Should we adopt a socialized medicine system, like they have in Europe?

The medical crises in America is not getting better. The middle class is getting slammed. I am not sure socialized medicine is the answer, but the high cost of medical care is gonna drown all of us one way or another.

I was talking to a friend from Europe awhile back. He said they contain prices within their socialized system, by restricting the number of tests a person can have....in other words, if it's not necessary, you don't do the test. We waste so much money in this country doing unnecessary tests.

As an example, I was treating a trauma patient in the ER a few weeks ago.....he had a ruptured diaphragm, with herniation of intestinal contents into the pleaural cavity. The regular x-ray films showed this, and the treatment was surgery. BUT, standard procedure is to do an abdominal CT on a trauma victim. CT's are expensive. In this case, a CT was unnecessary, because wee were going to open the guy up anyways.
This happens too often. But, in a system like we have, without too many checks and balances, we get away with running unnecessary, expensive tests.

No. Did you know that in Europe if you need surgeries or even routine tests that are common place in the U.S. you have to get on a waiting list? And once you're on the list preferential treatment is slanted toward the young because they are the one's working putting back into the system. From what I've heard often the retired and elderly get put on the back burner for years to have a knee or a hip replaced. So in the end while the life expectancy may be the same or slightly better the actual number of quality years is less because of all the waiting.

Having said all that I agree with redcup we need some changes.

Socialized medicine is a blight that we must avoid. Do you like the privilege of seeing, generally, the doctor you choose, the facility you prefer, and the pharmacy you like? There's no question that insurance companies have restricted those freedoms, but you ain't seen *nothing* yet if we let socialized medicine in the door. I have no doubt whatsoever that personal discretion would be removed from such a system, and that you would be obliged to do whatever the "gummint" told you to do.

Many social medicine advocates point to Canada as some sort of halcyon of socialized medicine, but the reality is that it is a disaster, closed hospitals, long waiting lists, you name it - just like Todd described in Europe.

I'll grant that we need some fixes to the current system, but going to socialized medicine is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

-SoonerDave

I couldn't have said it any better than that.