Nationalized healthcare would cure a lot of immigration woes

[SoCalDem]

A nationalized healthcare would/could assume covearge for citizens only.. Your medical card would/could include up-to-the-minute technology to prevent fradulent useage.(I know that nothing is foolproof)...

People who "fear" being identified as a citizen could always opt out (some people in the UK do not use the national healthcare..rich people mostly)..

Employers finally being free from pressure to offer coverage for employees would have a HUGE monkey off their backs, and might be less inclined to look for the cheapest/not the best employees.. They might get creative with payroll packages to lure the best, since the health benefits would no longer be the "unknown cost factor" in every negotiation.

Even freepies should like the idea..they get sick too, and since unions are the last bastion of decent health care, freeps might think that the loss of this "bargaining chip" could undermine unions..(freeps like minimum wage no benefit jobs.)

Your health card would be a de facto proof of citizenship, so anyone who claimed "they did not know" xxx was not a citizen, could be fined heavily.

What keeps a lot of Americans from emigrating to Canada is the fact thet they could not easily gain citizenship and medical coverage along with it.

With all citizens eligible for health care, we would certainly have a healthier population, and lots of disease could be diagnosed BEFORE they become real health issues. Emergency rooms could once again be used for real emergencies. Costs to hospitals shoould return to a more "normal" range.

Medicaid/Medicare/and the various state-run set-ups would no longer even be necessary.. There could be a lot of duplication of efforts eliminated by making ONE system that works for all. (except for the richie-rich types who will always be able to pay for their lah-di-dah doctors)..

I believe that this could be done, and should be done. Doctors would be absolved of their huge malpratice premiums, and could actually start caring for patients the way they would like to.

Nothing is perfect, but "piratization" of something as important as our health care has NOT worked..

It;s time to try something new.

Mayber a pilot program..say for a 15 year term to try it out..If we can "engineer" tax cuts for the rich for a specified timeframe, why not a health plan for everyone?

[whistle]

1. Great idea, how do we get the doctors, health insurance providers

...hospitals and health-care workers to go along with this? It could take 20 years to set it up. The entire medical infrastructure in the country would have to be totally revamped. It would be a major undertaking, but long overdue.

[A Simple Game]

5. Insurance providers would certainly be against this.

Insurance providers, well for the most part they would be gone. Good riddance, dealing with the single payer can't be any worse. A few would still be around to cover for elective surgeries and other non-necessities.

But why would doctors, hospitals, health-care workers, and even employers be against this? A single payer system would eliminate 90% of the paperwork, and payment would be a certainty instead of a maybe. Employers and doctors could eliminate or better utilize the employees that are now just handling medical forms.

The time frame should be relatively short, the Medicaid/Medicare system would just need to be expanded,upgraded, and simplified.

Many people trapped in a job they don't like, to maintain insurance, would be free to pursue jobs they would be happier and more productive in.

[vonSchloegel]

2. Great Idea!

National health care cards to track citizens of modest means, I never thought of that! But why bother with the unnecessary added cost of health care? Why don't we just issue national ID cards for the poor? Or even better, how about implantable microchips with medical information? Or even better, we could just tattoo bar codes tied into a national database, that way a laser scanner could identify people instantly at a great distance.

[SoCalDem]

3. Feel free to pay an arm and a leg..(literally sometimes) for your own

health care.. Most of the rest of the "civilized" world doesn't seem to have a problem with a health ID card:) and most of them have MORE freedoms than we presently do :)

[vonSchloegel]

6. As long as the trains run on time...

[SoCalDem]

8. Is that you, Benito?

:hi::P

[vonSchloegel]

12. Not me

http://www.dickinson.edu/~history/dictators/mussolini_life.htm

The (Mussolini) government reacted to this lack of employment and production by reducing the work week to forty hours and enacting new tariffs to protect domestic industry. It also attempted to assist Italians with the social effects of the Depression, expanding its social security system to include accident, old age, and health insurance, along with maternity benefits.

http://www.thecorner.org/hists/total/f-italy.htm

All the corporations were put under the supervision of a National Council of Corporations, of which Mussolini was the Chairman.
These Corporations provided accident, unemployment and health insurance for workers

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/04/63267.shtml

Classical fascists, while being strongly anti-leftist in their rhetoric, nevertheless supported socialized health care

[Bridget Burke]

4. And let all aliens, legal & otherwise, die like dogs.

We need a national health care system. Period.

[A Simple Game]

7. Living in the northeast near the Canadian border

I don't see many aliens, legal or otherwise, but for the safety of the public health I feel we should at the least cover legal aliens. Probably would be cheaper in the long run. I am under the impression(maybe wrong) that illegal aliens are for the most part younger and in relatively good health, and wouldn't be a large burden on the system either.

[SoCalDem]

10. You are right.. I should have said LEGAL...because most people

who immigrate legally, do intend to stay here and become citizens:)

[A Simple Game]

11. Legals at least contribute to the system by paying taxes, etc.

The problem with health care is the most important consideration I use when voting. Most politician don't want to touch it after Hillary's attempt, sad. I do not blame Hillary, but the Democratic congress, and the Republicans with whom they sided, that did not have the vision to put this or any plan in practice.

You and I are 100% on the same side, something must be done.

Thank you for starting this thread.

[MollyStark]

9. People here legally should be entitled to health care

This is how they do it in most countries. If you are there and have an illness or emergency they treat you at no cost.