[GrotesqueBeauty]

We have a lot of people that claim to be the greatest patriot/American/Christian until a fellow citizen is in need, and then it's "everybody for themselves!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZijLQGH1v0

[Trent Strong]

[Tabris]

The core issue, with I think America in general, but specific to this point: There is a large subsection of your population that believes government should be minimized as much as possible ("small government") which is not effective in today's world.

Even further into that core issue, I believe that belief in the need for small government stems from racism right now. "Why should I pay the government to give my money to minorities".

This subsection is holding America back and causing the "decline of the empire".

[Black-Wind]

This is a good chunk of the reason I want to move to Canada ...

This shit doesn't seem like it's gonna change. Not until something REALLY bad happens and more people start realizing how stupid the system is.

[Horse Detective]

The core issue, with I think America in general, but specific to this point: There is a large subsection of your population that believes government should be minimized as much as possible ("small government") which is not effective in today's world. Even further into that core issue, I believe that belief in the need for small government stems from racism right now. "Why should I pay the government to give my money to minorities". This subsection is holding America back and causing the "decline of the empire".

I still want to move to Canada so I can have a badass wood floor apartment in the city.

More reasons pile up everyday. The alcohol there is even better, and I enjoy hockey a lot more than football.

[Yalstromo]

I am German and yeah, that is certainly one of those American things I don't get. The article sums it up pretty nicely.

Me, too!
And I don't get it either.

[B-Dex]

I went in for surgery and never even saw a bill. They were even gonna hook me up with a nurse that comes to my house for 6 months while I recovered. (Declined because my mother is a nurse and could easily check on me)

<3 yay Canada

[Log4Girlz]

A lot of Americans loath the thought of helping others. Having Universal Healthcare is equivalent to summoning Satan.

[speedpop]

I had a hernia operation and the only thing I had to pay for was the painkiller tablets they handed to me when I was leaving. I had an ambulance collect me when my chest pains were becoming unbearable after a visit to the doctors, and they swiftly pushed me through to the emergency ward where I was given a shitload of antibiotics after a long observation check-up and hit it off with a talkative nurse; the doctor visit was free as a student, and all I had to pay for was the taxi ride home late at night after being released.

My old man suffered for 12 months with aggressive strains of cancer in his colon, prostate, and lungs. By the end of it all he even had his own little hospital bed to sleep in at home, and the hospice gave him anything he wanted when he neared the end. My family had to pay nothing.

I still recall my youngest brother falling out of a tree and having a branch cut his forearm open. Ambulance > hospital > released a day later. No charge.


My mother ranted to me about how her husband's (he is an American) family were being stupid by hating on universal healthcare. Probably a contributing reason why they decided to move back to Australia and stay.

Healthy people are more productive.

[Wiseblade]

Germans aren't the only ones who don't understand this.

[Dartastic]

I'll come back and read this entire thread later, but it's becoming oh so obvious that cash rules everything around me. Cream.

[Raitosaito]

because we already have the GREATEST HEALTCHARE IN THE WORLD

I love you

[makingmusic476]

Since it may get more eyes here than in PoliGAF, everybody should know about H.R. 676, a bill proposed by John Conyers formerly called the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, and now called the United States National Health Care Act:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...ealth_Care_Act

Essentially, it expands Medicare for all, removes all co-pays and deductibles, dismantles the private insurance industry, and sets up a fund to help those in the insurance industry get retrained and find work elsewhere.

It's supported by the Physicians for a National Health Program organization:

http://www.pnhp.org/resolution

It gets co-sponsored by about 80 Democrats every year. I wish Obama would take up the charge.

[MightyKAC]

My American relatives keep asking me, why do wanna stay out in JAPAN of all places.

And I just look at them and I laugh.

[FyreWulff]

In before someone claims America has the best health care in the world. ;)

People always seem to confuse quality of the work with the availability of it. A mental short circuit occurs where you say "the healthcare situation sucks in the United States" and then you'll get a reply of "But I didn't get an infection after my last surgery, you're lying, it's great!"

[Moppet13]

I'm a bit ignorant to the whole universal health care bill or whatever, can someone clear me up on it? From what I remember it required you to purchase a health insurance plan from a private company or get fined, isn't that kind of just forcing people to have health care not actual universal coverage? Or is that how it works everywhere?

[ClassyPenguin]

I am confused as well.

word.

[spwolf]

I had a hernia operation and the only thing I had to pay for was the painkiller tablets they handed to me when I was leaving. I had an ambulance collect me when my chest pains were becoming unbearable after a visit to the doctors, and they swiftly pushed me through to the emergency ward where I was given a shitload of antibiotics after a long observation check-up and hit it off with a talkative nurse; the doctor visit was free as a student, and all I had to pay for was the taxi ride home late at night after being released. My old man suffered for 12 months with aggressive strains of cancer in his colon, prostate, and lungs. By the end of it all he even had his own little hospital bed to sleep in at home, and the hospice gave him anything he wanted when he neared the end. My family had to pay nothing. I still recall my youngest brother falling out of a tree and having a branch cut his forearm open. Ambulance > hospital > released a day later. No charge. My mother ranted to me about how her husband's (he is an American) family were being stupid by hating on universal healthcare. Probably a contributing reason why they decided to move back to Australia and stay. Healthy people are more productive.

where?

[spwolf]

i would guess reason people hate on it is because everyone pays for everyone's healthcare... meaning it is 20%-30% of your paycheck here in my country just for the healthcare...

[Tabris]

The issue with Canadian healthcare right now is as follows (from BC which is slightly more privatized than the rest of the provinces) :

- Dental is not covered unless it's an emergency operation that the hospital will perform. This is only covered by private insurance and can run into the same issues as American healthcare (determining whether a procedure is necessary and how much you have to pay for it if it's not essential)

- Prescriptions aren't covered (except when in hospital) fully and the difference must be covered under a private insurance company or out of pocket. There is a cap on every single drug for cost by the government, so a pharmacy cannot ever change the price of said drug. It's a system which is income based, the less you make, the more that is covered by the government (in fact, there's a lot of situations where you have full coverage if your income is low). There is also full coverage for things like prescriptions required for cancer treatment or other life threatening conditions.

- There can be a large backlog for using MRI devices and booking surgery for non-critical quality of life threatening ailments (such as diagnosing back pain from a possible bulging disc or possible tears in an MCL - these kind of things are the most common that can have something like a 6 month wait)

Everything else negative you've heard is a myth or an exaggeration. Wait times for general ailments is minimal. I have never waited for more than an hour at any doctor, hospital, lab clinic, or walk-in clinic in my 30 year life. I have never had to wait more than a couple days to have an operation and never had to pay more than maybe $100ish in my life for prescriptions (antibiotics, T3's, etc).

[jey_16]

where?

Australia.....they are expanding it to dental soon as well which is good since its so expensive at the moment if you don't have private health insurance

[Alpha-Bromega]

I'm an American in Germany for quite a long time now and i've been confused about healthcare forever. Does that make me a German?

let's put it like this.. I have healthcare in Germany but not in the USA... WHAT THE FUCK?

[Tabris]

BC is introducing coverage for quit smoking aids. http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/pharmacare/stop-smoking/#Q1

I think that's one of the few great things they've done lately.

[XMonkey]

The core issue, with I think America in general, but specific to this point: There is a large subsection of your population that believes government should be minimized as much as possible ("small government") which is not effective in today's world.

Mostly, yes.

Even further into that core issue, I believe that belief in the need for small government stems from racism right now. "Why should I pay the government to give my money to minorities".

No, I don't think racism is sufficient to explain the huge amounts of people who buy into small-government conservatism in this country. I'd attribute it to the notion of the "Frontier Spirit" that's pervasive in our society due to how in love we are with our countrys creation/origin. A lot of Americans like to think it's more noble to accomplish everything on your own rather than rely on the government. If you can't make it on your own, you've failed. It's viewed as an almost shameful act to rely on support from the government. From my perspective this is an insane notion, but I think it's a fairly significant societal difference compared to other modern industrialized nations (especially Europe). Although, you Canadians seem to be on the level when it comes to sensible things like universal healthcare and the 'frontier spirit' could be applied to you guys as well.

[SmartBase]

Australia.....they are expanding it to dental soon as well which is good since its so expensive at the moment if you don't have private health insurance

They're expanding it to dental here? Gotta look this up.

[squidyj]

Germany: What's up with American Health Care?
Canada: I KNOW, RIGHT?

[catfish]

I don't think any other first world country understands Americas freak out on health care. NOBODY gets it. America on the health care point, is just acting retarded.

i would guess reason people hate on it is because everyone pays for everyone's healthcare... meaning it is 20%-30% of your paycheck here in my country just for the healthcare...

what a lot of Americans fail to understand is that they end up paying for everyone elses health care anyway and it costs them more than it costs us.

[Gustav]

Germany: What's up with American Health Care? Canada: I KNOW, RIGHT?

Haha - perfectly sums up this thread.

[Socreges]

Despite your crazy antics in the NHL threads, I can't help but agree with you completely. :)

Wait for it...

Even further into that core issue, I believe that belief in the need for small government stems from racism right now. "Why should I pay the government to give my money to minorities".

[Blablurn]

We're confused as to why the Germans are destroying Europe for the third time.

wat

[Burger]

I think when corporations are so easily able to influence political decisions as is the case in America, this is the result. It has negative effects on the middle class and poor, the health system, the environment, education and many other social issues.

[squidyj]

wat

he talkin about Merkel and the EU shenanigans mainly Austerity measures that are dumb as fuck.

[SmokyDave]

Yeah, I'm as baffled as the Germans on this one. Can't tell you how good it feels not to worry about healthcare.

Know what else was simply not questioned in Germany?

No, would you care to elaborate?

[makingmusic476]

I'm a bit ignorant to the whole universal health care bill or whatever, can someone clear me up on it? From what I remember it required you to purchase a health insurance plan from a private company or get fined, isn't that kind of just forcing people to have health care not actual universal coverage? Or is that how it works everywhere?

The issue is that you still have to buy it from private insurers.

If your employer doesn't provide for you.

And if you can't get coverage from Medicaid or Medicare.

Essentially, it's a universal system revolving around a nightmare-ishly complicated system of actually getting coverage.

It's an improvement upon what we had because it improves coverage while curbing costs, but it's a far cry from a proper universal system. We need to go single-payer.

[Hoo-doo]

It's not just the germans. It's pretty much the entire world.

Get your shit together, America.

[Moppet13]

The issue is that you still have to buy it from private insurers. If your employer doesn't provide for you. And if you can't get coverage from Medicaid or Medicare. Essentially, it's a universal system revolving around a nightmare-ishly complicated system of actually getting coverage. It's an improvement upon what we had because it improves coverage while curbing costs, but it's a far cry from a proper universal system. We need to go single-payer.

Alright, that's what I thought. I just wanted to make sure I had somewhat of an understanding of what we're trying to pass.

[itsgreen]

I join my German brothers on this one, I can't understand why you would be against it...

[JokerOfSpades]

Probably the issue of who pays for it.

I'd still like it, though.

[XMonkey]

Probably the issue of who pays for it. I'd still like it, though.

It's really not that big of an issue. We all would pay for it, which is the point. In our current system we all pay now, we just leave millions of people without coverage at the same time.

[mclaren777]

I had no idea that GAF was so overwhelmingly in favor of universal healthcare.

[Haly]

I had no idea that GAF was so overwhelmingly in favor of universal healthcare.

GAF has a well known liberal bias. Much like reality.

[dojokun]

Ameicans are against it because half the country is tricked by one party into believing that voluntarily buying into the for-profit system is a good idea, while the other half of the country is tricked by the other party into believing that making it mandatory to buy into the for-profit system is a good idea.

[JokerOfSpades]

It's really not that big of an issue. We all would pay for it, which is the point. In our current system we all pay now, we just leave millions of people without coverage at the same time.

By that I meant increase of taxes. Americans already bitch and moan at the smallest increase.

[makingmusic476]

It's really not that big of an issue. We all would pay for it, which is the point. In our current system we all pay now, we just leave millions of people without coverage at the same time.

And we'd all be paying less for increased coverage.

It's really a no brainer, but most people are convinced any government involvement will make costs skyrocket.

[ClassyPenguin]

By that I meant increase of taxes. Americans already bitch and moan at the smallest increase.

[kevm3]

Equating Obama's healthcare with universal healthcare is utter nonsense. Obama's healthcare reform isn't 'universal healthcare'. It's more along the lines of forcing Americans to purchase a private product that they couldn't afford before, but knocking them on the head with fines if they don't purchase the product. That is in no way similar to a public option that would be funded via taxes.

[hEist]

well, their decision. so i don't care.
I'm happy with my full Health Care in Germany.

[Jason Raize '75 - '04]

What else confuses Germans?

Marine invasions.

My cereal. All over my keyboard

[Gustav]

well, their decision. so i don't care. I'm happy with my full Health Care in Germany.

Dirty communist!

[XMonkey]

By that I meant increase of taxes. Americans already bitch and moan at the smallest increase.

I think most Americans would probably be paying less than they do now if we went to a single payer system, but nobody in power wants to explain this to the public so we're stuck with the shit we have now.