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Originally Posted by Tulip86
Health insurance is mandatory for every citizen and if you have a lower income, you get a compensation so it becomes affordable. The compensation is provided by the government.
They all cost about the same, and get more expensive if you want a lot of coverage, but you can strip it down to the bare necessities. For example you chuck out pre-natal care, opticians, orthodontic care and homeopathy, but you have to be insured for the dentist, medical emergencies, hospital stay, any illness (mental and physical) and most medications. Children under 18 are insured for free.
I'm not saying it will work in the US, and it is by no means perfect, but it does allow you to customize insurance to your needs and employers don't have any influence on which insurance you pick.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPhil
It most likely wouldn't work in the US given the history of health care, insurance, and stratification. There's a reason many Americans prefer insurance through an employer rather than individual insurance and that includes cost and having a liaison. Plus, government subsidized insurance for the poor would be viewed as an unworthy handout worse than TANF, The Affordable Care Act, and the medical/health organizations that struggle to service underserved populations.
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It sounds to me like most people who oppose universal health care argue it based on cost, personal freedoms, and/or a belief that the government will screw up anything it gets it's hands on.
I was doing a lot of campaign work in 2012 in Northern Virginia, where we'd get lots of tourists from other parts of the U.S. and the conservative ones loved to argue with me. All of the arguments I heard were a combination of those three things above.
I like the Dutch example. I think the only way a semi-universal healthcare system will work in our country is if you allow people to upgrade their coverage if they can afford it. Otherwise the roadblock will be people complaining they have to wait 184 months to get a triple bypass they needed yesterday (my disagreements with those kinds of arguments will be saved for another time).