Universal health care.

[Adolf Allerbush]

Last ER I was in was in Green Bay. Smaller city, but we have a large illegal immigrant population. Mostly due to the meat packing factories and food processing factories.

No it wasn't crowded, but yet I still had to wait quite a while which shows that even without crowds you can have a long wait. Thus something else was causing the delay. Maybe there was a really good episode of Grey's Anatomy on TV. Another reason to hate that show.

Don't some towns, and not saying Green Bay is a shit hole, have issues attracting medical staff and retaining that staff? I mean, if I'm a doctor I might choose to live somewhere besides Green Bay....and yes, I've been to Green Bay a few times. Anyway, lack of staff could be your specific issue with regards to wait times in the ER.

[4matic]

Don't some towns, and not saying Green Bay is a shit hole, have issues attracting medical staff and retaining that staff? I mean, if I'm a doctor I might choose to live somewhere besides Green Bay....and yes, I've been to Green Bay a few times. Anyway, lack of staff could be your specific issue with regards to wait times in the ER.

True, In San Francisco it's very competitive for high quality Drs. They earn less than they would in Chico or Iowa for that matter. I know a Radiologist that makes close to a million dollars a year in Iowa. He'd make half that if he's lucky in SF.

[Grange]

Don't some towns, and not saying Green Bay is a shit hole, have issues attracting medical staff and retaining that staff? I mean, if I'm a doctor I might choose to live somewhere besides Green Bay....and yes, I've been to Green Bay a few times. Anyway, lack of staff could be your specific issue with regards to wait times in the ER.

Possible I suppose. But Green Bay has been a having a major expansion the last 10 year in the medical area (i.e. United Health Care is located in Green Bay). They also have some well known hospitals that rank high in areas such as heart surgery.

Also Green Bay isn't that small. It's not Chicago, but the metro area is close to 300,000 people and the Fox Valley Metro area 20 minutes south is around 350,000.

[Adolf Allerbush]

Also Green Bay isn't that small. It's not Chicago, but the metro area is close to 300,000 people and the Fox Valley Metro area 20 minutes south is around 350,000.

I usually make the trip up there for the Bears vs Pakers game each year. I like Green Gay, however I do not like the Fudgepackers....the city itself is not a bad at all. I like it better than Milwaukee. I just think that people that are not familiar with it might have a bad perception of it.

[MassLiberal]

How can you have a bad perception of Green Bay? The place is absolutely harmless.

It's not like it's ground zero for MS 13 or anything.

[Grange]

I usually make the trip up there for the Bears vs Pakers game each year. I like Green Gay, however I do not like the Fudgepackers....the city itself is not a bad at all. I like it better than Milwaukee. I just think that people that are not familiar with it might have a bad perception of it.

I understand. Why would you like the NFC North CHAMPION Green Bay Packers when you root for the last place team? Hell the best player on the team is on special teams. Yah I'd hate the Packers if I were you too. But don't fret come January you will be able sit by a warm fire and watch the Packers on national TV.

[powder11]

how could your term insurance not cover you as a resident?

technically I wasn't a resident even though I'd been living here for over two year awaiting Permanent Resident status. Canadian hospitals don't take private insurance, so you have pay upfront and submit your claim if you're from somewhere else. The problem is the insurance company I used decided that since I had lived in Canada for over a year, I was a resident. I got caught in no mans land. Thankfully my injury wasn't that serious and the whole thing only cost a few grand. Not much considering what could've happened. I think people should be allowed private health care in Canada. Nobody will admit it publicly, but behind closed doors, I've heard many Canadians express the need for a two tier system. The free stuff is good for people who cant afford to pay for insurance, but theres plenty of people willing to pay for better care.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Get a better job.

Don't you work at a fucking ski area?

Dude, you are a ski bum and making your mom pay for your drugs. Get a better job, and take care of yourself.

I don't do drugs, and I work in town.

[Adolf Allerbush]

I understand. Why would you like the NFC North CHAMPION Green Bay Packers when you root for the last place team? Hell the best player on the team is on special teams. Yah I'd hate the Packers if I were you too. But don't fret come January you will be able sit by a warm fire and watch the Packers on national TV.

No kidding. The bears are terrible. Oh well...it's not like anyone is going to be able to beat the Pats anyway this year. Pretty decent time for the Bears to suck IMO.

[MeatPuppet]

Isn't that in part what SCHIP is trying to do?

It is, in theory. But one of the biggest problems with what the dems are trying to do with SCHIP is that the means testing is a joke. I haven't looked at the latest bill that congress has coughed up. But the first one had an income limit of $80k! In 2006 the median household income was $48k. So it's no longer a needs based system. It is essentially, socialized health care for the majority of American families.

I'm in favor of a needs based system. As I said in an earlier post, the government should never do for people what they are capable of doing for themselves.

[pheenster]

technically I wasn't a resident even though I'd been living here for over two year awaiting Permanent Resident status. Canadian hospitals don't take private insurance, so you have pay upfront and submit your claim if you're from somewhere else. The problem is the insurance company I used decided that since I had lived in Canada for over a year, I was a resident. I got caught in no mans land. Thankfully my injury wasn't that serious and the whole thing only cost a few grand. Not much considering what could've happened. I think people should be allowed private health care in Canada. Nobody will admit it publicly, but behind closed doors, I've heard many Canadians express the need for a two tier system. The free stuff is good for people who cant afford to pay for insurance, but theres plenty of people willing to pay for better care.

I'll admit it publicly right here! Even more competition within the public system would be a step in the right direction, particularly for the "elective" stuff.

[Spats]

What if the nearest charity hospital is hundreds of miles away? The reason why all emergency rooms are required to attend to all patients, regardless of insurance status, is because a few years ago they weren't and people were dying on the way across town to the Poor People Hospital.

Like I said, there are tradeoffs either way.

The tradeoff for some people dying on the way to or at the charity hospital is that people with jobs or money get many times more health care for their money, many more of us can afford health care than before, and we can get any health care we want to pay for as opposed to what the insurance companies or government let us have.

The tradeoff for socialized medicine is that it's a lot less efficient, costs a lot more for how much care we get, and we get what the government lets us get instead of what we want or need, but almost no one dies or is left behind. (And it's a lot better than what we have now, which is insurance companies taking all our money and then not delivering any care.)

[Burrrr]

Last ER I was in was in Green Bay. Smaller city, but we have a large illegal immigrant population. Mostly due to the meat packing factories and food processing factories.

No it wasn't crowded, but yet I still had to wait quite a while which shows that even without crowds you can have a long wait. Thus something else was causing the delay. Maybe there was a really good episode of Grey's Anatomy on TV. Another reason to hate that show.

I watched that show once and it made me feel like an under acheiver.

The turnaround times in ER depend on many variables. Priority patients, staff to patient ratio, number of rooms etc... What I'm seeing more and more is hospitals are guaranteeing turnaround times such as, "you will be seen by an ER physician in 30 minutes or your care is on us". This is also becoming more common with MRI/CT scans, etc... These tactics are surfacing because of a competitive market place. As long on free market capitalism is the platform of our health system we'll see more and more improvements in our care. With future technological advances, tort reform and hospital adminstrators whos jobs are on the line if they don't perform, we will notice a natural evolution. It is not something that can turn on a dime though. Universal Health Care would be taking a giant leap backwards.