Please do not come in saying that welfare is their only option - it isn't. In some areas of new Orleans, work is so hard to find that I have seen fast food restaurants offering upwards of $12 an hour starting pay. They offer more like 8 in Baton Rouge. Last time I was in New Orleans, we tried to go eat at Wendy's. As it turned out, the restaurant was closed -on a Saturday at noon- because they couldn't find work.
Socialism at it's worse.
As far as socialized healthcare, my fears are this - the government is incredibly inefficient at pretty much everything it does, so why would healthcare be any different? There are also the issues of medical companies milking them for ridiculous amounts of money, because they can get it. They already do it to insurance companies, so why would it be any different? Again, I will give an example - I went in to an orthopedic center last week because of my broken arm, and they charged my insurance company $140 for a sling. Just a regular old one-size-fits-all sling that I could have gotten at rite-aid for $15. This kind of thing would probably get much worse if the government took over healthcare, plus the extreme inefficiency of the government, plus people who will start going to the hospital like every month because they have a cold and it would eventually bankrupt the country.
Capitalism at it's best.
the reason your insurance is charged so much is that they can get away with it.
I've often wondered (because we do have socialised healthcare in Britain) why it is that there is no 'oversight' in the matter.
we have primary care trusts here, they are like regional governmental departments for the health service, (that's not what they are, but it's a fairly good description).
the PCT covers hospitals in an area and controls funding...
what I don't understand is that the PCTs don't seem to work together to get savings.
but the question I have is why?
like you say that 1 sling costs $150 (or at least that's what's charged).
so after admin fee's are they honestly saying that they pay $100 for the sling?
why don't all the hospitals group together and bulk buy items at reduced cost?
I mean in a year you could almost guarentee that perhaps 1000 people will break their arms and require a sling, 400 will break a leg and require crutches.
1 million band aids will be required. 6 billion paracetamol will be dispensed etc...
all of these things don't 'go off' (well drugs have a use by date, but you can rotate stock and ensure that things get used up as the use by date is a long time in the future). and I'm not talking about sterile items, (which are also blister packed with a use by date).
then instead of paying $100 for a sling, the hospital is paying $1000 for 50 slings. ($20 each).
it's a funny thing, i don't want patient care to be run like a business, people shouldn't be moved in and out like sheep, but I do what the back end of a healthcare establishment to be run like a business.
that should be as simple as pooling HR resources so that instead of having five HR staff per hospital, you have 9 between two hospitals. buying items in bulk, forcing companies to give you the best deals.
standardising wages. etc etc etc...
there is nothing intrinsically wrong with having socialised healthcare, but you can't part socialise an industry in a capitalist country.
(compare this to the police), you don't get all the best police officers going to one particular town because it pays more, wages are more standardised, it's a socialist system run in a socialist way. standardising simple things ensures a consistent service across the board. -equal and fair access to all.
(and I know that's an over simplification too).
