Healthcare - "It’s easier to lie to Americans..."

[WhiskeyGirl]

“The U.S. right now is Canada’s health-care system of last resort,” said Baker, whose company sends more than 50 Canadians to U.S. hospitals each year. “So if they adopt a system that mirrors the Canadian system, there will be rationing, and then my clients will be stuck.”

Toronto-based medical policy analyst Dr. Michael Rachlis said that many Americans are easily duped by these political ads about Canada because of their general lack of awareness of social systems outside their country’s border.

“It’s easier to lie to Americans than just about any other people in the developed world. They don’t know anything about other countries and are susceptible to believing the worst because they believe in American exceptionalism — this sense that they are better.”

read more here - http://www.canada.com/health/Canadians+health+care+critics+star+debate+over+Obama+reforms/2090867/story.html#

[WhiskeyGirl]

The future of healthcare in the US?

"The NHS introduces euthanasia by stealth"

Two cases in a single newspaper does not make an NHS policy. But I’m wondering if there’s now a discernible shift of attitude away from the preservation of life in our health service to a greater enthusiasm for disposing of the elderly as quickly and efficiently as possible.

If so, that’s another success for the euthanasia-lobbyists at Dignity in Dying and their useful idiots in the House of Lords, who want to make it easier for the likes of this old lady, Hazel Fenton, to be disposed with.

read more here - http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100013264/the-nhs-introduces-euthanasia-by-stealth/#

If there is only $5,000 to care for someone, should the decisions about spending the money be left to the government or the sick person?  Should everyone get the same access to money?  Opportunities for treatment?  Be allowed to contribute from their own personal funds?

Buy their own insurance?

[WhiskeyGirl]

From over the pond -

The NHS must offer patients the chance to question

Most people wouldn’t buy a second hand car without asking a few questions. It’s time patients did the same, argues David Kerr.

...Both Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, and Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health, want to give patients more choice over their healthcare and place localised decision-making at the top of the agenda, believing this would unleash the power of the NHS.

In the US, Congress, the White House, and others seem to think Washington politicians know best!  Imagine that.   

What if the US unleased the power of the healthcare industry and allowed consumers and patients to determine what is best? 

The best coverage?  The best care?  The best price?

...there is something to learn from the US where those who can afford it consistently enjoy top quality care. Patient choice is a driver of quality. In the US, if I don’t like my healthcare or my doctor is not up to the job, I go elsewhere. If this is repeated 100 times over, the poor quality provider folds. In the UK however, the levers driving quality care – the next step in the process for an ever evolving NHS - need work.

Patients need to be start asking questions about the healthcare they receive. Asking simple questions of all healthcare professionals with whom we interact needs to become second nature. Are you a consultant? If not, can you reassure me that you will discuss my case with him/her? Have you got all the information you need to work out what’s wrong with me? Are there treatment guidelines for my condition and could you share these with me? Can I compare the outcomes in this hospital with others? Most people wouldn’t buy a second hand car without asking a few questions...

Why can't Americans read the healthcare bill before their representatives vote on it and Obama signs it?  Why is healthcare shrouded in secrecy?

What's the rush?  These programs don't start for years.  Taxing start, but no benefits for years.

read more here - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/6317657/The-NHS-must-offer-patients-the-chance-to-question.html#



“The very word “secrecy” is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it.”  - JFK