I got to enlighten some pharmacy clerks about "Socialized" medicine today

[stuball111]

Went to fill some prescriptions, and overheard the pharmacist say "they're socialized medicine ...something something" I asked what was socialized, and he said, health care in England and Canada. I said, hey, I'm from Canada, and it is NOT socialized medicine there, and they said, well what is it, And I said it was socialized INSURANCE, and went on to explain how the Doctors, clinics and hospitals were private, and that only the insurance part was government Universal.

I continued to tell them all about it, and how it's free, paid for via taxes, and all the good stuff, and they asked why then do the insurance companies and GOP not want it here, and I said, well, because they would go out of business except for selling extras like dental and vision, and that we would be much better off without them. "So," one gal said.... "it's all lies?" And I said, you bet! They are after the mega profits and easy money.

No pre existing conditions, coverage from cradle to grave, no worse waits than now,and how easy Universal systems work... and they all seemed a bit more enlightened when I left.

[Fridays Child]

1. Good for you!

:thumbsup:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Good for you!

Now, if we could only arrange for you to go into every pharmacy in the country, and tell it like you did today!

*sigh*

Well done!

K&R

:yourock:

[stuball111]

6. Been thinking of doing my own one man crusade...

Set a booth up on Main street with a sign that says " Get your Facts here on Universal Health care" or something like that...They almost didn't believe me at the Walgreens... the one gal said it was almost unbelievable...And when you have lived in the forest, the meadow looks strange...

[bainz]

3. i believe you n/t

[Autonomy]

4. This post is depressing

How could people in the healthcare not already know and understand the GOP bullshit machine? "It's all lies?" Gawd. That they even had to ask with such pathetic naivete...

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. You'd be amazed how many people who work in the system

don't understand the lies.

[stuball111]

7. And they asked about drugs up there...

I told them they are exactly the same, same companies make em, only the patents only go for 2 or 3 years, then they can be generic, not like 17 years here. One gal asked then how they can make money? Well, when you pay $1-$5 a pill, and it costs 2 cents to make, you still make a good profit. Seems they rely on the media, fux news etc. I told her to google Canadas UHC system and educate herself...

[jgraz]

8. Good job... but I still don't understand what's so bad about Socialized Medicine

That's really the only thing that will truly cut costs. Not even Single Payer will really clamp down on profits from big pharma and private hospitals.

[stuball111]

9. They like to use that term, but it's not really socialised..

Just the insurance part, and that is even the wrong term, it's a "Social Program" which means, for society...

And yes, Canada and other countries with single payer cost about 10% less in GDP to run. That means that all the money has to go somewhere, and if you have a savings of between $5,000-$25,000 per year, that money goes a long way when it stays in your own pocket, and not to mention nobody goes bankrupt there, or has to pay outrageous co-pays.

[jgraz]

11. I get that. I'm asking: would it be so bad if it actually were socialized?

In the US, fully socialized medicine (i.e. nationlized healthcare, i.e. government takeover, i.e. communistical nazi death panels) is probably the best way to bring down healthcare costs and improve outcomes.

[stuball111]

25. I just the insurance part was "socialized" or basically, a government program..

There would be administrators in the system to "run" it, making for more jobs, probably people who used to work for the private companies, there would be only one, not for profit insurer. There would be a tremendous savings in administrative costs alone. Not to mention, the profits that used to go to private insurance companies, would go BACK into the consumers pockets. The cost of health care in the US would drop by about 50%, at least. The outcomes would be tremendous, no co-pays, no bankruptcies, no costly premiums, no deductables... etc. etc.....

[newtothegame]

10. I think they're probably thinking socialized because though everyone uses it...

not everyone has to pay for it. That's the problem I have with some of the suggestions out there. If we're all going to use it, we should all pay for it. Period. We're going to make a tiny minority of the country pay to cover healthcare for the vast majority who will actually lose it. EVERYONE should pay for it, not just the rich that we're jealous of.

[laughingliberal]

13. I believe everyone should help pay for it through progressive taxation nt

[kestrel91316]

15. How will penniless homeless people pay for it? How about the working poor who

have just enough to pay for a meager roof over their heads and a little food, but have nothing to spare? They should just have to fucking DIE if they get sick???

Not in MY America.

[newtothegame]

16. 99% of Americans are not penniless homeless people or working poor and you know it.

I'm talking about the vast majority of DU'ers who are demanding that the top tenth of a percent or whatever of American wage-earners bear the cost of the entire healthcare system for all Americans. That is just plain wrong. We all use it, we all pay for it.

[kestrel91316]

17. Don't change the subject. I am talking about people who don't have the money

for health care, and they are a hell of a lot more than 1% of the population. And even if they were so few, we have just as much obligation toward their health as we do toward the wallets of the uber-rich.

WHY must keeping wealthy people wealthy always be our NUMBER ONE PRIORITY???????

[CJCRANE]

19. "top tenth of a percent...

...American wage-earners bear the cost of the entire healthcare system for all Americans."

No one has suggested that and no country with universal health care functions like that. I thought the current proposals require even MORE people to pay for health insurance. That's the opposite of what you're suggesting.

[Selatius]

28. Just who exactly advocates that system? Not one industrialized country on earth does that.

It sounds like a strawman.

An important question remains, though. How are people who are unemployed with no income going to pay for coverage if everybody pays? Surely, there would have to be some form of assistance given to them.

[stuball111]

31. Not unlike welfare.. some people here never pay, but they have some kind of coverage

Thing is, under a so called single payer, or government universal system, there will always be some who can't work or don't work, but that percentage is low. Handicapped people, mentally and physically, get coverage in Canada under the GAIN program, basically, welfare. But, the overwhelming majority of people work. The taxes are adjusted so that those that can, pay for those that can't, and still, it's far cheaper for everybody.

[stuball111]

22. Again, the way it works in Canada is...

everybody pays, and you are going to get a certain percentage of any population that cannot work.... handicapped, mentally ill etc. These people are covered by something called GAIN which is part of the welfare system. In other words, those that can give to those who can't.... a very "Christian" concept eh?

[stuball111]

21. That's how it works in Canada,,, everybody pays...

and everybody gets health care. Remember that not everybody gets sick at once. Canadas system is NOT socialized, the insurance part is like a tax, and the doctors, hospitals, clinics, labs etc. are mostly private, and they bill the system.

[stuball111]

24. That's how Universal health care is paid for, by everybody...

And in this country, if everybody paid say, $300-$600 per year more in taxes to cover it, you'd save probably 10-20 grand per year in health care costs, and be farther ahead at the end of the day. No co-pays, no extra costs, no deductable, no bankruptcy, 100% coverage, and the rich get the same as the poor... what a utopian concept eh? but it works, and can here, just have to say bye-bye to corporate insurance, and jobs would be lost, but they would be soaked up in the new system.

[HughMoran]

12. Great work

I've had mostly success as well - it's amazing how crooked our media is in this country - why do we put with this shit?

[laughingliberal]

14. Good job! nt

[Orsino]

18. K&R n/t

[Retired AF Dem]

20. "and how it's free, paid for via taxes"

Well not quite free.

[stuball111]

23. Of course not...

But if you can't work, or after you retire, or if you take a couple of years off work, you are still covered. Cradle to Grave, everybody gets it. The main point is, that everybody pays at sometime during their working lives. All that money goes into the system, and because everyone doesn't get sick at the same time, it's always funded. AND... the tax is not a lot, and when you consider how much we pay down here with premiums, co-pays, and stuff that isn't covered, the average person has about 10 grand more in disposable income than in the US, not to mention that the amount saved by not having to buy insurance at 10 grand per year, minimum, pay co-pays, and go bankrupt and all that, it amounts to being free compared to here.

[troubledamerican]

26. I got to talk with some DOT roadworkers about "socialized" Interstate Freeway Systems today.

They claim that without "socialism" like the Freeway System, the U.S. economy would collapse overnight.

Fucking socialists.

[bertman]

27. Thank you. Rec.

[havocmom]

29. Could we work to send you on a road trip with that talk?

We might have a chance at getting something good done ;) You are a one-person Anti-Fox Pox vaccine!

[stuball111]

30. I'd LOVE to!

Be very simple... just sit there and tell the truth...something that fux rarely does...

[havocmom]

33. Yep, simply being straight forward and civally providing facts drives the wingers crazy

and helps the rational, but perhaps ill-informed (MSM in play)understand many situations better. ;)

[stuball111]

34. I'd love to debate a winger over this....

Wouldn't change their minds a bit, but those who are capable of thinking would see that the r-wingers are not only illinfrmed, but outright liars.

[Swamp Rat]

32. k&r

[mdmc]

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