"Free" health care!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
"Free" health care!
250
Thu, 07-22-2004 - 7:15pm
I wonder how many of you have had to live without health insurance? You say that health care is not a right? NO WONDER! You have always had a place for the bills to go other then your mailbox! How many of you have ever asked what the actual cost of your prescriptions are? Do the math! Do you have any idea what it is like to call around from doctor to doctor trying to find one who would see you WITHOUT insurance? Have you ever stood at your doctor office and humbly asked for samples instead of a prescription because u know that your $360 check wont stretch enough to cover your $280 med bill AND the doctor appt. Don't even mention medicaid! If you make enough money to buy food and scrape by...you do not qualify.

Go ahead and be technical but if you ever run into some bad luck you will see things in an entirely different light!

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Avatar for schifferle
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 9:08am
<< why do you need to pull these things from orafaces I should not mention? >>

Well, aren't you just special!?

<< "Second, I'm sure Liberals serving in the military feel that they fight for other reasons than socialized medicine...protect our freedoms, love of country... "

why are you sure of that? Is there any reason for it, or is it just that assuming it that makes you feel justified in your beliefs.

as fara smost military being republican, I would be interested to see how many vote republican this time around. I made that assumption too before on this board, and got put rightly into my place. >>

Based on 24 years experience in the military, that is why I'm so sure of what I've said. Et tu?



iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 9:28am

<>


I've explained where my numbers come from. Do you dispute them?


<>


The 40 million figure comes from the census, so Bush used the 'official' number, but it doesn't represent the number of needy people who don't have access to healthcare.


Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2004
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 9:47am
So there are 2 different set of numbers? One is "official" that the president uses even though it is not true, and the other is "factual". Why would the president not use the "factual" numbers?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2004
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 9:51am
So are you saying the "must treat" mandate is wrong?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 10:51am
Here's more up-to-date stats;

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/TaxFacts/TFDB/Content/PDF/oecd_inctax_2002.pdf

Canada

Single earner: 74.3%

Family: 84.9%


USA

Single earner: 75.7%

Family: 88.7%

Bear in mind, with that disposable income, americans get less benefits, so they pay more out of pocket, for things such as medications, health insurance, don't get maternity benefits (one year here), etc... In Quebec, we get dental care for children and province-wide high quality childcare.

BTW, I've been often in the US, and there is such a thing as sales taxes there too, except in a few states. And people pay even higher property taxes (at least in the cities where my friends live)...

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 10:55am
Where do you ever get your news? Sometimes different doctors have different opinions about what one needs, including a transplant. In Canada, it's doctors who make decisions about what is necessary, not the government, and NOT INSURANCE companies.

Yes, I've also heard stories of people who were convinced that they needed something, that their doctors told them they didn't need, and went to the US for consultation, and after expensive tests, told them the same thing!

But hey, canadian doctors sometimes mis-diagnose or mistreat. Judging by the amount of litigation in the US, I'd say that happens there too...

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 11:04am
totally incorrect. I posted something to that effect already. Drugs cost less because the rules are different - our government doesn't let drug companies gouge sick people. And it terms of cost of american products, you realize that our dollar value fluctuates. There was times where it was cheap to buy american products (I did quite a bit of shoppping there myself at that time). That has nothing to do with quality of life and standard of living.

How many people own their own homes in the US compared to Canada? How much savings to americans have (canadians save much more, so that says something..), how much vacations do americans take, how many cars, computers per capita? Not that each of those things is important in itself, because different people value different things. It's also different here from province to province. I remember reading an article not long ago about the vast differences between Quebec and other provinces. Quebecers spend a lot more on food, wine, vacations, clothes, entertainment, esthetic services and a few others, but buy relatively smaller homes, save more, and borrow much less. Not a judgement, just statistics.

But I guess I got sidetracked..

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 11:09am
it's the same thing in the US anyhow. I've been in many places in the US, and in some places, like NYC and San Francisco (been there..) income is high, but house prices are also way up there. It's the same thing here. Also, some states are just overall poorer than others. That's just the way it is - that's what happens in a capitalistic society. In Alberta, they have oil, which is a hot commodity. In Newfoundland, it's fishing, which is not so hot right now. She's making it sound like the differences between provinces is something unique to Canada?
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2003
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 11:11am
Ok, now this may end up sounding totally naive and out of touch, but in my ignorance, I'll try. Acording to the 2002 chart you posted, Canadians personal income tax, on average I assume?, is 43.something % and Americans 45.whatever. I know that we are also taxed through sales taxes, at the federal and state level, as well as the county and local level through property taxes. Is this chart just representative of the federal level of taxation?

Now, my second question, if we are actually paying more out in property taxes, yet Canada is able to pay for every citizens' health care. Where is all my taxes going? To have socialized medicine here in the States, it would required an increase in my taxes. If I'm intrepreting this all correctly, I think that this information only supports my personal position that giving politicians more money to spend would be foolish of me. Like I said in a previous post, if my children spent their allowance unwisely, I wouldn't just keep giving them a larger % of my salary so they could spend on what ever suits their fancy, whether I had it or not. If I'm interpreting this chart and percentages wrong, someone please explain this to me.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Tue, 07-27-2004 - 11:12am
"health care services" is a key word here. Not 'health care system'. We all know american doctors and hospitals are good. That was never the point!

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