Medicare logo via www.medicareaustralia.gov.au
It’s not perfect and the vertical fiscal imbalance between the Commonwealth (that’s our fancy word for Federal) and State governments is a nuisance for funding public hospitals run by the states however UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE RULES.
Just one of the reasons I’m glad to be Australian and it’s the reason I can work as a health professional knowing every citizen has access to healthcare. - Nurse Lyall
Funnily enough, I wrote a big spiel about this yesterday but it got all rambly so stuck it in drafts. Exactly what Lyall said. It has it’s faults and challenges but I’m really proud of the world-class health care delivery we all get.
I’ll third that motion.
Having worked in the U.S.’s managed health care system (military medic-EMT and LPN), I’m all for this. Sure, overall, military folks got paid less than their civilian counterparts but not having to pay for medical insurance meant your dollars went as far. A doctor I worked with also liked it. He didn’t have to pay malpractice insurance, office rent or group membership fees and didn’t have near the oversight/second guessing that working for an HMO entailed.
As far as a universal coverage here in the U.S., maybe start with providing medicare or military style coverage for all children, up until the age of 18? Or fund preventive care clinics and E.R.s’ along medicare lines. Hell, just funding preventive care and ask-a-nurse/cold & flu type places would help. But with all the money the managed medical care industry is throwing at congress, is not likely any change any time soon.
