tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post8921340847287024516..comments2024-03-26T20:43:17.849-04:00Comments on freeforall--a health policy discussion: ACA: Repeal and ImplementationDon Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16141749812035072101noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post-91161144934812493992011-01-23T09:46:44.778-05:002011-01-23T09:46:44.778-05:00My knowledge on Thatcher is limited. I would have...My knowledge on Thatcher is limited. I would have to google it, and I am running late (when she was in power I was busy having children....in a US hospital..thankfully....I believe 4000 British women gave birth last year in hallways, restrooms, etc, because the delivery rooms are busy). <br /><br />Off the top of my head Thatcher was a big free marketer (not the purist...to hell with everyone else Ayn Rand type...but..maybe a bit close...probably more lime Friedman)) and she encouraged the medical free market as best as she could. I think the Brits are proud of their healthcare and some live in denialism claiming it is a type of crown jewel. Umm...hm.....okay.....moving on.....wondering though.....it seems once socialistic medicine is implemented it is changed, but not foresaken? Which is why we do not want to go there here in the US. I cringe thinking about what my daughters cancer care would have been like in the UK (some cancers like breast amd prostrate have terrible rates compared to the US...and if you survive your treatment isn't the same. My daughter received a treatment still in research. The insurance company paid for the free market developed and sold privately treatment...that would not have happened in the UK where some people sell their homes and are forbidden to pay themselves. Their doctors feel terrible about giving them the news of prohibition...hence, Cameron's involvement).<br /><br />Free care will never equate with the free market. It limits choice, squelches innovation (realizing we are half way there with the government paying...but the government is doing a poor job and patients still benefit off our free market even when the taxpayers pay their tab).Alice Robertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239228141352045763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post-65614529209754527902011-01-22T14:50:18.390-05:002011-01-22T14:50:18.390-05:00Having everyone use a NHS GP is a brilliant move, ...Having everyone use a NHS GP is a brilliant move, because it means everyone has a stake in the system, even those who go private for secondary care. A question: they have a democracy, so why don't they scrap it? Why didn't Margaret Thatcher? She plus John Major were in power for 13 years in a row...I lived in Manchester for a time.Don Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16141749812035072101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post-16063925342985326722011-01-22T12:13:59.734-05:002011-01-22T12:13:59.734-05:00I agree, it wouldn't totally explain the diffe...I agree, it wouldn't totally explain the difference. They have older equipment, you cannot get the newer meds, infection rates are higher, bad cancer cure rates because of these problems and the sad truth is if you die while waiting you are cost effective. My husband's whole family is still there. He visits a lot and lives in fear of getting in an accident while there. Once while visiting I had to go to the doctor. I looked down at the sheets (yes...real sheets that were not changed for what looked liked days) and there it was ....old blood and not just a few drops. They earned their name of the land of the dirty sheets. <br /><br />I will read the article later...but if I had to live there I would have private insurance. It is helpful, but people do not realize you still need the NHS with your private insurance, you do not get the government out of your hair just because you have private insurance.<br /><br />The media has painted a picture of socialized medicine that matches Dr. berwick,s romantic Jane Austen plan....but reality stomps the romantic out of most of us!Alice Robertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239228141352045763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post-3762902882897837322011-01-22T09:47:50.701-05:002011-01-22T09:47:50.701-05:00I am sorry about your cousin. Here is a series of...I am sorry about your cousin. Here is a series of posts written by Aaron Carroll an MD who blogs at Incidental Economist that addresses the general question 'where does the $ go' in the U.S. that is based largely off a report by Mckinsey Consulting. http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/what-makes-the-us-health-care-system-so-expensive-introduction/ We do cross subsidize the rest of the world for pharma discovery, but that doesn't totally explain the difference.Don Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16141749812035072101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post-70088225137244708882011-01-20T21:40:52.895-05:002011-01-20T21:40:52.895-05:00Your English friend is in a minority! The monarch...Your English friend is in a minority! The monarchy is impotent...a tourist draw. Most doctors in the UK have private insurance...the limousine left! :). It lives up to the name of the land of dirty sheets....another cost savings. Even the NHS wrote a report about this.<br /><br />The thing with the UK and Canada and others is...for lack of a better word...um..er....they leech off us. They do not pay for research the way we do...but they gain from our research. I am pleased they can do this, but a true comparison of cost per patient isn't realistic when we pay for the test kitchen, and they get the recipe for free. But we get the prescriptions much sooner than they do. Our cousin just died a painful death there. First they did not order the test he needed, then when they did he had to go on a waiting list, then the NHS doesn't cover the chemo anti nausea drug (more savings per patient), then the end of life morphine via hospice was rationed. His family was grateful he died because of his terrific suffering. But...I'll bet his care and death were cheaper on the system than the typical American. Sigh!Alice Robertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239228141352045763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post-13152155434010402912011-01-20T20:46:00.659-05:002011-01-20T20:46:00.659-05:00I have limited choice of doctor. I can only choose...I have limited choice of doctor. I can only choose a Duke physician and then only the one whose list is open to new patients. These limits are imposed by my insurance. It doesn't particularly bother me, but it is a fact. You are correct that something has to give. What we need is to decide how much of the economy we are willing to redistribute via the federal govt. Then we have to raise enough in taxes to pay for what we say we want. If health care cost inflation doesn't slow, we will either go bankrupt or have taxes that are very high. As far the UK goes, we spend $2.15 per capita for each dollar they spend, and our health outcomes are quite similar. So, we got lots more to answer for than they do. They have constantly reformed their system the past 40 years. They are also far more honest than we are. For example, about 10% of folks in UK have private insurance and so can go to private hospitals and avoid waiting lists. I asked an English friend about this and he said 'we have a queen' we pretty much accept that everyone is not the same. Not saying we should copy them (in fact it wouldn't work) just that they are more honest in addressing limits.Don Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16141749812035072101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post-30350566342423511902011-01-20T20:37:52.454-05:002011-01-20T20:37:52.454-05:00What about the rest of us? Will doctor choice be ...What about the rest of us? Will doctor choice be a reality? Will doctors be bound by yearly analysis of your grandmpther's physical or mental abilities? What if Medicare payments slide? Will her doctor be willing to accept reduced payments? Something has to give to pay for these perks.<br /><br />What do you think about PM Cameron? Isn't he wonderful? Maybe the new Man of the Year if he can straighten out the bureaucratic nightmare socialistic style medicine created there?Alice Robertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239228141352045763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post-78179965860042560222011-01-20T09:10:25.607-05:002011-01-20T09:10:25.607-05:00His quote is not based in fact. My grandmother ha...His quote is not based in fact. My grandmother has the ability to access the doctor of her choice BECAUSE OF MedicareDon Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16141749812035072101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672496731205380327.post-75136230801964612222011-01-20T00:38:18.719-05:002011-01-20T00:38:18.719-05:00Just wondered what you thought about this quote:
R...Just wondered what you thought about this quote:<br />Rep. Steve King of Iowa said it well: “Our guaranteed rights that come in our Constitution are diminished by the federal government deciding what health care we will have, what health insurance policies we’ll be able to buy, and what tests we’ll be able to take, and which doctors we’ll be able to go to. . . . It’s a cancer that eats away at us, and we’ve got to repeal it completely, pull it out by the roots so it doesn’t grow back again.”Alice Robertsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239228141352045763noreply@blogger.com