Honestly? Those most in a position to fix the "problem" have healthcare. As selfish as it may sound, i'm too happy with the system to riot. i'm in a situation where my company pays a sizeable portion of my ppo plan (i think i pay thirty bucks a month out of my pay, pre tax). If i get sick/hurt, i go to a doctor/hospital. I don't know anyone without health insurance; if my friends get sick/hurt, they go to a doctor/hospital. I believe this is the issue with the majority of americans-- most americans are insured. If you're a student, your university pays health insurance and adds the remainder to your tuition. If you're employed, your job (in most cases) also subsidizes your insurance. If you're unemployed, you get medicare. I don't really get how people can go about not having health insurance in the us. Working at a supermarket gets you health benefits for christ's sake...
The reason healthcare costs so much here is, obviously, because our system was set up to nurture the best possible medical environment. Scroll up to maddyfish's post, and you'll see what can potentially happen when socialist healthcare is implemented.
The reason no one's rioting is, there's not really a reason to.

It does.
*ed: Apparently, some don't. My girlfriend's does, however. Look into Blue Cross/Blue Shield, if you have the option.

some places do/some dont.
mine didnt. but when i lived in Oklahoma the state actually covered birth control for men and women, Alabama doesn't. but then there is a stereotype of people being barefoot and pregnant here. ......... frigging bible belt

we don't riot because they sell us televisions and tell us we're happy.

Actually, due to the current economy a lot of places like supermarkets, hardware stores, and large corporate retailers in general are cutting hours back to sub 30 hours a week so they don't have to pay for healthcare. My best friend owes the local hospital thousands because his hours were cut and he lost his insurance a week before he got f'ed up in a crash. I get healthcare through the college system though, I thank god for that.

Not trying to instigate, but this is simply way off. Things simply do not need to cost nearly as much as we pay for them in our system. Look at how little the same procedures and medications cost elsewhere in the world, and you'll be astonished. We don't get the "best" care, we just get the priciest. It's reflected in our health quality, which falls behind other countries that spend way less. Leaving aside anecdotes about "this one time" and referring to meaningful statistics, the WHO puts us waaaay behind the rest of the pack, with paradise nations like Slovenia for company.

Why? Much of it has to do with hospitals needing to cover their own losses in the face of millions of uninsured emergency room visits. All those uninsured folks out there with zero preventative care are walking liabilities, and the rest of us end up paying for it in our insurance premiums. There's also a mysterious accounting circus between health care providers and insurers. We insured folks generally don't pay directly, so we're fairly insensitive to prices that would otherwise seem ridiculous; if there's no official oversight, any sensible business would see this as a profitable opportunity. Unlike a lot of idealistic, left-wing propaganda, the comparative disadvantages of our health care system are in abundant evidence, and there are plenty of other countries setting the example for better health care. Seems we'd rather dump our dollars into business and politicians than into actual health care.

This isn't what we're discussing. If the US has a lower "health quality", it's not because of a lacking healthcare, but because of poor eating/living habits.
If anything, this contributes to the price of healthcare in the US, not causes it.

you also have to consider the fact that things like generic medicines $4 dollar medicies
and 8 dollar glasses do exist and work just as well in some cases

the only reason there is no 4 dollar form of topomax is not because it cost alot to make but because johnson and johnson still has to make the money back they spent in time and research making it. it kinda sucks they recoup that money by not allowing a generic to exist.

my insurance companies logic was since there are cheaper meds that are also anti seizure meds there is no reason they should pay for a med that is 200 bucks a week. unfortunately. 2 cheap meds makes my kidneys shut down. which meant i was back in the hospital for a week. one makes me hallucinate and hear voices. so I have limited options. pay out of pocket or have seizures.

wow.
how long before other manufacturers are allowed to make generics? isn't it a limited patent with medication?

there is a time limit, i would to look it up to tell you the exact number.
just wait till generic viagra hits the market

As a former health care professional in Canada, I can say that yes, there are long waits but that is because people in Canada don't think twice about seeking medical treatment. If you have a funny cough that doesn't go away after a couple of days, you go to see a doctor. You don't wait another couple of days until you get paid, you don't wait another couple of days because you don't want your insurance to go up, you don't wait another couple of days until you can borrow some money from a friend, you go and see a damned doctor about it. That is the difference, the mindset that we have up here and it saves lives.

The other side of the coin is that people call 911 for the stupidest things and lots of money is wasted on transporting people by ambulance to get to emergency so a doctor can look at their stubbed toe, but that is the small bad part of the awesomely huge good part.

The WHO study regards the quality of health care, not of health. Sorry if I wasn't clear. We also spend a greater proportion of our GDP than any other country in order to get our middling results.

****, that sucks big time. Lack of short term memory could get really funny, too...

The US does in fact have extremely inferior healthcare in the context of Earth and nations of wealth and power. Heck, even in the context of the 3rd world were pretty sad off. Its acutally quite pathetic how we compare to the rest of the world. Especially being the self-proclaimed, "greatest country on earth" (which btw, becomes more laughable by the decade)

Interesting. Other than myself (hospital) and my girlfriend (teacher), none of my friends have health insurance...most of them have full-time jobs, as well.

Unfortunately, in this case, most isnt enough. It should be all in this country. There are currently about 50 million Americans without healthcare. Thats 50,000,000 people.
Count yourself very lucky.

hahahahahahaha

ahem...

c0urt, glad to hear that dude.

It sounds like you're okay, and I'm glad. I'm wondering about is those less able and more vulnerable? Those people who are not employed or uninsurable? I believe that society has a duty to care for those people. That's the problem with capitalism, it's all about winners and losers. If you get a serious, chronic illness you are by definition, a 'loser' in that system.

I'm not suggesting that nationalised health care is perfect. I work in this area, and am frustrated by it often. But I have the luxury of treating patients according to need, not their ability to pay.

I'm done, this thread has drifted off topic.

spOOki, it sounds like you're okay, and I'm glad. I'm wondering about is those less able and more vulnerable? Those people who are not employed or uninsurable? I believe that society has a duty to care for those people. That's the problem with capitalism, it's all about winners and losers. If you get a serious, chronic illness you are by definition, a 'loser' in that system.

I'm not suggesting that nationalised health care is perfect. I work in this area, and am frustrated by it often. But I have the luxury of treating patients according to need, not their ability to pay.

I'm done, this thread has drifted off topic.

I have to laugh when people say "the US has the best healthcare system in the world". It might have the best healthcare....for those who can afford it and who have health insurance....but it definitely does not have the best healthcare system.

A nation's health and healthcare system should not be a profit center for large corporations. We already have the best nationalized, single-payer health care system in the world...it's called Medicare. Everyone should be covered by Medicare, no exceptions. Taxes for this would have to increase for all, but in the end it would be cheaper for all of us.

If Americans took into account the amount of money they already pay private health insurers for health coverage and benefits in a variety of other, often hidden ways, through auto/home/commercial/workman's comp/product liability/malpractice and dozens of other forms of private insurance they are forced to purchase, they would be much better off paying an increase in federal taxes for Medicare for All. The way it is now, we are only enriching the insurance thieves.

Don't forget, we pay 15% tax on EVERYTHING except food (and now bicycle safety parts--awesome!) I'm not sure what most sales tax is in the US but every state I've been to has been much cheaper, tax-wise.

Well, our average individual annual health insurance premium exceeds $4,200. Considering I pay 6% sales tax on everything except certain food and didn't buy anywhere near $40k worth of stuff last year, I'm pretty sure you'd be ahead even if every single drop of that extra tax went into health care.

"S O C I A, L I S M, IS HERE TO STAY!"

Sam Roberts FTW?