* FyberOptic keeps posting on all different political topics every other day.
I heard some interesting factoids though. The leading cause of bankruptcy in America is apparently medical bills. And it also seems it's a (or presumably the) biggest cause of homelessness. I think that's a good indication that our medical system is a pretty huge financial mess for everyone, considering how many people file bankruptcy every year, as well as how many homeless we have.
But we're all paying the consequences every time somebody files for bankruptcy, because not only does it mean no money paid for the doctor bills they ran up (that got them behind on their bills in the first place), but it includes their other bills too, such as credit cards and the like. Companies have to raise prices and/or lay off workers and/or switch to importing or hiring from overseas. In the case of a smaller doctor's office, enough of that could put them out of business entirely.
And just imagine all the money being spent to help and take care of the homeless every year, when a lot of those people might not even be there had they been able to just get the medical care they needed in the first place. Worse yet, when they're found out on the street in need of medical attention, who do you think ends up paying for their care?
And I'm not entirely sure on the factual status of this one, but I heard that nobody ever files for bankruptcy for medical bills in Canada and Britain. So yeah, just a little more reasoning on why I think universal healthcare just seems like such a logical thing to implement in my view. It benefits everyone in so many ways that it seems that people will end up paying less in the long run. Not just for medical issues (since the overhead for government-run healthcare is hugely reduced, and the profit margin is eliminated), but possibly for lots of other things too (like credit card rates and store prices). Besides, a doctor should just be able to treat you without calling to see if your insurance will cover what he's about to do first. And worse yet, possibly refuse to treat you if they won't cover it! Such mega lame.
EDIT: They were just telling again on the news about a group in my state that gets a ton of volunteer doctors together (over 1500 I think they said) to setup a three-day mobile health center in a field with tents and equipment and everything, and give everyone that shows up free care. Dental or whatever you need. I'm not sure how many times they've done it now, but it's at least twice. They even try and help folks get in contact with the right people if they need further medical help. But the point is that thousands of people showed up (yes thousands), most of them waiting there overnight just to get seen.
Overnight. It wasn't close enough to my town though, plus there's the whole huge line, so oh well. But tis just another example of why healthcare is so needed.
