CNN Poll: Would you support government-guaranteed health care for all

Would you support government-guaranteed health care for all Americans?

Yes 80% 13201 votes

No 20% 3242 votes
Total: 16443 votes
http://www.cnn.com/

On the US site the poll is just below the weather box and just above the 'featured sponsors' box, along the right hand side of the page, near the bottom.

Thanks.

Why would anyone OPPOSE universal health care, and why? Obviously 20% of Americans don't think all folks should be entitled to health care.

That 20% represent the ultimate greed fostered by the Cheney philosophy of life.

K&R this thread.

Seriously. It's what my redneck relatives say. Oh, and that they would have to wait five years for elective surgery. Of course, these are all people who have good paying, good benefits union jobs. They are also some of the most vile, truly unChristian people I know.

and have to wait for months to see doctors and wait in the offices for hours etc... They may have a point as this seems to be the case in other countries with national health care. We would have to do it better than them.

Such as making college education available to all so that going to medical school isn't beyond the means of most young people in this country.

doctors who serve in areas which need doctors. Of course, these are isolated rural areas and many don't want to do that.

Indeed, two studies comparing US to Canada and the UK just showed that medical care in the US is either worse or equivalent to the care in the other countries. (Can't remember which was worse - google will tell you).

20% of people in the US have no health insurance so often, don't even have the financial resources to even consider "waiting in offices for hours". They just don't go to the doctor. Another 20% are underinsured, carrying only major medical, and have to pay out of pocket for routine visits, preventative care, initial diagnoses, and thus, don't go to the doctor for this kind of care, either.

I'll bet that 40% would welcome the chance to wait in an office.

And sometimes, in the US, you can wait pretty long in an office. Both Canadians and people from the UK tell me it's a myth, too. Sometimes the wait for what is an elective surgery can be longer. And without a doubt, there can be bureaucratic battles - but no one (to my knowledge) has studied whether battles with insurance companies (in the US) are more or less frequent than bureaucratic battles in countries with government-provided insurance.

A friend of mine from the UK has an elderly care who gets amazing care. A nurse 2-3 times a week who comes to her house, assesses her health, whether she's eating, taking her meds; helps with some household chores. She got all this before her stroke, and after her stroke, she was put on a waiting list for about 4 months to get into a government provided assisted living apartment. All her care necessary for her stroke was paid for by the government, including physical therapy.

Boy, I'd like a nurse to visit my grandmother in the US 3 times a week at the government's expense. I'd be willing to wait a little longer at the dr's office in exchange for that service!

with universal health care don't flock into the U.S., begging to become citizens? And why do people in those countries always support their health systems over one like ours? And why is France rated as having the best health care in the world? And why are we seeing recent reports that we are unhealthier than other industrialized nations with universal health care?

Until these questions can be adequately answered, I will go on suspecting that this argument is either a} a lie or b} not nearly as bad as it is painted.

BTW, when I was in discomfort last year and my internist referred me to a gastroenterologist for follow up diagnosis, it took me over a month to get an appointment. It turned out I had severe diverticulitis, which could have developed into something more serious, peritonitis. Luckily, I began antibiotics and was cured before that happened.

STUDY: CANADIAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM BETTER THAN U.S.
Harvard Medical School has released a study revealing that Canada's health care program is doing a better job of taking care of its citizens than the U.S. health care system... and at half the price. "Most of what we hear about the Canadian health care system is negative; in particular, the long waiting times for medical procedures," said Dr. Karen Lasser an instructor of medicine at Harvard who worked on the study. But the survey found the wait times weren't that different between the U.S. and Canada. What's more, twice as much money is spent on medical bills per person in the U.S. in comparison to Canada, yet Canadians are healthier and live two to three years longer. According to the survey results, "Canadians were 7 percent more likely to have a regular doctor and 19 percent less likely to have an unmet health need." U.S. respondents were almost twice as likely to go without a needed medicine due to cost. "Based on our findings, if I had to choose between the two systems for my patients, I would choose the Canadian system hands down," said Dr. Lasser.
Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_636.cfm

same 20% that would approve the death penalty for any doctor who performed, or woman who had, an abortion...the same 20% who would STILL support Bush even if he ate a live baby on national television...

you see the pattern?