For profit medical treatment?

[Benvolio]

All now weird to me. This American and his partner live in London with dual American & British Passports and pay the following for all medical Care;

$12 for any prescription until we are 60 then free for all else
$ 0

Others have to work and pay taxes to give you that charity. Please stay in Britain; we have all the welfare people we can handle, with thousands more invading every day.

 

[peeonme]

All now weird to me. This American and his partner live in London with dual American & British Passports and pay the following for all medical Care;

$12 for any prescription until we are 60 then free for all else
$ 0

I am glad that you are happy in London, the only thing that I would question is the term "free", it is paid for in taxes.
In America we need a system of a similar kind, low cost prescriptions and no fee at point of service health care.

 

[JohnnyAnger]

All now weird to me. This American and his partner live in London with dual American & British Passports and pay the following for all medical Care;

$12 for any prescription until we are 60 then free for all else
$ 0

The prescription thing also changes depending on location. Because we are all right knobs in England and keep voting right wing, only those in Wales, N. Ireland and Scotland get prescriptions free for all.

I am glad that you are happy in London, the only thing that I would question is the term "free", it is paid for in taxes.

Agreed, although the term can be confused as the NHS is free at the point of use.

 

[peeonme]

Others have to work and pay taxes to give you that charity. Please stay in Britain; we have all the welfare people we can handle, with thousands more invading every day.

From each according to his ability- to each according to his needs...
All contribute, all partake.

 

[dpnice]

I also dislike the use of the word "free" in association with the NHS or French Social Security. Especially as they are health systems that are incredibly expensive to run and their financing a huge weight on the tax payer.

 

[peeonme]

I also dislike the use of the word "free" in association with the NHS or French Social Security. Especially as they are health systems that are incredibly expensive to run and their financing a huge weight on the tax payer.

I actually came to this realization because of post that you had made, it is a truth that nothing is free.

 

[dpnice]

I might add that I find the French health system incredible and accept that financing it is a huge burden on the state; people have a basic right to good health care whatever their own financial situation.

Unlike most of the French I don't have an additional health insurance plan meaning that I always pay a proportion of my treatment out of my own pocket; but I can afford to and think it is only right to do so seeing that I do get reimbursed a certain %.

I didn't know that in the USA you were required to get your health insurance provider's permission before treatment. For me that would be a huge infringement on my personal freedom to deal with my health problems as I thought fit.

Today I paid 13 euros for a medical examination; I could have afforded to pay twice that amount thus reducing the costs on the health service. I am heading to be a fervent supporter of means testing over the amount one should pay personally.

 

[JohnnyAnger]

I am heading to be a fervent supporter of means testing over the amount one should pay personally.

It can be fine and broadly is well spirited, but has a number of weaknesses when applied. I have heard enough horror stories of people in the 50s and 60s essentially starving themselves to death because of their pride, and also the fear everyone had of the means testers coming round the neighbourhood and destroying your lives.

 

[dpnice]

To get access to health care in France you are required to present your salary details meaning an evaluation of your means would be simple as this gives them access to your tax returns. Thus they could easily put limits on what you can afford to pay.

I only pay a minimum to see my doctor; I could easily afford to pay in full; why not charge me for the first five visits and then let the social security kick in for further visits. This in itself would save an awful lot.

I don't intend people having to pay for extremely expensive procedures as they have no means to bargain or shop around for cheaper services.

 

[peeonme]

I might add that I find the French health system incredible and accept that financing it is a huge burden on the state; people have a basic right to good health care whatever their own financial situation.

Unlike most of the French I don't have an additional health insurance plan meaning that I always pay a proportion of my treatment out of my own pocket; but I can afford to and think it is only right to do so seeing that I do get reimbursed a certain %.

I didn't know that in the USA you were required to get your health insurance provider's permission before treatment. For me that would be a huge infringement on my personal freedom to deal with my health problems as I thought fit.

Today I paid 13 euros for a medical examination; I could have afforded to pay twice that amount thus reducing the costs on the health service. I am heading to be a fervent supporter of means testing over the amount one should pay personally.

It depends upon the insurance that one has. Under the ACA all of the plans are HMOs, most employers that I know of have gone this route or gone to an incredibly high deductible and co-payment.

With the HMOs certain procedures and tests must be approved by the insurance co. before being done. I speculate when I say that Doctors seem to avoid surgeries now, but, when I have a knee that hurts and only an x-ray is done and I am told that it is arthritis I wonder how they know that arthritis is all it is, I was given a shot in the knee twice, they mask the pain for a few weeks.

Most guys in their 60's have some arthritis in their knee joints, do all have chronic pain? There was a time when conditions were treated in a more aggressive fashion, when I had decent insurance I always heard "let's do an MRI or CAT scan, just to make sure".

This does not mean that the Doctors do not want to help, I am sure that they would do as much as allowed by an insurance company,
unfortunately, what is allowed is not what it used to be.

 

[kev]

My friend could have gotten a knee replacement in Canada...and it was "free". But, the wait for him was 18 months, and he could not stand up for any length of time due to his pain. He could not work.

You leftist are just saying that he should just go fuck himself so that you can have $12 prescriptions.

And why you guys can't see the connection with communism tells me that you are a product of US public schools.

 

[medic1]

^You really are coming into your own.

Been here over ten years, and in the last week all you have done is shit-stir and troll.

Noteworthy.

 

[otters]

My friend could have gotten a knee replacement in Canada...and it was "free". But, the wait for him was 18 months, and he could not stand up for any length of time due to his pain. He could not work.

Poor guy

Wait, … there's something bizarre:

My friend was over 65, and he definitely qualified for a knee replacement.

So, your friend of over 65 MUST work? Although he's of Canadian retirement age? And then, out of a sudden, he can afford surgery in the U.S.A., although he's apparently a working poor?

Or did he just forget to apply for his pension, or what?
Or does he refuse to receive the pension payments (since these are a Communist concept, aren't they)?

Hm, or… do you want to tell us, the Canadian Communists did confiscate his funds?

No, they didn't?

(BUT WHY?!?!)

A really weird case, your (imaginary I presume) … "friend".

 

[medic1]

My friend could have gotten a knee replacement in Canada...and it was "free". But, the wait for him was 18 months, and he could not stand up for any length of time due to his pain. He could not work.

You leftist are just saying that he should just go fuck himself so that you can have $12 prescriptions.

And why you guys can't see the connection with communism tells me that you are a product of US public schools.

^You really are coming into your own.

Been here over ten years, and in the last week all you have done is shit-stir and troll.

Noteworthy.

Poor guy

Wait, … there's something bizarre:



So, your friend of over 65 MUST work? Although he's of Canadian retirement age? And then, out of a sudden, he can afford surgery in the U.S.A., although he's apparently a working poor?

Or did he just forget to apply for his pension, or what?
Or does he refuse to receive the pension payments (since these are a Communist concept, aren't they)?

Hm, or… do you want to tell us, the Canadian Communists did confiscate his funds?

No, they didn't?

(BUT WHY?!?!)

A really weird case, your (imaginary I presume) … "friend".

Thus it is demonstrated.

 

[johaninsc]

Poor guy

Wait, … there's something bizarre:



So, your friend of over 65 MUST work? Although he's of Canadian retirement age? And then, out of a sudden, he can afford surgery in the U.S.A., although he's apparently a working poor?

Or did he just forget to apply for his pension, or what?
Or does he refuse to receive the pension payments (since these are a Communist concept, aren't they)?

Hm, or… do you want to tell us, the Canadian Communists did confiscate his funds?

No, they didn't?

(BUT WHY?!?!)

A really weird case, your (imaginary I presume) … "friend".

oopsies...

looks like kev's got some 'splainin to do

 

[JohnnyAnger]

Hm, or… do you want to tell us, the Canadian Communists did confiscate his funds?

My Leninist friends tell me of the perfection of the workers state in Canada. I am sure that the СССР (Canadian Communist Central Party) would be very interested in this bourgeois doctor with his false consciousness.

Forward the glories of the workers hospital, where all operation rooms must play L'Internationale at all times.

Watch out America, the revolutionary vanguard are moving south.

 

[kallipolis]

The United Kingdom's national health service officially started working in 1948 however, in practical terms the UKs national health service started offering free services in 1940, in response to the Luftwaffe's nightly calling card laying waste to UK cities.

Here's a video clip announcing the official opening of the National Health Service...an example, that many countries, including here in Greece have emulated.:

 

[Benvolio]

I also dislike the use of the word "free" in association with the NHS or French Social Security. Especially as they are health systems that are incredibly expensive to run and their financing a huge weight on the tax payer.

"Means testing" means that some people work to pay for their own and then pay for other people through taxes. The people who pay the most get the least benefit. Those who choose not to work get the most benefit. Liberals forget that under their marxism, everyone must work: "From each according to ability...."

 

[peeonme]

My friend could have gotten a knee replacement in Canada...and it was "free". But, the wait for him was 18 months, and he could not stand up for any length of time due to his pain. He could not work.

You leftist are just saying that he should just go fuck himself so that you can have $12 prescriptions.

And why you guys can't see the connection with communism tells me that you are a product of US public schools.

First, I am hardly the product of the US public schools inasmuch as I only passed through grade 5 and was expelled after 2 tries at grade 6, never went to grade 7, had 4 months of grade 8 and did pass grade 9. Most of what I have learned has been in the work place,
not in the school room. I did spend the last 20 or so years explaining fractions, decimals and metrics to those who had a diploma and even some college.

It's wonderful to have friends, but what stuck out like a sore knee to me in your story was a surgeon who was 65 years old.
I may well be wrong, but at 65 the eye sight (even with glasses) just isn't what it once was, our cognitive skills have diminished somewhat and then there is the physical part of it, a steady hand.

You are accurate in one regard, I am indeed a leftist, how far left is to be decided by how far the country that I grew up in moves away from those who made it great... the working class.

Tell your friend that I said hi.

 

[T-Rexx]

My friend could have gotten a knee replacement in Canada...and it was "free". But, the wait for him was 18 months, and he could not stand up for any length of time due to his pain. He could not work.

I say "bullshit."

So your "friend" spend $50,000 (the average cost of a knee replacement in USA) for something he could have gotten free because he didn't want to wait a few weeks? The average wait for orthopedic surgery in Canada is 39 weeks, not 18 months.

Your "friend" must be an idiot.