"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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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-18-2004
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 11:20am

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Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board

Avatar for schifferle
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 11:35am
I think many civilians are under the impression that the military get totally free health care, etc. (paid for by others), so I wanted to clear things up a bit. =)
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-18-2004
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 11:44am
Good on ya!

Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 1:19pm

Charity is when you freely give your own resources to help those in need.


Welfare is when politicians

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 2:42pm
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't there something called 'social security' in the US? Isn't it an entitlement to all old people? If social security, why not healthcare?

Someone on another thread mentioned 'if healthcare is a right, then why not a house, or a car, or...". That's just as if I said, well, if social security, then why not a house or a car....

To me there are four basic reasons why healthcare should be national, and 'free'

1) because like education, it's a basic 'equalizer', something that in order for children to grow up to be able to compete in a capitalistic society (which I fully support BTW). Yes, children also need other things, like food and shelter, but I also believe in a 'safety net' which provides those at a minimum. But let's not get side-tracked about welfare, because I have my own ideas on how to minimize abuses here..

2) health care is in the same category as Defense. It's about protecting the citizens, not from foreign invadors, but from diseases, and accidents...We don't 'trust' national defense to private armies, vigilante groups, do we? Our judicial system and police (also part of the 'defense' category) are also government responsibilities. Again, to me, health care belongs to that category. Not to mention that providing health care to everyone does actually reduce crime, believe it or not. Why? Because people desperate for money to pay for medical bills sometimes commit crime, but more importantly, when children get proper medical/psychiatric help early on, they are less likely to commit crime later.

3) pure economics. Whether the US provides healthcare or not, citizens end up paying for it anyway. Those that pay health care benefits (private insurance), and corporations who pay these in fact pay for that very large portion that just pays for all the administration of medical insurance.Who do think pays for that? citizens. Also, citizens also paying through taxes for the care of people who have no insurance coverage (once they do get it, which is typically after things are much worse. In the end, the US pays the highest percentage of its GDP for healthcare, but it is not the country with the best health care, only the best 'emergency care' (most high-tech).

4) Social conscience and what civilization is all about. I expect I'll get blasted for that one, but a comment by my 10 year old daughter got me thinking... When we look at the animal kingdom, those species we call 'evolved' are the ones who take collective care of their own. Do we say that Dolphins are 'socialists"??? LOL. No, we say they're evolved because they take care of each other! Not just "family" members, but all members of their species. Yes, capitalism is great, but it must be balanced with a social conscience, a safety net. We can't just trust it to corporations and individuals' good will to take care of everything. I remember reading about a blind study on 'pure capitalism' done by a leading university and the outcome was a strong polarization of 'wealth" which then led to resentment and violence.

To me, providing healthcare enhances, and even enables capitalism, as it allows a greater number of people to be healthy, and therefore able to fully "compete" in our society. After all, what is the point of being able to own a gun to defend yourself from some home invador, if you can't defend yourself against the more prevalent 'virus' or 'bacteria' invador?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 2:51pm
Just curious about the type of disease and area your mother's nephew lived in Canada (if it's not too personal), because I hear (mostly on american news, and this board) about "all the problems with the waiting in the Canadian system", and yet I do not know of any such case myself. Maybe I just happen to live in a area it isn't a problem? I know that rural areas are having it harder in general - some of that is due to problem with attracting doctors there.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 2:54pm
Actually, only 'emergency care' is ranked better in the US. I remember a world organization ranking on this.. Will try to get the link today.

And you're right about american doctors making more, but they're still highly paid in Canada - with specialists making the most (many in the $250K/year range)

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 3:18pm

SS is going the way of the dinosaur.


More younger people believe in UFOs than that SS will be around for them. Ponzi schemes can't continue indefinitely.

Renee ~~~

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2004
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 3:21pm
Ok, that's not the article I wanted (still looking) but it's on the same topic:

The bottomline is that it's a MYTH that the american healthcare is the best.

http://www.law.uh.edu/healthlawperspectives/HealthPolicy/000807Myth.html

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-healthcare.htm

http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/medicare/romanow/part_2/stack_up.html


Edited 7/25/2004 3:24 pm ET ET by nicecanadianlady

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2003
Sun, 07-25-2004 - 5:07pm
People can move to Canada where universal health care is a right for EVERYBODY.

:o)

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