Health Care Reform: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

[mijan]

The Good: 
- Private health insurance can't deny you for a pre-existing condition under this bill.
- You can't be dropped from a policy because you get sick.
- If you have insurance, they can't "cap" your coverage and say "you've been sick enough now, so we're not paying any more."

The Bad:
- It's not REAL universal health care.  YES, I am "one of those" who fully wants this backwards country to switch to a single-payer system like Canada's system.  I think anything less is a travesty - humiliating and ludicrous.  Time to join the modern world, people.
- Because it's not real UHC, this will do nothing to help the over-complicated network of insurers and the grossly high overhead costs of the health care system.
- Private insurance still rules our health care system.  I'm sorry, but for-profit health "insurance" is a crime against humanity, as far as I'm concerned.
- Nothing to attenuate costs of malpractice insurance, which is putting even GOOD doctors out of business, even if they've never been sued for malpractice.

The Ugly:
- Fining people for not having health insurance.  WTF?!?  I'm sorry, but for the self-employed to have to afford policies on their own when they're BARELY making ends meet... this is going to bankrupt many individuals.  That's STUPID.


Want to chime in with your thoughts?  Go for it, but no flaming.  Civil discourse, please.  Actual facts, please.  Insight from those who live in countries with UHC are welcomed and encouraged to share their experiences.

Comments

[coconut-ice22.livejournal.com]

Thank you for laying the facts out like this! I'm surprised they're planning to FINE people, that just seems far too heavy handed. Is there going to be, or is there, some kind of tax credit that helps in this area?

I work part time for a company who carried out surveys for the NHS on patient experience on hospital, and it really has enforced to me how despite the media here in the UK trying to tear down the NHS all the time, so many people are so thankful for the NHS. Of course there are complaints with a system like ours, my mum's been in agony for months waiting for an operation she really needs on her ankle. For many people, even those with private coverage in the UK, the NHS in an emergency is a top notch service that will not let you down, and you won't have to worry about the cost of the healthcare.

I've personally talked to and read the response sheets for thousands upon thousands of patients and the two most consistent complaints are probably about the food and the cost of parking. It does make me really happy that this is so!

Though at the same time people abuse the system a lot. My best friend is training to be a psychotherapist, the NHS pays for all her course fees and a bursary, and she already fully well knows that when she's finished her training she probably won't work for the NHS because of the dreadful wages. It has become something that a lot of people getting training on the NHS's penny do, especially dentists. Part of their requirement of the course is now usually that they have to spend x amount of time working for the NHS.

I don't think that any system is ever perfect but, as you said: for-profit health "insurance" is a crime against humanity and I couldn't agree more.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

From 10 years of living in the UK with someone with a whole raft of serious medical issues, my experience is that while the NHS does have flaws, it's possible that some of them are due to just the whole red tape/paperwork side of things, and people being willing to just sit back and wait.

I'm not saying everyone should demand everything now now now, just that the system is so big that sometimes things aren't communicated correctly, or whatever, and so if the patient or a patient's representative is willing to do some follow up and say 'hey, wait, that's not actually the situation' then it does help make sure the care and timing of the care is actually appropriate. (For example, the problem we encountered a lot was that the person in question had a very rare form of Muscular Dystrophy, which works differently to the more common forms; but often when an order or something was being handed over they'd just look at see "oh, MD" and make assumptions on that basis, which were incorrect for the care he actually needed. It's a totally understandable people issue when you consider the size and scope of the NHS - but it also means that you do have to kind of advocate for yourself - or your loved ones or whomever - a bit just to make sure things are happening as they should be.)

(And to be honest, with my experiences in the US, I think being willing to advocate for yourself or having someone with you who can do so is pretty much a necessary part of ANY health care system, just because at the end of the day it's all people, and people do make mistakes and have misunderstandings and so on.)

All of that said, of course, it was beyond amazing to have NHS coverage (since I have residency I got coverage) and know that I didn't have to worry about being in an accident, and that I could go see a dermatologist and a rheumatologist and even be sent to a physio who SPECIALIZED in my type of arthritis. I seriously did get a much better level of care there. (Some of which is down to, I am quite sure, the difference in regulations in the way pharmaceuticals are treated. In the US, EVERYONE is all about pushing the newest and shiniest treatment on me, regardless of the fact that an older treatment with side effects I know about and can deal with is still quite effective and successful at improving my quality of life. It took me FOREVER to find a doctor who'd just put me on what I'd been on in the UK, instead of trying to sell me on the latest and greatest and pooh-pooh my concerns about some of the Really Scary Side Effects. If the older drug didn't work, that'd be one thing. But it works! So stop trying to make me take something else just because the company is sending you pens and post-it notes!)

[coconut-ice22.livejournal.com]

What always gets me whenever I see American TV live is the adverts for medications. I just don't understand the culture of trying to sell medications to people like the way I've seen in these ads, the kind where they have someone talking about how bad their life was before they were diagnosed with X and Y and now everything is 100% better because they bought this pill, "Ask your doctor about Magicalbetter pill today!". It seems half like scaremongering, half, well, actually I'm at a loss to complete that thought.

you do have to kind of advocate for yourself - or your loved ones or whomever *nods* I agree, I don't think that people often don't realise the kind of help that is available to them too. My grandmother is 94 and got free hearing aids because of the NHS a few years ago, also because of the NHS when my parents bought her a special chair that rises to make it easier for her to stand up, they got to claim the VAT back. My Mum was a nurse for many years, and now manages a care home, and that's why she knows about all the services available, but I'm sure for many others these things might as well not exist because they aren't well advertised.