Read on Twitter
people who are against single-payer/socialized healthcare will tell you it's both way too expensive (it's not—unless you're really rich + your idea of 'too expensive' is paying justly proportional taxes) + makes it difficult to access care. let me tell you something about that
I've talked about the total myth of the unaffordability of socialized healthcare before so I won't do that now. but very briefly let me tell you what it was like to get specialist care (and ordinary care!) in the EU country where I spent much of the past decade:
E A S Y
and
A F F O R D A B L E
and
F A S T
and
A F F O R D A B L E
and
F A S T
I had persistent respiratory issues.
First stop, my family doctor/GP. (That cost €8, by the way. Each visit. And...that was it. No insurance premiums. I could go see her without an appointment during open office hours—her office was in her home, a 15-minute bike ride from me)
First stop, my family doctor/GP. (That cost €8, by the way. Each visit. And...that was it. No insurance premiums. I could go see her without an appointment during open office hours—her office was in her home, a 15-minute bike ride from me)
My GP took my history, did some examinations, and quickly determined I needed to see a specialist.
She called with the referral right then; I had an appointment less than a month out.
She called with the referral right then; I had an appointment less than a month out.
I had a visit with that specialist every 3-6 months for three years. It cost me €35 each time; again, no premiums—that was *all* I paid to see him. I did not have long wait times. I did not have to travel out of my area to see him.
During this time people I knew got cancer treatments, physical therapy, surgeries, and other specialist care.
There was *never* any issue with an inability to access care when necessary.
There was *never* any issue with an inability to access care when necessary.
By contrast: here in Maine I see a specialist. Her office—one of two in the state—is an hour drive from where I am. When I got a referral to see my first specialist at this practice, with emergency need (+ LPN referral), it took more than 10 DAYS for them to call me about an appt
The reason I see my (excellent) woman specialist now is that the male one I was assigned to at first left the practice after I'd been there for 6 months. I only found out when I called to confirm my 6 month appt (first checkup after major diagnosis) and they said he'd left.
Ah, okay, I said. Well, is my (necessary) checkup still on for next week? Oh no, definitely not: we are rescheduling all of those appointments. For next YEAR.
They were booking out a YEAR.
They were booking out a YEAR.
This is absolutely to do, in part, with the geography, demographics, and economy of this state in particular. But I have never had such a hard time accessing care as I have since returning to the US.
And even if I lived in a city where I could walk or bike to my appointments—
And even if I lived in a city where I could walk or bike to my appointments—
—the fact remains that my insurance costs thousands of dollars a year. And *that* is inaccessible in and of itself.
There's no need to be afraid of socialized healthcare.
It will break no one's bank (and it will save a lot of us a ton of worry, a ton of constraint, and a TON of money every year).
It will not make care harder to access—especially not if it's a true single-payer system, the same access for everyone.
Can you imagine how free you would feel if you didn't have to stay in a harmful or even just a dull job—even just a job you didn't really enjoy—just for the benefits?
And believe it or not, healthcare is a human right. You don't have to do anything to 'deserve' it, because it's not about 'deserving'. You have a body? You are entitled to dignified and comprehensive care.
The hinge between medical care and labor in the US is a foul remnant of Puritanism and it's time to break it.
