So someone fill me in, what does this bill mean for the common uninsured American?
Also Dougg, most European countries have puplic health care, and are considered far superior to what America has to offer.
Canada is ranked 17th in the world for avergae # of healthy years lived, and the UK is ranked 20th. The united states is 22nd. (nationmaster.com)
Who considers European health care systems superior to the U.S? Sources, please. The U.S. has been blamed for causing a "brain drain", bringing the world's best doctors to our shores. We also have the best (and most) diagnostic equipment in the world. We have the finest and most $$ endowed hospitals and med schools in the world. Those that can afford it, come here to be treated or educated.
Years lived?...check the diet. We lead the world in Type II diabetes, diet-related heart disease, environmentally caused cancers, etc. To blame it on the "health care system" is a bit miopic. Shock, the only issue that has legitimacy regarding U.S. healthcare is the COST of our system. It has been terribly high for too many years. My wife was working on HC cost containment issues before we met and married...27 years ago! It's a big honkin' gorilla who got into our tent...and must be dealth with. And as has been mentioned before, Tort Reform is a BIG deal and must be passed as a starting point. (One thing you'll also not find in Canada/Europe are humongous lawsuit payoffs for malpractice, or as many malpractice suits, or as many attorneys........)
EDIT: Relating to tort reform...some types of physicians (e.g. OB/GYN's) are finding their malpractice insurance so burdensome, that we're losing them to other fields. I haven't verified this...maybe an MD will chime in, but I believe that malpractice insurance premiums to be in the neighborhood of $75,000/year for the average internist/family practitioner. At least that's what I understood several years ago. That's pretty outrageous.