PCT - primary care trusts.
Stoppit, what does the ‘pct’ do? [/quote]
Don’t want this question to get lost.
Polls have shown that 83% of Americans like their health care and I would say that there is no disagreement that 100% thinks there needs to be some reform, but not an overhaul. Debate is good and that is what is happening here in my country, as it should. Smurf, there are other newspapers listed if you don’t like the few you mentioned. Are you saying that the whole list of references is political bias? They are all British sources? Health care is personal. Ask Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams who had his mitral valve repaired in Florida - a procedure he says was not offered in Canada. I’m told by my Canadian friends it is offered in Canada, but Danny’s doctor told him he should have it done in the United States because they use a different procedure. So, he did. Of course, both sides in this debate started flapping their lips in the breeze about the socialistic health care, but the final word was the Premier’s words and he summed it up this way:
‘Look, our communications plan here is going to be quite simple: This is my heart, it’s my health and it’s my choice’." Should people like myself not consider and opine as we observe such matters in other countries when big government wants to take over health care? He’s not the only Canandian that comes here, by the way. You can call me naive if you want, Smurf, but please add passionately involved in matters that involve yet another full government takeover that ends up broke in the end. Thus, I ask, how does that lift up citizens lives for better? Maggie Thatcher said something to the effect that socialism is great until you run out of the other person’s money. I respect all your thoughts and I hope you can understand that we very divided here about government run health care and I think it is obvious which side I am on. I don’t trust big government to be deeply involved. We are trillions of dollars in debt already. Does anyone not get this?
What is their purpose, please.
I am astounded at the debate goin on between d and stoppit…
PCOS suferers dont want to come on to these pages to listen to folk natter at each other, sorri if i seem rude, i simply put up my post to let others no my experience with the NHS UK and YES speaking from experience you can get in on the NHS as i have explained on my previous pages…I think being a PCOS sufferer and i may speak for a few others, my biggest deal and ongoing emotional battle is my facial hair, i actually cudnt care less about having PCOS its the dam side effects of it,I think its clear to see that governments worldwid arent doin enough about it, some less than others but I no the way I was treated wen I started to recognise that something was rong. I went from pillar to post, GP’s told me theres nothing wrong because i was shaving noone seen, I havea pretty face an all i heard was ur fine, ur pretty and beautiful etc…little did they no or want to no that i was an emotional reck and have been getting bolts of depression that bares not even to think about…I had to seek everything privately in the end up, thankfully my family could afford to do this so i cannot say wat the situation is for those who cant…overall i feel NHS etc could and sould do more, people can get boob reductions etc…deep down tho the reason i feel that the seem to neglect PCOS/Facial hair sufferers is because they dont no enough about it an that its truth be told an on-going battle that al of us are going to have to continue for as long as wee need…all i can say is im pritty feed up of it all 2 years on, id go as far as saying its nearly ruined my life, until the last 6 months i found a partner who loves me for who I am, I think yes he has seen my facial hair but hasnt said anything yet, so ill contiune to do what im doing an at this point ive made my hair removal techniques part of my weekly rountine…please please please dont bicker at each other, if you read my posts you’ll get the truth about NHS laser etc…and to tell you the truth laser is only good for body hair…facial hair is classed differently as its caused from different hormones so for me, laser was useless…
Laser can’t tell what body part your hair is on. It’s good for any hair that’s coarse and dense. Most women’s facial hair is not that coarse. That’s the problem, not the laser.
Interesting debate. Dee, I have to completely disagree with you. In the US, the consumer doesn’t control healthcare (and never will no matter what system is in place) because the costs of healthcare are and would always be prohibitive for any one average person to pay out of pocket. What happens in the US is that the insurance companies are the ones who have control (this is why laser and electrolysis are not covered in the US), and the difference with NHS is that they have a goal in mind - they need to show a profit to their shareholders every quarter. The gov’t doesn’t - efficiency is a separate issue, but the gov’t setup has the goal of helping people, not making money. Insurance companies’ interests lay with how they can make the most money, not how to spend it on your healthcare needs (these are correlated).
All those “big gov’t” quotes are really silly (basically meaningless words the right-wing media repeats to convince the masses)…the US has tons of functioning “big gov’t”-controlled entities like the highways that you use every day, not to mention Medicare. None of it has collapsed. A gov’t system is not perfect, but at least it has your best interests in mind. What rights would you lose? None. The insurance company lobbiests are the ones trying to convince you otherwise, except you and them have different inherent interests.
In other first world countries in Europe, the majority is not asking to switch to a US insurance system or any other system, and no one is going bankrupt because they wanted to live. That should tell you something right there.
here in the netherlands i pay 150 a month for the highest health insurance premium from one of the major companies. because of that i am covered for upto 1500 euro’s hair removal (laser/electrolysis) in the face (women only, with excess hair).
i have played the emotional card, given them my abnormal test results, it got me nowhere- only money talks here.
I just saw this and must say to you that couldn’t be more wrong, LAgirl. Democrats, Independents, Libertarians and Republican citizens do understand that Big government only knows how to over promise and over spend their citizens money. It’s not a just a right wing thingy, my dear. Big government produces nothing, but takes everything they can. They are wasteful and corrupt. They create problems and then try to rush in to rescue us. Want proof? Look at Greece. In debt. Bankrupt. Rioting. Look what years of big government spending has done to Greece. Too many people taking it easy in the cart and not enough people to push the cart. Greece’s austerity program is causing severe civil unrest. Other countries that didn’t live beyond their means now need to bail them out. Wow! that’s fun and fair.
Are you paying attention? You mentioned Medicare! In this country, that great government program called Medicare is 37 TRILLION dollars underfunded. Social Security is also underfunded by trillions. Do you understand the meaning of TRILLIONS of dollars!?
If you really want to help people and have a heart, you should demand that government live and spend within their means. When people vote for slick, articulate historical figures that continue to spend money (TRILLIONS) that babies not even born yet will have to pay for, how heartless and narcissistic is that? How does printing more money (a government power only) that eventually will lead to inflation or higher interest rates help anybody who needs a place to live, an education, a car?
I always wonder where people get their information and wonder if their statements are made in groupthink or if John Stewart or Lady Ga Ga leads them to their conclusions rather than their own deep analysis that they get from many sources of information. Do you ever watch C-Span in the morning where experts on subject matter take calls from regular citizens? Do you read different newspapers or even watch varied news programs, google for articles or observe what other countries do well and not so well?
To get more goodies, will you be happy to pay 60-70% of your income to government that wastes, mis-manages and corrupts just about everything it touches? What about 80% or even 90%? How about a VAT tax or even a global tax on top of that? Where is the limit?
I think you are wrong and the proof is before you to see right now. We’re back to Greece and Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy are right behind Greece. This is what happens when countries think they are having a heart and spend more money than it can collect from the dwindling pool tax payers for entitlement programs that they eventually will go broke and collapse anyway. It’s all about making yourself feel good and has little to do with the science of math.
I don’t identify with Democrats or a Republicans - there seems to be little difference between the two in the way they have spent and continue to spend money. I am an American who believes that less debt and creating wealth and free markets uplift more people than socialism can ever hope to accomplish And it’s sustainable.
I’m happy to go further in this thread about this subject that is unrelated to hair. James may think otherwise and lock it.
While James makes a decision, I will applaud the action by Dee.
I’m one of those ordinary citizens who helplessly witnesses the sad situation that an inefficient and overly optimistic government has led to my country.
The rulers have remained deaf for two years to the recommendations of all economic experts warn them of the consequences that would bring this waste of financial resources.
The deafness has miraculously disappeared with a call from the White House. Within 24 hours, our government has decided to take anti-crisis measures, freezing pensions to people who have paid taxes for 35 years.
Most of these retirees contributes to the extent possible in the expenses of their families, providing them food and shelter when the judge runs the abandonment of the home due to unpaid mortgage.
Meanwhile, our politicians are entitled to an annuity just for the fact that they swear the post.
Our taxes pay for their lavish meals, official cars, vip class travel, parties opulent salaries of senior positions in ministries unnecessary.
When a ship is sinking, always the same poor who have to paddle.
In the days before the AMA, doctors got paid the same as mechanics and carpenters. Medicines were the same price as food and snacks. Once regulators co-opted the profession and muscled out those who did it for less than the profit motive, the prices went through the roof due to the enforced scarcity of both services, and availability of products. Ginger root, wheat germ oil, pulped fruit (with the skins and seeds) and apricot pits are still much cheaper than lipitor, insulin, advair, and others.
What people don’t seem to understand fully is that government is simply about extortion. One of the easiest ways to do this is to over promise, under deliver, and make promises that can’t be fulfilled until a distant future, where one will then be told that all the money you paid into the system is gone, and none is left for you and your unimportant problems. What we need is the universal access that unbridled competition brings
Applause! Two more people that understand how big government is the elite, powerful plucking away at its citizens and works to destroy the incentive of the poor or average, quiet productive people who want to be free, a basic human right as you know. FREE to be as productive as they choose to be and not have over 50% of their hard earned money confiscated so the citizen can DECIDE to purchase WHAT THEY CHOOSE in a competitive market place. And… that my friends is where you come in to decide for yourself about purchasing laser hair reduction packages or electrolysis for as long as YOU desire, not for as long as the government decides they will pay. Thus, the purpose of this long thread about how big government does or can affect us all right down to the our chinny-chin hairs. Case closed?
I just saw the response, Dee. You completely ignored all my points and just outlined the obvious that I never denied, and went off on a tangent.
We were talking about healthcare specifically, so let’s stick to it. The point was that insurance companies don’t have your best interests in mind. They’re in the business of showing a profit to the shareholders every quarter. And the less they spend on your care, the more profit they show. This is an undeniable fact. And we, as consumers, do not need to protect “poor insurance companies”.
The problem is not Government but the Neo-liberalist ideals and governments that have prevailed in the West. These governments are about making sure big business profits and to hell with the rest of the populus.
The real problems lie much deeper.
You’ll have to define what a Neo-liberalist means.
Yes, this is all very complex and the average citizen whether they be defined as poor, middle-class or rich are being manipulated and lied to by the small number of elite and powerful in government and financial institutions, worldwide. In my country, it is better for the government to fear the people rather than for the people to fear the government. Right now, it is the people who fear and resent the government by far and rightly they should.
Here is some data on how profitable healthcare insurers are according to data from Google Finance. These are net profit margins of U.S. companies and there is more to the story to be fair probably, but not for here at this time.
2009 Net Profit Margin of Healthcare Insurers
Aetna: 3.7%
Wellpoint: 7.3%
Cigna: 7.1%
United Health: 3.7%
Humana: 3.4%
Healthnet: -0.3%
Healthspring: 5.0%
Coventry Health Care: 2.3%
Molina Healthcare:0.8%
United American Corp: 2.7%
Unum Group: 8.4%
Median: 3.7%
I’m not here to defend or attack healthcare insurers. This doesn’t look like gouging customers to me - 3.7% median net margins seems relatively pedestrian to me. Now, here’s a look at the profitability of Google and its competitive set:
2009 Net Profit Margin of Internet/Tech Companies
Google: 27.6%
Yahoo: 9.2%
Microsoft: 24.9%
Baidu: 4.8%
Apple: 19.2%
AOL: 7.6%
Nokia: 3.0%
Adobe: 13.1%
Sohu: 28.6%
Median: 13.1%
So, that’s a lot of noise about the profits of the big bad health insurance companies compared to other industries. The government does absolutely nothing to make a company work, grow, invent and compete, but yet they expect their take (taxes) for doing nothing. They will never get enough money even if you give them 100% of everything you earn. When Bon Jovi performs at Giant Stadium LAgirl, do you expect him to make a profit? Have you ever received a bonus from your employer? Did you refuse it and sign it over to the government thinking they will spend it better than you will? I don’t think many people understand what the word ‘profit’ means and how companies work to expand their services, research new products, pay those that take risk to invest in their product and then get something in return for say, their retirement, kid’s education or traveling. Profit is good when it is used in these ways. Is it any ones business if LAgirl earns more money than Ms. stoppit and if she does, should LAgirl be demonized?
I’m for limited government. In a perfect world, I would like it if people in power and otherwise would devoid themselves of all words pertaining to social and class warfare and the politics of envy. Just know this about certain politicians - it is in their interest to keep citizens and businesses in a state of constant conflict and demonization, so as to hide their own corruption and mismanagement of other peoples money.
Lagirl, your comments were addressed. No tangents here other than addressing talking points that were conveyed to me about the profits of the health insurers, which don’t look all that out of line to me. I don’t hear a lot of hell going on about Google’s profits. This all relates to what was said in the beginning of the thread. When government injects itself and agrees to pay for a certain number of hair removal/reduction sessions, electrolysis or a boob job and some citizens are not happy, then I ask, why is this even a function of government in the first place?
Sooner or later, they will rob so much from the rich that they have to then rob from the middle-class and then the middle-class will have to rob from the poor and then the poor will have to assist the new poor. Keep an eye on Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. They are the canary in the coal mine as someone said. The U.S. is a couple years behind them with the all the entitlement programs and massive debt. I really hope I am totally wrong though. Thanks for the back and forth.
Dee