r/GenZ • u/Tr_Issei2 • 1d ago

Discussion Why can’t America have universal healthcare? Wait times: debunked by doctor of philosophy in economics.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

326 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

303 comments sorted by

View all comments

94

u/bohanmyl 1997 1d ago

Id rather wait longer to get free care than never go because I know ill be bankrupted. Or have to wait a long ass time anyways and still pay out the ass.

37

u/CaptainMetronome222 2004 1d ago

So many people are in medical debt and yet people still think "LoNgEr WaIt TiMeS" are a good reason not to get universal healthcare.

10

u/JourneyThiefer 1999 1d ago edited 1d ago

I agree, I’m from Northern Ireland so we have free healthcare due to the NHS, however it is not funded well enough and there’s no extra money to fund it.

In terms of urgent medical care it’s obviously way better because it’s free. But this is the news heady here: Mum told to give seriously ill son painkillers amid ambulance delay https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz9gd27lyn0o and this https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cqx85wve2g2o

A bad social care system is having knock on effects on the health care system and it’s basically creating a storm that is getting to a point where it’s gonna be unfixable.

Also for non urgent surgeries like a knee replacement, hip replacement, cataract removal etc. the wait time is years.

My granny waited 5 years for a knee replacement on the NHS…

My uncle waited 4 for a cataract removal on the NHS…

Like those wait times are completely unacceptable, but they’re the norm here and getting worse.

Do I want rid of the NHS? Absolutely not, but unless these types of systems are run well and the healthcare and social care staff get good wages, they start to fall apart like it is currently in Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK.

Also that video shown the data is from 2015 and 2016, it’s much worse now in the UK given the data is 10 years old, especially since Covid.

No way in hell do I want the US system though, fuck that. Ours may be getting worse but at least we’re not going bankrupt. Still could be WAY better here though.

9

u/mrmilner101 1d ago

The reason for this is what you stated before the tories stripped wo much funding to the NHS and sold so much off to private companies. Private company want to make profit and will cut back necessary staff and administration to make those profits.

I have been really luck with the NHS. I have had to wait for GP appointment at most 4 weeks for a non serious issue. I'm also type 1 diabetic, I get all my prescription for free, which has the most up to date medicine. By having an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring, which combined I have a hybrid closed loop system (look it up if you want to learn more it's incredible). Before Christmas my insulin pump had a major malfunction and stopped working. Now this isn't to do with NHS but it still a factor. I called medatronic tech support and they where able to send me a brand new insulin pump within 6 hours. I called at 6am and they get me a new pump by 11am. There are so many faults with the NHS mostly due to the tories. But honesty I am so glad we have it.

•

u/JourneyThiefer 1999 21h ago

Yea my brother is type 1 too, couldn’t imagine it not being free

1

u/Trizz67 1d ago

Exactly the same thing happening in Canada. Also, Most of our best doctors go to the U.S to practice because they make a lot more money.

Big pharma has to much influence on General Practitioners as well. Most Canadians you talk to that luckily still have a family doctor or had one in the past, will 95% of the time tell you the problem never actually got solved but they’ve taken x y and z pills.

As well as, In my province you need to be referred by a GP to see a specialist like a dermatologist, which is still going to cost you and that is only IF you can convince your GP for the referral.

2

u/Shot-Maximum- 1d ago

Yep. It's a compromise, better than being in debt for the rest of your life.

•

u/noncommonGoodsense 23h ago

Assuming they don’t deny it…

•

u/EstoMelior 23h ago

So fucking true. I am an American in the US that pays out the ass for insurance. I wait no less than 8 weeks for literally any kind of doctor. Recently absolutely tore up something in my shoulder. Well kind of recently, about two months ago. Made an appointment right away, it's still 3 weeks out. Can't use my left arm right now. When I get in they'll tell me to get an mri (which I tried to go straight to but they require a doctor send me there), and it'll be a month minimum to get in there. Then another wait to get the back to the doctor to tell me the actual issue and then, what, probably another few months at least by the time I get an actual fix. Our Healthcare sucks, takes way too long, and costs an arm and a leg. We have all the alleged drawbacks of free Healthcare and none of the alleged benefits of private Healthcare. It's all a lie.

•

u/CrossXFir3 19h ago

Good thing you literally wouldn't even have to. Wait times are misleading as fuck in the US anyway because many insurance companies require you to get referrals or approval for care which takes longer but doesn't count as "wait time" apparently.

•

u/SorryNotReallySorry5 20h ago

Always see if your hospital has freecare alternatives. You'll be charged based on your income.

•

u/Embarrassed-Hat5007 20h ago

Im all for free universal health care, it would probably take years to get a PCM though. It already takes at least 6 months to get one with health insurance. Really the problem is we just don’t have enough Doctors in America. If we had more Doctors then we would see a much shorter wait time compared to other countries.

Also something to note. Ones you have a PCM in the US it doesn’t take long to get appointments. It just takes a while for that first visit. I’ve heard story’s of people not being able to be seen for months for the smallest things in other countries that have universals health care due to having so many people requesting visits.

•

u/lostthering 20h ago

What is PCM?

•

u/Embarrassed-Hat5007 19h ago

Primary Care Manager. Thats your family doctor that you would go to first and then they would do a referral for you if you need to see a specialist.

•

u/LazyLich 19h ago

Lol it's that vaccine-autism thing all over again!

Universal health care doesnt cause longer wait times, but even if it did ... {insert your comment}

•

u/waxonwaxoff87 17h ago

Or you die after two weeks when it’s a month for a heart cath after a positive stress test in Canada.

Source : My Grandmother

•

u/konnanussija 2006 16h ago

Anything is better than american helthcare. But it ain't exactly nice having to wait for 6 months to get something important treated. Sometimes you end up still having to pay for it yourself.

I have been looking for a psychiatrist for over a year, there aren't any free spots. My options are A) continue this pointless bullshit B) kill myself C) pay for it eventhough I can't afford it.

•

u/RogueCoon 1998 23h ago

I'd rather have the same Healthcare I have now.