Government Shutdown

[Nameless 24]

Is Obamacare really that bad for Americans?

The likes of me, Aki, Sharky and possibly ROJM have no problem with the NHS in the UK (at least I hope they think that) enough that we pay a small amount of National Insurance Tax to cover it.

I, however, don't like that the NHS may soon be privatised and we will HAVE to pay for it...which is disgusting to the lower classes that DO pay their way and have the right to it.

Just wondering if it's the same in America?

[max_cady]

Well, I have a serious problem with the NHS in Portugal. Implemented 30 years ago, hailed as the great health reform, what did we get in return? Costly (it's "free" yet, the system had a loss of 418 million euros in 2011 hence the massive tax hikes), long waitining lines (unless you have a family doctor, which in our health system can take up to 10 years), facilities that I'm pretty sure have a few health code violations and they have to turn people away a lot of times, because they can't treat them.

[nuckles87]

Is Obamacare really that bad for Americans?

The likes of me, Aki, Sharky and possibly ROJM have no problem with the NHS in the UK (at least I hope they think that) enough that we pay a small amount of National Insurance Tax to cover it.

I, however, don't like that the NHS may soon be privatised and we will HAVE to pay for it...which is disgusting to the lower classes that DO pay their way and have the right to it.

Just wondering if it's the same in America?

Sharky has told me that he's really happy with how they do healthcare in the UK.

ACA is going to be an improvement, for the simple fact that under the old system a lot of people simply couldn't GET health care. I've yet to hear anyone argue that that was a good thing. I've also yet to hear anyone propose an idea that both allowed the private insurance industry to continue to exist as it has, AND ensure all of those people who couldn't get insurance because of pre-existing conditions.

If the ACA doesn't work, that will just be proof that it's impossible to have a privately run health insurance industry that covers everyone.

[inthesky]

Is Obamacare really that bad for Americans?

The likes of me, Aki, Sharky and possibly ROJM have no problem with the NHS in the UK (at least I hope they think that) enough that we pay a small amount of National Insurance Tax to cover it.

I, however, don't like that the NHS may soon be privatised and we will HAVE to pay for it...which is disgusting to the lower classes that DO pay their way and have the right to it.

Just wondering if it's the same in America?

I think the privatization of the NHS would be terrible too. I don't like the idea of privatizing public services like prisons, firefighting, parking meters in certain places, etc. Some things aren't good with market approaches, and these three things in particular (prisons with businesses maintaining an occupancy rate and other ways they make money, firefighters opting not to resolve domestic calls because of the way a privatized system works, parking meters with obscene rate hikes, etc.) I prefer Obamacare's existence because more people should be covered, but even if it were to "fail" for whatever reason it would simply suggest what nuckles said at the end of his most recent post, and I would suggest single payer as an alternative. "Failure" can also result for a variety of reasons, this system is delicate. I've posted before about the system working better with more people opting in to the exchanges, but there's also the insurers too - the exchanges can vary wildly by state, with some regions not getting the same options as others. Some insurance companies also opt in selectively--with few companies participating in an exchange (these companies are generally motivated by profit) this can hike premiums.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/20/little-competition-insurers-some-states-obamacare-plans/2986795/

Our system as it stands is different from yours; your system sounds cleaner.

edit: not all that familiar with NHS, but I don't like privatizing it for the reason I stated at the beginning of my post.

[Nameless 24]

Ah I see.

Sounds pretty complicated for me since I understand American Politics have different sets of rules compared to the EU, but I hope there's a solution as to how it caters to the American people from every state should Obamacare not be a success and hopefully the Government can come to some sort of agreement to every other law that they seem to be postponing due to some of the drastic changes being mentioned. In the end, it does seem to be affecting the public more and more.

The NHS isn't perfect by all means, but it's a standard that people respect I suppose. If you guys can make a better iteration of it or even have better ideas then I hope everyone around the world adopts the better practices whilst still retaining what is good about their current system too.