Antman013 t1_je83uok wrote on March 30, 2023 at 2:23 AM

Reply to comment by TheBananaKing in ELI5: What is Universal Healthcare by Thegreatcornholio459

To expand on this . . . universal healthcare is funded by tax revenues. And the idea is to provide every citizen with the same level of ACCESS to treatment, regardless of income level, or other personal details.

That said, while ACCESS is universal, there is a certain level of "rationing" that will occur.

I am Canadian and, whether that rationing takes the form of certain treatments and/or procedures NOT being covered by the system, or having to wait an exceptionally long time for a procedure that IS covered, it does exist.

For example, it was determined my sister needed a knee replacement, as her joint was bone on bone. After a referral and consultation, her surgery was scheduled . . . almost a year later. So, she had to wait 11 months, while her knee was shot, and causing her no small amount of discomfort, in order to have the situation dealt with.

Now, granted, it WAS dealt with . . . but some feel these wait times aren't acceptable.

RibsNGibs t1_je8zwfa wrote on March 30, 2023 at 8:16 AM

Most countries ration by need. The US rations by wealth. The former is obviously morally and ethically right.

And usually in countries with universal healthcare you still have the option of buying private insurance on top, which is usually super cheap (because universal healthcare takes care of almost everything anyway) but gets you faster care if you need it.

Antman013 t1_je96nlf wrote on March 30, 2023 at 9:55 AM

I wish that were possible in mine.

BigBearSpecialFish t1_je93u71 wrote on March 30, 2023 at 9:14 AM

I think rationing is a bit of a dubious word to describe it. In both public and private healthcare you have limited healthcare resources split across the public so "rationing" occurs either way. The real difference is that in public healthcare it's rationed by the severity of your condition while on private it's rationed by the size of your wallet.

If a private system would've allowed your sister to get treated faster, then it would likely mean that whoever was ahead of her in the queue for public health treatment (and thus had a more severe condition), is now losing out on treatment instead

Antman013 t1_je96h5m wrote on March 30, 2023 at 9:53 AM

It's rationed by the funding, too. Lack of funding is why ORs sit unused while patients wait. Restrictions on entry to med schools is why too.