Author Topic: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...  (Read 2730 times)

Deicide

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"Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« on: September 09, 2011, 03:49:51 PM »
Now, I am not writing this because I am telling a sob story so if it comes across as one, I apologise. This is about politics for me, and economics. There seem to be a lot of people in the USA who have been clammering for so-called 'universal healthcare' or 'free healthcare' (nothing is free) but I don't think they would be doing that if they actually had experienced so-called universal healthcare.

I've lived in the UK for a while and a while back (about 6 months ago) I noticed a lump on the right side of my throat. I went to the doctor and she told me it was just a swollen lymph node and nothing to worry about even though it did not fit the pattern either in size or consistency (rock hard) and she said to wait a couple of weeks to see what happens. I said, uhm, are you sure about that? So I followed her advice and I waited but the lump was still there so I went back and asked about it again. She agreed that it seemed abnormal and set me up for an ultrasound appointment and here is where it gets insane; I waited over 4 months just to have ultrasound imaging done and recently I finally got it done and it turns out I have what is called a pleaomorphic adenoma (salivary gland tumour). Now I need to urgently get a biopsy and I have been waiting weeks. A biopsy is necessary because without it they cannot tell conclusively whether it is benign or malignant and here I am waiting. The lesson to be learnt here is that "universal healthcare" is another way of saying inefficient healthcare, in fact the technician who did the ultrasound (herself South African) said it would take forever to get a biopsy. I recently got a new job offer at a translation company in Germany and was ready to move but now I might head back to the US and pay up front because I could get the biopsy and the removal surgery immediately.

This is living proof to me that 'universal healthcare' is a sham and even more proof that a market driven health care system can deliver services far more efficiently than government controlled healthcare and that the American system is much better because of this (though it really isn't true free market). If the government and insurance companies in bed with the government were completely out of it things would run even more smoothly. Take certain types of eye surgery, where over the last decade market competition has driven down prices so it is very affordable now compared to 15 years ago. If the government got its hands out of medicine and health and insurance did not cover everything, we would see a similar effect in all medical areas.

People only think they want universal healthcare without experiencing it. Once you experience its ponderous slowness and inefficiency they won't want it. I could have nipped this tumour in the bud months ago if there had been a pay up fron market driven system. Healthcare like anything else is a service and because of this the market is best at delivering it. What everyone needs is competitive market driven medicine to drive down prices, all the while increasing efficiency. No government healthcare programme can compete with that.

In conclusion, to those who yearn for 'free healthcare', be careful what you wish for!
I hate the State.

George Whorewell

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2011, 04:07:46 PM »
Wow.

I never thought that I would respond to anything Decide would post on this website without insulting him.

There's a first time for everything.

Trust me ladies and gents, if Decide and I agree on something, it is safe to say that it is an indisputable fact.

Deicide

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2011, 04:10:20 PM »
Wow.

I never thought that I would respond to anything Decide would post on this website without insulting him.

There's a first time for everything.

Trust me ladies and gents, if Decide and I agree on something, it is safe to say that it is an indisputable fact.

How so? Libertarians usally agree with conservatives about economic issues so it's actually not a surprise.
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Butterbean

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2011, 10:03:57 AM »
Sorry to hear this type of update and hope it is benign.  Congrats on the job offer...will they be able to hold it if you come to the U.S. for surgery?
R

tonymctones

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2011, 10:17:09 AM »
sorry to hear about your health troubles broham, keep on working out man.

A doctor once told me that its not that atheletes dont get sick as much as the regular public its that the just recover a lot better.

Keep on lifting man!!!

and though you dont believe in it, I will pray for you bro

OzmO

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2011, 10:20:23 AM »
I disagree,  UHC is not perfect for sure and there are examples of incompetence on both sides.  I have lots of family, all ages, in Canada and they are more than satisfied with their health care there.  

They agree it's not perfect and could improve, but so can this scam we call health care insurance in our country.  

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2011, 10:35:06 AM »
Sorry to hear this type of update and hope it is benign.  Congrats on the job offer...will they be able to hold it if you come to the U.S. for surgery?

Thanks, well I got a one month postponement approved but I think pushing it more won't work, will have to see.
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Deicide

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #7 on: September 10, 2011, 10:36:04 AM »
sorry to hear about your health troubles broham, keep on working out man.

A doctor once told me that its not that atheletes dont get sick as much as the regular public its that the just recover a lot better.

Keep on lifting man!!!

and though you dont believe in it, I will pray for you bro

Thanks Tony. Lifting for me in recent years has been more about meditation than anything else so I will definitely keep at it, at least until I get the surgery.
I hate the State.

Deicide

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #8 on: September 10, 2011, 10:37:43 AM »
I disagree,  UHC is not perfect for sure and there are examples of incompetence on both sides.  I have lots of family, all ages, in Canada and they are more than satisfied with their health care there.  

They agree it's not perfect and could improve, but so can this scam we call health care insurance in our country.  

I agree. I think, as I have suggested, that insurance companies actually raise the price of healthcare, look at lazik surgery, the price keeps on going down and this would be true for almost everything in medicine if there were true market competition.
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tu_holmes

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #9 on: September 10, 2011, 10:39:14 AM »
Sorry to hear that... I've always thought that it should have been simple.

If you can't afford or your company doesn't offer insurance, you should have the option to Opt into medicare and pay a smaller premium because of the large pool of people.

I don't see how this healthcare bill got to be so damn complex.

pedro01

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #10 on: September 11, 2011, 08:34:01 AM »
As an English guy, I have to ask "what the fuck are you whining about?"

There's plenty of private healthcare in the UK. You could have gone to a private doctor, paid for a private scan and had a private biopsy. You could have done the whole thing in a few days.

You can get private insurance in the UK to pay for your private healthcare or you can just pay for your private healthcare as you go.

You are not forced to use the National Health Service in the UK. You can quite easily pay for medical care as and when you want it.

The fuck are you complaining about?


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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #11 on: September 11, 2011, 08:41:53 AM »
As an English guy, I have to ask "what the fuck are you whining about?"

There's plenty of private healthcare in the UK. You could have gone to a private doctor, paid for a private scan and had a private biopsy. You could have done the whole thing in a few days.

You can get private insurance in the UK to pay for your private healthcare or you can just pay for your private healthcare as you go.

You are not forced to use the National Health Service in the UK. You can quite easily pay for medical care as and when you want it.

The fuck are you complaining about?



I am going to pay with cash now. Some people told me it was not permitted. Also, I did not find out that it was tumour until comparatively recently as the doctor had told me 'not to worry'.
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pedro01

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #12 on: September 11, 2011, 09:03:11 AM »
So basically - you waited all that time because you didn't do your due diligence? You effectively took advice from some knob and then didn't do go for the best treatment available.

And that's the fault of the British Government/Universal Healthcare?

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2011, 09:12:27 AM »
So basically - you waited all that time because you didn't do your due diligence? You effectively took advice from some knob and then didn't do go for the best treatment available.

And that's the fault of the British Government/Universal Healthcare?

Not fault of universal healthcare per se, certainly the dcotor was incompetent, telling me it was nothing. I do plan on paying out of pocket asap and I would have had it done, had I known the option existed and you yourself support my argument that paying cash is more efficient that government delivered healthcare.
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Straw Man

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #14 on: September 11, 2011, 09:18:12 AM »
There are no shortage of incompetent doctors in the US

I had skin cancer a few years ago (basal cell) and when I finally decided I should get this thing on my skin looked at I called around to doctors in my plan and was told it would take 4-6 weeks just to get an initial appointment.   When I reminded the person on the phone that I was on a PPO and not an HMO all of a sudden I was able to get an appointment the next day.

If I didn't have health insurance my only option would have been to pay the entire thing out of pocket which is what I wound up doing anyway but only because I had a high deductible and had incurred any expenses that year.   Also,  the PPO plan had negotiated lower fees so even though I paid out of pocket had I not had insurance and was just a guy off the street paying cash my price would have been much higher.

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #15 on: September 11, 2011, 09:19:51 AM »
There are no shortage of incompetent doctors in the US

I had skin cancer a few years ago (basal cell) and when I finally decided I should get this thing on my skin looked at I called around to doctors in my plan and was told it would take 4-6 weeks just to get an initial appointment.   When I reminded the person on the phone that I was on a PPO and not an HMO all of a sudden I was able to get an appointment the next day.

If I didn't have health insurance my only option would have been to pay the entire thing out of pocket which is what I wound up doing anyway but only because I had a high deductible and had incurred any expenses that year.   Also,  the PPO plan had negotiated lower fees so even though I paid out of pocket had I not had insurance and was just a guy off the street paying cash my price would have been much higher.

Health Insurance makes medical care more expensive:

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Skip8282

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Re: "Universal Healthcare": a personal and cautionary tale...
« Reply #16 on: September 11, 2011, 04:49:23 PM »
There are no shortage of incompetent doctors in the US

I had skin cancer a few years ago (basal cell) and when I finally decided I should get this thing on my skin looked at I called around to doctors in my plan and was told it would take 4-6 weeks just to get an initial appointment.   When I reminded the person on the phone that I was on a PPO and not an HMO all of a sudden I was able to get an appointment the next day.

If I didn't have health insurance my only option would have been to pay the entire thing out of pocket which is what I wound up doing anyway but only because I had a high deductible and had incurred any expenses that year.   Also,  the PPO plan had negotiated lower fees so even though I paid out of pocket had I not had insurance and was just a guy off the street paying cash my price would have been much higher.



Was that for a dermatologist or oncologist?  Dermatalogy is the worst in our area.  We had to wait close to 4 months just to get in, and even then you have to go in at an appointed time and wait until they could fit you in.

Now that she's been for the initial though, we can get in on a regular basis, but fuck!