Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Amendment Blog Post

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Amendment 2

This basically means any American citizen (obviously of certain age, skill, etc.) are able to carry a gun with them if they want.  I think this is important because no one should walk around fearing for their life or wishing they had a gun after an incident.  Obviously, there need to be requirements met in order to obtain a permit, but those who want to, should be able to carry a gun with them as a means of protection.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Health Care

United Kingdom:
Family premium- none
co-payments- little to none
Gov provides and pays for health care
Administrative costs low


Japan:
Family premium- $280/month
co-payments- 30% of total cost of procedure (related to income)
All citizens required to have health insurance
Set prices for procedures every 2 years

Germany:
Family premium- $750/month
co-payments- 10 euros ($15) every month
choose insurance from one of 200 funds
Can't deny coverage of anyone

Taiwan:
Family premium- $650/yr for family of 4
co-payments- 20% of cost of drugs
Must have insurance, only 1 gov-run insurer
lowest administrative costs in the world

Switzerland:
Family premium- $750
co-payments- 10% of cost of services, up to $420/yr
insurers negotiate prices with providers
Must have insurance


Percentage of Gross Domestic Production Spent on Health Care
Japan- 8%
United Kingdom- 8.3%
Germany- 10.7%
Switzerland- 11.6%
United States- 15.3%

The United Kingdom's health care system seems to work well for them, and it makes sense why.  The fact that co-pays and premiums are zero is very appealing to anyone, I would think, as money is not something that everyone has plenty of.  I think it's smart to have citizen taxes go towards health care, as it helps benefit everyone, unlike in the U.S., where everyone's taxes are going toward free health care for the poor, instead of helping themselves out.  People would be more willing to have health care if they didn't have to "directly" pay for it.