Quote:
Originally posted by damasa
So yea, I'd be all about that system, so what if our taxes are a little higher? Other countries do it and it has been working thus far.
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I could wait for someone from Canada or another country that "does it" to chime in here but it might take a little while.
What are you willing to pay for? Keeping a patient alive against all odds? Are you willing to set limits on who can receive what care? How about clinical trials or anything not proven to be beneficial for a disease? Would you pay for an organ transplant? Bone marrow? Chemotherapy and advanced diagnostic techniques like PET? What if someone's religious beliefs dictate that they can never ever ever shut off life support? Will you pay for the consequences of their beliefs?
Still in favor of those tax hikes?
These are not small questions. "Yeah, sure, I'm all for it!" sounds great on a chat board or in college, but IRL it's a lot more complicated than that, and the enthusiasm fades exponentially.
The reason I mentioned Canada is because of their subsidised health care. All too often we see wealthy patients from that country come to our center because even though they have the money to pay for what they need,
they still can not get in to a facility to be cared for!!! Having the government pay for everything comes with a much higher price tag than you think. The experiment has cost lives in Canada and other countries--it has failed. God willing, you won't have to find that out for yourself in your own life.
Is it still a good idea to let the government "pay for it all" with tax money, and dictate to you what care you can and can not have?
Some pretty serious food for thought. Try working in this field for a while..........
Adrienne (PNAM-2003)