01-13-2010, 08:59 PM
That was an interesting summary TLB. However, there is a significant omission in this statement:
We have a number of disparate systems, PLUS there is a large segment of the populace that has NO system. That is NOT comparable to any of those other countries. The people who have undergone medical underwriting, recission, or unsustainable fee escalation in most cases have nowhere to turn other than bankruptcy, and bankruptcy these days is in most cases caused by medical expenses.
The fact is that NONE of the european countries have a system that allows insurers (whether the insurers be the government or private entities) to run roughshod over the public as they do here (underwriting, recission, refusal of coverage, outrageous premium escalation for sick people). It's not the people who have good health plans with continued coverage guaranteed by their employers that we need to worry about. It's the people who can't get coverage or who are subject to recission or lose their jobs (and insurance), or get absurd levels of fee escalation because they're sick that need to be protected. Also note that all of those countries have also disallowed another common practice here...people who game the system by opting out of medical insurance and then only when they are really sick end up having extremely expensive late-stage-illness care which results in their bankruptcy and transfer of the costs to those of us who do pay for insurance.
TLB wrote: You also have to remember that the US doesn't have a single health care system. We are actually a number of disparate systems... ...Maybe American's don't want a one-size fits all system?
We have a number of disparate systems, PLUS there is a large segment of the populace that has NO system. That is NOT comparable to any of those other countries. The people who have undergone medical underwriting, recission, or unsustainable fee escalation in most cases have nowhere to turn other than bankruptcy, and bankruptcy these days is in most cases caused by medical expenses.
The fact is that NONE of the european countries have a system that allows insurers (whether the insurers be the government or private entities) to run roughshod over the public as they do here (underwriting, recission, refusal of coverage, outrageous premium escalation for sick people). It's not the people who have good health plans with continued coverage guaranteed by their employers that we need to worry about. It's the people who can't get coverage or who are subject to recission or lose their jobs (and insurance), or get absurd levels of fee escalation because they're sick that need to be protected. Also note that all of those countries have also disallowed another common practice here...people who game the system by opting out of medical insurance and then only when they are really sick end up having extremely expensive late-stage-illness care which results in their bankruptcy and transfer of the costs to those of us who do pay for insurance.