Tom Daschle & Tommy Thompson: The Future of Health Care

Not true. In Norway that is possible. Eirik Rustad

@ justgroovy: You're just a liar. Because, in Belgium you can do all the things that you say are impossible to do. Travel to Belgium and study its health-care before you claim to know anything about the Belgian health-care. But no, you'll never do that but remain in the USA and swallow all kinds of pure propaganda and complete nonsens.

I was traveling in Canada and my friend had to be taken to an emergency room for treatment. We were told that they would not honor our insurance and that we would have to pay full price. After thirty minutes of waiting we saw a doctor. We then had x-rays done and received a prescription. We were done in less than two hours. The total bill was $150! In the USA that would have been $5,000. Next we picked up our presciption that cost us $8. I have talked to doctors in Canada and they felt our system was out of control and that only the government could correct it. Some people has comments that many Canadians come to the USA for operations. That is true, however the Canadian government pays for it if they approve it. John

Just Groovy- Have you ever actually lived abroad? Let me be a little more specific; have you lived in a Western European country? I have, and can attest to the good quality of care I received. Example: While attending boarding school in France I had the misfortune of becoming quite ill. The small town I lived in had only 3000 or so people. With that small population the town had a nice clinic and and at least 8 private physicians. I was taken to the doctor that lived at the bottom of the hill. I walked in (without appointment) and was seen within 30 minutes. The doctor ran a variety of tests and ordered some lab work. I left the clinic with a total bill of under $5 (US). I took my prescriptions to the pharmacy and paid something like $10 (US) for 3 items. Later that same year I was involved in a skiing accident. I was knocked out cold and taken to the ER (local clinic). They did xrays and I had some stitches, before being sent down the mountain to Grenoble for a CAT scan. I walked out of the ER without owing a single cent. Similar experience in Norway. First class care and a minimal fee (under $20 US) Now in the States. Even with decent health insurance, getting into a doctor covered by our plan takes time. Then God forbid you need anything, like say an MRI, CAT scan, etc. you need to wait until they can get approval. That is if they get approval. Then there is the matter of the co-pay $25 per visit, $25 per lab appointment. But then they are not done. Latter you get a bill telling you what they decided they (the insurance company) don't want to pay. So then you get to waste half a day on the phone with people who really don't care if you live or die getting them to pay for the items that the policy says they pay for. So then when you go in for a lump under your arm. You family doctor wants to do a needle biopsy, but the insurance says no we don't think you need to do that. We think (even though we have never examined him) that it is most likely an infection. So the lump gets bigger and you go back to the doctor. He decides that despite what the insurance company thinks, he needs a biopsy and sends you out for it. While waiting for the results the insurance company send you a note saying they are not paying for it because they don't think you need it. The results come back, it's a tumor. The doc says they really can't tell what type of tumor it is from the biopsy. The insurance company says not only are they not going to pay for the biopsy, but they don't think it needs to be removed either! So you go to the surgeon and he says no sweat getting it out, but your carrier is denying the procedure. Do you want to pay cash or credit card? So you dig deep and and put up nearly 10k (actually the bill was $9600 and change). When you come too in the recovery area, the doc has a big frown on his face. It seems, that lump, the one the insurance company said is not a big deal: well it's a BIG FREAKING DEAL! Like an aggressive malignant form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Then the insurance company on top of not wanting to pay for the biopsy, surgery, now does not want to pay for the Chemo or radiation. So on top of fighting cancer and the nasty side effects of the chemo program, I got to fight with my carrier. They tried every thing they could think of to not pay. Thankfully the insurance commission stepped in and made the decision for them. So don't tell me how great the health care system is here and how crappy it is everywhere else. Thankfully, I had a pretty decent job, a whole lotta money in the bank, and was educated enough to navigate a rigged system. Without insurance, chances are I would have be dead before I turned 32!

one of the reason's that Healthcare is and has been for decades a corruption for the chemical companies to control the medical profession in every corner of the game. The idea of democracy in the United States is long gone. The fact is congress is not balance to the size of the population thus it is a elite circle of millionaires that want to keep tax's and their companies in the pockets. Healthcare should be distribute in every community base upon guild lines of that community. Finances from the state and federal level should be endowed in consideration that the community acts responsible to care for it's own population. simple but to the right wing greedy beast this is not their answer,their answer is more so to give the population swine flu. Get the point peoples.

I don't know to what extent this is accurate, but I keep reading about how in non-Westernized cultures the diseases cancer, diabetes, dental caries & heart disease simply don't exist. It's only when the Western diet is introduced (flour, sugar, white rice and some would add potatoes to the list) that these diseases arise. What would the field look like out there if our medical and pharmaceutical industries were sapped of their disease management dollars? If we're spending trillions a year on diabetes management alone, what would happen to our economy if it were eliminated through diet in lieu of drugs and formal treatment?

Well said I agree 100%, I am relying on Obama and Tom Daschle to pull legislation on Healthcare towards the Working class. I can see it, there is going to be a lot of upset Republicans in the next few years And who cares what Fox News says, we can totally ignore them totally for at least 4 years.

This guy is deluded. Your monetary system is a shambles of inflation because the Federal Reserve is just plugging holes in the financial dam. What is your congress for, if it has to delegate medical and financial things to private companies? Do these people do anything but sit there and look pretty? As for your medical, I live in Canada and they supported me for the eight months I was in the hospital, and two related surgeries, when I had a major stroke, and now I'm back at work. If I were American, I'd probably be dead or unemployed, because the insurance would've run out! Your country has money for weapons and troops and fighting two wars, and it has no money to support Americans when they are sick? What about Americans that have no health insurance? Do they count as citizens of your country?

Just Groovy you are a typical reason why McCain lost, your ethos is I am all right Jack, you dont care about the 45 million without healthcare, A huge amount of Jobs dont offer Healthcare Insurance and worse still, Companies strive to deny workers Healthcare Insurance And when you get to the Cheap end of Healthcare, you have to announce to nurse why you are asking for an appointment, IE what is wrong with you because you cannot be seen by the doctor for more than one symptom or complaint, You have to get another Appointment. And what about the Wallmart Generic Medicine scheme all medicines $ 5.00!!! how is this possible? Wallmart are like a free Healthcare Insurance Policy themselves. 2 years ago I paid $90 dollars a month or so for Coreg, now its $5.00 !!!!! Just Groovy can you explain why the drug companies totally ignore Wallmarts revolution // and dont give me the old argument about Research when Canada, France, Switzerland, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany Belgium, and many more, have a subsidized Medicine Prescription policy of say $9 dollars for virtually any Medicine at the Pharmacy, and in Britain the Unemployed get there Medicines for FREE yes Free .. Medicines have been around longer than the History of the USA, they didnt invent them. And you know the waiting times in American Hospitals is as long for ER treatment as the UK. What is the Percentage of people in the Usa who need Major Operations ?? 15% and some could Pay there way Privately anyhow. Infections, broken bones, trauma, the Flu, are the Normal reasons for trying to get Healthcare service, and in the country's above there treated with no request for Money... and none are turned away As I have said your whole ethos is " I am all right Jack" And Tom Daschle is only at the Beginning of trying to sort out Healthcare in the USA, Hell fire why do you think Obama won by a Landslide, not for Ideology like your that's for sure

Taking a trip abroad and trying to recieve healthcare is not a good way to expeirence another nation's healthcare. For example, go to the UK and try to see a doctor. Yes, you will wait a long time unless you are in need of emergency care. Why? because you are not covered by their national health insurance. As a visitor you are not eligible for National Health (in the case of the UK), though you won't be turned away from an NHS hospital in an emergency. You should expect a very long wait to see a doctor in an NHS facility if you're not actually bleeding to death. The same holds true for a foreigner trying to receive routine medical care in the States. If you try to see a doctor without some form of health insurance that our country recognizes, again, you are most likely out of luck unless you go to the ER, or now, perhaps Urgent Care Centers which were created to alleviate the burden on the ER. Of course, the burden on the ER is due to so many people using the ER for non-emergency care because it's the only place that you cannot be turned away from if you do not have health insurance. Issues like this are much to complicated to pigeon-hole with canned responses such as "I bet if you try it you wouldn't like it." I think Daschle raises some very valid points in his argument, and at least it's a step in the right direction for someone in the government to actually admit that we do NOT have the best healthcare system in the world. Of course, I do agree with the first commenter's... erm... comment on how it is much easier to delegate responsibility rather than take responsibility for a broken system. And we can all see how well the Federal Reserve has turned out. Bail-out with no oversight anyone?