Medicare for all: Why not?

[luvtheGWN]

11. "Let them prove it first".

Well, every other developed country HAS proved it, so that's why I say the U.S. needs (desperately needs!) to examine universal healthcare from all those countries to determine the least costly plan that works for everyone.

The fact that you have corporate-owned healthcare facilities that present you will a bill with absolutely no justification for the charges is probably the first thing that has to be changed.

A little story: a woman from Texas who married a Canadian was a colleague of mine. At the time we had a healthcare discussion (about 20 years ago) her mom was a patient in a hospital in Dallas. She was in the equivalent of a "Presidential Suite" because her insurance paid for it. The menu presented to her for her meals was the equivalent of a 3-star restaurant. Not sure about her actual medical care but I'm betting it was no better than what she would have gotten in Toronto.

Anyhow, I mentioned how fortunate she was to have platinum insurance, and how so many others weren't so fortunate and maybe wouldn't have had any medical care at all -- and that's why universal healthcare is so important. My colleague equated universal healthcare with everyone having to live in the same type of house, driving the same type of car, going to the same type (inferior is what she implied) schools. IOW, the wealthy's standard of living would substantially drop. So why shouldn't the fortunate be rewarded with the type of luxury hospital care her mother was enjoying?

She couldn't seem to understand that health insurance is unlike any other insurance. That you could live the very best life you possibly could, but that your next checkup could uncover a life-threatening illness that could bankrupt you without that platinum insurance. How fair was that? She also couldn't seem to understand the concept of "fair" -- if you're lucky, that's great; if you're unlucky, that's just too bad.

Every time I read an article about people being so against universal healthcare, I think of her. So glad I live in a country that considers healthcare a right, and not a privilege.