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I will agree and disagree with you alameda -
On getting sick or injured in the US - We do have some of the finest medical centers in the world in the US. We have places like MD Anderson where people come from all over the world to get cancer treatments they can´t get anywhere else. Some of our level one trauma centers set the standards for traumatic injury treatments that occur all over the world. We are and always have been on the cutting edge of transplant surgery technology, so on and so forth. YES, we do have a lot of things wrong but we DO have a lot of things right.
On nursing homes - Nursing homes are horrendous places but not just the US. Nursing homes have older and/or sicker patients whose families for whatever reason, can´t or won´t take care of their family members. Many of them are bed ridden and incontinent. They are always sad places because most people go there to die or they are recovering from a devasting illness or trauma. Many of these patients are on Medicare/Medicaid (government run programs) which reimburse very poorly. Nursing homes have very high overhead and can´t afford to give quality care because they don´t get very much money for doing what a lot of family members won´t do for their loved ones.
Many of these people either do not have family that CAN help them, or they work and can not help.
Don´t misunderstand me alameda, I know we need to improve our system and there are many good aspects to the healthcare bill that is currently on the table....however, I have worked in healthcare long enough (and worked in VA and military hospitals) to know that OUR government is probably not the best suited choice to run healthcare. The insurance industry needs to be reformed, pharmaceutical companies need to be reformed (government grants them 20 year monopoly on all new drugs!!), but I think our government is far too corrupt to take care of the people I love.
I do hear you when you say people need help. I agree. People do need help. My office is located in the Emergency Room of a downtown hospital. I see the need everyday. But I am concerned that many aspects of the bill are not meant to help these people but to pay lip service to those of us who are demanding change.
You are right Elisabeth; we do have some of the best and most cutting edge research. We also have some amazing facilities, it´s just that not everyone can afford them, or even know about them or are able to get into them.
As for trusting our government, we are our government. If it´s corrupt and inefficient, whose fault is it? I have been involved in grass roots programs and have noticed our main fault is our pass the buck syndrome. We always seem to want someone else to take care of the problems.
Maybe another issue is that some have an unrealistic idea of just what to expect. However, I do think basic preventative care, and maintenance should be available to all. By the time things get to the emergency level, a lot of productive time has been wasted, and what perhaps could have been a relatively inexpensive problem becomes very expensive.
I think we are drug crazy. We want symptomatic relief...and NOW....we don´t like to feel any pain. Sometimes a little pain is good, it tells you where the problem is, you know?
I don´t think the private insurance industry would do any better at the job of keeping us healthy, and....they have the incentive of making money in the mix.
The sicker we are...the more profits they can make. This I have experienced first hand. Give you this, that causes that, for which we can give you this...and on and on and on.....were as if they hadn´t given "thisnthat" in the first place none of the rest would have been necessary.
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. This grants you free access to your GP and specialists, also free hospitalisation. Too bad specialists have contracts with the NHF for a limited number of procvedures. For instance, a dentist is contracted for 2,000 extractions a year. So, if he runs out of free extractions in April and you need to have it, you won´t be seen to. You need to look for a different dentist or pay. In practice it is only the GP that Poles go to using the public (free) system. Gyns, dentists etc are usually preferred to be seen privately. One of the reasons is that it takes you ages to have an appointment with a public specialist. Fortunately private fees are not very high, for example, a filling at the dentist´s is less than $40 (that´s why loads of Brits go to Poland to have their teeth done - the standards and services are high but the prices are low). There´s loads of bribery in hospitals, basically to make sure a relative of yours is taken proper care of, you need to give bribes to the personnel. Sad but true. Sueing a doc in Poland is hard as Medical Board consists of other doctors who hardly ever sentence one of theirs..