Comments | davidbcoe: An Aussie Perspective on Health Care

davidbcoe

An Aussie Perspective on Health Care

Mar 25, 2010 16:34

Amid the continued politicking on health care and new reports of Tea Party thuggery, comes this from a friend of mine who lives in Australia. One of the oft-repeated lies in the health care debate is that sure-fire applause line: "The United States has the finest health care system in the world." The only problem is, we don't. Read this.

politics, australia, health care

Comments 8

kmarkhoover March 25 2010, 23:20:45 UTC

Thank you for that link. I found it fascinating.

davidbcoe March 26 2010, 15:27:58 UTC

Sure thing, Mark.

hedwig_snowy March 26 2010, 18:06:50 UTC

Interesting look at the two systems ( ... )

davidbcoe March 26 2010, 18:40:51 UTC

>>Interesting look at the two systems.<<

I thought so, too. Yes, for those of us fortunate enough to have good insurance and the means to pay for care, the system here works pretty well. As long as we stay relatively healthy. But there are too many caveats. We shouldn't have to be healthy and well off in order to benefit from the health care system. I know you agree. I'm just sayin'....

hedwig_snowy March 26 2010, 19:12:53 UTC

The hypocrisy is thick with them.... From the guy who has been spouting hate speech about the evils of Govt and has been calling on people to smash windows...he's on Govt disability...

http://www.alan.com/2010/03/26/%E2%80%9Csmash-windows%E2%80%9D-tea-party-leader-is-on-government-disability/

davidbcoe March 26 2010, 19:23:04 UTC

I don't whether to laugh or scream. Unbelievable.

crazywritergirl March 27 2010, 13:39:15 UTC

In 1984 (ironic it was that year) I bailed out of nursing. Part of it was burnout and the other part was the increasing oversight of the insurance companies. Our hospital wanted to change to "flow charts" which allowed the nurse to chart the basics (vitals and such) and then any important changes rather than pages and pages of b.s. (patient walked to the door and back, etc.) Unless this represented a change in the patient's behavior or illness, it wouldn't be charted. In that way a doctor could easily see the important stuff rather than "Sat in chair watching TV." And it would free up nursing staff to do what they were supposed to be doing -- taking care of the patients. The insurance companies wouldn't go for it. Too worried about liability. I realized that once you allowed them that kind of input (interjecting themselves between the medical staff and the patient) we were screwed. I went to work at a radio station and have never returned to the profession. For once in my life, I wish I'd be totally wrong.

davidbcoe March 27 2010, 19:03:33 UTC

Right, Jana. Every time I heard someone talk about how "the Democrats want to put the Government between you and your doctor" I wanted to scream. First of all, it wasn't true, but second of all, even if it was, how much worse could that be than having an insurance company between you and your doctor?!