Thread: PUB DISCUSSION Health Care
View Single Post
Old 07-24-2008, 06:21 AM   #26 (permalink)
Cynthetiq
Tilted Cat Head
 
Cynthetiq's Avatar
 
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlatan View Post
Thanks Martian... I suspected you might have an interesting take on this issue.

Ultimately for me, when talking about this with more conservative types such as Cyn or Atredies, it comes down to bootstraps, choices and self motivation. I do understand that position but don't agree with it in all situations.

I like the idea of paying a little more in taxes for peace of mind. I also see pooling resources (i.e. taxes) for the benefit of the wider public as a good thing when it comes to things like health care. I like the idea that some of my taxes help to keep Martian alive.
That's an unfair characaterization. I said SOME people.

There are other people who are disabled or have some other chronic or debilitating health issue. They are not the norm. The state has some responsiblity for them, and from what I see and understand there are social programs and NGOs that have stepped in to make up the difference.

I'm speaking about the bohemian who chooses that lifestyle to be carefree. Well part of being carefree has some consequences to that decision. It is not much different than me deciding to stay in the corporate workforce has concesquences to my lifestyle.

Lifebeat the music industry fights against AIDS gives out money to those who've worked in the music industry. They don't give you money for healthcare, they give you money to pay your electricity, rent, and other things.

There are other NGOs like this that operate for cancer patients.

Quote:
Originally Posted by abaya View Post
I should explain that in Iceland, it's not "free" even when you are paying taxes--and frankly, there is a real shortage of doctors here, which is another problem in itself (and creates the long waiting lists for non-emergency care). I still pay a co-pay when I go to the doctor--though it's never been more than $50, and once I reach an annual cap of paying $200 or so in co-pay, the government will give me a pretty big discount, so that I shouldn't have to pay more than that in any one year. Does that make sense? There isn't a discount in prescriptions, either--but there may be for the elderly (I just don't know enough about that).

But I will say that if I could choose a country in which to get sick and possibly die, the US would not be at the top of my list (unless I had a ton of money to get the best care--but I never assume that that's going to be my case, because it's so rarely the case for the average individual). Sure, it's a great place to work corporate, but what a price to pay! I don't want to have to work for the man just to make sure that I don't go broke taking care of my aging body. That's something that I appreciate about nationalized health care--health care is never something that really impacts your life, here in Iceland. It's just THERE, a net for when you fall. There is no sense of the fear that many Americans have about those life-or-death questions, when someone falls ill--here, you know the state will take care of you. It relieves an immense burden on the psyche, I think.

And yes, I'm willing to pay whatever taxes it takes, to provide that level of national health care, even if I'm in perfectly good health. It's just part of my life philosophy. No man is an island--even in Iceland, they've learned that.
And see you're willing to make that concious choice. You've stated there are drawbacks to living in Iceland. Would you stay there because the healthcare is what it is?

My point is as always, there are consequrences to choices, good and bad. It can't be all good, if it was, then we'd be living in utopia.
__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.
Cynthetiq is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360