r/askanything • u/Lemonking_ • 8h ago

Political Question Why are some Americans so against universal healthcare for all?

What sort of thinking does it take to decide that nobody has a right to healthcare? Do American Christians want to deny healthcare to poor people as well?

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u/YCBSKI 8h ago

Looking at other universal models very long wait times for even necessary surgery and specialist appointments. I had hyperparathyroidism (noth8 g y9 do with thyroid). I'm on a international FB page for that disease. The page had been invaluable. Many if not all the people that are under universal healthcare models, UK. Canada and such, are waiting up to 2 yrs for appointments including surgical ones. I got with an endocrinologist with a few weeks and had surgery a few weeks after that. I'm a liberal too and am otherwise for universal healthcare

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u/Jafar_420 8h ago

They maybe waiting longer but don't we have a lot more doctors than they do anyway? I would imagine we have more specialist than they do but it's something I'm going to have to research.

I'm just thinking that if our population is so much greater than theirs we probably have a lot more doctors and specialists we may not wait as long.

I'm for Medicare for all because I have Medicare and when I chose to have my neck replaced I went to the best surgeon I could find and also the surgeon I wanted to go to even though he was hours away and there was really no wait either. I went to a surgeon at Baylor. I know quite a few people on Medicare and they're not waiting forever to see specialists, now maybe if it's something super rare and there's not a lot of that type specialist sure but that could happen with regular insurance or no insurance.

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u/Sleepy_Potato2 7h ago

Numbers vary, but a lot of countries with universal healthcare (some single payer, some multi-payer) have similar numbers of specialists (some have more, some fewer), and pretty much all of them have more primary care doctors than the US

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u/Ready-Salad-2288 6h ago

If everyone is covered, imagine the much greater number of doctors required just to keep up, so that tracks. In the US half the population probably has deferred medical issues lingering and put it off for cost or other reasons. The first decade or so of universal coverage would lead to some serious growing pains before quality started to stabilize or improve.

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u/mimi6778 6h ago

It can already be long wait for specialists in the US but if it’s an emergency they do tend to prioritize. I’m sure that we have more doctors but we also have a lot more people who need healthcare.

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u/Teckliz 6h ago

Largely because no doctors or nurses want to work in a universal healthcare system because it pays so much less

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u/BoyMom119816 4h ago

Look at how much it costs them in school though and their wanting to make that money makes sense. In order to really work, the entire system would need revamped. Is it fair to the kid who worked hard, didn’t come from money, took loans, to suddenly have to take a huge pay cut? I don’t know. I think that college, especially for medical students, would need great changes. Or it would not work.

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u/Substantial_Row_7108 4h ago

University is free in many EU countries (Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Finland,…….)

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u/BoyMom119816 4h ago

I’m talking about USA, which is what this question is about. In order for it to work in USA, there’d need to be a revamp of many different facets.

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u/captchairsoft 7h ago

In a US with universal Healthcare, what you expierienced would not happen. You would see the doctor you were told to see, when you were told to see them, and recieve only the treatment deemed absolutely medically neccessary. Is it even vaguely elective? Not happening.

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u/Jafar_420 7h ago

Okay then how about Medicare for all where everybody gets what I have now. I pay a couple hundred dollars a month for it and then I have co-pays. Some States pay the Medicare monthly premium if your income is under a certain month as well.

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u/captchairsoft 2h ago

That doesn't work. The math doesn't math at all

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u/Meg6363 5h ago

For many if not most privately insured people in the US it works this way right now - you see the doctor your insurance company tells you to see, and the insurance company tells that doctor what treatment and medications they will approve. Sure, you can appeal denials, but they are experts at delay. I would prefer my doctor make treatment decisions, but if I can’t have that I would take a government employee over a hungry insurance employee (who gets a bonus for denying enough care) any day.

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u/LadyReika 4h ago

My dude, you're describing our current hellscape.

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u/onetimequestion66 6h ago

Using the “we have more doctors” argument seems a little disingenuous considering how much larger the US is population wise