It almost happens in Britain too. I've known homeless cancer patients come this close to literally being discharged onto the streets because they were bed blocking and had nowhere to go. Luckily medical staff and social services tend to conspire and manage to find alternative solutions... so far. But the cold equation is always around the corner.
that is so sad, i'm sure they have an incinerator in the basement too. they should be charged with littering. these doctors should be brought up on real charges. they soooo violated the "do no harm" oath they took to be a doctor, they should be disbarred (whats the term for doctors, that one is for lawyers)
Unfortunately it is rarely down to the medics - blame hospital management. After them, blame the taxpayer who doesn't see the point in paying National Insurance and votes for whatever gimp promises them lower taxes.
To me this is a logical end result of for-profit hospitals. No one is ever going to make money on these patients and at some point you have to take steps to cut your losses. Unfortunatly, the "losses" in question are people who (should) have a legal right to appropriate care. Expect to see more of this, especially since no one seems terribly outraged over it. They're just bums after all.
Would be nice if America could get a national health car program going... But you know war costs like 12.5 million or so an hour... Not to mention if we decide to expand this war... Isn't it great that we can find crazy amounts of money to slaughter foreign people, but we can't even take care of our own... FOR SHAME! (I do love this country, but damn... come on Bush!)
Nexxo's rule of basic economics: people are prepared to pay for what they want, but not for what they need. Nexxo's rule of job status: the importance of your job (and hence, your status and salary) is a direct function of the perceived importance of the people your job serves, multiplied by the perceived difficulty in finding someone else to replace you.
There will never be a national health care system. A lot of people get some sort of health care through employment, and doctors make a boat load out of people who don't have health care. Think about it. If there was a national health care system, then they'd have to give health care to EVERYONE who needed or wanted it. The govt gives plenty of welfare money and benefits away to plenty of undeserving people. What does that have to do with this? Only as much as bringing military expenditures into a discussion about health care. Someone walks into the emergency room. What's the first thing they ask? "are you alright?" no. Do they see if the person needs immediate treatment? Sometimes. What's the first thing that is taken care of? They want the insurance information and contact information so that they can send the bill.
Well, erm, yeah thats the point. Everyone who pays national insurance or tax gets free health care. Doctors in this country are well paid, often over worked mind you but well paid none the less.
Nono, I mean, there are a LOT of people who want "health care". In other words, there are plenty of people that exploit the system as is. We have a welfare system and people exploit it. When I worked at a supermarket, I had people coming in using food stamp funds for shrimp cocktail and cash on the welfare card for beer and cartons of cigarettes. I also had so called disabled invalids coming in for similar leisure products. Meanwhile, there were honest folk with too much pride counting pennies so that they could afford bread and milk for their children. Yes, universal welfare would be beneficial for those that cannot afford it, and I certainly approve of that. But those that do not need it and can afford healthcare on their own will exploit it, and ruin things for those that need it. I'm just pissed that a huge percentage of my salary is withheld for taxes to pay for lazy Joe Shmoe's cigarettes and beer while I have to scrounge and save to prepare for the future.
That's called life. If we canned every good idea because someone is scamming it, nothing would ever get done. Waste and fraud are a given, accept it and move on. What tees me off is that we're spending enough nationally to pay for the best health care system in the world, yet the quality of service delivered, even to those who can afford it is pretty awful. Where is all that money going? Well, what do you think it means when the ONLY sector of the economy that is expanding is health care? Also, keep in mind that the government (through medicare, medicade and the VA) is already the largest provider of health insurance in the country. Expanding it to cover everyone is not that huge of a step. My solution is pretty drastic, but here it is... expand the medicade system to cover everyone and put the vast majority of the private insurance companies out of business. Ban for-profit hospitals and set reimbursement rates, based on inflation, for services provided. The government could also offer scholorships in medical professions to those who are willing to work for a contracted period in a hospital at reasonable wages. Corporate health care is leterally killing this country and there is no reason for it except greed. If the American people tryly believe that money and profits are more important than providing quality health care to all citizens then they deserve what they get.
If by corporate health care, you mean that the companies seeking to profit from all this, then yes. But then if the health care organizations and HMOs are in charge, then what does that have to do with the American people and what they want. I think quality health care is important to all citizens. What's another 1% or 2% in taxes? And it's not that *some* people are scamming it, it's that many people are scamming the system. I bet that if welfare funds were withdrawn from those that didn't need or deserve it, or people on on unjustified welfare had to pay the money back, there would be plenty of available funds to nationalize the health care system. But then what would the presidential candidates promise us every four years... And I know that it's silly to complain that a large portion of my salary goes to taxes, but that's not what I'm complaining about. Instead of going to people that need help, taxes help fund the lazy shmucks who don't see the need to work when the government is giving them money for free. They leave the supermarket with their $160 Nikes and 18 bottles of free beer and two cartons of free cigarettes, and little Billy's mom struggles for bread and milk. I just think that somehow, someway, something similar will happen to healthcare. Or healthcare might suffer since there will be fewer people willing to become doctors. It costs a fortune for someone to put themselves through medical school - many doctors need to earn a way higher than average salary to cover their loans and costs. But then again, it's not my job to figure out how a national healthcare system is supposed to work - it's a job for the politicians and city officials. The American people have no say in whether profits or healthcare is more important. You can say that they can vote according to candidates' views on this, but few election promises are remembered past the victory.
Our own fault. Here we market the NHS as having a "duty of care", rather than a "duty of service". We also have the caring professions, and Patient care. Such words set up expectations with a population that, for a significant minority, has some serious attachment issues (usually those who are most deprived, too). We also infantilise people in the health care (sic) system, not allowing them to take responsibility for their health even if they want to. When people get fined for non-attendance of appointments or for abuse of services, and are expected to take responsibility, you will get a whole different behaviour pattern... in any case we need to get across that we offer a service, not unconditional perfect parenting.
