Talking politics on this site?? I have a good idea. Now, let's talk about religion.

Aetna is mad lame. they never take my card

The Congressional Budget Office, a non partisan agency, rates the quality of care of the VA system and the TRICARE (retirees) system as above average and customer satisfaction as about equal to people who have private insurance. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/88xx/doc8892/12-21-VA_Healthcare.pdf
We rank average for education. It is not our democratic system we want to throw out, its our medical system which works great for the rich but awful for the rest of us. Social Security is not as bad off as some make it out to be. You might read The Plot Against Social Security http://www.amazon.com/Plot-Against-Social-Security-ebook/dp/B000SHTUV0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245213653&sr=8-2 by Pulitizer Prize winner Michael Hiltzik. I echo Vivien's statement. I too my grateful for the many health care professionals I've encountered throughout my life. And as a government employee I argue there are many agencies with not only good management but great management. Mine is one of them

The World Health Organization. http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html It's been a long time since I read it but they rated life expectancy and survival after diagnosis of several diseases, infant mortality etc. The reason the number is so shocking is it rates all of us, rich and poor.
The Congressional Budget Office, a non partisan agency, rates the quality of care of the VA system and the TRICARE (retirees) system as above average and customer satisfaction as about equal to people who have private insurance.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/88xx/doc8892/12-21-VA_Healthcare.pdf
We rank average for education. It is not our democratic system we want to throw out, its our medical system which works great for the rich but awful for the rest of us. Social Security is not as bad off as some make it out to be. You might read The Plot Against Social Security http://www.amazon.com/Plot-Against-Social-Security-ebook/dp/B000SHTUV0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245213653&sr=8-2 by Pulitizer Prize winner Michael Hiltzik. I echo Vivien's statement. I too my grateful for the many health care professionals I've encountered throughout my life. And as a government employee I argue there are many agencies with not only good management but great management. Mine is one of them

Fizzbut, I'm with you.....And time will tell. It's so good that we can have these conversations and take nothing personally! Be friends again when the Sun rises and SC begins tomorrow.

And FB, Donna said nothing, that was me the Aole, but that's in style like the ARod isn't it?

Hello all, it's 10:30pm, yawn. Used 2 black kings first. I see I came in on the end of a healthcare discussion. Having lived under both systems (in the UK under "socialized" medicine, and in the USA), I can say there are pros and cons of both. For example, in the UK I loved that everyone had access to medical care, but one of the downsides is that doctors don't have enough resources and have too many patients. In the US, if you have medical insurance, decisions are often made on the basis of what procedures/tests/medicines the insurance company will agree to pay for. I don't think there's a perfect system, but am grateful for the many skilled healthcare professionals around the world.

Interesting conversation today. Aside from many who feel a government run system is highly unlikely due to all the pressure from insurance and pharmaceutical companies, the real rub in any government program is what donna said is it needs "good management." Mom mentioned social security. Great delivery system but I wouldn't say it's been managed well, they've been spending all of it. Post Office is great if you like getting bills We mostly communicate other ways. Then there's our public school system, where's it ranked? You want health care, how's our VA ranked and they're the ones we should be giving the best care to. How about the IRS. Now that ones well managed, hmmm I wonder why? Our democratic system has it's problems but I wouldn't be so quick to want to throw it out over one statistic. Out of curiosity do you know who ranked us 37 and how they determined it? Mind you I'm not jumping for joy about health care in this country but I'm far less impressed with the yahoo's in Washington who are more interested in brokering their political careers then looking out for our country. And more government means more power to them. Let's throw them all out and then talk about what we need.

Like you, mom, my parents love medicare and I was so glad they had it. My father's long final illness was very expensive. It would have bankrupted all of us. In fact, 60% of bankruptcies in the US are caused by medical bills for those who don't qualify for medicare. They say insurance is competitive but I don't get to chose my health insurance. My employer does. And then THEY decide. When I heard the US ranked 37th in terms of quality of health care I started changing my mind about "socialism". Bring it!

Thanks for the infol. You can include me in those "fewer" Hamlette. Since I retired my health insurance reeks !! And not only is the Post Office Great, Social Security checks come like clock work, and the paper work required for medicare is way easier than for private insurance !! There's no where to go but up for health insurance.

The US Post office is a great. For about 40 cents I can send a letter anywhere in the country and it arrives between 1 and 3 days later. Someone evens walks up to my house, six days a week, to bring it to me! As for health care, the US pays more for health care than any nation on earth. We've number one in cost yet we are 37th in terms of quality of care. And our manufacturing sector is having a hard time competing because they have to add the cost of health care to the cost of goods ($1,000 per US car) but Canada, for instance, does not. If you don't like nationalized health care, you can buy your own health care policy. As they do in other countries. As to the government telling doctors what to charge and what treatment I get, my insurance company does that already. And a higher percentage of people in most countries with socialized medicine like their system than in the US. Fewer of us like our system.