Who is your pick so far for the next US president?

[Hetta]

Ever heard of Doctors Without Borders? I married into a family with many doctors, and every one has free clinic days, either weekly or every two weeks. There is also a free clinic at the Cathedral of my diocese. Do you think those doctors get paid for their time?

Come on. I know doctors. They work for a large institution and work off some of their school debt giving a free clinic every so often. No doctors work for free. Those who work for Doctors without Borders also get some of their debt forgiven. I know about this because several of the MDs I know have taken part in similar schemes. Not that they weren't also compassionate people, but getting a chunk of debt removed is a BIG deal.

 

[bhsmte]

Ever heard of Doctors Without Borders? I married into a family with many doctors, and every one has free clinic days, either weekly or every two weeks. There is also a free clinic at the Cathedral of my diocese. Do you think those doctors get paid for their time?

These doctors, are a very, very small percentage of the total number of doctors and not easily accessible to most.

 

[AHH who-stole-my-name]

Very few doctors (on a percentage basis) give services away for free.

Well seeing that some who do bombed by our airforce I can see their reluctance. lol.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/03/asia/afghanistan-doctors-without-borders-hospital/

 

[OldFashionGal]

Ever heard of Doctors Without Borders? I married into a family with many doctors, and every one has free clinic days, either weekly or every two weeks. There is also a free clinic at the Cathedral of my diocese. Do you think those doctors get paid for their time?

Feel free to tell me again where the doctors are in the USA that work for free. But if I understand it correctly what I just read (no, hadn't heard of them before) that they get donations so they don't exactly work for free?? But you wrote they have free clinics so is it not correct what I just read that they are closed in the USA??

MSF closed its projects in the United States of America in 2012.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/country-region/united-states-america-closed

 

[Frenzy]

I'm sitting here wondering what all you Americans are talking about when it suddenly strikes me,
illness in the US is treated just any other commodity like cars or apples, what a way to run a modern country, or is the US a third world country just pretending to be a first world country when it comes to health?

 

[bhsmte]

I'm sitting here wondering what all you Americans are talking about when it suddenly strikes me,
illness in the US is treated just any other commodity like cars or apples, what a way to run a modern country, or is the US a third world country just pretending to be a first world country when it comes to health?

The US has always let capitalism reign over health.

 

[Frenzy]

The US has always let capitalism reign over health.

Who benefits from that?

 

[bhsmte]

Who benefits from that?

The one's making the money; healthcare providers, equipment manufacturers, drug companies and insurance companies.

 

[Hetta]

Who benefits from that?

What bhsmte said. The poor certainly don't benefit and neither do the majority of the middle class - particularly if they have a chronic condition. I have heard horror stories of insurance companies deciding that a drug is "experimental" and they don't cover it, and that leaves seriously ill people scrambling to pay for their medical care on credit cards. It's a shameful situation.

Where are you from, Frenzy?

 

[DaisyDay]

So far my two favorite picks right now are Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. There are quite a few of favorable candidates from the Republican primary mainly because of their vows to protect religious freedom, to cut taxes, to finally solve our immigration issue and to fix our foreign policy. Anyone considered picking a Democrat primary? who would you pick and why?

How does it make any sense at all to cut taxes when we have a debt problem since taxes are our main source of revenue?

If I had to pick a Republican who I consider would make a good president, I'd choose Pataki. He was a fairly decent governor. If I were to gamble on who I think will be the candidate, I'd pick Rubio at this point.

 

[Frenzy]

Where are you from, Frenzy?

Cardiff, South Wales in the UK, where Shirley Bassey was born.

 

[Hetta]

Cardiff, South Wales in the UK, where Shirley Bassey was born.

Okay, interesting. Thanks.

 

[Frenzy]

What bhsmte said. The poor certainly don't benefit and neither do the majority of the middle class - particularly if they have a chronic condition. I have heard horror stories of insurance companies deciding that a drug is "experimental" and they don't cover it, and that leaves seriously ill people scrambling to pay for their medical care on credit cards. It's a shameful situation.

What is the government doing about it? does the government govern in the interests of all the American people or only some of the American people?

 

[Hetta]

What is the government doing about it? does the government govern in the interests of all the American people or only some of the American people?

Have you heard of the Affordable Care Act - also known as Obamacare? That was our president's attempt to improve matters, but the health industry infrastructure is a mess. Unfortunately it's going to take a lot more to unravel the problems that we have here. Like you, I come from a country with nationalized healthcare, and I had a massive shock when I came face-to-face with this system and heard people talk about having to make the choice between getting their car repaired or going to the doctor! Or others in deep debt from medical care for conditions that were not covered by insurance. My husband and I, and our non-adult kids (or those still at college) are fortunately covered by Tricare, which is a military health program, and it is very cheap with no co-pays if you have referrals within the system. It's a really fantastic program, and I'm very grateful for it. For other without that benefit, yes, they have to spend a lot of money on drugs and procedures.

 

[bhsmte]

What is the government doing about it? does the government govern in the interests of all the American people or only some of the American people?

Nothing, because the lobbying power of the insurance industry, pharma companies etc.., is powerful and both sides of the aisle are swayed by it, republicans and democrats.

Even Obamacare, was designed to appeal to the insurance industry, by giving them a lot more covered lives and insurance premiums. Even though their profits were capped, they didn't care, because it is incremental business for them.

And the more people that have coverage, means more prescriptions being filled, which the pharma companies are happy about.

 

[Frenzy]

Have you heard of the Affordable Care Act - also known as Obamacare? That was our president's attempt to improve matters, but the health industry infrastructure is a mess. Unfortunately it's going to take a lot more to unravel the problems that we have here. Like you, I come from a country with nationalized healthcare, and I had a massive shock when I came face-to-face with this system and heard people talk about having to make the choice between getting their car repaired or going to the doctor! Or others in deep debt from medical care for conditions that were not covered by insurance. My husband and I, and our non-adult kids (or those still at college) are fortunately covered by Tricare, which is a military health program, and it is very cheap with no co-pays if you have referrals within the system. It's a really fantastic program, and I'm very grateful for it. For other without that benefit, yes, they have to spend a lot of money on drugs and procedures.

Yes of course I have heard of Obamacare it tries to give affordable insurance to the underprivileged, the American system sounds horrendous and so completely unnecessary, given what Americans spend on healthcare the US could afford the best health care in the world and cover everyone with money left over.
I read that hundreds of thousands go bankrupt every year because of health related debts.

 

[bhsmte]

Yes of course I have heard of Obamacare it tries to give affordable insurance to the underprivileged, the American system sounds horrendous and so completely unnecessary, given what Americans spend on healthcare the US could afford the best health care in the world and cover everyone with money left over.
I read that hundreds of thousands go bankrupt every year because of health related debts.

But, the government will give free legal services to any run of the mill serial killer, so we have that going for us.

 

[AHH who-stole-my-name]

I don't care for paganism but I thought this was funny as heck>

 

[Root of Jesse]

Come on. I know doctors. They work for a large institution and work off some of their school debt giving a free clinic every so often. No doctors work for free. Those who work for Doctors without Borders also get some of their debt forgiven. I know about this because several of the MDs I know have taken part in similar schemes. Not that they weren't also compassionate people, but getting a chunk of debt removed is a BIG deal.

The doctors I know don't have any such program. They do it from the kindness of their heart because they genuinely care for people. Are they brain surgeons? No. But most of health care is not catastrophic care, it's routine.

 

[Root of Jesse]

These doctors, are a very, very small percentage of the total number of doctors and not easily accessible to most.

You guys always have an excuse. With the debt they incur getting their doctorate, the malpractice insurance they have to carry, the legal fees, and the insurance overhead, I'm not surprised that there's not more. But there's a lot, no thanks to Obamacare.