Health Care

Katie Couric was the news tonight featuring nearly 100 people on the Transplant list that have been dropped because of state health care cuts. Three have already died! All I can say is if you want to drink your liver to oblivion or have some misfortunate illness you had better move to Canada!

I opposes any government attempt to take over the health care system and I believes that the costs of health care are out of control and that free market-based reform is needed. I supports a system in which each individual privately manages his or her own health care, free from government control and interference; I believes that by allowing more competition in the health care industry, supply can be increased and costs lowered.

Long over due. Why the US was the "last" industrialized country to make healthcare affordable for it's society is beyond me. I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of getting the insurance company "run around" and denial. Meanwhile, some fat cat exec at State Farm sits on his fat ass in some air-conditioned office, bragging about his new Mercedes Benz, while making $10 million a year. Kind of makes you wonder why your bill is so high doesn't it.

Updated 03/30/2010 Hey the Constitution is a piece of paper that was put in place for the right reason! Times change and so do people. (as does law!) Just as the Bible is a standard for the Christians. So is the Constitution for the American people!!! As the times move on and the langue & law changes, so will the WORKING constitution! Healthcare reform is facing the same problem as when Taxes were introduced to this country and were deemed unconstitutional and illegal!!! How has the healthcare/insurance been serving the constitution legally for the people? It hasn’t and allot of people have either gone without or died! Is that right????? I'm not a believer in free healthcare for all but I do believe in equality of healthcare!!! That is what I feel the bill is trying to attempt to do!! Updated 03/23/2010 Now I understand that a few believe that the current system is better than the alternative, but just one question to all those who oppose; Can you afford your insurance at the mo? I p... Read more

Bah, all I know is that I get to shoulder the burden of this monster that I didn't want. If any enlightened thinkers want to tell me some sunshine and lollypops fairy tale about how the rich are going pay higher taxes, you can put your lollypop in your ass right next to where congress stuck it to you with this bill. I also know full damn well that with my current level of coverage being zero, it will stay at zero until some retarded coverage mandate forces me into the system on terms I don't control. Oh, sign me the fuck up for that. Wait, don't sign me up. What's that? Fuck, now I gotta pay a fine? I have no money for that. Oh well, its off the fuckin' Gulag for numbah...

I believe America needs Health Care reform, but it needs to be done correctly. Amid the innumerable earmarks and budget cuts to Medicare, the bill isn't the ideal way to solving our national health care problems. Not to mention that it will substantially increase the already enormous (biggest U.S. history) deficit. I also have an problem with the fact that the bill will fund abortion. President Obama issued an executive order banning abortion funding with tax payer money, but executive orders expire from administration to administration. In other words, we will not fund abortions until Obama is out of office. The Republicans had their time in the spotlight and now Dems are actually doing something by taking over much of the public sector (Auto, bank or home loans, student loans, and now health care). The government is growing and so is the deficit. And let's be honest, guys, this is more than the 30 million uninsured, this is the socialization of Hea... Read more

Cut through all the nonsense and general alarmist rubbish that surrounds this subject and what you get is an overdue attempt to change healthcare from a privilege to a ‘Right’. People talk about “can we afford to pay for the 30 million who currently are not covered? But who do you think currently pays every time that person who gets sick and goes to hospital - ANSWER - WE DO through higher charges etc. So all we are doing is formalizing it - it’s not extra expense it’s just being truthful about money we already spend. Then we get the Socialism charge. Meaningless words like "socialism' are and have been thrown around every time changes like this are proposed. Medicare was not socialism, Medicaid was not socialism, Social Security was called socialism yet each time they were called socialism by those objecting. Thankfully time has changed that view as it will with this bill. Lastly we get to the “Your eroding my freedom” chant? True freedom is freedom from fear, freedom f... Read more

in america they'll cure you fast!!!! but if you don't have insurance they'll charge 600$ per stitch and 900$(total) to take em out

Now, for the first time on RIA, the dark and hidden side of the real Health Care issue... The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cAmerican Refugees Seek Health Care in Mexicowww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorHealth Care Crisis

Update for those of you crying Constitutional Foul: On the Constitutionality of a Health-Care Mandate 538 response to John Lofton's question: "Where in the Constitution, sir, do you see it authorized that Congress can be involved with "health care," or fund "health care"? I am asking here about the Constitution, not any court rulings. Thank you." Posted November 24, 2009: In another testament to the unacceptable inequities in our broken heath care system, if you're uninsured, you're more likely to die in the ER, according to a new study released by Harvard. That's right....I said die...about 80% more likely, in fact. Posted October 22, 2009: Apparently rape is the latest "pre-existing condition." What's next?

I'm all for socialized medicine.I have friends in other countries who swear by it.I believe it should be OPTIONAL.If you don't want it,fine.However,I also believe that the whole system needs to change.Ridgewalker is 100% right in his statement that Doctors are way too beholden to the very corrupt and totally amoral Pharmaceutical and Insurance Industries.They know little or more often NOTHING about nutrition.Many of todays health problems are related to pollution,poor diet,and pesticides in the water,grain and livestock.Yet all most MDs seem to do is medicate,medicate,medicate."This pill has side effects,so take this one,and for ITs side effects take this" on ad nauseum.There are MANY conditions that can be treated safely and inexpensively with herbs and dietary/lifestyle changes.The Bottom Line is we need a much more HOLISTIC approach as well as government funding.Those jackasses who are crying "socialism" are a bunch of tools.They're being played by the Insurance and BigPharma Lobbi... Read more

Not to be picky,but the issue is medical care-not health care.Health care is what you do for yourself,which is why a study showed that Mormons lived longer than some other groups.Before Obama,I wouldn't have rated this a 5;before this is over,we will be looking at another thousand pages as to why health care equals medical care equals global warming.

Having re-read Lena's review, I'm glad to know that I am in that "lucky" 20%. I was in the ER twice between 03 and 07. Neither time did I have insurance. Both times the hospital knew it. In 03, when I had an emergency appendectomy, the surgeon told me that I had to stay for two more days- that he would not release me. I told him that I was leaving anyway. Surrounded by three nurses and another physician, he threw a clipboard down and said "leave then". The only thing that "died" was my savings account. Gee....guess I was lucky.

I don't live in the US, and I've never visited there either but I'm still sure that a government run health care system would be the way forward. Of course it will mean the funding has to come from somewhere, and that is likely to be a small increase on taxes but it will make a difference. Thinking about it I think most Americans that pay for health insurance now would just pay the tax which is unlikely to be any more than what they're already paying - they don't have to pay for their own private medical insurance on top of that if they don't want to. I just read one example of where a government run health care system would have saved a life (http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/25/swineflu-boehner-constituent/) and it won't be the only case like that either. If you think about the number of people in the US, a good percentage of them pay for medical insurance already; but there are those that work yet still can't afford it, or those who are unable to get work. I know it's not a brillia... Read more

Extremely important.

I was uninsured until I was about 35 years old and then I only bought a $10,000 deductible policy. I did not get health insurance until I was in my forties. In the late 1960's and 1970's your family could have a baby for less than $1000. Other procedures were also cheap. It made a lot more sense to self-insure and pay out of the pocket. What happened?The government got into the picture with medicare and medicaid. Those really got rolling in the late 1960's. That in itself wasn't the problem but the administration was the key cause to the distortion. You could go to any doctor you wanted and basically get anything done you wanted. A true government plan places cost controls, and limits choices. This did not happen and costs went through the roof. I am on medicare now because my insurance company makes the government the prime coverage when I turned 65.When I go to the doctor's office about twice a year for the checkups that I must have to keep my insurance company happy, with... Read more

My playbook is called the Constitution of the United States of America. The incompetents in DC work for US. My opposition to this attempt by the administration to take over health care is based on many things, but primarily constitutional principal. Reform Medicaid?... alright, I guess, but don't purpose a massive over hall on a system that works well for 85% of Americans.

Over the past week, I've been alarmingly disturbed by the massive amount of "propaganda" distributed by those who oppose health care reform. This has been a long struggle for America as a country, we can look back to Truman's presidency for the first indication that we as a nation need a national health care system. That was some sixty years ago and is far too long for a system of affordable health care. As I hear both sides talk, I'm reminded of what our founding fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Does health care not fall under the category of "unalienable Right"? Does it not fall under "Life"? What about the "pursuit of Happiness"? Health care is not a privilege as it is now, but a right that each human being on this earth deserves. Are we as Americans... Read more

Can we get any non -yokels and non- crackers who aren't 125 pounds overweight to scream at these protests too?

Fears of today's world. My fear is that there is a majority of American citizens so stupid and mind-numbed that they actually believe that the federal government can actually "run" something. And by running it, they can REDUCE costs! And introduce efficiencies, run it more efficiently! And it will be run more fairly! With more compassion! With less waste!! And there won't be any corruption!!! (Come on, you guys are killing me . . .oops, bad choice of words) The fact is that Americans enjoy the best health care options in the world today. No, it isn't free. Neither is the government-run program in Sweden. Or England. Or Canada. Or Russia. Nothing is free, children. Remember? Pretty words spoken by an articulate leader can make you feel better, but to solve a problem like this, you need something more than the Holy Grail of government control and largesse packaged in pretty rhetoric. If having the freedom to choose means anything to you, please think about this. Li... Read more

My job pays for my health benefits but it does not kick in until I have spent a thousand dollars out of my pocket in deductibles, and then it will only pay 80% if they think I need it. My Doctors visits of $20, a visit does not count toward my deductible, so I could literally spend thousands of dollars going out of my pocket and not going toward my deductible. I have already spent $300 dollars for those visits. And I have already spent $750 dollars toward my deductible and still don't have an answer to my medical problems. Years ago when they said your Insurance covered 80% it covered 80%. Now they have high deductibles and they still don't want to cover your visit as out of pocket fees.... where do they think that money is coming from???

Health care?  Doesn't sound very caring to me.  I have two medical conditions that prohibit me from getting individual health insurance.  It's not fair that insurers can pick and choose who they want to cover, especially if my health conditions are genetic.

They call it "health care"... but do they really "care"?

Something does have to be done about the health care and the way it is run. There is a great deal of people that are working that can't even receive any health care at all because they have no insurance. It does raise some concerns.

Hillary's [rather conservative] healthcare plan seems quite reasonable to me.Why not check it out, instead of listening to anti-social right-wing Republican propaganda and having a cow about "socialism":http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/10/hillary_care_and_socialized_me.htmlhttp://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/healthcarepla n/http://www.democrats.org/a/national/affordable_heal th_care/http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ezra_klein/2007 /11/giulianis_cancer_myth.html

Much as I like to see people taken care of in any medical situation, the fact is, our tax dollars are already paying for illegal aliens emergency room treatments and that's okay with me but when it comes to our next possible president with an idea to shell out more to support their total healthcare it concerns me somewhat. C'mon Hillary! 80 something thousand a year? Some limit. Can we find any candidates with common sense any more?

Just imaging the entire health care system run like the VA!

Don't be biased by my username, I am not against universal health care solely because I am a physician.  I do, however, think films like "Sicko" portray a socialized system (like that of England, Canada, France) with a bit too positive a light.  Don't blind yourself with the false notion that only my salary will suffer such a plan: think about your own well-being.  Our hospital system usually attends to people with alacrity, and only those that have hit rock-bottom will say otherwise.  With a naturally sickening wait time of a socialized hospital, it is hard to say that these folks would be treated better overseas.I think we should consider a mixed system--one that combines the best of socialized medical distribution with the premium medical practice (care, operations, diagnosis) we know.

it needs to be free for everyone, we shouldnt pay for our lives to be saved. doesnt everyone minus killers and such deserve a right to live? our lives shouldnt b placed in the hands of the government >.>

Not only scary but also sad that the wealthiest country on Earth can't provide some kind of health care coverage for all its citizens. You can thank the greedy doctors, drug companies, insurance carriers... and the politicians in their pockets for that.

We spend billions on stupid wars and raises for our politicians but we don't have affordable healthcare?!? geez, thanks.

America. The so called richest country! Right. That is why myself and millions other can't afford healthcare. Illegals are getting better coverage than most americans. Really, its about time to stop waving the flag and start a revolution.

in a perfect world we all would have good jobs that carried health insurance and we all would make enough money to pay for that health insurance but thats not reality. when you are young and healthy you don't ponder on your mortality and because of never having to experience yet the health issues we start to face as we get older we don't realize that this really is a serious issue that we need to take care of and prepare for when we are healthy and young.

My fear is that they'll start charging me for everyone else's. I'm already paying for public education and afterschool programs for children I don't have so I'd like to avoid having this one tossed in my lap as well.

How many Americans are one plant closure or buy out away from having no health insurance? I am not a big fan of social medicine but what we have, is not far from it. Around here it is not that uncommon to spend over four hours waiting in the emergency room to be seen and it does not matter if you have insurance or not.

Causes more bankrupcies and defaulted mortgages than politicians want to admit. . .it's a scam and the middle class is left holding the bag. . .if a 'medical problem' cannot be financially handled by a middle-class family, than the system is rigged and needs to be blown up. . .it's already 'socialized' health-care if you have few choices. . .

very big scare for me and our family. on our one income the cost of full insurance at almost $400.00 was too much for us to handle. we had no choice but to get catastrophic insurance for my husband and I . because of our income our son has a different insurance than us. our daughter has limited insurance as well. it scares the daylights out of my. catastrothpic will only pay after a very high deductable but it was half the cost. I am scared of getting very sick now and know there is no way we could pay the bills. we are not trying to be delinquent. we had to choose between paying all of our other bills or having full insurance. what an awful decision to make. it is very upsetting that we cannot have full insurance which is not much better of a deal since there are deductalbes involved here too before they will even begin to pay medical bills. I worry all of the time of what will happen if we get real sick and have huge medical bills. we can barely make it by now.something has to be do... Read more

Let's get the classic Democrat line, "We have 40 million Americans without Health Care coverage," out in the open. There are between 15 and 17 million Americans who make over 50,000 dollars per year or more that elect not to have coverage. There are over 11 million ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS included in this figure, who have no rights to our health care coverage. There are also well over 6 million Americans that are eligible for Government benefits that are either too lazy to apply or are too ignorant to realize they are eligible. So, take these numbers off and it dwindles that magical 40 million number wayyyyy down doesn't it folks!!! Health Care costs go up nearly 300 dollars per year for families due to the uninsured!!!

i think we should have free health care for everyone. italy has it, and look how they turned out

The rich should not be looked after while the poor are left to die!

Except active military and veterans with service connected issues the Feds involvement in healt care is unconstitutional.

Jon the Man is right,...any advanced society would want to look after all its people universally. I don't understand why it is seen as any way negative. Provided all, even the unemployed, are charged something for its upkeep, (in their case a small sum deducted from any benefits) everyone has access to medical care when needed, which is the purpose of insurance. There are different levels of care in different countries, but in each case with a national health system at least it works when the proper parameters are applied. This is the only time I've disagreed with abichara..doctors decide if they will work with NHS patients for which they receive a sum from the Government. You can go to any doctor in your catchment area and see him. If you want to go private that's a different thing. If you have a national health service, it doesn't preclude you from going private if you want to. Medical health care is a service and should not be for profit.

Statistics can be misleading. While officially last year 44 million people went without any sort of health insurance, nearly 82 million Americans went without health insurance at some point during the last two years. So many people are in fact coming on and off health insurance because of rising costs and this is forcing them into a dangerous game of russian roulette with their own livelihoods. This begs the question, since we're the wealthiest country in the world, why don't we have universal healthcare? Because it's more inefficient? Doesn't look like it, developed countries with universal healthcare have higher life expectancies, better records of treating diseases and higher doctor to patient ratios. Because it's too expensive? Ironically the converse is true, GDP per capita spending is very noticeably lower in universal healthcare countries (US 4499$, UK 1747$, Canada 2058$, Japan 2908$, Australia 1698$ and the list goes on...). To top this all off, in countries with universal hea... Read more

While I can agree with Ralph's statistics about the rise in perscription costs, I do not agree with his generalization that Christianity is responsible for said increases. Greed and avarice are part of human nature, unfortunately, and people have used a myriad of excuses to justify such a way of thinking. Don't blame the whole lot of a group for the actions of some misguided members, Ralph....such a way of thinking is harmful in its own right.

Health care prices are increasing for two reasons: 1) As technology advances procedures are available to save the lives or prolong the lives of patients that never existed previously. As we get richer as a nation on a whole these procedures go from being experimental to routine. Example: I have in my lifetime had two reconstructive surgeries on both my knee and shoulder. These procedures were simply not available years ago but are now included in my health care coverage. 2) We have a third payer system that simply removes competition, demand pressures by individual rationing and deflationary pressures on price. The recent uninsured numbers released by the census department are misleading. Though there are more uninsured there are also more INSURED people as well. Studies show that 14 to 15 million people eligible for Medicade simply haven't filled out the paper work to become insured. Another 7 million uninsured live in households with a total income of 75k per year- hardly ... Read more

Best, most widely available health care on the planet.

Yea I want the government running healthcare. They are very eficient and can produce a level of service the free market could only dream about. Not a good idea at all. More clinics for indigent patients would be a good idea though.

More spending is again what most people like to say, but do not want to face the reality that society doesn't have a bottomless cookie jar of money. No one is against health care, education, fighting poverty, mom, hotdogs and apple pie. The reality is that society has a fixed amount of resources at even given point in time, so the question is how do we allocate these fixed resources. Health care costs what it costs, and the government can do little to control this, so the question becomes what are we willing to do without to have better health care, notwithstanding the ignorance of some who interpret the little government can do as handouts to insurance companies and HMOs. Moreover, as health care becomes more socialized, the less private your health related behavior becomes as the government has the duty to control its expenditure of public resources (ie no more smoking, drinking and eating fatty foods just because you want to and are willing to take the risk). The bottom line is ... Read more

Hillary Clinton tried this in 1994. Failure.

I am inclined to concur with VirileVagabond's well-written post on this issue. We all want to ensure that those who cannot afford healthcare get it, but that is easier said than done. The reality of the fact is that our government is in a fiscal mess, and we are already having problems maintaining the solvency of Social Security and Medicare. The federal government IS already taking steps to ensure that low-income Americans have health insurance, through the Children's Health Insurance Program, Medicaid and other federal programs. The fact of the matter is that we simply cannot afford to fund a universal healthcare system. The establishment of such a system would have formidable consequences in the future. As the population grows, the program is going to cost more and more. We are already passing on our fiscal problems to future generations--- there is no need to increase the burden that me and my children will have to bear. The government can certainly help those who need it the most,... Read more