I Can't Wait For Government Run Health-Care!!!

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  • VINNY GOOMBA
    VINNY GOOMBA Posts: 1,825
    jlew24asu wrote:


    btw - another big part of the equation outside of REMOVING the FOR PROFIT portion of healthcare, which would save probably billions in not more....is this:

    profit drives innovation. I do not want that taken out of the healthcare system

    my current contribition towards my healthplan = new healthcare tax
    my employer's current contribution towards my healthcare = new helathcare tax
    current employer's who do not offer any healthcare coverage = new healthcare tax
    those without any coverage but employed = new healthcare tax

    this is the EXACT opposite of what I'd like to see in America. higher taxes for all to support a system controlled by one incompetent entity.

    see?
    many, many more contribute towards healthcare costs for ALL.....so not "free"...but sure, free for some. but the VASt majority will pay into the system, perhaps even LESs than what we pay in now b/c more streamlined, no private insurance BS, no profit.....that we could afford to offer healthcare to those who truly need it but can't afford it on their own. it is NOT a definite that we actually will pay more, at all...just WHO we pay will change. no more insurance company, and all towards healthcare services.

    ah if it were only this easy. FORCING companies to pay health coverage via tax would drive many of them out of business.



    if that were 100% true, why does the government fund so much medical research? it's NOT all about profits to be innovative.


    again, it may be higher taxes...but it is NOT more out of pocket expense, it may well could be less. but the idea needs to be researched. as to the 'incompetent entity'........government sure as shit runs a LOT of things, and while i am not saying they deserve gold stars for all they do :P.....it's not all inept, and nor does it HAVE to be, either. change is possible.

    again - not saying it is 'that easy'....b/c obviously i am oversimplifying simply to show it is doable. as to forcing companies to pay taxes towards healthcare....again, if they are trading their current contributions instead to taxes, same difference no? as to some smaller companies.....perhaps it would be too big of a burden, but of course...i am making a broad outline here. obviously, like anything else...there would have to be limits and exceptions, etc....but yes.......overall, they are making their $$$ off of americans, so sure, they should contribute to the health of americans. again, while i am not 100% sure, i do imagine foreign companies contribute tax towards UHC, and again, they manage to stay profitable.

    we need to follow a new model...CREATE a new model. it IS possible. that's all i am saying.......




    vinny, vinny, vinny....cmon now......as ed would say: hope. hope is the underdog! :mrgreen:
    work with me here, try and imagine things differently....and positive. again, it is possible....... 8-)

    I feel ya! I'm all about hope! I'm Catholic, I like Ron Paul, and I'm practically a one man in a handful-sized army against the Fed! I got hope down pretty well :D
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    jlew24asu wrote:
    since when when would I be able to choose any doctor I wanted? I would only have access to the doctors the government pays.
    :? So when the government pays all the doctors, you'll have access to everyone.
    jlew24asu wrote:
    my private insurance company gives me more then enough choices.
    Many people don't share your feelings about this. Additionally, continuity of care is interrupted when people are repeatedly forced to change doctors due to changes of employment or employers who change insurance companies - usually without giving any choice to the employees. This lack of continuity just ends up making healthcare more expensive.
  • Commy
    Commy Posts: 4,984
    jlew24asu wrote:
    profit drives innovation. I do not want that taken out of the healthcare system
    innovation may not be a good thing.


    a company might find a cure for a mental illness....take the magic pill and you're all better.


    an innovative capitalist might realize that after the guy takes the magic pill, he stops giving the company his money.


    with profit motivating companies, its not in their best interest to cure patients. its in their best interest to deal with the symptoms, to mask them, to never really treat the actual illness.


    a guy that has to buy pills for the rest of his life to deal with symptoms is the perfect scenario for these pharmaceutical companies.


    mask the symptoms, but never deal with the disease.



    that's what a profit motivated health care system encourages.
  • Kel Varnsen
    Kel Varnsen Posts: 1,952
    my current contribition towards my healthplan = new healthcare tax
    my employer's current contribution towards my healthcare = new helathcare tax
    current employer's who do not offer any healthcare coverage = new healthcare tax
    those without any coverage but employed = new healthcare tax


    I think the beauty of the universal system we have in Canada is that it means I won't delay getting something looked at by a doctor because of financial reasons. I mean right now say I have a bad cough that won't go away after a few weeks. Since I have universal health care I can make an appointment with my doctor, or go to a clinic to get it looked at without worrying if I can afford to pay. If it is nothing then great, but if it is something serious they can catch it early when treatment is easy and cheap (meaning it doens't cost them much time to say write a prescription and I don't lose work time). Now if I had a cough for two weeks and going to the doctor meant either paying some kind of deductable or paying the whole cost myself I, like a lot of people, would probably put it off. And if it was something serious putting it off could mean more difficult treatment once I do seek medical attention, possible time spent in a hospital (which means more time and expense paying doctors and other professionals) and more lost work time for me.
  • Kel Varnsen
    Kel Varnsen Posts: 1,952
    Commy wrote:
    and why do meds cost 50% less in Canada? Or 90% less in Cuba?

    A big reason drugs are cheaper in Canada is because they are not allowed to run on TV those damn annoying prescription drug ads that look like they cost a fortune to produce but don't actually tell you what the drug is for.
  • Austicman
    Austicman Posts: 1,328
    Commy wrote:
    innovation may not be a good thing.


    a company might find a cure for a mental illness....take the magic pill and you're all better.


    an innovative capitalist might realize that after the guy takes the magic pill, he stops giving the company his money.


    with profit motivating companies, its not in their best interest to cure patients. its in their best interest to deal with the symptoms, to mask them, to never really treat the actual illness.


    a guy that has to buy pills for the rest of his life to deal with symptoms is the perfect scenario for these pharmaceutical companies.


    mask the symptoms, but never deal with the disease.



    that's what a profit motivated health care system encourages.

    I know its not the best source to reference but I remember Jay Leno saying that he had a friend who was in a motorcycle accident and broke his leg. He had the leg set and was in hospital overnight and released the next day. The bill for this $24,000!!! That utterly ridiculess. There's profit and there's blatant rips offs like this. While your paying this much for a simple op and a night in hospital there will never be UHC in the USA. Where is the majority or this money going?
    I can't go the library anymore, everyone STINKS!!
  • catefrances
    catefrances Posts: 29,003
    I've heard the "it works in other countries" line, too. And maybe it does.

    However, I was recently on a flight home from New York, seated next to a guy from England. We get to talking, as often happens on cross-country flights, and he told me he was on his way to the States for knee replacement surgery.

    He wasn't going to get it back home, because there was a three-year waiting list. His doctor told him he needed the operation. If he didn't get it, the pain would quickly move from "uncomfortable" to "unbearable" to "excruciating."

    But to get it from the government, he'd have to wait three years.

    He said screw it. He'd pay for it himself and get it now. In the United States.

    I know this is just one man's story. Maybe government-run health care works for some people. But I look around at everything else the government gets its fingers in. Without fail, everything they touch turns to shit.

    I'm fine with the health plan I have now. I don't need or want the government's.

    when the system that rules the world is based on profit then its the people who lose. be it education or health or whatever you want to fill the blank with.
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  • jlew24asu
    jlew24asu Posts: 10,118
    edited May 2009
    jlew24asu wrote:
    my current contribition towards my healthplan = new healthcare tax
    my employer's current contribution towards my healthcare = new helathcare tax
    current employer's who do not offer any healthcare coverage = new healthcare tax
    those without any coverage but employed = new healthcare tax

    this is the EXACT opposite of what I'd like to see in America. higher taxes for all to support a system controlled by one incompetent entity.

    I don't think you're reading the suggestion right. The point is, we ALREADY pay money for our health insurance, as do our employers. So most people won't see any loss. The difference is that the money employers and employees currently pay into insurance programs goes into the national health care program. Also, medicare and medicaid would be gone. No need to fund them separately. They both would be rolled into the new plan, so the taxes we pay now into those programs (as seen on your tax statement) would go to the national health care plan instead. No new taxes. Just redirecting money we already pay into this new program while phasing out old ones.


    maybe I'm not. but heres the difference. me and my employers pay our health insurance voluntarily. there was a stretch of my life where I had none. I knocked on wood that I didnt need to go to the Dr. was that smart? no. but it was my choice. and also, no one requires my employer to subsidized 80% of my insurance. they do it mostly to stay competitive for good workers.

    what do you think will happen with the government starts forcing itself on everyone and every business to come up with its share of healthcare tax? fuck that.

    you people ( ;) ) seem to think we are just going to easily shift around Trillions of dollars and let our government completely control our healthcare system and maintain top quality of care. we are agree to disagree. I just dont think its that easy or the right thing to do.

    I do however think things can be improved. they always can. respect.
    Post edited by jlew24asu on
  • catefrances
    catefrances Posts: 29,003
    edited May 2009
    jlew24asu wrote:
    maybe I'm not. but heres the difference. me and my employers pay our health insurance voluntarily. there was a stretch of my life where I had none. I knocked on wood that I didnt need to go to the Dr. was that smart? no. but it was my choice. and also, no one requires my employer to subsidized 80% of my insurance. they do it mostly to stay competitive for good workers.

    what do you think will happen with the government starts forcing itself on everyone and every business to come up with its share of healthcare tax? fuck that.

    you people ( ;) ) seem to think we are just going to easily shift around Trillions of dollars and let our government completely control our healthcare system and maintain top quality of care. we are agree to disagree. I just dont think its that easy or the right thing to do.

    I do however think things can be improved. they always can.

    hmmm... this makes me ponder what exactly you think your government is responsible for.

    for me government means providing for those who cant. and to me thats the majority.

    i have never been insured in my life. but then again i dont get sick (touch wood). but dont get me wrong i have had need for the public health system. usually when ive given birth. i walked out of my local hospital with a healthy child(on 4 occasions). and no bills. and for that i am thankful. there have been other times. and those other times have included the health of my son(which is ongoing). i accept the system isnt perfect. but i dont jump up and down and scream about its inadequacies. i accept them and know that what has to be done cant be done when I want it to be done, but when the system allows it. maybe as an australian i have a different mindset. it never ceases to amaze me that americans who supposedly have a government for the people and of the people, they are hesitant to embrace it or even allow it work for them. as i said before, what is it you think your government should be responsible for??? surely it must be more than 'national' security and collecting taxes.
    Post edited by catefrances on
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
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  • Kel Varnsen
    Kel Varnsen Posts: 1,952
    jlew24asu wrote:
    maybe I'm not. but heres the difference. me and my employers pay our health insurance voluntarily. there was a stretch of my life where I had none. I knocked on wood that I didnt need to go to the Dr. was that smart? no. but it was my choice. and also, no one requires my employer to subsidized 80% of my insurance. they do it mostly to stay competitive for good workers.

    So in that case, when you had no insurance what would have happened if you were in a serious accident where you were taken to a hospital, had surgery and spend considerable time in an ICU before dying. With no insurance it would basically be up to the hospital to pick up the tab for potentially millions of dollars of medical care, in a system you weren't even helping to pay for. Considering hospitals can't turn away people how is that a fair system? You say it is your choice but you are basically counting on other people to give you a free ride if something catastrophic happens.
  • jlew24asu
    jlew24asu Posts: 10,118
    jlew24asu wrote:
    maybe I'm not. but heres the difference. me and my employers pay our health insurance voluntarily. there was a stretch of my life where I had none. I knocked on wood that I didnt need to go to the Dr. was that smart? no. but it was my choice. and also, no one requires my employer to subsidized 80% of my insurance. they do it mostly to stay competitive for good workers.

    what do you think will happen with the government starts forcing itself on everyone and every business to come up with its share of healthcare tax? fuck that.

    you people ( ;) ) seem to think we are just going to easily shift around Trillions of dollars and let our government completely control our healthcare system and maintain top quality of care. we are agree to disagree. I just dont think its that easy or the right thing to do.

    I do however think things can be improved. they always can.

    hmmm... this makes me ponder what exactly you think your government is responsible for.

    to protect us for foreign threats, write and enforce laws, and provide services
    for me government means providing for those who cant. and to me thats the majority.

    I strongly disagree. this is America we are talking about the MAJORITY are doing just fine.
    i have never been insured in my life. but then again i dont get sick (touch wood). but dont get me wrong i have had need for the public health system. usually when ive given birth. i walked out of my local hospital with a healthy child(on 4 occasions). and no bills. and for that i am thankful. there have been other times.

    why have you never had insurance? are you physically able to work? why should I be forced to subsize your hospital bills? (although I would support subsidized child birth costs, granted the best care stays available)
    and those other times have included the health of my son(which is ongoing).

    this I would support. I believe we should have a similar system to Medicare but for children. I believe all children should qualify, at the very least, for assistance to healthcare costs.
    i accept the system isnt perfect. but i dont jump up and down and scream about its inadequacies. i accept them and know that what has to be done cant be done when I want it to be done, but when the system allows it. maybe as an australian i have a different mindset. it never ceases to amaze me that americans who supposedly have a government for the people and of the people, they are hesitant to embrace it or even allow it work for them. as i said before, what is it you think your government should be responsible for??? surely it must be more than 'national' security and collecting taxes.

    no, thats about it. your country has about 21 million people, thats about half the size of California. America is LARGE. its not as easy to provide care for 300 million people, and do it with high quality that we have come to demand and expect.
  • jlew24asu
    jlew24asu Posts: 10,118
    jlew24asu wrote:
    maybe I'm not. but heres the difference. me and my employers pay our health insurance voluntarily. there was a stretch of my life where I had none. I knocked on wood that I didnt need to go to the Dr. was that smart? no. but it was my choice. and also, no one requires my employer to subsidized 80% of my insurance. they do it mostly to stay competitive for good workers.

    So in that case, when you had no insurance what would have happened if you were in a serious accident where you were taken to a hospital, had surgery and spend considerable time in an ICU before dying. With no insurance it would basically be up to the hospital to pick up the tab for potentially millions of dollars of medical care, in a system you weren't even helping to pay for. Considering hospitals can't turn away people how is that a fair system? You say it is your choice but you are basically counting on other people to give you a free ride if something catastrophic happens.

    bullshit. I would have been stuck with those bills.
  • Kel Varnsen
    Kel Varnsen Posts: 1,952
    jlew24asu wrote:
    jlew24asu wrote:
    maybe I'm not. but heres the difference. me and my employers pay our health insurance voluntarily. there was a stretch of my life where I had none. I knocked on wood that I didnt need to go to the Dr. was that smart? no. but it was my choice. and also, no one requires my employer to subsidized 80% of my insurance. they do it mostly to stay competitive for good workers.

    So in that case, when you had no insurance what would have happened if you were in a serious accident where you were taken to a hospital, had surgery and spend considerable time in an ICU before dying. With no insurance it would basically be up to the hospital to pick up the tab for potentially millions of dollars of medical care, in a system you weren't even helping to pay for. Considering hospitals can't turn away people how is that a fair system? You say it is your choice but you are basically counting on other people to give you a free ride if something catastrophic happens.

    bullshit. I would have been stuck with those bills.

    How exactly does a person pay bills when they are dead?
  • Byrnzie
    Byrnzie Posts: 21,037
    jlew24asu wrote:
    this is America we are talking about the MAJORITY are doing just fine.

    What a great attitude to have. Why not just say 'Fuck the poor'?
    jlew24asu wrote:
    America is LARGE. its not as easy to provide care for 300 million people, and do it with high quality that we have come to demand and expect.

    We've managed it in England for 60 years.
  • jlew24asu
    jlew24asu Posts: 10,118

    How exactly does a person pay bills when they are dead?

    o sorry I missed that. well in the case of dying, yes I suppose they would be stuck with the bill. although I wouldnt be surprised if the hospital had lawyers go after my estate.

    but had I had surgery and spend considerable time in an ICU and lived.... I would get the bill. not everyone who goes to the hospital dies ya know. ;)
  • Byrnzie
    Byrnzie Posts: 21,037
    Has everyone here seen 'Sicko'?

    Brilliant documentary by American Conservatism's favourite whipping boy.
  • jlew24asu
    jlew24asu Posts: 10,118
    edited May 2009
    Byrnzie wrote:
    jlew24asu wrote:
    this is America we are talking about the MAJORITY are doing just fine.

    What a great attitude to have. Why not just say 'Fuck the poor'?

    what the fuck does this have to do with anything? I'm simply making the point the the majority of people can provide for themselves. cate suggested the MAJORITY can not.


    thanks for stopping by.
    jlew24asu wrote:
    America is LARGE. its not as easy to provide care for 300 million people, and do it with high quality that we have come to demand and expect.
    Byrnzie wrote:
    We've managed it in England for 60 years.

    again and again with this baseless argument. "well England did it" "well Cuba does it" turn the page in the playbook. England, like most countries and a small % the size of America
    Post edited by jlew24asu on
  • jlew24asu
    jlew24asu Posts: 10,118
    Byrnzie wrote:
    Has everyone here seen 'Sicko'?

    Brilliant documentary by American Conservatism's favourite whipping boy.

    very bias and misleading documentary by a very dishonest person. he is the whipping boy of every side here in America.

    http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=14730

    "SICKO" SERVES UP HEALTH CARE LIES

    Congressional leaders who have spent decades promoting a government-run health care system for the United States are abuzz about Michael Moore's new film, "Sicko," hoping it will sway a new generation of voters to support their agenda.

    But heaven forbid that Congress would wind up making policy based upon propaganda -- because that is exactly what would happen if anyone were to base any health reform proposals on Moore's film, says Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute.

    * For example, Moore ignores the limits, restrictions on access, and rationing of care in single-payer health care systems in Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
    * In Canada, more than 800,000 people are on waiting lists for surgery and other medical treatment, with some forced to wait months or even years for the care they need.

    One of Moore's core arguments is that profit in the health sector is evil and that we should rid our health care system of private "for-profit" physician practices, hospitals and suppliers. He and other single-payer advocates are convinced that a generous and benevolent government would put doctors and hospitals back in charge of decisions. But this isn't the case, says Turner:

    * In our own government-run health care systems -- Medicare, Medicaid and the Department of Veteran Affairs - government micromanagement and price controls are the norm.
    * Government makes decisions about what will be covered, under what circumstances and for whom, and how much doctors and hospitals will be paid for their services.
    * And government seldom gets it right -- overpaying for some and underpaying for others, but also inducing over-consumption of health care.

    Source: Grace-Marie Turner, "Marie Turner: `Sicko' serves up health care lies," Pasadena Star News, July 4, 2007.
  • catefrances
    catefrances Posts: 29,003
    hmmm... this makes me ponder what exactly you think your government is responsible for.
    jlew24asu wrote:
    to protect us for foreign threats, write and enforce laws, and provide services

    for me.. health care is a service. is it not??
    for me government means providing for those who cant. and to me thats the majority.

    jlew24asu wrote:
    I strongly disagree. this is America we are talking about the MAJORITY are doing just fine.

    do you know that for sure or are you just speculating cause YOU are doing ok??
    i have never been insured in my life. but then again i dont get sick (touch wood). but dont get me wrong i have had need for the public health system. usually when ive given birth. i walked out of my local hospital with a healthy child(on 4 occasions). and no bills. and for that i am thankful. there have been other times.

    jlew24asu wrote:
    why have you never had insurance? are you physically able to work? why should I be forced to subsize your hospital bills? (although I would support subsidized child birth costs, granted the best care stays available)

    nope. never. we all pay taxes. why should we be forced to pay more for servies that should be available to evry single person within the country. why should the health system be made available on the proviso that it make a profit??
    and those other times have included the health of my son(which is ongoing).

    this I would support. I believe we should have a similar system to Medicare but for children. I believe all children should qualify, at the very least, for assistance to healthcare costs.
    i accept the system isnt perfect. but i dont jump up and down and scream about its inadequacies. i accept them and know that what has to be done cant be done when I want it to be done, but when the system allows it. maybe as an australian i have a different mindset. it never ceases to amaze me that americans who supposedly have a government for the people and of the people, they are hesitant to embrace it or even allow it work for them. as i said before, what is it you think your government should be responsible for??? surely it must be more than 'national' security and collecting taxes.

    jlew24asu wrote:
    no, thats about it. your country has about 21 million people, thats about half the size of California. America is LARGE. its not as easy to provide care for 300 million people, and do it with high quality that we have come to demand and expect.

    yep i know how many poeple my country has. and i know how many people your country has. imo it is that easy.its all about management. your country and mine waste so much money on security(and other bullshit) and yet when it comes to their people, they couldnt be bothered. why is that???
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  • Byrnzie
    Byrnzie Posts: 21,037
    jlew24asu wrote:
    this is America we are talking about the MAJORITY are doing just fine.

    The Dead Kennedy's - Kill The Poor

    Efficiency and progress is ours once more
    Now that we have the Neutron bomb
    It's nice and quick and clean and gets things done
    Away with excess enemy
    But no less value to property
    No sense in war but perfect sense at home:

    The sun beams down on a brand new day
    No more welfare tax to pay
    Unsightly slums gone up in flashing light
    Jobless millions whisked away
    At last we have more room to play
    All systems go to kill the poor tonight

    Gonna
    Kill kill kill kill Kill the poor:Tonight

    Behold the sparkle of champagne
    The crime rate's gone
    Feel free again
    O' life's a dream with you, Miss Lily White
    Jane Fonda on the screen today
    Convinced the liberals it's okay
    So let's get dressed and dance away the night

    While they:
    Kill kill kill kill Kill the poor:Tonight