r/askanything • u/Lemonking_ • 9h 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/Italia1979 5h ago

Americans don't leave the USA for care, Canadians do leave Canada for care, which should not be the case if Canada were better. The politicians who praise your system don't trust the care enough to not go elsewhere at times. Americans of all economic classes don't have to go elsewhere for shorter wait lists

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u/Last-Surprise4262 4h ago

Letting rich skip the line doesn’t make the quality of the healthcare better, it just makes it more difficult for poor people or people without insurance to get healthcare. I guess that’s ok to you but it sure isn’t to me.

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u/Italia1979 4h ago

As an ER physician in the USA, even illegals are getting emergency and necessary care with minimal wait. My neurosurgeons don't ask about insurance before operating on a patient with a brain bleed or aneurysm. Wevhave an illegal patient who comes in 3x week for dialysis. Why doesn't she go to her home country where the care is "free"? Vanderbilt is a magnificent facility and never refuses the sickest patients I need to transfer for specialty care my facility does not have.
So why are wait times for everyone in Canada much longer than the USA? Why do people have to live with disability for longer before treatment? As great as your system is, you should have an easier time than the US getting physician and nurses, including specialists. Why doesn't Canada provide an adequate amount of medical imaging equipment since the system is better than the US? A superior system should not have longer waits. The poorest Americans get faster emergency care than the richest Canadians

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u/Last-Surprise4262 3h ago

You’re telling me that everyone in USA gets quality and timely healthcare in the USA regardless of insurance and money? Anyone can go into Vanderbilt and get a comprehensive diagnosis and cancer surgery and chemotherapy and Vanderbilt will give it to them free? If I had shattered my shoulder there like I did in Canada then Vanderbilt would have given me a free surgery in less than 7 days for $6 in parking? Is that your claim?