Comments on: Will Health Care Reform Spawn the Next Great Culture War in America?

By: AnaC

AnaC — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:54:12 +0000

Right on Jenn, you got exactly the idea. Quality of service is irrelevant in the socialized medicine. And we might not receive the service we need if they decide your case isn’t a “priority”.
In all the countries where there is a universal health care system, people who want to be better served end up buying private insurance. Which means that they’re paying double, since they’re paying the government-run wreck too with their taxes. That’s an insult.

By: Jenn Q. Public

Jenn Q. Public — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:48:30 +0000

Ana, thank you for sharing your story. I am glad you were able to get the treatment you needed in the U.S. From the little I’ve read about the SUS in Brazil, one of the major goals is that all citizens receive equitable treatment. Even if that means low quality treatment for all, that’s considered acceptable because there’s equity. A government-run health care system that offers universality, quality, and cost containment all at once is a liberal pipe dream that may put us all in jeopardy if the GOP doesn’t get a seat at the health care policy table when debate begins in June.

By: AnaC

AnaC — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:33:00 +0000

I guess I can tell you about my own experience with health care provided by the government. I was born and raised in Brazil, where health care is nationalized and one of the worse services in the world. Hospitals are filthy and poorly maintened, the staff (doctors, nurses, clerks) is usually on strike, you have to wait months to get a simple visit and if you need a surgery, depending on your case, you can wait at least one year to have it done.
I lived in Brazil for 28 years and used the socialized service for all my life there. I used to have pap tests performed every yeah. One day, my test result said that I had “swollen cells” in my uterus. I obviously got very alarmed, but when I went to see the doctor, she just told me that swollen cells are a “normal result” and that I shouldn’t worry about it! How come? I didn’t want to buy that and went to TWO other doctors, all of them through the government care and they both told me the same exact thing: “You’re not sick, Ana. Having something swollen inside of you is normal”. They then denied any treatment for my problem. But I was sick and knew it.
Cut to 6 months later, when I was already living the US. Here I had another pap smear done and of course the result said again that I had swollen cell in my uterus. But the reaction of my american doctor was very different. Here in the US, my doctor told how bad it was and how much I was in risk of cancer. She wanted me to start a treatment immediatly and so I did. I had to go through a very painful procediment to treat it. I lost part of my cervix in the process. They did what was supposed to be done and I got cured.
That’s what socialized medicine is. They don’t care about you. They won’t provide what you need. It’s just a big scam perpetrated by the warden state. If I hadn’t come to live in the US and started using our health care here, I sure would be a cancer victim by now. I wonder how many women who keep using that socialized health system have died till this day due to the system’s total indiference and cruelty.
Socialized medicine shouldn’t be adopted here in our country. It doesn’t work and it kills people.