Hyroglyphx writes:
I see pro's and con's on both sides, but at the end of the day for me it boils down to a simple economic question. There is no nation that can stand without a strong economy. If a nation's economy is weak, which is is the oil that runs all the machines, every other system fails catastrophically. You can't have ANYTHING without an efficient economy.
the same can be said for a healthy community
illness keeps people away from work, which can put a strain on the economy
In australia we have both systems in place, a private and a public system.
As a family of 5, we have private health insurance. This gives us access to public or private hospitals without going onto a waiting list. Although there are many different plans avail and ours requires that we pay for the room of a private hospital for the two adults, however the children are covered in a private hospital.
People on the public system (medicare) pay for the system themselves through whats called the 'medicare levy'. This is a one off yearly tax approx 1.5% of the persons income. This is paid in addition to their regular income tax. If you are privately insured, you are exempt from paying the levy.
Public patients can choose not to use medicare if they are happy to pay the doctor his fees for private services. This might happen if the patient didnt want to go onto a public waiting list. If they do this, the government will pay a part of the cost involved for the patient, but not the whole cost. Or if their condition can wait, they might choose to go onto the waiting list for treatment at a later date.
While its true that medicare does cost a lot, and our government is always being lobbied to provide more funds, the system works. It provides a health system for people who otherwise would not be able to afford it. And the public system is not affected by it because its generally the low income earners and pensioners who are on medicare and they cant afford to pay for private insurance anyway.
And finally, it cant be costing too much becuase our government is soon to include dental as part of medicare.
Edited by Peg, : No reason given.
Edited by Peg, : No reason given.
Edited by Peg, : No reason given.