by Englishman 23 Replies latest jw friends
Franklin and HS:
Thank you for your kind good wishes. I am much improved, thank you. No medication at all now and my strength is returning, thank God. I still look skinny but am no longer resembling a plucked chicken.
Oh..I almost forgot..I can drink almost as much beer in one session as I could before!
Englishman.
Nice to hear you're mending well, Mike!
The fact that so many millions of Americans have no health insurance is a disgrace to my mind. I am blessed with excellent coverage, but of course, that only lasts as long as the job lasts. Health care in the U.S. should be nationalized (and I'm nominally a Republican) and the costs of prescription drug research for the world should not be borne largely on American shoulders, either!
outnfree (who has a real bee in her bonnet about this issue!)
p.s. Bal -- Don't you know smoking is no good for your health?!! Of course you do, that broken bone happened BEFORE you quit smoking, right?
c
and the costs of prescription drug research for the world should not be borne largely on American shoulders, either!
I'm sorry but as much as I appreciate your posts, I find that kind of statement annoying. Pharmacuticals is an extremely profitable sector, research pays for itself millions of times over. We have a whole continent such as Africa which cant afford the drugs. America is not the only country pouring money into research, and every pound WE put in gets returned in profits.
We have free healthcare here in Canada or as it is called "Universal Healthcare". Up until a little over a decade ago it was top notch with little or no delays. Problem was extremely expensive. People would visit the doctor for the slightest thing and often. Canada racked up enormous debt and our wise politicians (hmmmmm excuse me I'm choking on my words) finally tightened the screws. Governement spending was slashed across the board in the 1990s and so to was Universal healthcare. It stayed Universal except that funding was massively cut back. We have had about a decade of "savings" and debt reduction and that has been on the backs of many who suffered a lack of timely medical treatment. The debate you have heard recently Blondie is that Canada is now in a financial to position to resume increases in healthcare spending. The question revolved around how much the Federal government was willing and able to provide the provincial (regional) governments (who administer the spending).
We do have private insurance here in Canada and many are lucky to have their employers pick up the tab for the premiums. The private insurance typically covers or tops up the free government paid healthcare for things like a private room or full coverage when travelling abroad. Many private insurance cover prescriptions. I am lucky in that I have 100 percent prescription coverage with no cap (I also have many other perks like chiropractor, message, full optical and dental but many employer paid insurance plans cover those things with a cap or 80-90 percent.
One of the largest hits to our healthcare system was in the 90s when spending was cut the hospitals decided to layoff nurses and cut nurses salaries. This was a large factor in timely delivery of healthcare and it also saw Canada lose thousands of nurses to the U.S. permanently.
