Taking care of ourselves isn't always easy.

Speaking as someone who grew up in Australia and who now lives in the UK, the idea of a first world nation *not* having some species of universal health care is insane to me. And the more I read about American poverty, the more I wonder: how much of it can be blamed on a lack of accessible medicare? How many people get into insurmountable debt because they got sick, couldn't afford to see a doctor, and therefore missed too much work and lost money, or were fired for too many absences? How many children are raised in needless poverty because that's what happened to their parents? How many of them never leave it because it eventually happens to them, too? My parents have been nagging me for the past few years to get private health insurance, and possibly this might be the year that happens, but even without it, as an adult I've always been able to go to a bulk-billing doctor's surgery and know that more than half of what the visit costs will be paid for by the state, or that I'll get a rebate on a dental check-up. Having lived in the UK for a month, my husband was able to go to a doctor yesterday and get a prescription for his ventalin. Anyway, I'm rambling, but the thought of living in a country where any of the times I was properly injured or sick - when I hurt my neck so badly I couldn't walk for four days, when I wrenched my back, the times I've fainted at work, all my sprained ankles and heart palpitations - and couldn't go to a doctor because I couldn't afford it, or because I was unemployed or no longer living at home ... that terrifies me.

the idea of a first world nation *not* having some species of universal health care is insane to me

Yes, this. I might be resentful some days when I see that 40+% of my income go to the state in taxes and various insurances, but on the other hand I really love the fact that I can always go see a doctor when I need to, and will be able to keep doing so even if I loose my job, or want to go free-lance, or ... .

Spent most of my life in Australia, now in the UK. Since I'm a full-time, fee paying student, I'm on the NHS. It breaks my heart to think the US doesn't have this. If I get sick, or hurt, the first thought is not "Can I pay for this?"

My taxes were over 40% in the US.

If one adds to that my health insurance (as one logically would) my "taxes" were nigh on 650%.

Reading this, reading the comments, breaks my heart all over again. The US is a place of such potential for good...

Also Australian, and pretty much this - many people have suggested I should go work in the US one day, being a good place for science and paying well and stuff, and I always say no. Because regardless of whether *I* might get a job that offers healthcare, I cannot live in and support a country that doesn't provide basic medical assistance to it citizens, that doesn't provide welfare for those in tough situations for more than a couple of years, that doesn't subsidise uni education.... bah. Give me "socialism" anyday.

The US is the ONLY first world nation without universal health care.

Also, medical expenses are the number one cause of bankruptcies in the US. Medical bankruptcies simply don't exist in other countries.

The US is the ONLY first world nation without universal health care.

This is why I argue that the US is not a first world nation. It is a very rich third world nation. First world nations protect their citizenry through universal health care that benefits us all. A country that doesn't do that - through choice, or because it can't afford to - is de facto not first world.

It is completely a matter of choice.
They spend TWICE what Canada or the UK does per capita, for inferior results (though they refuse to admit that).

The worst part is that for all they scream "private healthcare"... 70% of health expenditures ARE government funded.
This means that the US government spends more, per capita, than the Canadian government PLUS the entire Canadian private sector does.

I am very glad I'm in Canada. I've never used our system very much (I have a ridiculous constitution and a fair bit of luck) but many people I know have. A close friend randomly contracted double pnuemonia last year, and was in hospital for 6 weeks, most of it in an induced coma. That's instant bankruptcy in the US, even for most people who DO have coverage.
Even worse? Her roommate had a respiratory infection that had left her in the hospital for EIGHT MONTHS. And they didn't know when she could leave, but estimated a minimum of 2 more months.

Nobody can afford that. Thankfully, we don't have to.

From the outside, it strikes me as completely loopy. I have no idea whether I am, at present, a net contributor or otherwise to the NHS. As a basically healthy adult I might be OK under the US system. Well, excpet that I'd probably be paying more for less. But the wonderful thing to me about a universal system is that one buys not only healthcare, but security. Knowing that a broken ankle won't cost all your savings is invaluable.

Not to mention that it benefits the country to keep me healthy. A year ago I had bleeding in my eye. It didn't seem anything major, but I only have two eyes... I got an emergency GP appointment, and the GP sent me off for an emergency hospital appointment. Where my eye was looked at and it was concluded it was the result of a minor trauma (abortive plane landing), small tear, nothing to worry about, come back in a month to check. It cost me nothing. It did cost the NHS something - quite a bit by the time you factor in the GP, the technician, the consultant, the equipment, the building. But it cost the country a hell of a lot less than if I had not gone in and it had been a symptom of something for which, left untreated, I had needed expensive treatment. And even that would be less than if I had gone blind and been unable to continue in my employment.

Oh I know. The health care debate is a particular interest of mine.
It was particularly painful to see how very little the reform did... and how apeshit everyone went over it.

The US is slave to big business, and healthcare is one of the biggest.
I hate politics.

I don't think healthcare is as good a lobbier as health insurance companies. *hiss hiss hiss* And the plan, as I understand it, was practically bending over backwards not to destroy them! Or at least, not destroy them quickly; I suppose the government would be more competitive, not having this, "Oh, we should make a profit, not help people!" mindset...

To be fair (ahem), even in the UK, healthcare industries lobby hard. There is a persistent delusion in the media that the BMA is a patient advocacy group, as opposed to the doctors' trade union. And the consultants were famously bought off to start the NHS - Bevin said he "stuffed their mouths with gold". But at least we don't have the insurance companies convincing the government we owe them a living...

I wish you could join us, honestly and truly

The US has the highest infant mortality rate and the shortest life expectancy of any country in the developed world. About half of bankruptcies in the US are caused by medical expenses.

As a Canadian, I can't get my head around a society where owning a handgun is a right, but visiting a doctor is a privilege.

That is really appalling, and it saddens me.

As an addendum to my original post, and by way of pointing out that shit doesn't have to be this way, one of my best friends - an Australian living and working in Germany - was today diagnosed with cancer. Having gone to a doctor this morning, being Wednesday, he is now booked in for an operation to remove said cancer (and a small part of his anatomy) on Friday. And look: this guy is working as an actor in educational productions. He is by no stretch of the imagination a millionaire! But he and I Skyped for an hour today, talking and joking and generally reassuring one another that he wasn't about to fall down and die at the age of twenty-five (his birthday is next week), and the ONE THING he never had to mention, and I never had to ask about, was whether he could afford the operation. There was never even a question. And if there had been, believe me, I would have heard about it. But ... nothing.

American insurance logic basically need to fall in a hole and die, is what I'm getting at. A DEEP fucking hole.