Is access to health care a basic human right: or a privilege?

One yearly physical exam is included under ObamaCare. No out-of-pocket costs.

 

Wow, cash-only really is growing:

These Doctors Accept Only Cash

does sound retro, before my parents' time (advent of HMOs). What I wonder about it if they have malpractice insurance, if not, what, waivers? That, insurance companies, and the federal government were the three things they complained about the most.

 

A new kind of doctor's office charges a monthly fee and doesn't take insurance -- and it could be the future of medicine

Here is a pretty good article about direct primary care outlining some potential pros and cons. It looks like a good niche option for physician care in areas where patients can afford it. It works in pockets of the current system because the more expensive aspects of medical care are still covered if needed by existing systems.

I question how effective this model will be in managing lower socioeconomic regions where even their modest fees would be a significant burden, especially when other options do not exist.

There is also the issue of hospital care.

 

It's even better than they can work in poor areas.

I doubt very seriously that people wouldn't chip in to help them pay the $45 or $50 fee, unless they're Leftists, like you, who believe the poor should be left to the government.

It isn't the government's responsibility to pay their way.

Actually, that's concierge medicine, which, while still cheaper than Obamacare, is not what we're talking about.

 

Can you outline how this will happen? This is the key part of making a private system work. How to those in poor areas pay for these services? Who are these generous people that can chip in and continually chip in every time those services are needed for the millions of folks who cannot pay?

And then there is coverage for expensive hospital and surgical care and medications. Who are the charitable ones that will carry that burden?

 

Please direct me to information about the system you are describing. I'd like to learn more.

 

Well, first, you tear off a couple of squares of toilet paper and then you stick your hand...Seriously, what is wrong with you that you need this explained? Do you go into a MacDonalds and say, "So, can you explain to me how this works? I tell you what food I want and then how do with complete this transaction?"

Honestly, the level of tolling here has really gone downhill.

 

This is a serious question and has been my question from the beginning. How are poor people who cannot pay going to pay for medical services in an all private system? If it is charity, who are these charitable people and what happens when they run out of money too?

 

Why can they not pay? This is so inexpensive there is no excuse for them to not be able to pay?

Capitalism, which you decry, makes things less expensive and more affordable. Socialism, which you champion, makes things more expensive and less efficient.

Why don't you explain to us how you expect the poor to pay the premium and deductible of Obamacare before you demand that I explain how they're going to be able to pay $30-$40.

 

You then go on to say that the Medicare is funded by general funds, so yes it is insolvent.

 

The United States has medical welfare for the indigent. No one in America goes without medical treatment. Here in the Indianapolis area, the Marion County Hospital provides superb medical care administered by Indiana University Medical School, considered one of the better medical schools in the country.

The American people do not want a Canadian, English, or Australian system.

 

JohnDeereFan is proposing to eliminate Medicare.

 

I'm talking about people on Medicare/Medicaid

 

There are lots of opinions on when Medicare will go insolvent; none of them say it is now.


Social Security, Medicare Face Insolvency Over 20 Years, Trustees Report

Trustees' report says Medicare will be insolvent by 2028

Medicare on track for insolvency in 2026

Date for Medicare's insolvency remains 2030

 

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the questions I am trying to have answered. I found an interesting article about what happens to the uninsured in the US.

Who Bears the Cost of the Uninsured? Nonprofit Hospitals.

I'm trying to understand the idea of a fully privatized health care system. Would all the Medicare and Medicaid patients have to wait until they are sick enough get their health care through emergency departments in non-profit hospitals? How will you keep these hospitals from going bankrupt?

 

A few great articles by the American College of Emergency Physicians on this topic.

Fact Sheets

The Impact of Unreimbursed Care on the Emergency Physician // ACEP

If Medicare and Medicaid go, emergency departments and physicians are going to collapse under the weight. How is this going to be managed in an private-only health insurance system?

https://aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/139226/ib_UncompensatedCare.pdf

 

Every time you call me a Marxist, I'll call you a Fascist. OK? Fair enough? "We Christians?" The "Christian Right" is neither Christian nor right. You're destroying America but worse than that you're doing great harm to Christ's Church.

 

Sounds like an excellent white supremacist remark. The Bible does not support any form of government, neither capitalism nor socialism. Everything depends on a person's relationship with Jesus and following Him and His example.

 

The underlying problem is that professing Christians follow the Republican Party first and (maybe) Jesus second. Did Jesus ever say if you're a Samaritan you cannot become a Christian. The Jews hated the Samaritans who who of mixed Jewish and Gentile blood. Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, forgave her sins if she would repent and gave her the living water of His truth.

 

GW Bush fought two wars "off budget" by raiding the Social Security funds. Now there's nothing in there except IOU's. If the Supreme Court hadn't given him the election we would have been far better off. Senator Gore was mocked for saying he would "put the Social Security funds in a lock-box." Under Gore we would have simply taken out bin Laden the way Obama did and neither of those two needless wars would have been fought. Now what do we have as a result? About $6T in debt from the wars and the "rebuilding" which was simply done to line the pockets of the Republican elite (like Cheney for example) and the world is a much more dangerous place. Those wars resulting in the current hatred of radical Muslim groups for America and provided a training ground for ISIS. All this was done in the name of "freedom and democracy." Another result was the destruction of Iraq, Iran's natural enemy for hundreds of years. Now we say that Iran is the enemy. We gave them a great advantage by taking out Iraq.