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Do you think we’ll get universal health care in the USA?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Andrew99, Aug 24, 2018.

  1. Lin1

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    @InbornGame Thank you for your insight! It's very interesting and I believe adds a lot to this thread so thank you for sharing!
     
  2. Lin1

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    Out of curiosity, ahead in which sense? Can most people afford to see a therapist for free or very little fee and quite promptly or you mean ahead in terms of research and not stigmatizing people with mental health issues?

    I often find that mental health care in most countries is poor and inaccessible for most when I genuinely think this is a service that should be set at a very low-cost or fully reimbursed so most people could make the most of it and receive the help they need.

    In my country there is actually free therapists in school/universities (though not sure about the service they acually provide) and one practise in my city receive patients for free if their situation warants it which I think is nice but more practises should offer these types of services, it could save and change many lives which is what we should aim for.
     
  3. starfish

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    I think it will happen, but I’m not sure it will happen in my life time.

    I wish we would do something sooner rhater than later. I’ve mentioned here before that I am bipolar. My medication costs $500/month. I have health insurance so that covers it for right now. The thing is, that it is looking like I’ll get laid off early next year when the contact with the client I support ends. When that happens I’ll be looking at either paying $500/month for the medication, or paying $500/month for health insurance via COBRA. Now I have savings, so I can absorb this cost. Though to be honest I don’t like the idea of my monthly costs going up while being out of work. I know several people in my position who do not have that luxury. They are faced with the choice of their meds or paying rent.

    Now I pay a lot in taxes, and to be honest I would be ok paying more in taxes if it meant everyone had access to the medical care they needed.
     
  4. Skaros

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    The United States is ahead in the sense that mental illnesses have more treatments recommended/available. You could go to countries with more socialized healthcare and be more likely to be told that certain illnesses like anxiety aren't even real by doctors. Not to say that they're bad with mental healthcare, but it is to say that there's more stigma.

    If I'm not mistaken, a lot of positive psychological research does come from the United States as well. And American psychiatric organizations are pretty good about fact-based research.

    Affordability for mental healthcare is one thing, but quality mental healthcare is definitely something the United States can be proud of.
     
  5. Lin1

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    Do you have any source backing your statements? (About other countries being more dismissive of mental illnesses than the US?)

    If anything mental healthcare being totally unaffordable is extremely more dismissive than the opposite because it totally dismisses the suffering of the patients and the fact that those conditions need to be treated in a quick fashion and that people suffering with them need help ASAP not just when they can afford it. They may well be great at acknowledging the fact that they exist but what's the point of it if people who suffer from them can't afford to be treated? It's like having firemen with the best most advanced equipment but then them refusing to use them during a fire. It's pointless. And nothing to be proud of .

    Quality healthcare is when you provide TOP service for everyone not just a select few.

    You can't say you have quality mental healthcare while in the same breath admitting that those care aren't affordable to everyone meaning lots of patient miss out on being treated and have to spend their life without treatment, meaning doctors are deliberately not treating patients they know need help and are fine with it, it just doesn't work that way, it's completely contradictory.
     
  6. Skaros

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    You're completely right in saying that the United States falls behind in availability to everyone. Quite frankly, the cost of healthcare (of any kind) is ridiculous here. The ACA was an improvement, but unfortunately the Republican party has gutted the law to a point where it's hardly usable (and they have the audacity to blame the Democrats for its failure!!!).

    Now, it is very true that the United States offers disproportionately more Mental Health research than other countries. A lot of advances in the field come from the United States. Some light internet searching confirmed this, but I'll attempt to provide more specific data if you'd like.