And you thought the Government was stupid before?

[orthodoc]

How would you like the government to be handling ALL of your medical care/coverage? Pennsylvania has a bill before the legislature now that would create a single-payer government funded health 'care' system (read: socialized medicine). Everyone would be insured. Hooray! But the system will go straight downhill as government sets about 'controlling costs', which means closing facilities and restricting access ... and driving everyone crazy with regulations. And personal income taxes will rise, jobs will be lost as small businesses are driven under (they will face a flat 10% tax; many small businesses don't have a 10% profit margin), and everyone will be poorer and have less medical care.

There's a move in Congress to do this nationally, too. It scares me silly. I come from Canada, where the 'best health care system in the world' now lets people die as they wait in line for months for cancer treatment and coronary bypasses.

Your experience so far with Medicare part 'D' is consistent with government control of health care.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by orthodoc

(they will face a flat 10% tax; many small businesses don't have a 10% profit margin),

Unless it's a flat 10% tax on profits.

Originally Posted by orthodoc

How would you like the government to be handling ALL of your medical care/coverage?

In my case it does. I have Medicare parts A, B, and now D. The entire alphabet soup. It is hell finding a doctor who is accepting new Medi-alphabet patients because the government has cut the amount the Doc's get re-imbursed for such patients. I beleive I mentioned that I finally found a doctor 19 miles away in another town who runs some sort of officially designated clinic for people in rural areas. The Feds give him extrta compensation for keeping his practice in the bustling metropolis of Dolores, Colorado and accepting Medicare patients. He told me that otherwise, he wouldn't accept Medicare patients, either. I need to see a neurologist and get voc rehab therapy, but the closest place I can do this is 200 miles away in Grand Junction. Neurologists here won't accept Medicare referals.

I am actually in favor of national medicine, however. Rational national medicine. If the government wouldn't create set-ups like the one I outlined in my OP, it could save tons of money, re-imburse doctors at a reasonable rate, and all without having to raise taxes that much. For example, those 10 medicare techs who serve Montezuma County must make at least $20,000 - $30,000/yr, plus state benifits. That's at least $200,000 that could go to providing the residents of this county actual medical care - not one inch thick files of paperwork.

[9th Engineer]

The money you would save though would be chump change compared to the costs you would incur though. $200,000 may sound like a lot, but in this case it's nowhere near the amounts we'd be talking about

OK, if you want to start talking big bucks, start with this:

The U.S. Loses up to $130 Billion Annually as Result of Poor Health, Early Death Due to Lack of Insurance

The value of what the United States loses because of the poorer health and earlier death experienced by the 41 million Americans who lack health insurance is estimated to be $65 billion to $130 billion every year, according to a first-ever economic analysis of the costs of uninsurance for society overall. This lost value is a hidden cost that could be recouped by extending health coverage to all, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

More:
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/on...RecordID=10719

[xoxoxoBruce]

Do away with all health insurance, public and private. Corporate profits will soar, Wall Street will roar and we'll replace all the dead people with Mexicans.