Posted on 10/27/2007 9:53:42 AM PDT by dennisw
Dear Charles, and Lizards, I've just scanned the 700 comments that followed Charles' mentioning his Mom's situation, and to my surprise, there's been no flood of advice towards therapeutic alternatives. ("Advice is 'useless'" as the Yiddish expression goes - but in hope of not being thought making 'casual comment'...I lost my partner Didi on Sept 8th to neuroendocrine small cell cancer (likely lung primary, never confirmed).) A little quick review to give backstory to what I'm about to link. Here in Canada, in Ontario - state (provincial) medicare, where if a doctor does not practice the strict 'approved for lowest statistical common denominator' Medicine as determined by the government, he/she'd be prosecuted and lose licence. That is, you cannot privately hire a doctor legally in Ontario. What this means is that cancer patients, have no point of access to a world of cutting-edge medical treatments without travelling abroad (ie USA) and privately paying. Further, generally speaking, supplementary insurance here covers only the state-approved treatment protocols, in turn generally 10 year old techiques.
People are dying because of this, daily.
It took us 7 months and 2000 hrs online to find out what was going on.
FYO on how Hillary care will take care of you
To me that is a reasonable approach. There is the public system as a safety net but you can make your own arrangements if you choose.
Comment #817 at the link
It is not the federal or state business to run a health insurance business.
And just when has government ever:
1: ran anything successfully.
2: Ran anything economically
3. Not encroached incrementally until they had total control - "toe in door" modus operandi"
Don't let these wolves in sheeps clothing in the door - their basket of goodies is poisoned
Right, government intervention has ruined education and badly distorted the medical market place.
How about outlawing private medicine when wealthy Democrats send their kids to public skools?
Just because someone is born does not mean that I have to pay for their medicine, or their food, or their rent. I have to pay for a lot of people who are third generation welfare people.
I am not their slave and I resent being forced to pay for a bunch of welfare careerists.
The welfare system in socialism eliminates the private safety nets like churches, charities or families. PS if you are a lazy slob and have to live with your family, they eventually tell you to get off your fat rear and work. help.
Too many of these welfare careerists, I call them dolists vote for people like Hillary or other democrats. I say let them starve or pay for their own dirty needles.
If you create a medical safety net, you take away the freedoms of doctors and pharmaceutical companies to make profits and then turn those profits back into miracle cures of the future. After ten or fifteen years those miracle cures are then available for a fraction of their inital cost to people across the world, including the other socialist countries who produce very few medical cures compared to our private system. Almost anyone even the very poor have access to those cures and treatments if they pursue doctors and pharmaceutical companies representatives. It just takes asking for help and there are plenty of people who will help them.
Let the government prove it can managa social security, then maybe it can be trusted to manage something else like the welfare system. The government already has almost destroyed our medical system. That is most of the reason why medical costs spiral out of control. My wife can not get a flu shot at her private doctors, do you think the giveaway of flu vaccines at supermarkets and to the poor have anything to do with that.
Did I hide my disdain for an incompetent bureaucracy? PS I am one of those bureaucrats and I hate the stifling regulations, and the lazy bureaucrats who are impossible to fire because of the crappy racist government unions and ACLU lawyers and liberal judges and hearing examiners.
Did I leave anything out?
Yes, just like our education system...you sure that would be best???
The “opt out” in both GB and German is for the top 10% of the income bracket.
Such an “opt out” is elitism at its worst.
The free market is the best and only way to go. People should pay their own way for all maintenance and minor issues. Insurance should be for catastrophes.
Something Pres. Bush tried to reverse - and the Socialists are trying to prevent.
The LDS - Mormons _ church has an incredible welfare system - Paul Harvey once said that if all the churches followed the LDS churches welfare system, there would be need for public welfare.
The Bible mandates helping those in need.
The LDS have large cattle ranches, farms, canning factories and distribution warehouses.
And they don't confine their help to members. They have quietly gone to the aid of victims of natural disasters for decades with millions and millions is aid monies and 'boots on the ground' help - WITHOUT any proselyting - just help.
Every month, world wide, members contribute a portion of their Fast Tithe for these efforts...
They donated many millions to the tsunami victims and rebuilt whole village. They were there enmass with money and 'boots' for Katrina's victims.
For example, as we 'speak' the LDS church is quietly helping the CA fire victims:
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is providing immediate emergency aid to victims of the California firestorms.
Six semi-trucks have been dispatched to various evacuee shelters carrying a total of more than 28,000 blankets, 26,000 hygiene kits, processed foods, cots and other supplies. In addition to the relief supplies, 13 large church meetinghouses have been designated as shelters for evacuees. ..."
http://www.lds.org/ldsfoundation
It is “reasonable” given the assumption that this government entitlement is here to stay, at least in the foreseeable future, like welfare, social security and other things that the government can’t and shouldn’t be in charge of.
My point is that if the gov’t is running health care, at least give people the option to opt out. Like the failed social security reform of a few years ago, which would have let people manage a portion of their retirement savings.
We have had about 25 years of Republican leadership in the White House since LBJ’s “great society” and government has done nothing but grow. Many cabinet departments were created under the Republican party, and we are supposed to be the party of smaller government.
I’d love to see true health/education/welfare reform, but seeing how “social security reform” crashed and burned 2 years ago, I am not confident of seeing any of this happen.
Maybe I am being a defeatist, but maybe it’s better to re craft the system within parameters that are realistic. We should abolish the IRS and income tax, but really, how likely is that to happen regardless of who or which party is in charge?
bump
I have heard stories of patients being told the wait list for some surgery is 2 years, but with cash in hand they could go down the block and have it done next week.
bookmark
But we already have government run health care in this country.
Medicare, Medicaid and employer provided (and deductible) insurance. FDA and CMS dictating treatment options.
I think we are way beyond the tipping point.
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