should health care be free?

[smooth]

after replying to that other thread (again, my apologies to 6shooter), i began to wonder if health care, as a basic right, should be free. but here's the dilemma: how do we properly and equitably compensate those involved in the health care profession (eg doctors, nurses, midwives, and other personnel). if i'm not mistaken, health care is free in certain european countries but their income taxes are something like 50%. would this be acceptable to us? the problem is that with the way this government is run, raising the income tax to 50% might not translate to better health care programs, rather it ends up as better cars for the baguio city councilors.

so my point is this: how can we make health care more affordable (more reachable, more appropriate) in the philippine context?

and my agenda is simple: malay natin baka may tsikoteer dyan na may magandang idea kung paano mapapaganda ang health care natin na beneficial for all parties involved, na akma sa setting natin sa pinas. kung may consensus tayong madadatnan, baka maiparating pa natin ito sa kinauukulan. we might be actually sitting on the solution to the medical brain drain.

[uls]

after replying to that other thread (again, my apologies to 6shooter), i began to wonder if health care, as a basic right, should be free. but here's the dilemma: how do we properly and equitably compensate those involved in the health care profession (eg doctors, nurses, midwives, and other personnel). if i'm not mistaken, health care is free in certain european countries but their income taxes are something like 50%. would this be acceptable to us? the problem is that with the way this government is run, raising the income tax to 50% might not translate to better health care programs, rather it ends up as better cars for the baguio city councilors.

so my point is this: how can we make health care more affordable (more reachable, more appropriate) in the philippine context?

and my agenda is simple: malay natin baka may tsikoteer dyan na may magandang idea kung paano mapapaganda ang health care natin na beneficial for all parties involved, na akma sa setting natin sa pinas. kung may consensus tayong madadatnan, baka maiparating pa natin ito sa kinauukulan. we might be actually sitting on the solution to the medical brain drain.

Should healthcare be free? I guess everyone will answer yes.

Do we want more taxes? I guess everyone will answer no.

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I just read this New York Times article this morning re the soaring US healthcare cost. Doc Smooth, i think u will find this article interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/opinion/25sun1.html

This is significant to us coz our medical establishment (hospitals, doctors, pharma, procedures and protocols) is patterned after the US system.

That's why our healthcare cost is also rising fast.

[DonT]

There is no such thing as a free lunch. In the end, somebody has got to pay for it.

Free Healthcare service is what everybody wants. But can we afford it?

I think that bringing the cost of medicine down is a step in the right direction.

Once our economy gets stronger and corruption is minimized...everything else will follow.

[theveed]

reminds me of Sicko heheh.

[Altis6453]

There'll be no true free health care so long as we have tax leaks and corruption in government. What the public health centers can give so far are simple medications and vaccines. The availability of medical treatment for more complicated diseases is next to non-existent.

[niky]

Free healthcare is a misnomer... nothing is free. We have to pay for it.

Part of the US problem is that people don't feel like paying taxes for healthcare for "freeloaders". Someone's always got to sacrifice to provide for those who can't afford more expensive management... and US health care is expensive.

Unfortunately, there are more people who cannot afford than who can, and those who need expensive car can't be covered by the system. "Free" or "subsidized" health care only works if enough of the population can pay their social security or medicare bills.

[XTO]

ideally, it should be free especially for those who are underprivileged. kaya lang, it will be impractical for the kind of corrupt government that we have. on the contrary, it is the most expensive form of protection of every citizen.

[uls]

Look at France's enviable system --- yun pala it is being funded with massive debt.

The French are spoiled rotten by the State. Now it has come to a point where it is no longer sustainable.

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/68646/

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FREE is not sustainable. Money always has to come from somewhere.

Oil exporting countries can afford to provide a lot of free stuff to its citizens as long as oil keeps coming out of the ground.