away from people (by doing away with private insurance) who can afford it, and therefore not giving ANYONE a fair chance at quality, timely healthcare! because universal healthcare is not going to be timely or quality! there’s no way to set up a system to make it that way!
exactly, meagh. when the founding fathers founded this nation, healthcare at the time was pretty non-existent and didnt really do much *significantly* to save lives, no matter what class you belonged to.
but NOW, with the advent of antibiotics, miracle-esque surgeries, plastic (for vents, catheters, etc), healthcare has become magical and monumental. if our nation was founded TODAY, i can guarantee you that healthcare wouldve been included as a right in the constitution. it can do so much, and the difference between having it and not having it can really make the difference whether you live or not.
and even though any healthcare system will NEVER be perfect, universal or privatized, people who can’t afford the hella-crazy premiums should at least have the option of getting free healthcare from the gov’t if they so choose it. with a country as wealthy as ours, citizens shouldn’t be denied something as vital as basic healthcare.
i agree, insofar as everyone shoul have access to healthcare, i agree one hundred percent! but to hear stories from canada and the european countries about how it takes six months to a year to schedule a surgery or dialysis, that’s terrifying! if i’m in kidney failure NOW, dialysis isn’t going to help me six months down the road, as i’ll be DEAD! and the quality of doctors will decline, because who the hell wants to be a doctor for free, which is essentially what will happen, if the government is going to be “paying” them! haha….i think there has to be a way to combine healthcare for the less fortunate, such medicaid or medicare, and still give the people who can “afford” the premiums the opportunity to receive the higher quality healthcare that is available to those people. maybe it’s not right, or fair, but if i can get my healthcare needs met faster because i have a little bit of extra money, then so be it….i realize i’m coming across as selfish and self involved but i’m not willing to compromise my health! if my cardiolgist wants me to go to Chicago, he wants me to go within a couple of months, not in a year or so; he’s trying to keep me alive, not play “lets see how long she can hold on” i mean, i don’t know what the right answer is, but i just don’t feel like it’s taking away quality healthcare from one group of people so that everyone can have a shot at sub-standard healthcare.
Hey Tiff!!! He seems to have his intentions together! Thanks for posting this(and everything else you post, of course!!!! 😉 )!!!!!!
i actually like his stance on disability rights, but i don’t think a universal healthcare system is ever going to work…..look at canada, they’ve got people waiting 6 months for an MRI! if that’s used for a diagnostic tool for, say, cancer, i could be dead before i’m diagnosed! i don’t think it’s fair to take healthcare away from people (by doing away with private insurance) who can afford it, and therefore not giving ANYONE a fair chance at quality, timely healthcare! because universal healthcare is not going to be timely or quality! there’s no way to set up a system to make it that way!
Sharon, have you seen the documentary Sicko? It clears up some common misconceptions regarding universal healthcare.
Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. Timely, quality care should no be given only to those “who can afford it”.
We have a terrible system right now. I think we all agree that it needs to change.
exactly, meagh. when the founding fathers founded this nation, healthcare at the time was pretty non-existent and didnt really do much *significantly* to save lives, no matter what class you belonged to.
but NOW, with the advent of antibiotics, miracle-esque surgeries, plastic (for vents, catheters, etc), healthcare has become magical and monumental. if our nation was founded TODAY, i can guarantee you that healthcare wouldve been included as a right in the constitution. it can do so much, and the difference between having it and not having it can really make the difference whether you live or not.
and even though any healthcare system will NEVER be perfect, universal or privatized, people who can’t afford the hella-crazy premiums should at least have the option of getting free healthcare from the gov’t if they so choose it. with a country as wealthy as ours, citizens shouldn’t be denied something as vital as basic healthcare.
woot! woot!
i agree, insofar as everyone shoul have access to healthcare, i agree one hundred percent! but to hear stories from canada and the european countries about how it takes six months to a year to schedule a surgery or dialysis, that’s terrifying! if i’m in kidney failure NOW, dialysis isn’t going to help me six months down the road, as i’ll be DEAD! and the quality of doctors will decline, because who the hell wants to be a doctor for free, which is essentially what will happen, if the government is going to be “paying” them! haha….i think there has to be a way to combine healthcare for the less fortunate, such medicaid or medicare, and still give the people who can “afford” the premiums the opportunity to receive the higher quality healthcare that is available to those people. maybe it’s not right, or fair, but if i can get my healthcare needs met faster because i have a little bit of extra money, then so be it….i realize i’m coming across as selfish and self involved but i’m not willing to compromise my health! if my cardiolgist wants me to go to Chicago, he wants me to go within a couple of months, not in a year or so; he’s trying to keep me alive, not play “lets see how long she can hold on” i mean, i don’t know what the right answer is, but i just don’t feel like it’s taking away quality healthcare from one group of people so that everyone can have a shot at sub-standard healthcare.
Watch “Sicko”. You have not heard the whole story.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/index.html