What is Digg?234 Comments
- solboldi, on 07/14/2009, -11/+56Moyers has been delivering quality journalism for a long time.
- AvangionQ, on 07/14/2009, -19/+60Even the poorest in most of Europe live longer and healthier than most American citizens, and that's in large part due to their socialized health care system ... socialized medicine -- when you don't have to worry as much about bankruptcy due to a medical emergency, and you can be assured that doctors and hospitals will take care of you when you're sick with little to no bureaucratic red tape interfering in the process of diagnosis and treatment, with the pool of tax payer money paying the costs involved ... its a system that we in the U.S. have to *steal*, even if we put the insurance corporations out of business in the process ...
- borez, on 07/14/2009, -3/+39As a long time user of the UK NHS system, I can categorically state that there is nothing wrong or sinister or deviant about a government-run health systems. Our system may be old and in need of more funding ( mainly because of the cartel drug companies charging ridiculously overinflated prices ) but if I need treatment, I don't ever have to worry about it on a financial level, it doesn't even cross my mind, and for that I'm thankful.
- jeffbw, on 07/14/2009, -12/+47Moyers is a genuine American hero.
- WasabiBomb, on 07/14/2009, -4/+36Keep insurance companies out of my Health Care. Period.
Signed,
The American People. - jeffbw, on 07/14/2009, -5/+30That's why he interviews guests, imbecile.
- TigerStar337, on 07/14/2009, -7/+29My wife needs cancer surgery. The insurance company is doing everything it can to stall and not pay. What is the point of having insurance if a person can't use it when it is needed? The Republicans are against health care reform because the Progressives are for it.
At one time, the anti-science conservatives where the leaders in the clean environment movement. In the 60s and 70s, the Republicans created new laws in California, and then the federal clean air and water acts when Nixon was President. Wow, times have changed. I don't know what happened, but the only reason the anti-science Republicans are against climate change laws is because the Progressives are for it. - Auraness, on 07/14/2009, -6/+27Go away.
- askantik, on 07/14/2009, -4/+24Citation needed? Sure thing. Notice these are based on both the CIA World Factbook and World Health Organization figures.
Life expectancy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ ...
Infant mortality: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ ...
Notice that the US is particularly low on the life expectancy list, and particularly high up on the infant mortality list. - askantik, on 07/14/2009, -4/+23You don't "see" how single-payer healthcare works, then. Because almost all countries that have a single-payer system still have private systems if you really want that sort of thing, and you can still pick your own doctor even under the single-payer system. And it saves money and provides more care to more people.
Imagine that. - Hetman, on 07/14/2009, -4/+21The majority of Americans want some type of universal health care. It is one of the reasons Obama won the presidency.
- lordmike, on 07/14/2009, -3/+19We don't pay taxes to support USPS... your facts are wrong... USPS is entirely supported by postage...
Also, Medicare pays 3% overhead to administer their plan... Private insurers have 30% overhead.. why? Insurers have CEO's that need yachts... - thespiff, on 07/14/2009, -4/+20Hey guess what! There's a reason why he got a qualified industry insider to do the talking!
- jezsik, on 07/14/2009, -1/+16So you're all in favor of doing away with the Food and Drug Administration? What about the Environmental Protection Agency? Are you indifferent to healthy air and water as well?
- calypsoschnitzl, on 07/14/2009, -0/+15Maybe, but they still pay LESS for healthcare.
- XTomTomX, on 07/14/2009, -3/+17In countries like Japan,
Everyone has medical care.
Of course, taxes are a bit higher,
but no one loses their home or goes into bankruptcy if they need surgery.
By the way, as a people, they live longer than any other social group on earth.
And the Porn is just.....just....***** great. - zeth006, on 07/14/2009, -0/+13Sorry, but I've read too many stories about insurance scams to trust the route being trumpted here by the pro-profiteerers.
Prior history of diseases constituting cause for cancellation ZERO coverage?
Patients who one woke up to find that their policies had been canceled just days after they reported to their insurance company that they'd contracted cancer?
Sorry bro, but no can do. I'm currently uninsured and don't have any plans to line the pockets of the fatcats who want my money only when I'm healthy but not when I'm sick. I don't own a yacht and I don't believe they're entitled to stealing my money to buy theirs. - lordmike, on 07/14/2009, -3/+15What liberty? You have only the choices your employer gives you, if any... and that insurer decided you you see and when you see them...
Corporate bureaucrats who would happily let you die in order to save a few bucks... - ajwinder, on 07/14/2009, -4/+16What health coverage do you have right now that lets you choose your doctor anyway? Because that concern isn't even available to the broad majority of those that hold heath insurance right now. The common line is that people don't want the government controlling which doctors they get to see, and yet, I'd much rather trust the government to make fair, humane decisions over what some ridiculous HMO, driven by profit, would decide.
And Askantik is exactly right. If you've got that kind of money, and the inclination to have things work that way for yourself, then fine, buy yourself that coverage. It's single-payer, not mandated care absent of any other choice. - Hetman, on 07/14/2009, -1/+13Perhaps we should just cut some of our foreign aid and military spending. You know and help America out for once.
- borez, on 07/14/2009, -0/+12Mate, you don't even notice it.
- thespiff, on 07/14/2009, -2/+13Maddow talks a lot of crap in her monologues but she gives good interviews. Meaning she lets people complete their thoughts, asks good questions, and doesn't belittle them.
- mjk340, on 07/14/2009, -0/+11Around the world military bases, no bid contracts to heavy weapons manufacturers, and government toppling missions already eat half of the US federal discretionary budget. We simply cannot afford luxuries like socialized health care or education. Americans will have to learn to borrow their way through an education and large health care expenses, and become a garnished wage slave when they get laid off and miss a couple of payments during the cyclical downturns manufactured by the Fed. That's the free market in action, and it's the most efficient way to get things done.
(/s if you need it) - redfan, on 07/14/2009, -0/+10"Sorry, but here in the U.S. we don't feel the government is entitled to 60% of our paychecks."
No one in any developed country pays that much. Just another Republican, anti-universal care strawman.
http://www.12daysoftaxes.com/Day3.aspx - inactive, on 07/14/2009, -14/+24Sadly, you see it incorrectly.
- BrewBeau, on 07/14/2009, -1/+11It can't really diminish from where it's at.
- TigerStar337, on 07/14/2009, -0/+10http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaround ...
This Frontline documentary shows what 5 countries (England, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, and someone else) have done for Universal Healthcare. - BoneheadFarker, on 07/14/2009, -4/+14You mean the medical research that is funded entirely by government grants and not by the ridiculous amount of profits made by pharmacutical companies?
- xaeon, on 07/14/2009, -0/+10I recently caught the mumps virus. When I finally decided to go seek some medical advice, I went to an NHS drop-in centre and was seen by a doctor within 20 minutes. I've now developed a complication from the mumps virus, and I phoned today and managed to book an appointment with three hours notice. Now the complication has been diagnosed, I have been given an appointment for a ultrasound scan for tomorrow morning.
Not only that, but when I was selecting my doctor's surgery when I moved into the area recently, I had about 15 surgeries to choose from, all of which had patient ratings available to view on the NHS website.
And I never had to worry in any part of this whether I could afford it. The NHS, for all the squabbles there may be about its funding, is probably one of the best things about living in the UK. I would never ever want it replaced with an insurance based system. - thespiff, on 07/14/2009, -2/+12You realize that the execs don't come out and say it because it would be very obvious that their statements are self-serving. Instead, they funnel funding to PACs which run commercials that oppose government-run healthcare.
- richirwin, on 07/14/2009, -7/+17Dugg for Bill Moyers.
All the o'reilly-tards can't stand him. - jezsik, on 07/14/2009, -1/+11You mean traitor like Thomas Jefferson was a traitor?
- br0ck, on 07/14/2009, -0/+9If you gave the huge number of people without any health coverage free preventative treatment, then maybe their doctors could actually tell them they aren't healthy, that their bad health will lead to diabetes, heart problems and cancer and then teach them how to get on the right track.
- lordmike, on 07/14/2009, -1/+10Yeah, all those companies that save money by not being raped by insurance company premiums.. that's really going to hurt the economy...
- WasabiBomb, on 07/14/2009, -1/+10When are those poor people going to get off the streets *I* paid for with *my* tax dollars is what I want to know! They didn't pay for those streets- it's immoral for them to expect to use something I paid for.
- malex, on 07/14/2009, -1/+9Come to... Somalia, Libertarian Paradise!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QDv4sYwjO0 - gibbon1993, on 07/14/2009, -0/+860% you must be joking right.
I'm from the UK and im pretty shocked by how damn low your income tax is. Our current highest rate (soon to be raised) is 40% for those earning over approx $60k. Your highest rate is 35% and thats only for people earning over approx $370k! (thanks wikipedia!).
Now do you really think it will make so much difference to your income tax that even after you deduct the savings from health insurance the average american is gonna be paying even close to 40%. - Bluesky0010, on 07/14/2009, -3/+10Stupid video. Only watched about 3 minutes of it and the first point was *****. It claims clinics aren't open on the weekends in Canada. Guess what, neither are they in the US dumbass. Only really urgent care or emergency rooms are open during the weekend.
I'm confused what kind of agenda these people are trying to push. Do they like that the US doesn't have the best health care in the world (it doesn't as much as the news/people would like to proclaim). Do they like that many Americans can't afford to see a doctor for the most basic things? - malex, on 07/14/2009, -1/+8@ AWBoy666 and Superkendall:
A quick question: did either of you watch the video before commenting?
I'm asking because I've noticed a certain trend in these political threads, where some people basically have the idea that "What this person is advocating contradicts my convictions, so I reject it without needing to understanding their position or why they promote it."
I've seen liberals occasionally do the same thing, but from what I've observed, a certain branch of Conservatism practically have incorporated it into their party platform, for nearly every issue. What do you think? - thespiff, on 07/14/2009, -1/+8If your point of view includes an incorrect definition of traitor, then you are right. I don't think any definition of treason would include advocating healthcare reform.
- Bluesky0010, on 07/14/2009, -3/+10You mean the same country that banned stemmed cell research from being funded by the government because it didn't agree with "pie in the sky"? You mean that country?
- pintomp3, on 07/14/2009, -1/+8Real journalism is like kryptonite to right-wing talking points.
- mfc5200, on 07/14/2009, -13/+20I fundamentally disagree with a few points this article brought up. It said:
"I think that people who are strong advocates of our health care system remaining as it is, very much a free market health care system,"
There is nothing "free market" about the government spending 100's of billions of dollars a year on medicine and not bargaining for a lower price. In real life, when someone buys in bulk, they get a discount. The Federal government purposely agrees to pay "market prices" for medicine despite purchasing so much of it yearly. The result of their purchases of course is that it boosts up demand and overall increases the costs for said medicine. Why would companies lower prices if they don't have to? The government will pay regardless of the price, so its in their interest to keep prices high. That is NOT a free market.
I read two things in the following article that scared me:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/House-health-plan-to ...
1) "Individuals who refused to buy affordable coverage would be assessed as much as 2.5 percent of their adjusted gross income, up to the cost of an average health insurance plan, according to the legislation."
Yea, I'm POSITIVE that will lower the price of insurance /s. If you don't buy it, you have to pay for it anyways. The medical industry i s laughing all the way to the bank with that aspect of the plan. They do that here in FL with car insurance, you legally have to own it. The result is that our insurance rates are about 2x higher than the national average, because there is an artificial demand.
2)"The legislation would set up a new government-run health insurance program to compete with private coverage. The plan's payments to medical providers such as hospitals and doctors would be keyed to the rates paid by Medicare, which are lower than what private insurers pay."
So basically, private companies will have to compete with the federal government that can't go out of business? In the same manner that UPS and FEDEX compete with USPS? The only reason that works is because by law, UPS and FEDEX aren't allowed to deal with regular mail. If they could, they would put USPS out of business. The result of course is that we have to pay more than we otherwise would. Also, since we pay taxes that support USPS, it makes sense for us to use their subsidized non-profitable services, else we don't get any value for our tax money. The result of course is long lines in the post office because they offer their services at a loss (Iower prices than UPS and FEDEX can compete with). I don't want my health insurance to look like that
----
Is the American system broken? Absolutely. Does it need to be fixed? Without a doubt. But the first thing we need to do, before we go and create more problems is to deal with easy problems first. We needs to focus on costs. Hire some good consulting firms, industry experts, etc and figure out why health care is so expensive, and what we can do about it.
The current legislation doesn't focus on costs at all, it's just changing it so that rather than buying health care ourselves or through insurance companies, we just pay for it in the form of more taxes. Either way, we end up paying the same overall. In reality though, I would imagine we will pay more as the government will hire 10's of thousands of useless bureaucrats and middlemen to manage the system. - HyperionHK, on 07/14/2009, -2/+8As a Canadian, I can say that the Health Care system in the US is a major reason why most people I know would not want to live in the US over Canada. Most people here think a health care system controlled by for-profit companies is simply an absurd idea, which it really is
- simongiln, on 07/14/2009, -1/+7With the exception that the receptionists here speak with a Mexican accent, there's little more in that video I've not gone through here in Texas in some form. Get sick on the weekend, or any other of the week days your primary care physician isn't in? Spend hundreds of dollars at the "Texas Med Clinic", or see if you can get something free out of the local hospital (free being unlikely). Either way, you're going to wait for hours.
And that's what happens if you actually *have* health care in this country. The fact that Canada's care is at least on par with mine over a weekend doesn't make it worse IMO. All things considered, it's still cheaper. - Hetman, on 07/14/2009, -3/+9Having healthier citizens in the end is going to benefit our society more, than having a large group of people that lack basic health care. It can be done properly in this country if we chose to make it happen.
- Bluesky0010, on 07/14/2009, -2/+8No, that has a lot more to do with other factors. If people could get universal health care, they could buy food that was good or have time to cook at home instead of getting cheap food at fast food. They wouldn't have to be working two/three jobs.
Yes, there are lazy people in the US just like any other country. The difference is, the lazy people in the other country can see a doctor if they get sick, where as many people in the US can't even see a doctor for the most basic treatments. - MWeather, on 07/14/2009, -1/+6You already pay for others' health care when they show up to the emergency room with a preventable disease that wouldn't even be a problem if they'd been able to see a doctor before it became an emergency.
Stop pretending like you don't already pay for the health care of the uninsured. - davebg8r, on 07/14/2009, -4/+9You do realize that you are oversimplifying? Life expectancy relies on so much more than how good your health care is. Personal relationships, state of mind, stress, how we eat, what we eat, culture, etc all play an important role in how healthy we are and therefore influence our life expectancy.
- malex, on 07/14/2009, -0/+5That's not right at all. A troll is someone who deliberately stirs up ***** for attention. They rarely, if ever, sincerely believe the arguments they make, but will say whatever they think will provoke the strongest reaction from the particular audience.
The people I'm referring to appear to honestly mean what they say, but seem to be doing it from a position of aggressive, even arrogant, ignorance. Like Sarah Palin, who has no interest in understanding both sides of an issue and considers that a sign of authenticity. -
Show 51 - 100 of 239 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is