Originally posted by Malacasta

Other *just fine* visits to the doctor are things like pap smears and mammograms, unusual moles, various baseline tests when you reach a certain age and other preventative sort of checks like that . I don't actually know, are these things free in the US? What's the cost to society and the health care system of not treating things like suspicious moles that develop into melanomas, or missed pap smear tests that could have caught a terminal cervical cancer?
I think those aren't what people are talking about when they cite abuses of the system. Yearly checkups are part of excellent preventative care and being healthy. Abuses of the health system would be going to 3 different pediatrician for your child until you finally find one that will prescribe ritilin. Abuses would be calling for an ambulance rather than a cab, a neighbor, a family member, or a friend to get to the hospital to get to the ER. Abuses would be something like bringing your newborn into the pediatrician every day for the first 2 weeks of his/her life because you don't have to pay for your healthcare costs.

This happens in the US, too, because we DO have government subsidized health care already, and the abuses are phenomenal. So, to whoever said we need to have both, we already do have it. The problem is that it's not available to everyone, just the poor and the people who know how to abuse the system. So, in the US, if you're poor, you don't really have a barrier to healthcare cost. You have MedicAid and MediCare, and you also have the ER at any public hospital which is required to take in anyone who shows up at the doors regardless of their financial situation.

The argument here is probably really one of equality rather than availability. Joe Billionaire receives better care than Average Joe, who also receives worse care and has less options than Poor Old Joe. I'm not sure what the solution is for the US insurance system, but it's a bad sign when it's the middle of the road people (like me) who are making all the difficult choices and sacrifices.