[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by MartinSE

I will take exception to calling that an EXCEPTION. For years I was under for-profit healthcare. And for those years where ever I lived, Denver, Phoenix, etc, etc. There was a common thread, doctors that had to maximize the number of patients seen per day just to keep up with the bills in private practice. So common a problem that many of those doctors gave up and joined healthcare groups where they were basically employees. Then when I went in to the "doctors office" I would see which ever doctor was on rotation. I would see that doctor for precisely 15 minutes, no more no less. Because they had quotas. And those doctors typical had NO idea who I was or what my medical history was, because they had never seen me before. And while they spent maybe 10 of those 15 minutes reading my chart to see what the other doctors said, they would ask ME questions to help them understand what the other doctors meant. They almost without exception, they would ask me what I would like to do or have done.

Now that I am in the VA its is totally the opposite. Had my annual today, and the doctor chat with me, know me, discussed my history and how I was doing. Made suggestions on changes and all in all gave me a very safe feeling.

Every single person I know that is in the for profit healthcare system has had exactly the same experience as me. And in addition to that, statistic seems to support the idea, since the US has worse healthcare outcomes that almost any other first world country.

Exactly what I have been saying for years. Look at the order of the list of world countries and you will see America in a different light - healthcare (like what was said) is just one big example of how far America has dropped since being in the top 10 after WW2. We have been poisoned in our thinking by insurance companies that use lobbyists to frame US opinion AGAINST National Health Care - they talk like Universal Health Care is a "commie" plot. Yet, it works fine in Canada (and all other civilized countries). Last I heard Canada was a free and non-Communist country.