BigKahuna13 wrote:
It's nonesense to say that an American living on $20,000 a year has it better than someone in South America living on $10,000 without first
showing that the cost of living in both places is relatively equal.
And the average American, of any class, spends more money out of pocket on medical expenses than citizens of any other industrialized nation.
This is true but the average American also has a lot more flexibility when it comes to medical care than just about anyone else.
Had a friend from another industrialized nation - a very wealthy industrialized nation - who needed a hysterectomy. She had to wait 2 months for there to be an available slot in her clinic to get one. You think any American would accept that?
What is not possible is not to choose. ~Jean-Paul Sartre
BigKahuna13 wrote:
It's nonesense to say that an American living on $20,000 a year has it better than someone in South America living on $10,000 without first
showing that the cost of living in both places is relatively equal.
And the average American, of any class, spends more money out of pocket on medical expenses than citizens of any other industrialized nation.
This is true but the average American also has a lot more flexibility when it comes to medical care than just about anyone else.
Had a friend from another industrialized nation - a very wealthy industrialized nation - who needed a hysterectomy. She had to wait 2 months for there to be an available slot in her clinic to get one. You think any American would accept that?
I have to agree with Kahuna. My sister-in-law who lives in Italy needed a medical procedure done and she had to wait 2 months as well. Unfortunately, the time they gave her was the time that we were vacationing in Italy and the hospital where she had to go was 2 hours away. She felt very bad that she had to go in then, but she did not want to give up her spot because she might have to wait another 2 months. We were only able to visit her once just before we were coming back.
Dr. NO wrote:I wish the majority of Americans would travel to IMPOVERISHED areas of the world. Poverty in the US is limited, and mostly to say the Native Americans who choose to live in the desert or others who choose to live how they do.
Exactly....poverty in this country, while less of a problem in this country than in other parts of the world, is still something that needs to be paid attention to.
Part of the problem is that most Americans never see actual poverty other than the homeless people in the cities.....for example, where I live (Somerset County, NJ), we have the lowest poverty rate for any large county in the US. As such, poverty isn't seen by most people, and it isn't thought of as a problem, so nothing is done to help reduce it.
BigKahuna13 wrote:
It's nonesense to say that an American living on $20,000 a year has it better than someone in South America living on $10,000 without first
showing that the cost of living in both places is relatively equal.
And the average American, of any class, spends more money out of pocket on medical expenses than citizens of any other industrialized nation.
This is true but the average American also has a lot more flexibility when it comes to medical care than just about anyone else.
Had a friend from another industrialized nation - a very wealthy industrialized nation - who needed a hysterectomy. She had to wait 2 months for there to be an available slot in her clinic to get one. You think any American would accept that?
Great example - Canada. Canadians are coming over here all the time for major operations because there waiting lists are miles long.
So it's better to not get the surgery because you can't afford it instead of waiting for it to be scheduled? Fiddlesticks.
Canadians at the bottom of the system come over here for quicker treatment. Upper class Canadians get improved health care plans in addition to the basic one as an employment pek, so they don't have those challenges.
By the way, prescribed medicine cannot always be instantly obtained in the US anymore under some insurance plans. My mom has had to pay out of pocket (non-reimburseable) over $100 for medications that her insurance will only mail to her with a wait but she needed right away.
And the growth of managed health care also steers Ameicans away from "instant" treatment, as many most first go the their "primary" health care provider in order to get in to see a specialist.
Deductibles in the US are growing at alarming rate. My unions health plan is half what is was 10 years ago. Many employers now require co-payment to cover the cost of the insurance itself!
