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William Shatner Main Discussion - Oregon's healthcare lottery

britstarfan - Mar 31, 2008 - 09:11 PM
Post subject: Oregon's healthcare lottery

In what is believed to be the first such move, a US state is running a lottery in which the prize is health insurance

With some 45 million Americans uninsured, how to pay for medical treatment is a big issue in this year's presidential election.

Now officials in Oregon say they have come up with a fair way of providing coverage for some of those who cannot afford it.

Louanne says she is looking for full-time employment but, she adds, her earnings through freelance work will not buy enough health insurance for the treatment she needs. For her the state healthcare lottery offers an uneasy solution. "It's a symbol of how degraded our system is in this country that we are resorting to a lottery," she tells me.

"It's pathetic and repugnant at the same time... [but it's] a necessity because I don't earn thousands each month."

More than 90,000 in Oregon are vying for a maximum of 10,000 places in the state's healthcare plan.Yet it is a drop in the ocean. There are some 600,000 uninsured in Oregon.

In community clinic in downtown Portland, doctors see 7,000 different patients a year, 90% of whom have no health insurance. The clinic's director, John Duke, says the lottery provides hope for the few who are picked but is indicative of a wider problem.

"I think it says it's a pretty sad state of the health care system in Oregon and in the nation as a whole," he says. "I think the system is falling apart and it needs some radical deep change.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7321500.stm

thoughts?

Cat - Apr 01, 2008 - 06:16 AM
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Originally Oregon was supposed to be the first state to offer Universal Health Care for everyone. Yeah, right. It didn't work out, and I found that the doctors/hospitals I went to in Oregon were actually cracking down on the uninsured.

I agree that something needs to be done about healthcare, but a lottery just really seems a creepy way to do it. There are those without health care, especially young people, who chose not to have it, although they could afford it. And then there are those who really need it, and don't have the money. To me, either offer it to everyone or find another way, but if you have to choose only a few, then give it to the ones who can truly not afford it, and need it the most.

If they haven't been able to make it work for one state, how do the candidates promising "change", plan to make it work for the entire country?? Rolling Eyes

Mirizor - Apr 01, 2008 - 09:38 AM
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Cat wrote:

By taking away the hard earned money that the more well to do make?

vampyregirl - Apr 02, 2008 - 01:45 AM
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Here's an idea: have the govt force the hospitals and doctors to stop charging so damn much for services!!! That's part of the problem.

Eliminate frivilous malpractice lawsuits. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of legitimate ones out there, but there are also a lot of b.s. ones too. Kick them out of court from the get-go. Then malpractice insurance would go down. Then they could start charging less for services.

It's a vicious circle......

TheWebMan - Apr 02, 2008 - 04:51 PM
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Get rid of insurance, they spend more money fighting claims, promoting propaganda about frivolous lawsuits, and lobbying than they do actually fulfilling their obligations.