The main point is in the last paragraphs if you want to skip the babbling about my personal experience working for the Health Department.
AS a defender of the need for Universal Health care, I will also admit to our system having many flaws. I myself left a job working in the Health Care system as a PC and Network Support tech because I was getting stressed out being the only tech for an entire county's worth of facilities. It was probably the job I enjoyed most in my career. I could even flaunt that I had an office with my own bathroom and shower built in (because it was office space in a retired medical ward of the hospital.)
However, as the network grew they couldn't afford more help and I was on call 7x24, and getting called in almost every second night and the weekends were guaranteed! They finally hired a second tech to help out and he quit after 6 months because there was too much work for two of us. I wasn't long going after that.
Ironically, the add to replace me was for three positions.
So Yes, it has flaws but I'm glad it's there, nonetheless.
But here is something that you won't often hear discussed or addressed. My wife was once a nurse (she has since retrained into a business role) and she worked for the hospital then later for several doctor's in private clinics.
((When I say a private clinic, it is still subsidized by Medicare, I just mean it is operated by doctor's as opposed to a government hospital. Universal subsidized health care still applies.)) From her many years working there I learned another sad truth about how the system can be abused by the doctors themselves.
The Doctor's are paid by the government for many common procedures, exams and consultations. there are some guidelines to prevent abuse, like min and maximum times, but there are some Doctors who ensure they maximize all of their available billings regardless of how long they spent with you. For instance, you may actually see the nurse or doctor for 30 seconds for a subscription renewal but the doctor records and bills for the maximum alloted time or procedure that could arguably apply.
If the doctor works 8 hours in his clinic, doing some simple math on his billing might add up to 14 hours of work.
Now, I don't want to be too hard on them because that same doctor probably spent 3 hours doing rounds earlier that morning before he even got to his clinic and then it may be his turn to work the ER that evening. Around here, A doctor is generally VERY hard working and deserves a lot of credit.
However, can one argue that we should not closer audit his clinical billing practices because he does work so hard for the public
or
Could one argue that it his own questionable billing practices that is helping drain the health system of dollars, forcing a shortage of funds for additional doctors to assist his workload?
I honestly don't know if I can answer that question, but I suspect that argument number one wins out over the government because they are scared to death of losing a doctor by questioning his business, when we already have a serious doctor shortage.
So yes, many flaws. However, I comfort myself in knowing that if I lose my job and my standard of living drops, I will still get emergency health care when I need it and won't have to sell my liver to pay for the ruptured spleen I had removed earlier.
