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This epidemic makes obvious to the public what we have here in the US. The worst health care system of all developed nations and poor even compared to many developing ones. The only thing we are first at in health care is in how much we pay.
People keep asking why we can't be like South Korea. Face it; we are more like Italy than South Korea.
Really face it: we're worse off than Italy. We have less tests per capita than any civilized nation, and a Federal government that doesn't seem interested it treating a pandemic and more interested in nurturing stock portfolios.
While I may agree with you, I've always found this forum a great place to escape the political echo chambers of the major social media sites. There are people from a broad political spectrum on this site, and all should feel welcome here. We're Geeks. We're united in our geekdom.
I think a big part of the problem is that our health care system has been politicized and it shouldn't be. There should be frank discussions on how broken our health care system is and what we can do to fix it. Because it can be and should be fixed. Not only that, we all should be educated on how and why exactly it is broken and not just be told that it is. I'm not sure why there is a big fear of copying other countries. I think we should look at the potential health care systems out there and see what's the best and most realistic for us to emulate.
Taiwan offers an example of where they put politics aside to make healthcare better for all. It used to have a patchwork system much like the US. Now it's single payer for all. Their system has handled this epidemic better than most.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
The Florida governor has decided that anyone flying into Florida from New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut MUST self isolate and be tracked for 14 days. Wonder if that would nclude the President, who has his primary residence in Palm Beach?🙄
I love how Taiwan is handling it. Believe me, that's my country right there (btw did you know their VP is an epidemiologist?). But I think we have to be realistic that we're not going to be able to copy Taiwan right now. We should look at more realistic models, like South Korea or Japan. But this is just looking at how they're handling the outbreak so far. If you're talking about changing our entire health care system after this crisis is over, I don't think jumping into single payer is realistic right now. I think it's safer to change in smaller steps. We should look at a country like Germany who apparently have both a strong yet affordable public health care system and also private health insurance options who want better coverage. They have their universal health care coverage between their two types.
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have been able to handle covid the way they have is because of the health care systems they have. That infrastructure enabled them to tackle it. We don't have that infrastructure. So I don't see how we can do what they did.Taiwan has private health insurance. I can't think of a country with universal healthcare that doesn't. The UK has it. Even Canada has it. Having universal healthcare doesn't mean there isn't a private option. It just means that everyone is guarantee at least a certain level of health care.
I set groceries, and everything else, aside for 4 days. Even before this epidemic, I would set things aside. I would wash perishables like milk cartons before putting them into the fridge. Now I don't buy anything perishable. I miss bread. They don't ship it. I'm thinking about ordering a bread machine and a big bag of flour.
On a check-in note, I developed a bad fever on and off the last few days as well as a dry cough that comes and goes. Yesterday I was able to remote into work for 9 hours, but today I could barely sit up most of the day or get to my phone. There's a good chance I have it, since I've likely been exposed through my mum (nurse practitioner who is actively testing people in full gear through UCSD's express care facilities.) But I'm still holding onto hope it's just the flu and allergies at the same time.As soon as we got the order to stay at home and I got sick before then, I've been self-quarantining. I only leave my bed to get water, meds, food, and the bathroom.