Do you think all Irish children should have free health care?

brokenarms · 10-10-2012 10:34PM #1

Just up to the night doctor with a sick child.

Turned out to be nothing serious but we did not want to take the chance. And rightly so.

Got a bill of 65 euro.

So if parent had no money and had a badly sick child , would the doctor still see the kid? Or just let the child get sicker or worse.

Seems outrages to me that we cant provide free healthcare to our most precious of citizens . Yet we can keep every tom, dick and harry in a free house and dutch gold tokens.

Have we got our proprieties all wrong?

Chucky the tree · 10-10-2012 10:36PM

And have every parent straight up the doctor when ever their kid sneezes? No thanks.

Youssef Chippo · 10-10-2012 10:36PM

No! I don't have kids so why the fuck should I pay for someone elses?

El Weirdo · 10-10-2012 10:36PM

You were doing okay until you got to here:

brokenarms wrote: »

Yet we can keep every tom, dick and harry in a free house and dutch gold tokens.

Have we got our proprieties all wrong?

starbelgrade · 10-10-2012 10:36PM

Dey tuk ur babies.

admiralofthefleet · 10-10-2012 10:36PM

♫ I Believe The Children Are Our Future ♫

Fr_Dougal · 10-10-2012 10:37PM

If you cant afford to have children, don't have them.

Youssef Chippo · 10-10-2012 10:38PM

Where can I get some of these Dutch Gold tokens?

brokenarms · 10-10-2012 10:38PM

Chucky the tree wrote: »

And have every parent straight up the doctor when ever their kid sneezes? No thanks.

Ok. good point.

but even a reduced child price. They are alot smaller than a normal person

The King of Moo · 10-10-2012 10:39PM

*joke about your username being "brokenarms" and your post being about healthcare that I'm too tired to come up with, and is probably too obvious anyway*

shopaholic01 · 10-10-2012 10:39PM

I think children should have free health care - at least until they start school. Children suffer from various childhood illnesses (chicken pox etc) as they are exposed to new bacteria and viruses. A lot of new parents also don't know when they need to bring their child to the doctor, so err on the side of caution.

I have often wondered what a doctor would do if a patient couldn't afford their consultation. Surely they would be obliged to treat them - from an ethical point of view at least.

Skid · 10-10-2012 10:39PM

I would give all children free GP cards, and take the Medical cards off Wealthy Pensioners who don't need them. But that's just me.

pragmatic1 · 10-10-2012 10:39PM

I think every person regardless of age should be entitled to medical attention when its actually required. That doesn't mean whenever someone has a slight touch of the cold though. However those that can afford it should make a contribution.

Youssef Chippo · 10-10-2012 10:39PM

brokenarms wrote: »

even a reduced child price. They are alot smaller than a normal person

LOL

10-10-2012 10:42PM

You don't want to be getting your proprieties wrong.

El Weirdo · 10-10-2012 10:45PM

Youssef Chippo wrote: »

No! I don't have kids so why the fuck should I pay for someone elses?

Because they'll probably be paying for your pension when you're older.

The King of Moo · 10-10-2012 10:45PM

Aubrey Flabby Pennon wrote: »

You don't want to be getting your proprieties wrong.

I did that once. I said "my Lord" instead of "my Grace" to a king. Both of us nearly lost the head, in different ways.

brokenarms · 10-10-2012 10:46PM

El Weirdo wrote: »

Because they'll probably be paying for your pension when you're older.

Post of the day:pac::pac:

ladypip · 10-10-2012 10:47PM

There was a time that if Id needed to bring my son to the accident and emergency dept I couldn't have afforded it. There are people who aren't entitled to medical cards who would be under sever pressure if they needed to bring their children to the doc/ a&e. I do agree that every child should have access to medical care if they need it without their parents having to stress about the cost, while medical cards cater for non and minimal earners what about those people in the in low earning bracket who are just getting by maybe their children but not they themselves should be entitled to free medical treatment?

kneemos · 10-10-2012 10:47PM

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

If you cant afford to have children, don't have them.

Maybe he can't afford contraception.

Youssef Chippo · 10-10-2012 10:48PM

El Weirdo wrote: »

Because they'll probably be paying for your pension when you're older.

Well if I work say 40-50 years of my adult life I think I'd be paying for it myself.

Kurz · 10-10-2012 10:48PM

El Weirdo wrote: »

Because they'll probably be paying for your pension when you're older.

If you can't afford old age then don't have it!

Sauve · 10-10-2012 10:51PM

brokenarms wrote: »

Just up to the night doctor with a sick child.

Turned out to be nothing serious but we did not want to take the chance. And rightly so.

Got a bill of 65 euro.

So if parent had no money and had a badly sick child , would the doctor still see the kid? Or just let the child get sicker or worse.

Seems outrages to me that we cant provide free healthcare to our most precious of citizens . Yet we can keep every tom, dick and harry in a free house and dutch gold tokens.

Have we got our proprieties all wrong?

If you called out a plumber/electrician at this hour, you'd expet to pay a damn sight more than €65. Your child is sick, you want them better, €65 isn't a lot for that peace of mind surely?
I know it's still a lot of money that plenty of people haven't got lying around, don't get me wrong. Just for me, money for healthcare takes priority.
That said, and it's for another thread, but our healthcare system is extremely unfair. Not an ideal system by any means.

Chuck Stone · 10-10-2012 10:55PM

More GP's.

More Competition.

Cheaper to see the GP.

It's ~€21 to see a GP in Belgium.

Look at the way these sentences are forming a slope.

brokenarms · 10-10-2012 10:56PM

ladypip wrote: »

There was a time that if Id needed to bring my son to the accident and emergency dept I couldn't have afforded it. There are people who aren't entitled to medical cards who would be under sever pressure if they needed to bring their children to the doc/ a&e. I do agree that every child should have access to medical care if they need it without their parents having to stress about the cost, while medical cards cater for non and minimal earners what about those people in the in low earning bracket who are just getting by maybe their children but not they themselves should be entitled to free medical treatment?

That would be us. Both of us are making below average and I have just been layed off for a few weeks. We would probably fall into the bracket of those who would have the same money on the dole.
That 65 euro was for the shopping and will cut deep by the end of the week.

We can just about afford it. But wonder what would happen if we could not .

Say my son had appendicitis. lethal is not treated in time. Would they just let it get worse?

Sauve · 10-10-2012 11:04PM

brokenarms wrote: »

That would be us. Both of us are making below average and I have just been layed off for a few weeks. We would probably fall into the bracket of those who would have the same money on the dole.
That 65 euro was for the shopping and will cut deep by the end of the week.

We can just about afford it. But wonder what would happen if we could not .

Say my son had appendicitis. lethal is not treated in time. Would they just let it get worse?

I don't think there's a doctor in the country who would refuse to see your child if you straight up told them you couldn't afford to pay full price. I really hope I'm not wrong there.

It sounds like you should be entitled to a medical card if not a Doctor Visit card OP, going by your circumstances. Could be worth looking into.

ted1 · 10-10-2012 11:07PM

There needs to be some deterrent for parents who tun to the doctor with the slightest alment.

Witcher · 10-10-2012 11:08PM

Sauve wrote: »

I don't think there's a doctor in the country who would refuse to see your child if you straight up told them you couldn't afford to pay full price. I really hope I'm not wrong there.

+1

My own doctor has a sign up saying that all bills have to be paid in full before leaving but I know for a fact he allows people that just don't have the money to run up tabs and pay off them..it's just the tight fcukers that have it and won't pay that he has the sign up for.

123balltv · 10-10-2012 11:09PM

€60 for a gp no wonder we're the fifth most expensive country in the EU :mad:
I wish we had an NHS at least the English get free healthcare through
their taxes we get nothing but receipts from banks

Sauve · 10-10-2012 11:11PM

ted1 wrote: »

There needs to be some deterrent for parents who tun to the doctor with the slightest alment.

Agreed. This is a huge problem in the UK, with the NHS system. They introduced the MAS (minor-ailment-service) in Scotland, whereby pharmacists could prescribe from a very limited list of medications for things such as coughs, colds, eczema, athletes foot etc.
It helped in that it took a lot of pressure from the GPs', but caused a massive headache for pharmacy staff. I don't know if it's settled now, as I haven't worked there in about 5 years, but it definitely wasn't the cure-all that was expected.

bleg · 10-10-2012 11:36PM

How are you going to convince people to work for free?

You mean the parents don't have to pay and the state picks up the tab instead.

No way.

Do you think all Irish children should have free health care?

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