Michael Moore’s Sicko Should Have Considered Health Savings Accounts
Michael Moore’s new movie SICKO is a humorous and at times emotionally moving look at the state of U.S. healthcare, but it promotes a solution (government healthcare) that would only make matters worse. Instead of more bureaucracy and government control, we should be encouraging competition among healthcare providers and personal responsibility among consumers. Health savings accounts, or HSAs, do just that, and are the future of healthcare in America.
Many people believe that a government take-over of healthcare coverage, called a “single-payer” system, is the answer. But if one simply looks at the countries that currently have single-payer systems, it is quite apparent that they are failed systems, with the citizens of these countries clamoring for change.
Because demand goes up when prices go down, the only way a government that provides “free” healthcare can control cost is by limiting access. So citizens in countries with single-payer systems always suffer long waits and lack of access to medical care and technologies.
For instance, in Canada there are currently over 800,000 people on waiting lists for medical procedures. The wait time for people who are referred for surgery is very long and can sometimes take over six months! If it weren’t for the fact that thousands of Canadians come to the U.S. each year for treatment, the average wait times would be even longer.
Per capita, Canada only has 20% the number of MRIs that the U.S. has, and only 14% as many CAT Scans. There are hundreds of prescription drugs available in the U.S. that are not yet available in Canada as they try to control costs.
The situation in Britain is no better, with over 1 million people currently on waiting lists. In June Britain’s Health Department found that 13% of patients wait over a year for scheduled surgery, and shortages are forcing more than 50,000 operations to be cancelled each year.
Waiting for surgery is not just an inconvenience; it can mean the difference between living and dying. For instance, in the U.S. the survival rate for stage 1 colon cancer is 90%; in Britain it is 70%. American women diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer have a 97% survival rate after 5 years; in Britain it’s only 78%.
As Americans contemplate copying these failed systems, citizens in Europe and Canada are headed in the opposite direction. Germany just recently passed laws to enhance insurance competition, Sweden has begun privatizing some of its healthcare, and millions of Europeans are finding ways to opt-out of their government healthcare systems.
In Britain there are now over 6.5 million people who carry private insurance, despite the availability of “free” coverage from their NHS. Another 250,000 self-fund each year for acute private surgery, because they don’t want to or cannot afford to wait. Even the Labour party now favors privatization of healthcare in Britain.
In 2005 the Canadian Supreme court issued a ruling which stated, “The prohibition on obtaining private health insurance… is not constitutional where the public system fails to deliver reasonable services.” Private healthcare clinics are now opening in Canada at the rate of five per month.
Unfortunately, under a socialized system, your body and your life are no longer under your control.
Isn’t it amazing that some of the same people who criticize government ineptness – including Katrina, the many screw-ups in the war on terror, No Child Left Behind, and more – actually think the government would do a good job managing the nation’s healthcare?
Freedom, choice, and innovation are what have given us the highest quality healthcare in the world. We absolutely do need change, but the answer is less government intervention, not more. By encouraging consumer-driven solutions, competition, and price transparency, we can help avoid the healthcare disaster that government control would bring.
One big part of the solution that is already beginning is the adoption of Health Savings Accounts. Over five million Americans already have an HSA set up, and over five billion dollars is already invested in these special bank accounts.
People who have an HSA can set aside money to pay for future medical expenses, and get a tax deduction to do so. Because you must have a high-deductible health plan to contribute to an HSA, these plans encourage people to more carefully spend their healthcare dollars, since money they don’t spend stays in the HSA.
The result is that medical providers once again are competing for customers by lowering prices, and increasing quality and convenience. Already we are seeing plummeting prices on prescription drugs, and low-cost medical clinics spring up in Wal-Mart and other retail locations.
As more and more people obtain HSAs, we will not only see a benefit for the consumers, but we will also begin to see more people who take a proactive attitude when it comes to their health. A Health Savings Account owner who exercises and eats right will likely have a much larger balance in their account by the time they retire.
These changes will result in a healthier and wealthier group of retirees and a smaller burden on our tax system in the future.
Here this nice Video about health department
(Sacramento) – Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) joined Dr. Gilberto Chávez , Chief of the Center for Infectious Diseases, California Department of Public Health for a news conference today to discuss Californias efforts to limit the spread of the H1N1 flu and to discuss outreach to all Californians, especially those for whom Spanish is the primary language. In a situation like this information and outreach are critical, said Bass. We need to continue to be vigilant. We need to …
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Does the state health department work at the national or state level?I know this is a stupid question, but just because something is at the level of a state department it doesn't always mean they work for the state. So does the state health department work to protect health at the national, or state level?
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Yeah. they will come periodically and check out the kitchen and dining area for cleanliness, and to ensure that you are safely preparing food. they will check you all the time, and in Texas, you have to keep the most current report posted for the public to see.
mmmhh…rico!!
in ga you can go to any county you want to. check with your helth department and find out!
0:09 shes kinda cute
It’s disgusting lol
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nai!!einai sixama!
If you have insurance, you have to tell the health department. It's fraud to say you don't have insurance and get a cheap rate.
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estos nesesitan mas de unos paketitos de klines y a q ascoooooooooooo
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Spread the Word World-Wide ASAP
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Que alguien les de un paquete de Cleenex
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me gusta el pene ojala me estornudaran en el ano
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Casi pillo la gripe A
0:56
Only if they have a program where a doctor will see you and write the prescriptions, free or at a low cost. A doctor must base the new prescriptions on your past and current condition.
A doctor must decide whether your continued prescription should remain the same, be adjusted, or even be replaced by something else that might help you more. Many drugs should not be prescribed longer than a certain amount of time. Furthermore, your body could get used to one drug after a while and you may not still be getting the same results and you might be switched to something else for that reason.
Also, sometimes a drug might have been found out to have side effects that weren't known about before and the doctor may decide to switch you to something safer.
All these decisions will most often be determined based on your replies to the doctor's questions plus maybe one or more blood/urine tests.
Of course, this is all based on the assumption that you'll be seeing a good doctor. I don't believe that the odds are good of that happening if you get a doctor doing your examination under a free or very low cost government program where there's a line a mile long with people who can't afford a regular doctor… by appointment, who's been chosen by the patient because he's/she's good.
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excelente!!!
and, she is changed for a blonde at the end of the video. I wonder why…
I assume the problem is real based on what you describe. It is a serious health issue.
There are several options that the Health Dept can take. I suspect they will receive a court-backed order to hook you to the sewer line and place a lien against your house for the costs involved.
Also, your neighbors could sue the pjs out of you if you do not rectify the situation post haste. You could also face suits from a variety of environmental groups.
Best deal with the real issue.
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jajajaja la ostia que esto es disgusting, de solo imaginar esos mocos viajando a la velocidad de la luz hacia tu cara, o por diosss
gliax!!
At the clinic they did a pregnancy test and ultrasound ..than the Tech signed a paper that confirmed pregnancy that I could send in with my other information.
It varies a lot. You will have to call. If you live in an urban or depressed area, you will probably have a better chance at getting it for free or very low cost. These programs can be funded by the federal government but administered by states, counties, cities or towns, or even nonprofit groups. And then again, some of them are privately funded.
Unless you put your city and state here and someone sees it and knows, you will simply have to call. Or on second thought, you might be able to find out by doing a web search also.
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your contractor should get all the appropriate permits you need for the job along with having it inspected after installation
Yes, you should feel obligated to report them. Just so you are aware they will keep it confidential and no one needs to know it was you. If it's fear of reprimand from the bosses and such, you can keep your name out of it. If it's fear of being unemployed, there are other places to work. Please, don't wait until a little kid or old lady dies from botulism or ecoli. They are the high risk groups. You think the theatre has problems now…… Good luck. I hope you make the right decisions and report it.