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I still do not see what is wrong with it especially in Cuba which is praised worldwide for their system... Other then higher taxes (unless a different solution to fund it can come about)it seems to work worldwide though not all countries are perfect obviously not even with the system we use. Below is a article that came out today... the interesting parts to me are in bold which I did know about and disputes everyone's argument that in a socialized healthcare system there are "long lines" to get treated:
An American dream realized in Cuba Les Payne June 30, 2008 Since her days as a young girl, Arabia Mollette dreamed of becoming a doctor. The streets of the South Bronx pulled in another direction.
"My family was hit hard with drugs," said the 28-year old student, "both of my parents." There were five sisters and a brother. At 15, "I was out in the streets selling drugs, sleeping on trains when I didn't have a place to stay. I was not on crack, but I did have a problem with drinking.
"Two of my sisters have passed away. One was shot to death in Schenectady when she was a freshman at college. She was in a car with her friend - at the wrong place at the wrong time. The situation had nothing to do with her; it was the person she was hanging out with. She died three weeks after her 19th birthday. It was devastating."
Sent away to relatives in Peekskill, Mollette achieved honors as a high school junior. And, at 17, she had a son with a 29-year-old. "The relationship with the father was not positive." It got worse when she talked of going off to college to fulfill her dream. "We were not together. He had my son at his house."
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On the night of Feb. 19, 1998, the 4-month-old was rushed to the hospital, suffering from a heart attack, fractured skull and brain injuries. He died the next day. Claiming to have shaken his son when he wouldn't stop crying, the father pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 11 to 22 years in prison. "It's hard for me to sleep at night [thinking] I will not see my son again," Mollette told the judge before yelling at her son's father: "How could you put me through this?"
Gathering herself over time, the young student worked her way through Hunter College, graduating with a minor in African-American and Puerto Rican studies and a major in psychology. "I studied psychology because I wanted to understand myself as a black woman in America. I wanted to understand ... what made me do some of those things.
"Even as an undergrad, I was [sometimes] homeless. I didn't think becoming a doctor was going to happen due to the financial situation." The cost of a medical education ranges up past $150,000, with most young physicians $120,000 in college-loan debt. In June 2005, while participating in a biomedical research program at SUNY Binghamton, a friend told Mollette about the medical program she was attending. "I said, 'What medical school are you going to?'"
It was the Latin American School of Medical Sciences that Cuba created in 1999 to train doctors from the region. When Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) inquired about the school during a U.S. Congressional Black Caucus visit in 2000, Fidel Castro, not one to pass up a propaganda pitch, offered free medical training to low-income Americans to return home and serve their medically underserved communities.
Some 111 such U.S. students, mainly blacks and Latinos, have joined the 4,000 physicians Cuba has recruited from Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean. According to a recent Johns Hopkins newsletter, Cuba's highly rated, free medical system maintains the "highest doctor-to-patient ratio, about one physician per 170 patients, of all countries in the world." The U.S. ratio is one doctor to 400 patients; at HMOs, where most Americans receive care, it's one to 600 patients.
"I have utilized my tragic experiences to explain why I wanted to become a doctor, to fulfill this dream," Mollette told me during a recent trip to Havana, where I interviewed eight other U.S. students. "When I came down here [two years ago], I didn't speak any Spanish . By the grace of God, I was able to pick up Spanish in three months. When I'm studying or taking an exam, I think about the tragedies [of my life] to motivate me.
"My family can't help me, financially. I try not to be upset about that. Emotionally, they are there for me. So when I go home , I have to find some type of work, babysitting or cleaning somebody's house." All tuition, books, meals and even medical care the Cuban government provides free. "I have to buy my plane ticket and come back. And I have to purchase certain personal items I need. I wasn't born with a silver spoon. One day, I'll be able to help my family.
"What happened to my son, and my sister," Mollette said, breaking off into sobs, "is the reason I had to get myself together. I'm crying because for the first time in my life, I got to do something I wanted to do."
-------------------- Money Never Sleeps Pal.
Greed, for the lack of a better word is GOOD. Posts: 3226 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Call it what you want but everybody should get health care and that means everybody in the world IMHO maybe it is time to take the profit motive out of our health care and private enterprise all they are is a bunch of cororate welfare pigs and a drain on society.
Just like sanitaion used to be private in this country now for the most part it is a government service and we are all the better for that
Posts: 5791 | From: phoenix az | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
The model is essentially the same as our current health care system in that we all pay into a pool then individually draw out what we need when we get sick. The only differences are that a single nationalized health care system would be much larger and therefore.. or theoretically, more capable than the smaller privately owned ones we have now. Having government in charge of it or some bottom line style corporation is really an arguable point as both are more than slightly prone to corruption. Just depends who you trust I guess.
Posts: 1524 | Registered: Aug 2005
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one physician per 170 patients, of all countries in the world." The U.S. ratio is one doctor to 400 patients; at HMOs, where most Americans receive care, it's one to 600 patient
the AMA carefully controls the number of physicians... they decide exactly how many to accept into Medical school and how many to recruit out of Medical schools world-wide...
i bet that most insurance co's would prefer to see more physicians per patient too... it would increase competition.
-------------------- "Man is the only kinda varmint that sets his own trap, baits it, and steps in it." Posts: 26228 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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Who gave the AMA such power? That is not freedom for the people.
The AMA should only oversee the medical profession and their ethics, etc...
The number of physicians should be determined by supply and demand -
GEEZ - I hope the internet helps in creating a better america, world, willed by the folks vs controlled by the elite...
Posts: 732 | Registered: Jun 2004
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quote:Originally posted by thinkmoney: Who gave the AMA such power? That is not freedom for the people.
The AMA should only oversee the medical profession and their ethics, etc...
The number of physicians should be determined by supply and demand -
GEEZ - I hope the internet helps in creating a better america, world, willed by the folks vs controlled by the elite...
the AMA is the most successful and powerful labor union on the planet...
-------------------- "Man is the only kinda varmint that sets his own trap, baits it, and steps in it." Posts: 26228 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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well. Jimmy never got his union members seven figure incomes, or forced his newest members to work 120 hr work weeks (like interns have)
-------------------- "Man is the only kinda varmint that sets his own trap, baits it, and steps in it." Posts: 26228 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by glassman: well. Jimmy never got his union members seven figure incomes, or forced his newest members to work 120 hr work weeks (like interns have)
I beg to differ... alot of union members got 7 figure incomes in Jimmy's Union including Jimmy lol You can guess which ones and what their other "affiliations" are/were... Anyways socialized medicine as represented in Cuba makes us look bad and our f*cked up system which greed dictates who gets healthcare and who doesn't...
-------------------- Money Never Sleeps Pal.
Greed, for the lack of a better word is GOOD. Posts: 3226 | Registered: Mar 2004
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