Extremely short clip of about 2 minutes that makes an excellent summary of the Australian system of health care delivery. It is named Medicare. In Australia, EVERYONE is covered at less than half of what we currently pay. This type of information is essential for careful discussions of the upcoming health insurance reform bill that will be crafted. Please watch and comment on this important issue! Insist that lawmakers give us Single Payer.
The comments section has some additional ideas as well:
It does cover you for elective surgery, it just may be a wait, and depending on the case load at the time, that can vary. I worked in a public hospital adminsitration in Melbourne for 3 years, and most people who buy private cover do it so they can have hosp. choice, immediate elective procedures, plus a bunch of rebates like health and lifestyle. You can deduct your kid’s swimming for example. It’s a great system, and no one goes bankrupt because they get sick. That’s the whole argument…No one said it was perfect, but the Federal Govt are actually workign on health care reforms at the moment, with one option being federalising heath care instead of it being state run. Health care is nowhere near the partisan issue here either – our conservative minority would never put discarding the public system on the table. They would be shouted out of office. And again, no one can’t pay their mortgage because they get sick, and Medicare never says “no, you can’t get that treatment”.
I take back everything bad I’ve ever said about health care reform. I want to trade our system for Australia’s. Just make sure that we include every part of Australia’s system that lets them save costs.
Under current U.S. law I’m paying 2.9% of my income (without deduction for home mortgage or anything else on Sch. A) as a “Hospital Insurance Tax” i.e. Medicare Tax. Under Australia law (as reported) my maximum Medicare tax would be 2.5% (and that’s cause I’m rich). So my taxes would go down, and Medicare would cover everyone, not just the elderly.
Works for me. What am I missing in this argument?
Ron,
What you’re missing is the difference between the Australian Medicare Tax levy and what the system actually costs – its subsidized by the government from general tax revenues.
In that case, nevermind. Guess no matter how you crunch numbers there still ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Wish they had mentioned that in the news report.
I lived in Australia dnd experienced their health care system. It is a good as, I might even say better than what I receved under my US Blue Cross Blue Shield plan. And a lot cheaper.
The nice part is every one is covered and you don’t have to worry if you loose your job or get sick.
When will our news media in USA atart reporting the truth?