Thursday, February 27, 2020

Have You Thought About This?

The CDC has warned Americans that a wide-spread outbreak of coronavirus infections is "inevitable". 

The results of such outbreak can hardly be imagined by anyone.
Why is the chance of an outbreak in the U.S. inevitable?

Here is why: 14.6% (roughly 50mill.) of all Americans live under the poverty level. many of those have no place to live and sleep. They sleep in cars and tents or under cardboard on the curb. If any of these people get infected with Covid-19, they will get very sick. Their attempt of going to a hospital for getting tested will be in vain. Hospitals have already charged more than $3500 pr. test. Needless to say the poor of America will not even go there. They have no health insurance and they certainly don't have the funds to pay out of pocket. Instead, they will have to suffer through the infection and many will die. BUT during their period of suffering they will spread the virus to the next person on the bus or if they are lucky enough to have a shelter, to the other shelter residents and shelter staff. And from the bus and the shelter it will be transmitted to hundreds of other people.
And so far, I have only mentioned the testing. What about having these people in quarantine? Who pays for that? Where are they gonna be accommodated during quarantine? And if scientists should really come up with a vaccine before it is too late, who is gonna get it? We already know that there will never be enough of it for the entire US-population of 320mill. It will be the old and weak people, those who have a reduced immune defense and general health issues who will die.

The spesific problem here will be that America's failing health care system has only been created for the economically well-off people, while those who could not afford private health insurance have fallen through the cracks. The fact that the poor have always been suffering under this cruel system might not have bothered you, but this time it has the ability to bite you real bad. When your kids come home one day with what you might think is a cold but it really isn't, when your aging parents start coughing after they volunteered at the food bank, well then it might come to you that it might have been better to have a system in place which would allow everybody to get tested and taken care off before the virus had been spread through-out your community.

This November you will have a chance to change the future of health care in America. Your vote can oust private health insurance and get it replaced with a single-payer health care like many other countries have had it for decades.

In Canada, the federal government passed the Medical Care Act in 1966, which offered to reimburse, or cost share, one-half of provincial and territorial costs for medical services provided by a doctor outside hospitals. Within six years, all the provinces and territories had universal physician services insurance plans. 
Depending on which province we live in we don't pay a dime for our health care. That's right ...not a dime. Only 3 provinces are charging a minor premium amount pr. month.
Yet supplemental private health insurance plans are still available. Examples are eye care and dental plans. Medical prescription plans are also available.

So here in Canada, whether I sleep under a bridge, in my car or I have a nice house, I could go to my health center and ask for a coronavirus test any day and if tested positive, I would be put in quarantine at no charge. I would also get available care and possible treatment at no cost. It must be clear to even the dumbest person, that this will be the most efficient way of combating a pandemic like Covid-19.


3 comments:

  1. Not to worry,here in the states we have the orange messiah who will deliver us from this terrible disease,,,,,as soon as the stock market drops another 2000 points.
    I can remember when the U.S would join a coalition of foreign scientists and governments to find a vaccine,

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  2. You are right, Peter! Especially in a time when prevention should be the utmost priority and jeopardizing public health is never an option. The recent outbreak of coronavirus is very scary indeed and it is a request to everyone using the public transport system to don the required gears to protect themselves.

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  3. The coronavirus has spread its wings in the American Continent and it has created much havoc. Health insurance is the best way to tackle health issues and am not sure how helpful the current one in case of covid.

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