My in-laws live in Phoenix and routinely go to Mexico for dental and medical work. At the same time, they are very vocal about how much they fear "ObamaCare" and socialized medicine. They just don't seem to get it when explain to them that they have to go to Mexico because because of the broken, piece of #$%*, cluster-#$%* our private healthcare system is.
I don't get how anyone can look at the stats on how much we pay per capita compared to the top 40 or so countries and not recognize that it doesn't work. We pay almost twice as much per capita and there's a HUGE number of people here that can't or don't pay anything. That leaves a very large amount for the lucky few that have insurance and the ability to pay outrageous copayments. Basically, that is who pays for healthcare for everyone. On top of that, we are typically ranked around 33rd internationally in life expectancy.
In my opinion, all citizens of this country and any visitor who sets foot in this country should have access to the best healthcare available. We are paying MORE than enough into the system to be provided with excellent service but too much of the money goes into profits for private industry. It just isn't working.
Everyone should also have access to an education. For some reason we can have public schools and not one person start screaming about "socialized education". What is the difference?
We could send our kid to a school that was approved to by the "education insurance" for which our employer pays about $300 per month and we pay about $400 per month. Then when our kid gets on the bus, someone greets them as they enter and makes a copy of their insurance card and has them fill out a few forms. Someone else on bus the has them weigh in, records how many bags they have, how many miles traveled, how long they were on the bus, and any additional services or supplies that may have been needed in case they caused a disruption or made a mess. All of that information can be relayed by dictation to a transcriptionist and then on to the coders so that the third party billing service can try to get the bill sorted and create a document that they can send you "that you will never understand, and also to the insurance company so that they can pay their 80% (after $500 deductible and $3000 maximum out of pocket (which conveniently kicks in at the end of the school year). Keep in mind that the people that drive the bus, record the student activity, provide the bus, and provide the bus maintenance, all work for different companies so you and the insurance company will all receive four statements and eventually four bills.
Then the bus arrives at school and as your child walks in the door and a new process begins that makes the bus ride seem like child's play.
Hmmmmm. Kind of makes we wonder if maybe we could just have a small percentage flat tax, reduce the bull#$%* that goes on behind the scenes when a doctor puts a stethoscope to our chest, save everyone an amazingly large pile of money, and provide ourselves with the $5 prescriptions and excellent health care as so many other countries enjoy. We could quit fighting this bull#$%* "War on Drugs" and fund a very large piece of it - but that's another story.
