Reader comments
Jobless Utahns priced out of health care

MD | 12:38 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

It's only going to get worse...because the only people who will be keeping their Cobra coverage will be those who are in dire need and rely heavily on their health benefits. The problem will become enormous in the months to come for states and municipalities.

John | 12:58 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Further evidence that the so-called "family friendly" Republican economic theories are not really very family friendly.

Time for change | 1:08 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Just one more example of why health care should be socialized like every other civilized nation.

Comments continue below

Science Teacher | 1:32 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Socialized?!?

And what wonderful examples could you share of socialized medicine?

Don't tell me about pipe dreams. Show me solid examples of socialized medicine in other countries.

open your eyes | 1:32 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Right now we have a system where the uninsured get treatment via the ER, the least cost effective source of treatment. On top of that, with no access to preventive care, the uninsured have more serious illnesses which leads to more costly care. Case in point, instead of being able to receive treatment for high cholesterol they end up in the ICU with a heart attack. Or, the diabetic requires surgery for limb amputation instead of insulin and regular Dr. visits. The statistics are very clear. The U.S. spends the most of any industrialized country for healthcare yet has worse statistics than most industrialized countries. Wake up Republicans!

Karen | 1:46 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

This is an outrage!! No one in this day and age should be deprived of health care because of unemployment, being disadvantaged, homeless, or elderly. Our country can and must do better than this. We will all suffer when the physical, dental, and medical care of our citizens becomes unimportant to those in political power. NO ONE SHOULD SUFFER PAIN, WORRY, OR STRESS BECAUSE THEY (WE) ARE DENIED ADEQUATE HEALTH AND DENTAL CARE DUE TO MONEY. Why do we as a nation not see the wisdom of providing, with limited or no cost, the best opportunities for health care for all? If we can improve or create--daily--every electronic gadget in the world, why are we so dead set against helping our brothers and sisters--ourselves, actually? Because this can happen to any of us at any time. Insurance and co-pays control our lives, literally. With all the collective wisdom of this nation and world, surely the medical field, government, insurance, and financial planners can come up with a system guaranteed to improve all our lives in this area--or is this an oxymoron? Is Hope obsolete? Are we ever going to get out of this morass of pain?

Dutch girl | 1:51 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Just keep in mind that socialized medicine does not come cheap. Europeans pay dearly in taxes to have this benefit. And just like in the US their co-payments are increasing drastically. On top of that litigation in Europe is not a lucrative business, like it is in the US. If you doctor makes a mistake, the matter will be corrected (probably by your socialized medicine), however, it will not make you, or your lawyer, a millionaire. A good consequence of limited litigation, however, is that doctor fees and medication prices are a lot lower than in the U.S. On the other hand, with socialized medicine, you might only be able to use an expensive medication for a limited period of time, after which you have to pay for it all yourself, if you wish to continue using it.
Socialized medicine is not ideal. The positive side is that all people are covered, the negative side is that there are waiting lists and, sometimes, inferior treatment. I prefer the U.S. system, however, I am insured. I can understand, however, how devastating it is to be out of work and without insurance.

insured | 2:00 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

seems to me that the jobless get better treatment than those of us who pay... my sister in law uses medical/medicaid and she sees all kinds of specialists that i would pay big time to see. not to mention the hundreds of dollars a month i have to pay in premiums just to get meager insurance.
i think people need to be held more accountable for their health. most diseases are preventable with better eating and exercise habits. our insurance requires extremely high health "habits"; veggies, water, low body fat, sunlight, omega oils etc. if everyone were forced to comply or pay, we would all be healthier!

Paula Oliver | 2:10 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

On 12/03/08 My husband and I BOTH were laid off. We cannot afford to pay the cost of Cobra for each of us, but I cannot be without coverage. The cost is very high even for one person, but my husband is now uninsured. Socialized is that the answer??? Well it is a better solution than what we currently facing. This wonderful country is facing more problems with people not having insurance because they cannot get preventive care, our ER's are full of people that should be at the Doctors office. I say YES to Socialized medicine. It is not just the Republicans that need to wake up it is the majority of people that live and work in this country!

RE: Science Teacher | 2:17 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

You obvouisly have never traveled to Canada, Italy France, even Cuba has better health care than the USA. These places have excellent socialized health care. US health care is ranked below these countries, yes even Cuba. Here are a few examples of things that are socialized in the USA: Postal Service(mail for cheap), Fire/Police Dept., the LIBRARY. These are not pipe dreams, these are a reality. For being a Science Teacher, you are very uneducated about the world outside the USA. Let me recommend a moive for you to watch: SICKO by Michael Moore. This should be required watching for all students/teachers. Socialism is not to be feared when done correctly. These lucky people to live in countries with socialized health care, live longer, are happier, and contrary to popular beleif have to wait LESS time to see a doctor and receive better care. In the long run socialized health care will cost the country less money and produce more healthy citizens.

Happy and healthy in Canada | 2:19 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Science teacher--Canada has an adequate social medical system. Wait times are not unreal. At least everyone has access to medical services. It must be terrible to be one of the 60 million in the U.S. with no insurance and no hope. Great system in the so-called leader of the free world.

The current system may be | 2:26 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

The current system may actually be much more expensive than a "single payer" system. There have been some good studies that show that most of the difference in GDP spending on health care between the US and other industrial nations is due almost exclusively to the proliferation of payment systems. Have you ever gone to your doctors office and noticed the sheer number of people involved in making phone calls to various insurance companies to verify what is and is not covered? The current system is bankrupting us. Not looking at other options is no longer an option.

C.w. | 2:31 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

The best answer I've heard of regarding health care is to make health insurance MANDATORY for everyone.
It should be like car insurance, you are REQUIRED BY LAW to have it! Insurance co's. would be much more competitive since there would be much more reason to compete.
The other sad part about this story is that those of us who are employed, and have employer sponsored insurance will ultimately be forced to pay more for OUR insurance, just because of the NEW large numbers of uninsured. Much like we pay the REAL cost of care to illegals now. Those people who claim they can't afford insurance should hope that it does become mandatory so it will be cheaper. People who claim that they don't need insurance will eventually cost us all too. When an uninsured goes into the hospital, runs up a tab of say 500k, can't pay, and declares bankruptcy, the hospital (through voodoo acct.) just makes the rest of the payers pay.
The other thing that needs to happen is higher co-pays, to discourage the hypochondriacs.
Congress needs to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING to solve this mess!

Socialized Medecine | 2:32 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Socialized medecine is only a desperation answer. It is the wrong answer.

perfect... | 3:58 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

This is the perfect storm for the socialists to get there agenda going forward. THE GOVERNMENT IS THE ANSWER TO ALL LIFES PROBLEMS!!!!
When we, the citizens of the US get hungry enough and desperate enough, we will come begging for our govt. to help us out.
Enter - Obama and the new Clinton white house.

Science Teacher | 4:13 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

You all need to do some research on socialized medicine.

It is scary. Wait times are sometimes over a year for surgeries. Procedures are denied because they are not considered cost-effective, even though possibly life saving/altering. Costs are exhorbitant.

Why do Canadians keep coming over the border for healthcare? It's not because we are inferior.

Dutch girl | 4:59 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

My parents live in the Netherlands (socialized medicine haven). There are long waiting periods for certain procedures. My father was in the hospital for 6 months last year, before there was a place for him in a assisted living center. He was lucky, he ended up being in the same town as my mother, but he could also have ended up in a town in the other end of the country (there's no choice, you go where there is place), or in a psych ward, like his friend. A couple of years ago my mother was in the hospital for 3 months, just waiting for her double by-pass.
I have a question, however. Where are the savings accounts? Shouldn't we put something away for a rainy day, so that we can continue our insurance in case we are out of a job? Where is the personal responsibility when something goes bad? I also would be interested in a poll to see who is in favor of socialized medicine. I bet that the majority of them would be the ones who wouldn't have to pay the premiums.

Why Not | 5:06 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

The government is taking over everything else anyway. Why not let them control health care too?

Socialized Medicine??? | 6:39 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

The idea of socialized medicine of the United States like you see in Europe isn't even worth discussing here in the United States. It's not going to happen and not even Obama supports it. Heck, not even Hillary Clinton would support it. There is no need to waste your breathe.

What we should be discussing is finding ways to make affordable, high-quality health insurance available to everyone. It's unreal to me that states do not create insurance pools its citizens can buy into. There is little or no risk to taxpayers under such an approach. The only risk comes to the large profit margins of health insurance companies.

Opening insurance pools to the uninsured is hardly "socialized" medicine and that's just a word opponents, mainly insurance companies, use to scare people. It's ridiculous. In fact, a certain state in the East implemented a similar approach a few years ago and the governor signing it into law was Mitt Romney.

Chris | 9:10 p.m. Jan. 9, 2009

Anyone who thinks that socialized medicine is the answer, has not done his or her research. The person who mentioned the movie "Sicko" by Michael Moore is just drinking the Kool-Aid. That movie was such a manipulation of any exceptions to the rule that they could find. That movie does not represent the true life of the average citizen that lives under socialized medicine. Anyone can curb the truth with a video or pictures and the right agenda. Case in point, Global Warming. They took some VERY rare footage of polar bears stranded on icebergs that had melted put it in Time magazine and made it appear as if the earths climate was way too hot (calling it global warming). It's now 2009 and we are being whipped into one of the coldest winters this nation has had in a long time. That debate sure looks silly now. The same people who believe everything they see on TV, movies and magazines, are the same people who believe socialized medicine is the answer. Do some real IN-DEPTH research people. Try living in one of those countries for a few years!! Ask Canadians why they come here for care etc.

Dare to change | 12:46 a.m. Jan. 10, 2009

France has been rated #1 for healthcare and isn't considered to be "socialized" medicine. I had an Australian friend living/working here for 3 years. He thought Australia's system was more than adequate. Another friend lived for 2 yrs. in New Zealand. She needed emergency treatment one day. Got top notch treatment, cost: $12. Another person i know, living here in the U.S. for 2 yrs. says Canada will pay for his medical treatment while he is in the U.S. No system is perfect. Our country has many horror stories of people dying from not being able to get medical care. ER wait times are already increasing--and hospitals don't give those with insurance first place in line.

Liberty | 7:08 a.m. Jan. 10, 2009

It's about not taking things that don't belong to you.
Think long and hard about that, all of you who are proponents of using the force of this construct called government to assuage your consciences to the point that you don't think it's stealing anymore.

Warren | 9:22 a.m. Jan. 10, 2009

As a Canadian who has access to Canada's health care-let me make you aware of a couple of points.Health care is not free in Canada. We pay approx. $1000/year in family premiums. That sounds cheap- but be aware that Gasoline is $2.66/gallon- the bulk of which is tax that goes to cover the governments portion ofhealthcare costs. Wait times for non life threatening procedures are extremely long-months to years. Hospitals and clinics are overcrowded with people with frivolous medical problems that could just as easily be treated at home with common sense. But because there is no immediate out of pocket cost to the patient, the over abuse and overloading of the system is horrendous-just ask any doctor.They are constantly spending time with people who really don't need to see the doctor. Services are constantly abused. As we say in Canada- "We have the best healthcare system in the world as long as you don't get sick."

Universal Heatlh Care | 12:47 p.m. Jan. 10, 2009

Universal Health Care only works if
1. Heatlh Care is rationed. The "wait times" and "unapproved procedures" and "too old" are the mechanisms whereby socialized health sytems ration care. NO country provides unlimited care to the extent that we have come to expect in the USA. There will be a lot of rude awakenings in the USA the day after "Universal Health Care" is passed.

2. Private care is outlawed. That means that if you don't want to wait, or feel that you are young enough for a surgery but don't qualify-you will be thrown in prison for attempting to pay a doctor to help you. This creates a black market for health care-look at Canada.

Better idea: Go to an ExpressCare inside Smiths, they don't bill insurance and are $49 a visit. If this model expands, insurance for office visits will be a thing of the past. The reason they are so inexpensive is that they don't bill/fight with insurance companies-you pay for what you get when you get it. Great idea!

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