I agreeto Idea Create the Healthcare system the USA never has had
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Create the Healthcare system the USA never has had

Why Is This Idea Important?: This is one of the biggest issues we have in the USA. Health care costs continue to rise largely because of the 'cut' that the health 'insurance' companies take out of the middle. Cut the fat and get the money to the providers where it is needed.

In the past, people paid health care providers directly. Then some companies got in the middle between the patients and the providers and "handled the money". I don't call this a healthcare system.

I see no reason for there to be any middlemen (or middle companies) involved in healthcare. This is not like auto or home insurance where some people will never use it. Health care is something that every person will use sooner or later (although some use it more).

What we need is negotiated fair prices for all health-related services. There would be no "health insurance companies" making profits off of sick people. The government already provides health care "insurance" to its workers (elected officials) and to the poor and retired (MediCal or MedicAid), it should really provide services to all who desire them. Certainly, wealthy people may still obtain services however they desire.

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Submitted by gmclam 3 years ago

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Comments (18)

  1. dianes

    Educate the public re. the great benefits of a "single payer" plan (only don't call it that as the phrase seems to trigger a negative response).

    3 years ago
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  2. rapsac4

    Call it whatever you want, single payer is the ONLY system that works.

    3 years ago
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  3. info

    Vote on this too.

    http://opengov.ideascale.com/akira/dtd/3198-4049

    and sign these petitions on single payer

    http://bit.ly/single_payer

    http://bit.ly/single_payer_baucus

    3 years ago
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  4. lindatift

    A public health care option would put people ahead of profits, pool people together that could not afford healthcare on their own and bring competion into the mix. There is a reason that the politicans and the health care insurance industry does not want a public health care option. Think about it. It would break up the community and state health care monopolies that have developed over the last 40 years.

    3 years ago
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  5. Vicky Rodgers

    Let me tell you that if you lived in Canada, you would not think the same way...

    I am canadian in the province of the typical idea of the candian system, the Province of Quebec.

    Let me count you the story of my father and he is far from being the only one to live this.

    My dad made an heart attack on November 1st 2001. He got a surgery 10 hours later and recovered. In March 2005, he reserved his MRI test which he got in August 2005 (6 months later). He had a big baloon in his aorta and needed mechanic aorta and valves. There was a place aviable on December 23rd, 2005 (5 months later). The doctor refused to make the surgery that day because it might be his last Christmas. My dad told his doctor: "No, I want that place even if it is almost on Christmas day." Dr. Cossette answered that the next place aviable was on January 23rd, 2006 (federal election day). The operation was schedueled that day. But, my family was scared that it would be delayed again because in the hospital we were, Sacré-Coeur, they have the best technology in the province for heart diseases and someone from the "régions" =might be placed before him (ie: In Canada, we have a complicated system of priorities for surgeries and emergencies waiting). So, he waited ONE YEAR to get the surgery he needed!!!! Dr. Cossette said: if waiting lists would be shorter, my job would have been a lot easier. He almost died two times: one on the operation table and the other one right after he came out.

    Still not convinced? Here are two other stories; one about me and the other one about my mom.

    My mom is in menopause... She had a couple of problems because she is 56 and has her periods every 6 months. She reserved an appointment with her family doctor in... November and had a place in the end of May (7-8 months of waiting). She asked her family doctor to take me on his regular patient list and he cannot because he does not have a place.

    In last november, I had big intestinal problems and I went at the clinic to see a doctor. I arrived at the opening hour (8 o'clock) and the clinic was already full. The secretary told me to comeback at 12h30. When I cameback, I waited an hour to see a doctor. Total of waiting: 5 hours and 30 minutes. My case was not improving after a week and I went at Ste-Justine Hospital. I waited 45 minutes (A MIRACLE) to see a first doctor. I waited 30 minutes to make tests (A MIRACLE). Then, my mom called my Paediatrician and I was scheduled 2 months later for an "emergency appointment".

    So, many people in Canada are demanding the french way of doing in health care. If you want to learn about it: http://www.iedm.org/uploaded/pdf/avril2008_en.pdf

    3 years ago
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  6. kdtroxel

    19. Free Medical Assistance to Every Citizen: As part of every citizen Federal Income Tax or Fair Tax system, funds will be placed within a new non-profit, government run, medical insurance/computer system that will contain an open door policy and comprehensive coverage for all citizens. This new medical policy will be based on the best aspects of Canada, Great Britain, and France’s medical system. This may include capping medical profits and provide incentives to medical institutions that show that their clients are healthier. The medical insurance system should contain zero deductible or co-pays to its citizenry. Private health coverage institutions may still operate, but they must contain the minimum requirements that the government system provides.

    • Federal funds spent in a National Health Care System, would directly benefit the citizens in many ways. First, each citizen would have the first world class care that our current medical care system has to offer. Second, funds spent by NHCS would resonate much further in our economy, since these services are provided by Americans for Americans, rather than buying a product imported to this country and funds directly leaving this country to the benefit of a foreign national.

    • This system of NHCS would not be possible until such time where the Federal debt is manageably reduced and where defense spending for the military industrial complex is reduced to manageable levels. A safer United States should not be dictated by large stockpiles of weapons systems but by the will of the government’s efforts to promote peace.

    • “Every human on this planet will get sick and eventually die, it’s the fact that none can escape, but that does not mean that we should be alone and without hope in this process. In the United States there are 50+ million people living without health insurance and currently I am one of those people. Even if I did have health insurance that would not be a guarantee it would protect me from whatever illness that may befall. Every day the health insurance industry writes the rules, which does not benefit the many, but rather the few. I find this greed and self interest aberrant and should be abolished. I personally feel that no change will come from any of the current candidates for president and congress, without a massive shift in the system.” KDT It is a sin to gain profit from the suffrage of fellow citizens. All private insurance providers should be reorganized as non-profits or single payer health care system.

    • National Health Care System could be designed to a point system. Let’s say a certain amount of points is designated or requested for every citizen in the country on a yearly basis. Every medical procedure can be given a point value. All point procedures are free to all citizens. Citizens can purchase additional private insurance for additional points. Every citizen has an option to buy into NHCS. Citizens have the option to pay extra wage deductions to pay for NHCS. Let’s say that each point costs $10, for fifty points it would cost each citizen $500 a year. If a citizen requires additional points, then they can apply for more points at the cost of $15 per additional point. Each year a citizen designates higher points value in excess of prior year number, then the point fee will be reduced by one dollar until the $10 per point cap is reached. Family point plans can be established to a shared pool of points. The above sections was my attempt at constructing a NHCS, last year, in May 2008.

    • The Canada health system is a 70% government funded health system, where private health insurance picks up the other 30% of the costs. This form of health insurance system dramatically reduces the cost of health care to all of its citizens. With the economic world collapse I can foresee a general population shift to Canada and other countries where nationalized health care is the norm. Congress will never enact a nationalized health care system; because once it’s enacted they can never take it away.

    • H.R. 676: “United States National Health Care Act (USNHC)” or the “Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act.” This bill is a step in the right direction. I am not certain if it can be construed as a single payer health system. This bill should be rewritten to a standardized ‘payment for procedure’ format. The ‘Health Information Technology’ (HIT) Act, passed in the Economic Stimulus Package of 2009, will take time to average health costs across the country. The HIT act requires that all medical organizations submit patient data to a national data base. The HIT act will then calculate the nation wide cost for each and every procedure. Once every procedure has a standardized government cost associated with it, then every payment form the USNHC can then be standardized regionally or by state. Excess costs can be paid out of pocket by the citizen or by private insurance companies.

    • The best resource for single payer health care information is located at the “Physicians for a National Health Program” (PNHP). Link to this organization: www.pnhp.org

    3 years ago
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  7. Vicky Rodgers

    In Canada, health care insurance for medication is the only private insurance that is legal. The private sector exists and it is really small and controlled by government. Their slogans are based on that waiting lists are too long and your health can't wait. Also, we had big medical error and we can't really sue the government for medical errors. They might pay, but the doctor will still be there, the hospital won't even correct because we miss ressources and money.

    FOR ALL WOMEN, here is the most recent scandal of single-payer health care managed by government:

    http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/05/27/breast-cancer-quebec-hormone-tests.html

    http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2001/04/17/cancer_wait010417.html

    Source: Canada Broadcasting Channel, our BBC

    3 years ago
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  8. lindatift

    I have received alot of info on Canadian health care problems since joining this format. I would only hope that with a single payer health care system in America that we would take the best of all the other industrialized countries National Health Care Program to make our own American National Health Care Program that has the benefit of learning from their processes.

    3 years ago
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  9. rapsac4

    I am a dual citizen who has lived in British Columbia,Canada for 30 years.

    The Candian system is not perfect. It's biggest problem is that successive federal governments have reduced its funding for 15 years, so that they can cut taxes even as they reduce the deficit. The second problem is that doctors, whose practices are almost entirely private businesses who are effectively contracted to the government, demand a bigger and bigger share of the financial pie. The third problem, common to the US and Canada, id that we actually have sickness care systems rather than health care systems. Billions are spent selling us junk food and sugar laden soft drinks, which are also heavily subsidized by our governments so that they are cheaper than real, unprocessed food. 30 years ago, Canada also had a ell funded program called Participaction, which encouraged all Canadians, but especially school kids, to get more exercise. It was dropped somewhere along the way, even as video games kept millions of kids glued to their computers rather than bicycling or playing sports.

    Having said that, for a small fraction of the US per capita "health care" cost, every Canadian is covered. And they are really COVERED - not like the HMO's I hear about which exclude anyone with a history of illness, and which impose huge deductibles, bully doctors into following the cheapest option rather than the best one, and and cut patients off if they get too expensive.

    It is true that there are waiting lists for "non essential" surgery, but when it was discovered that my partner had cancer, she was in the operating room within three days. I have and two relatively minor surgeries for which I had to wait a couple of months. One reason for long waiting lists is that many doctors put patients on the list when they anticipate that a problem will become more severe in the future, because they know there will likely be a wait. This of course swells the list.

    I have several friends who have had heart problems and who have been operated on within hours or at most days of diagnosis that they needed surgery.

    No one in Canada is bankrupted by health care bills - which is I understand a leading if not the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the US.

    Everyone in Canada is free to choose their own doctor; the biggest problem in doing so is finding a doctor who is accepting new patients, because the Medical Association uses its substantial clout to keep the number of doctors down.

    Canadian doctors are split between those who are proud to be part of a system that serves everybody well, despite the difficulties caused by underfunding and doctor shortages in many areas, and those who lust after the bigger salaries US doctors get and do everything they can to promote privatization.

    I don't know how the European systems work but they may well offer some tweaks to improve the system.

    The US system of HMOs competing to enroll the healthiest, cut services, and shed the unwell is the most expensive and inefficient in the world. I am sure it works great for those who are willing and able to pay what the traffic will bear for first class medical treatment, but they are a small minority who are often held up as the norm.

    3 years ago
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  10. lindatift

    I would hope here in America that we would take the best of each industrial Nations before us and make a health care system that works for all.

    3 years ago
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  11. lindatift

    I heard somewhere that Sweeden has an excellent universal health care system due to the fact that they have a prevention oriented system. Does anyone know anything about their system and how it works, what their cost really are, and if it's working?

    3 years ago
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  12. John Davis

    I don't get it. Are the Europeans so much farther ahead of us? Most all of the EU countries have a National Health plan that is not tied to employment. Most plans are not tied to private insurance. Are the Republicrook ideologues and their sycophants who are posting on this list to "Swiftboat" the Health reforms now under debate so stupid as to think that the American people are not fed up with the shenanigans of the Insurance Industry. They are the biggest lobby in the US and when I lived in Maryland (where I grew up) were so powerful that no legislation, not even proclamations for someone who did something special could get approved without the Insurance Lobby approving it. They had their hand in everything and apparently have their hand in the pocket of most of Congress. Does anyone know why smoking is such a problem? Well, back in the early days of the HMO, the Government got serious about cracking down on smoking. Very quickly hospitals and public buildings banned smoking. Just as quickly, the HMO dominated Health Insurance component of the Medical-Industrial Complex stopped covering smoking cessation programs and medications. Still today Nicotine supplementation products cost as much as a carton of the most expensive brand of cigarettes. If Chantix, the new Nicotine Receptor blocker is covered, it is not covered for the duration of treatment that Pfizer recommends. Yet they will be quick to deny coverage for smoking related illnesses for those who cannot afford what is needed to quit the most addictive substance known to man (nicotine) without becoming a public nuisance. There are plenty more examples of the antics of Big Insurance, more than enough to make me ask: Why would anyone defend the Insurance Companies?

    The idea that single payer means public delivery as the only option is ridiculous. We have a private delivery system that is only inhibited by money. I am sure the doctors in their offices will take any money that comes their way, no matter who pays it. After all most take Medicare and Medicaid.

    Health Care should be a basic right of all civilized peoples. Those who think that it is fine to continue this "privilege based care" system are deluded at best or ultra greedy sociopaths at worse. I wonder how long they would survive living in poverty with all their privilege based perks gone...Including Health Insurance.

    3 years ago
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  13. keywestbeaner

    To gmclam: What you said sounds interesting and attractive. However I think you need to flesh it out more with specifics and who pays what.

    3 years ago
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  14. dwightzimmerman

    Minimum of 8 years college usually on borrowed money, 4 more years in a residency program. Starting out new with no reputation, no patients, school debt, office expenses. Sounds scary to me.

    Dealing with insurance companies that try not to pay you, patients that don't pay, employee headaches, continous changes in the regulations, malpractice suits, unhappy and ungrateful patients, continuing education. Not an easy job.

    There is already a doctor shortage in this country. If you continue to squeeze the profit a doctor can expect to make more young people will turn to other professions. I don't want my grandkids suffering because there isn't a doctor available at any price. Do you?

    3 years ago
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  15. rapsac4

    What an eloquent argument Dwight Zimmerman makes for single payer health care. With the government paying health care providers, there is no more haggling with profit driven insurers and HMO's. Doctors' fees are clearly established paid promptly. With so many Americans uninsured and unable to afford health care, there will be no shortage of patients.

    3 years ago
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  16. lindatift

    That just might work. If the graduate doctor gives set amount of years to public health care option with the understanding that the government pays his tution for the service he provides along with a much smaller per year salarie (living expenses) and the government quits pussy footing around price controls not just on office visits but on all medical services, which it must do much sooner than the projected ten years, to get this country out of the financal mess we are in. Public Option is a must!!! The sooner this country gets there the better for the people and business.

    3 years ago
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  17. mchlsrrb

    The simple idea of a Single Payer would save $400 Billion per year.

    Oh, yes, almost forgot, Congress is not even considering that possibility.

    How do you spell Oligarchy?

    3 years ago
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  18. John Davis

    It looks like the Senate is going to put up two bills, neither of which come close to the house bill calling for single payer private delivery coverage. The best we can hope for is the "pbulic health option" in the other bills. However, the Insurance Companies and their allies in the Medical-Industrial Complex are fighting this component tooth and nail. It will be a tough battle for that public health option, because the Medical-Industrial Complex is deep in the pockets of most of Congress. The Insurance Lobby is one of the biggest in the world. I am from Maryland and I recall while living there, that you could not even get a proclamation for heroism through the General Assembly there without the Insurance Lobby signing off on it.

    Meaningful change will require the dismanteling of the Medical-Industrial Complex. I agree with the comments above about the Insurance Industry. I don't trust them to pay on my renter's insurance. I never trusted them with health care. They are always wanting to deny claims and restrict coverage. I am surprised they cover weight loss programs, since it is an epidemic. Back in the 80's when Dr. C Everett Coop said smoking was an epidemic and urged everyone to quit. By the end of the next week, every health insurer in America stopped covering Smoking Cessation Programs and Products. At least now they cover Chantix, so there is some hope that I can quit.

    I know there are some old pardigm thinkers who post on this site. Most strike me as "Ditto Heads" and other militant Talk Radio Host fans. It saddens me that we have become so lame that we now need undereducated overactive underacheivers to think for us.

    3 years ago
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