General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Public Health" Argument for Universal Healthcare
What I haven't heard more of during the debate over preserving/repealing PPACA and one that should almost certainly be at the top of the list of reasons for not only preserving PPACA but also eventually expanding it to ensure universal health care is ensuring the most effective management of outbreaks of diseases with the potential to quickly kill large amounts of people. This is something that I would think that this would be even more important given our recent experience with Ebola in this country which, thankfully, wasn't as bad as it could have been. Come to think of it, this is also a great argument for reforming our nation's labor laws governing sick time and usage thereof. All too often it seems that people try to "tough it out" and don't go to the doctor when sick and, what's even worse is that they usually end up having to go into work anyway despite being ill because their jobs don't allow them to be sick without the very real possibility of them being terminated (which everybody in their right mind, of course, seeks to avoid). IMHO we need to ensure that people, when sick, can take the time off that they need and, most importantly, have access to treatment if needed, to quickly recover and avoid spreading illnesses around. The ability to stop the spread of a communicable fatal disease may rest on the ability of healthcare workers to diagnose and isolate infected individuals, some of whom simply may not seek treatment if they don't have access to health care and they may wind up spreading the disease to others by showing up at work- because they have to in order to keep their jobs.
SharonAnn
(13,775 posts)to go untreated and be out there spreading contagion. And, since many of them are in low wage jobs like restaurant, retail, and hospitality services, they have contact with hundreds of people a day.
Way to spread a contagious disease!
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,412 posts)Guess you can say they are "pro-disease spreading", at least until they or somebody they care about gets something like Ebola or worse.
libtodeath
(2,888 posts)all others will make them happy to die off.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,412 posts)And all of the money and medical technology may not be able to save them once it afflicts them or theirs. As per usual, they are short-sighted.
libtodeath
(2,888 posts)That is the plan.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)MindPilot
(12,693 posts)1. A healthy population is a public good, just like a strong military, or a safe air traffic control system.
2. Single payer would shift billions in health costs from business to the taxpayer. Never quite understood how conservatives are not all over that idea.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,412 posts)I guess that the GOP thinks everything is ok as long as at least a few people in this country are "strong" enough to defend it should somebody try to actually invade us. I didn't think about #2 but, yeah, why wouldn't that make them happy? But then again, they've demonized taxes so much that people tend to respond pretty reflexively whenever you get to the discussion of how SP will actually be paid for. Years and years of deprogramming about taxes alone are probably going to be necessary to condition people to accept SP.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)They begin always with "well I shouldn't have to pay for some one else's bad choices."
You already do...all the time every day. When that drunk drove the wrong way on the freeway, you helped pay for that; when the old lady down the block fell asleep with a cigarette in her hand, you helped pay for that. It is how taxes and insurance work in a tight-knit technological society.
You also already help pay for everyone's healthcare every time you pay a premium or a co-pay, and you are paying for the most expensive healthcare possible--he ER--for those who don't have any means to pay.
So would you like to manage costs by consolidating expenses, or would you prefer to be stepping over dying bodies in the streets? Those are your choices.
I so wish those simple truths had been presented when the whole healthcare debate was going on.
raccoon
(31,111 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)The eradication of most of the contagious diseases, or near eradication, makes them complacent.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,412 posts)but that doesn't mean that new really bad things won't show up in the future, of course. Or what about people (eventually) traveling to Mars or other planets? Who knows what THEY might return with (but I don't know how much we have to worry about that since the Republicans don't believe much in Science programs anyway......)
treestar
(82,383 posts)when the Astronauts came back from the moon. They were quarantined for a while to make sure there was no spooky type of disease!