to many have sucked the health care that do not really need it

Don't forget another part of the problem. Malpractice suits awarding huge settlements and causing premiums to go sky high.

Also, the life expectancy of people is going up, as is the cost of keeping them alive. This means more people are eligible for social security (as they live longer and longer, a larger pecentage of the population is collecting).

go live with monte, he has it going on!

too many illegal aliens sucking the system dry

I think people go to the Doctor for a quick fix. And don't even try to heal themselves.. Generally the Dr will give them pills and have them come back to spend more money and see how those pills are working for them.. You can do so much more just reading on the Internet researching the problem.

As true as that may be, healthcare should be something given to everyone, not just a select few. Healthcare is free in Canada, free in Australia, free in other countrys, but not in the US. Now, why is that?

Someone close to me was diagnosed with cancer six years ago and healthcare has screwed her so many times. They don't want to pay for this treatment because "blahblahblah," or they don't feel like paying for that. Healthcare needs to suck it up and actually do what it's supposed to do.

To be a full person, one has to have basic necessities: food, water, air, and health, all things that make a person a person (putting aside the needed emotions.) There are other countrys that provide free healthcare and the US, which promotes freedom and a better life for all, is not among them. That's wrong.

To comment on your last paragraph, I know some pediatricians that tell the parents of newborns and children with respiratory problems that they have 6 months to stop smoking or find another doctor. Some people get offended but we see pediatric asthma patients with two to three admissions a year because the parents don't stop and the kid is suffering. The problem with dropping them from insurance all together, at least in the population I work in, is mostly everyone is on Medicaid. Either the parents company plan is too expensive or they don't have jobs to begin with. It is so messed up. Used to be if we had a child on Medicaid it was rare, now I would say close to 75% of the patients I care for are on Medicaid or WIC. We need to do something to make insurance more affordable. I agree.

Truth is our bodies are well equipped to handle and repair almost any problem or sickness. As long as we're healthy and don't do anything to damage it. But most people want a pill to just fix it. But most pills are Narcodic so they can in fact do more damage that they repair. They "mask" the pain so you don't feel it. But pain is your bodies way of saying "you did something wrong and now I got to fix it" If you have ever taken Tylonol or Ibuprofin even once you have already started the damage cycle. Plus in many instances you get addicted to the medication and your body will Mimic a pain to get more meds.

In the defense of some patients it is also some Doctors fault. Most Drug companies give kick backs to doctors who prescribe their Meds. They also have Lobbied the Government to not allow Generics for a time period so thet can make billions off of the profits before they allow it. This is how they can pay the doctor to favor them. And the more Meds a doctor can prescribe the more he makes.

This is why there is such a big contraversy over Natural meds. If you look back "Holistic" medication was what was the norm even into the beginning of the 1900's. It was taught at every major University. But then the FDA was created and it lobbied to rid Holistic from the norm. Why? Because they cannot regulate the profits of "natural cures". How can they regulate what peole can grow in the garden and occurs naturally in nature?

They even got the Government to pass a law that only a drug can be labeled as a "cure". So that leaves Natural cueres out. This is why they are now labeled as "remedies" But why has their been no other "cures" from the Drug companies since the 1950's when Polio was cured? MONEY! The "cure" for cancer was discovered in the late 1800's to early 1900's. Well, at least the cause was which can be reversed with proper diet. Which will then kill off the cancer cells. but Cancer and many other diseases are a Billion Dollar per year industry for the Pharmecuticle companies so they no longer want a "cure". They realised this when they lost Millions with the Polio Vaccine. They can make more Money regulating it rather than fixing it. They now give Chemo treatments to patients up to 3 days before they die. At 1700 Bucks each you have to wonder why if they already know it's a losing battle.

One of the other factors is the rise in malpractice suits. Lawyers get involved here. They can get millions for one lawsuit and thats why most will offer that you do not have to pay unless you win. And then it's a huge amount so they can afford to lose a few. This is what bothers me. They get up to 30% of the awarded amount that is supposed to go to the patient. I am not against them being paid but that seems a bit high when some patients need that to survive when the incident affected their ability to provide for their families.

So this brings to mind that how do you know if it is the patients not following the advise or the Doctors not wanting to fully cure someone or knowing that one cure can cause side affect problems which will bring the patients back for more meds and more kick backs.

I think that you hit upon an excellent point in your question…a significant problem with our medical system is that people are not responsible for their own health care. People refuse to diet and exercise, to take medications as prescribed and follow treatment regimens. I am an emergency nurse, and nightly I see people coming into the emergency department with kids who have a fever that they have not given anything for (or, my favorite: "it is not working, I gave the Tylenol yesterday and he still has a fever"), have an itchy rash for weeks and have not taken Benadryl, have a cut and have not put a Band-aid on it. People have to enpower themselves first, to help themselves first if they want the health care system to help them. There are countless free CPR courses being offered everywhere…so why are so few people trained in it?

Another big problem is malpractice suits. Watch TV for an hour in the U.S. and you will see at least one commercial for a lawyer trying to get you to sue if you had an allergic reaction to a medication, or problems with your heart and such after taking such a medication. The U.S. population is so sue happy it is not even funny. Everything that doctors and nurses do has to be done with the fear in mind that we might be sued and ourselves ruined even if we don't screw up…but if the patient is not happy. This fear is so severe that every day life saving treatment is withheld until the patient signs a consent for that treatment…just saying yes in not always enough, we need it in writing. Even in states where caps on malpractice suits have been placed, these are not across the board. For example, the caps may cover only physicians, and not nurse practioners (who provide the bulk of general care for many communities).

The federal system, Medicare, and the state's Medicaid systems do not work as well as they should. Reimbursement is not always equal to the cost of the procedure, and health care providers are starting to refuse to offer services that they know that they will not be paid for. Nurse practioners are reimbursed only 75% of what MDs and physcian assistants are paid for the same procedure (like putting in sutures, for example). Medicare forces emergency departments to see everyone…even those who come in at 2am with a rash for three weeks or a cough for 2 months. Even if these people have Medicare and Medicaid and can be seen by their primary doctors in the morning, we are legally bound to see these people. As a result, emergency departments have become the only legally guaranteed form of health care in the U.S., and as many do not pay for this this care, it is often free. This has lead to emergency departments becoming financial drains on hospitals, leading to many hospitals shutting down their ERs, or not evening having them built into the hospital in the first place. Yes, Medicare does have a clause that allows patients who are not experiencing an emergency to be turned away, but because of the fear of litagation and bad press most hospitals will not do this. I am in full agreement that if a person is having a life or limb emergency that their ability to pay for care should not be a deterent to their recieving care…but if they present to the emergency department seeking the removal of a splinter (I see this at least once a month) or treatment for an STD, why must we see them in an ER when they could go to a health clinic, urgent care clinic, or doctor's office and recieve the same care for 1/4 of the price?

The availability of health insurance is another point. I agree that it can get expensive…but my favorite one is when someone tells me that they cannot afford their medications because they cannot afford health insurance and they smoke. If they were to save what they spend on cigarrettes they would probably have enough each month to pay for a health insurance policy, perhaps with a bit left over. I do recognize that this does not apply to everyone, and that many do fall between the cracks. However, nothing irks me more than having to help lance a boil on some guy's butt who says that he could not go a doctor's office for this because he does not have insurance…but he does have a better cellphone than me and wears about ten pounds of gold jewerly. I believe that this goes back to what I said before, people have to take responsibility for themselves. For those who geniuinely cannot afford health care, we as a society should be there to help them. Unfortunately, many can and abuse this system, or can't and abuse it just the same.

Another major draw back to American health care, in my mind, is JACHO…the regulating and accrediting body for American hospitals. Its major goal is to ensure patient safety, and one of the ways that it does this is to put out a list of new rules every year…a list of patient care goals. Most of these are not that bad, but when all put together they become horrible. And they do not take away any of the previous goals, they just keep adding to them. Rather than concentrating upon issues that most greatly affect patient safety–such as overcrowding, under staffing, and under funding–they are forcing us to write down all of a patient's medications when they come into the emergency department (even if they have a printed list signed by their doctor from the nursing home). Instead of requiring devices that have been proven to promote patient safety (such as automatic medication dispenser and bar code scanners for patients and medications) they force us to do more paperwork–taking us away from our patients and their care. JAHCO inspects each hospital in the U.S. every 2 years…but the main thing that they look for is to see if all of their requirements are being followed. They do not seem to care if each nurse is caring for 2-6 more patients than he/she should be safely caring for, per federal recommendations. Much less do they seem to track how many hours/days patients are left in ERs awaiting admission to a bed within the hospital, receiving less care and attention than they deserve because the ER nurse is taxed with emergency patients.

All of these concerns, and others, has resulted in fewer and fewer individuals entering health care as a profession. Nurses are already thin on the ground, and are getting thinner. Nurses provide the backbone of patient care, and with the number of available nurses dropping it is predicted that within 10-20 years, unless this trend is reversed, you will be safer walking through New York's Central Park at 1am with a sign reading "Mug me" on your chest than you would being cared for in an American hospital.

It was mentioned that in Canadia that health care is free. This system is not perfect, either. People end up waiting for 10-12 hours to be seen by a doctor in an emergency department and waiting for weeks to months for a primary care appointment.

Here is a bit of food for thought: private insurance plans almost always have a co-pay for prescription refills (if you go to the pharmacy to get your medication you will have to pay something, usually $10-$20, sometimes more) but Medicare and Medicaid generally do not have co-pays for prescriptions. Study after study has found that individuals who have private insurance are more likely to get their prescriptions filled than those with Medicare and Medicaid…even in cases when a 24 hour pharmacy is within easy walking distance (50 feet) of the point where the prescription is given to the patient. Studies of people seeking treatment for STDs in free clinics have found that a significant number (even majority, depending on the study) will not obtain their medications even if all that they have to do is walk down a hall and give their script to a pharmacist at a window who will fill it for free.

I believe that our entire system is messed up. We would have to start from the bottom and the top to try and fix it. Ambulances should not have to transport patients to a hospital because of colds and sore throats…and those who call ambulances for such and who have no obvious immediate life threat should arrested for making a false 911 call. ERs should be allowed to care for only the truly sick patients…hospitals should be required to maintain fast-track areas if a community urgent care clinic is not available for those not needing to be seen in the ER. There should be adequate malpractice protection at the state and federal levels. State and federal governments should mandate safe nurse-patient staffing ratios and enforce these. This will force hospitals to provide a better working environment for nurses, attracting more to the field and keeping them in it. Reasonable, logical safety requirements should be put in place…health care can be dangerous, but much of the legislation in place makes it even more so. Lastly, our insurance systems should be re-vamped. There should be reasonable reimbursments for services from all providers, health care professionals should not be required to fight through a mountain of paperwork for payment…with each company being different, and Medicare/Medicaid should be re-examined (if not scrapped and completely reworked from stratch). Lastly, further efforts should be made requiring employers to offer free (or low cost) medical insurance to their employees and families. However, I still believe that most of our problems could be solved by individuals taking responsiblitiy for themselves.

Actually, If I tell a patient what to do, and they come back having not done a thing I requested, I give them ONE more chance. I reiterate the importance of what's being said. If they come back, and still nothing, I call them NON compliant patients, and I send them else where. You're right, it wastes too much of our time, where it should be given to someone really in need. ~