What's So Bad About Socialism Anyway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who think nationalized medicine sounds okay, you need to go live in a country that has it for a while. I did, and was appalled at the typical healthcare I received. Need to see a specialist? Six month wait. You have bronchitis? You only get five days of amoxicillan - that's all we're allowed to give you at one time. I could go on..... Government bureaucracy in medicine leads to substandard healthcare. You could even go further, and argue that it costs lives.

Nonsense. Compare health outcomes in France or Germany to US. National healthcare very clearly saves lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So I'm curious to know who you think should educate our children, provide sewage, fix the roads which in my opinion are public goods.

Well, as it stands many of us pay for private entities to educate our children; certainly the government wins no accolades in the education department! We do pay for a private company to take care of our sewage. As for fixing our roads, I would be perfectly happy paying a private company to do this as well. Lower my taxes and let me pay out of pocket for a company who is interested in earning the business of my community to fix my local roads -- and I'm sure the roads would be in much better condition if this were the case.

My opinion - government should be profoundly limited and extremely balanced in power. Most things get done better when they are privatized. And the government works best when our elected officials understand their roles as public servants.

Not clear on your post about paying a private company for your sewage unless you live in a rural area and you have a huge pit in the ground to dispose of your waste water and other stuff. Hypothetically, if you live in the city/suburb and pay your private company for sewage waste, what if not everybody can afford to do so. It might be clean in the immediate vicinity of your house, but there'd be a lot of trash and raw sewage everywhere else which you can't avoid passing thru.

What about water as a public good? Who'd pay for fire and police departments? If your neighbor's house was burning down but he missed his payment to the fire department that month/quarter/year so the fire department let's his house burn down and can't do much to stop your house from burning down since the embers jumped onto your roof and it's burning quickly.

What does this mean: "let me pay out of pocket for a company who is interested in earning the business of my community to fix my local roads -- and I'm sure the roads would be in much better condition if this were the case." Who's going to coordinate collecting the money from you and your neighbors to fix the road beyond your 1/4 mile stretch from your house?

I've seen places in the world where there isn't a middle class to collect taxes from and, consequently, no revenue to provide sewage collection or treatment, to pave roads to encourage business activity, etc. Is it safe to assume that you'd take up a private collection to go to war overseas?

I can't get around the observation that you have an incredibly myopic view.

[Anonymous]

"And, the truth is that the people in our country who truly have no way to get medical care, can receive it in worst case scenarios. It's not like we don't have any protection for people without healthcare."

Actually this isn't true. You are probably thinking of EMLA and the requirement that ERs not turn people away. This is a complete disater on all fronts. People end up in the ER because they do not have access to primary care or urgent care facilities. It costs a ridiculous amount to treat a non-emergency in the ER. Even ERs that have created side urgent care center to split the real traumas from the basic healthcare still depend on the same lab facilities and other facilities that could be done more cost effective in other ways. Prevention can save millions.

Many Americans do not work for large employers who offer health benefits. Not covering pre-conditions is huge. Imagine if you have had cancer, lose your job and all of sudden you need to find your own health care plan. Insurance is important because there is no way you will be able to afford future treatments down the road. Insurance companies want young, healthy people who pay premiums and never go to the doctor. They do not want anyone who actually needs care. They make more profits if they turn away anyone that would need healthcare. You can address by not allowing the insurance companies to refuse treatments and refuse pre-conditions or you can augment health care services and clinics. I suspect a combination of both makes sense depending on the areas.

The other problem is that our entire medical system is built around diagnosing disease and interventions at the point of symptons not prevention. Nurse practioners should be used more to augment preventative care.

[Anonymous]

Wanted to share something I heard on the radio last week.

We just socialized the debt to the tune of $700 billion and counting where everybody and their toothless granny are paying for this mess into future generations. Why can't we socialize the benefits? I can't believe Congress, W, and the public were fighting tooth and nail for $10 million for S-CHIP (health insurance for children of lower income families) around this time last year. $10 million is so little compared to the $700 billion to $1 Trillion that it's not even considered chump change.

[Anonymous]

Having lived in socialist republic for 20 years of my life - I say thanks but no thanks to your offer of socialism. Ideals are often far from implementation, stick with capitalism.

US has worse education results b/c it has huge population of poeple who do not speak English. If you notice countries with best edu systems have very hommogenous populations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"And, the truth is that the people in our country who truly have no way to get medical care, can receive it in worst case scenarios. It's not like we don't have any protection for people without healthcare."

Actually this isn't true. You are probably thinking of EMLA and the requirement that ERs not turn people away. This is a complete disater on all fronts. People end up in the ER because they do not have access to primary care or urgent care facilities. It costs a ridiculous amount to treat a non-emergency in the ER. Even ERs that have created side urgent care center to split the real traumas from the basic healthcare still depend on the same lab facilities and other facilities that could be done more cost effective in other ways. Prevention can save millions.

No, the PP was correct. You need to look up your facts. Ever hear of a program called medicaid? There are certain eligibility requirements for medicaid - like U.S. citizenship. Many of the ERs are overwhelmed by illegal immigrants or other folks who do not qualify for medicaid but do not have private insurance either. Many ERs in the inner cities are also overwhelmed with drunks, drug addicts, the insane or those injured in gang violence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"And, the truth is that the people in our country who truly have no way to get medical care, can receive it in worst case scenarios. It's not like we don't have any protection for people without healthcare."

Actually this isn't true. You are probably thinking of EMLA and the requirement that ERs not turn people away. This is a complete disater on all fronts. People end up in the ER because they do not have access to primary care or urgent care facilities. It costs a ridiculous amount to treat a non-emergency in the ER. Even ERs that have created side urgent care center to split the real traumas from the basic healthcare still depend on the same lab facilities and other facilities that could be done more cost effective in other ways. Prevention can save millions.

No, the PP was correct. You need to look up your facts. Ever hear of a program called medicaid? There are certain eligibility requirements for medicaid - like U.S. citizenship. Many of the ERs are overwhelmed by illegal immigrants or other folks who do not qualify for medicaid but do not have private insurance either. Many ERs in the inner cities are also overwhelmed with drunks, drug addicts, the insane or those injured in gang violence.

It seems even the working poor, lower middle class, middle class cannot qualify for Medicaid. You have to be indigent. It's not just about having health insurance. Even if you have insurance, you still have to pay 20% of the contract prices between insurance company & the doctors' services. If you have a terminal illness like cancer, how do the working poor or middle classes afford the $1,000s of dollars in co-pays every month for chemo?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having lived in socialist republic for 20 years of my life - I say thanks but no thanks to your offer of socialism. Ideals are often far from implementation, stick with capitalism.

US has worse education results b/c it has huge population of poeple who do not speak English. If you notice countries with best edu systems have very hommogenous populations.

Exactly right! EU countries have better results because their populations are smaller and more homogenous (language wise).

To anyone who thinks nationalized health care sounds like a good idea - - three letters. DMV. Scary corollary to think about the check in staff, the unhappy nurses, the underpaid doctors who get the same salary no matter how hard they work... No thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"And, the truth is that the people in our country who truly have no way to get medical care, can receive it in worst case scenarios. It's not like we don't have any protection for people without healthcare."

Actually this isn't true. You are probably thinking of EMLA and the requirement that ERs not turn people away. This is a complete disater on all fronts. People end up in the ER because they do not have access to primary care or urgent care facilities. It costs a ridiculous amount to treat a non-emergency in the ER. Even ERs that have created side urgent care center to split the real traumas from the basic healthcare still depend on the same lab facilities and other facilities that could be done more cost effective in other ways. Prevention can save millions.

No, the PP was correct. You need to look up your facts. Ever hear of a program called medicaid? There are certain eligibility requirements for medicaid - like U.S. citizenship. Many of the ERs are overwhelmed by illegal immigrants or other folks who do not qualify for medicaid but do not have private insurance either. Many ERs in the inner cities are also overwhelmed with drunks, drug addicts, the insane or those injured in gang violence.

It seems even the working poor, lower middle class, middle class cannot qualify for Medicaid. You have to be indigent. It's not just about having health insurance. Even if you have insurance, you still have to pay 20% of the contract prices between insurance company & the doctors' services. If you have a terminal illness like cancer, how do the working poor or middle classes afford the $1,000s of dollars in co-pays every month for chemo?

Most insurance has a maximum cap on out-of-pocket expenses for payers. I have to pay 20% but my maximum out-of-pocket is $1500. If you want a lower cap on out-of-pocket expenses, you will have a higher monthly payment.