Canadian Healthcare from a Canadian...

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by BigSKINBauer

Now no system is perfect. It is important to take the good from many systems and make it an american system. I am fine with allowing people to choose private healthcare with some sort of tax break.

The problem is, health care is something that a government should supply to its people. As hard it is to achieve, in my mind it is as simple as that. We don't worry about paying the fire department and the police. This is part of our safety and it should be covered.

Taxes may be higher but this is a basic service that a government should be providing. It seems all major industrialized countries, except for america, have been able to understand that

Why then stop with health ins. How about food, water, jobs, etc.. Why is health ins a right?

[BigSKINBauer]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Why then stop with health ins. How about food, water, jobs, etc.. Why is health ins a right?

Well a government should not only provide order but also keep the people safe. I think letting poor people get sick because they can't afford treatment is pretty shitty of a government. Its not only about the poor people who don't have insurance but those that get screwed by the messed up system this country has. Now obviously a public healthcare system will be much less efficient, especially at the beginning, so i have no problem allowing people get private healthcare and getting a tax break for it.

Also i think food is ok to give to people who are unable to afford it, the food stamps aren't that great anyways. People who are unemployed and part of the labor force should be helped in finding jobs. And yeah, i do think water is a something a government should offer to those that can't afford it to live. But i understand your point but it is a case by case basis. The ability to receive treatment for a sickness is something that should available to all people in this country. Life is an inherent right for all people and it should be equal for all, rich or poor. SOmeone who is rich has no more of a God given, or society given right to live moreso than someone who is poor. Now obviously people with money will always be treated better.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by BigSKINBauer

Well a government should not only provide order but also keep the people safe. I think letting poor people get sick because they can't afford treatment is pretty shitty of a government. Its not only about the poor people who don't have insurance but those that get screwed by the messed up system this country has. Now obviously a public healthcare system will be much less efficient, especially at the beginning, so i have no problem allowing people get private healthcare and getting a tax break for it.

Also i think food is ok to give to people who are unable to afford it, the food stamps aren't that great anyways. People who are unemployed and part of the labor force should be helped in finding jobs. And yeah, i do think water is a something a government should offer to those that can't afford it to live. But i understand your point but it is a case by case basis. The ability to receive treatment for a sickness is something that should available to all people in this country. Life is an inherent right for all people and it should be equal for all, rich or poor. SOmeone who is rich has no more of a God given, or society given right to live moreso than someone who is poor. Now obviously people with money will always be treated better.

Everybody has the right not to be killed. But living healthy is a privelege, not a right. I don't see that shit in the Constitution. Nobody has the right to live a healthy life, that's the part that YOU have to make happen.

And that includes making sure you graduate from high school and get a job that has a modicum of health insurance benefits.

All kids born into a poor/middle class family should get covered by the government. But if you've made it to adulthood and you still can't afford health insurance, that's your fault.

[MTK]

Perhaps it's just the hippy in me but I just think it's sad in this day and age where we could easily support those that are less fortunate with basic healthcare that we turn our backs on them and have this attitude of "You don't deserve it because you didn't earn it".

Sure there are some slackers out there, but there are also some really hard working people that are in difficult situations that they can't dig out of.

It's too easy to say go to college, get a degree and everything will be ok. If only it were that easy.

Our priorities are really F'd up when we can't provide universal healthcare but we sure can find the money to bomb the shit out of other countries.

[Hog1]

I think we should demand an accounting from the Fed!
I am quite sure there is plenty of loot being stolen, funneled, absconded with, liberated, etc to support ANY legit programs that we need.
Yes that's it............

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Perhaps it's just the hippy in me but I just think it's sad in this day and age where we could easily support those that are less fortunate with basic healthcare that we turn our backs on them and have this attitude of "You don't deserve it because you didn't earn it".

Sure there are some slackers out there, but there are also some really hard working people that are in difficult situations that they can't dig out of.

It's too easy to say go to college, get a degree and everything will be ok. If only it were that easy.

Our priorities are really F'd up when we can't provide universal healthcare but we sure can find the money to bomb the shit out of other countries.

That doesn't answer the fundamental question. Why is healthcare a right?

I've never heard someone come up with a logical answer. The only response is emotional in nature; something along the lines of because in this day in age, we just should. It's just wrong not to.

If that's the way people feel, let me ask you this: is it fair for us Americans to provide universal healthcare, in which some of you may be the recipient of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of chemotherapy or surgical care, while people in Africa are starving to death? Isn't food a more immediate need than healthcare? Without food, you die in weeks. Why are we more deserving of healthcare than they're deserving of food? Because we're Americans??

No. None of it is a right. It's all a privelege. It's a privelege to live in the United States of America, where you have ample opportunity to earn enough money to put a roof over your head, give you clean drinking water, pay for your food, and pay for your healthcare. Do it your damn self, and stop whining about having it tough.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Why then stop with health ins. How about food, water, jobs, etc.. Why is health ins a right?

I suppose you can also ask the same question about every service the government provides. If the government is suppose look out for the well being of its citizens then how can one include national defense and exclude national health care?

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by saden1

I suppose you can also ask the same question about every service the government provides. If the government is suppose look out for the well being of its citizens then how can one include national defense and exclude national health care?

I'm for the federal gov. to reduce what they allready doing not increasing their role. Some one mention police and fire but those are city and state run.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

That doesn't answer the fundamental question. Why is healthcare a right?

I've never heard someone come up with a logical answer. The only response is emotional in nature; something along the lines of because in this day in age, we just should. It's just wrong not to.

If that's the way people feel, let me ask you this: is it fair for us Americans to provide universal healthcare, in which some of you may be the recipient of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of chemotherapy or surgical care, while people in Africa are starving to death? Isn't food a more immediate need than healthcare? Without food, you die in weeks. Why are we more deserving of healthcare than they're deserving of food? Because we're Americans??

No. None of it is a right. It's all a privelege. It's a privelege to live in the United States of America, where you have ample opportunity to earn enough money to put a roof over your head, give you clean drinking water, pay for your food, and pay for your healthcare. Do it your damn self, and stop whining about having it tough.

Again, it would be nice if it were always that easy.

[djnemo65]

Right is just a word...it doesn't mean anything. In this day and age where people are murdered everyday over seemingly nothing it's hard to say that anything is truly a right.

Rather, it's about collectively creating the best society that we can. I don't see how a world in which some of us lack adequate access to care is superior than the alternative.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Everybody has the right not to be killed. But living healthy is a privelege, not a right. I don't see that shit in the Constitution. Nobody has the right to live a healthy life, that's the part that YOU have to make happen.

And that includes making sure you graduate from high school and get a job that has a modicum of health insurance benefits.

The sky is falling! I actually agree with something Schneed said!

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Perhaps it's just the hippy in me but I just think it's sad in this day and age where we could easily support those that are less fortunate with basic healthcare that we turn our backs on them and have this attitude of "You don't deserve it because you didn't earn it".

Perhaps it's the yuppie in me, but I feel it's sad that a person (myself) that came from a very poor background should have to pay for others to have special privilages without working hard to earn them. I work hard to be where I am in life, and I am the ONLY person on either side of my family with a Master's degree. They all told me not to bother, but I didn't listen. So why I am I punished having to pay for other people's benefits? No one in the world can convince me that someone is a product of their upbringing. It can be done to get away from bad influences. I am living proof.
So what's next? Food? Electricity? A car? Gas? Lottery tickets (cause they all deserve the right to be lucky too right?). Because I worked hard to make more money than 75% of the country, I should be forced to help those (for the most part) that don't want to help themselves? Don't be fooled, the majority of people that can't or don't afford healthcare are in their scenario because of their own actions.
Even a burger flipper at McDonalds is offered health insurance. You say it's turning your back on them...they already have their hand out and in effect turned their backs on us when they decided not to make themselves a valuable member of society.
WHy is it we insist on not holding others accountable for their lives?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Again, it would be nice if it were always that easy.

But who said it was supposed to be easy?

Work and deserve it, earn it to own it.

Dude, come on, how hard is it to get a job answering phones for a living at some big company's call center? You'd get access to PPOs, HMOs, or HSAs.

40 million in the US don't have health insurance. A big chunk of them are the high school dropouts that live below the poverty line. Another chunk own their own business, but don't manage their cash flow well enough to pay for health insurance, and consequently live above their means. And yet another chunk are just flat out irresponsible with their money, and ring up scads of credit card debt and turn around and insist they can't hack the cost of health insurance.

I like the guys who work in manufacturing or something, making a real modest salary, and are smart enough about their money to pony up for the healthcare coverage, even though it crunches their wallets. They'd probably love a national healthcare system, and you know what, I'd love it if they had one. Because they deserve it. Unfortunately, most of the 40 million with out it, they don't deserve it.

[dmek25]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

But who said it was supposed to be easy?

Work and deserve it, earn it to own it.

Dude, come on, how hard is it to get a job answering phones for a living at some big company's call center? You'd get access to PPOs, HMOs, or HSAs.

40 million in the US don't have health insurance. A big chunk of them are the high school dropouts that live below the poverty line. Another chunk own their own business, but don't manage their cash flow well enough to pay for health insurance, and consequently live above their means. And yet another chunk are just flat out irresponsible with their money, and ring up scads of credit card debt and turn around and insist they can't hack the cost of health insurance.

I like the guys who work in manufacturing or something, making a real modest salary, and are smart enough about their money to pony up for the healthcare coverage, even though it crunches their wallets. They'd probably love a national healthcare system, and you know what, I'd love it if they had one. Because they deserve it. Unfortunately, most of the 40 million with out it, they don't deserve it.

i am one of those guys you are referring to, and yes i would love it. the other part i have high lighted, its really not that hard at all to get the job. the hard part is trying to juggle kids around a work schedule. the united states went from family owned business', that knew all about the employees and their families. to big corporate entities, mostly owned and operated by multi millionaires. who don't give a rats ass about me or my family. in the grand scheme of things, when an insurance company can dictate to anyone in the medical field what the costs should be, something is seriously wrong with that system

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by dmek25

i am one of those guys you are referring to, and yes i would love it. the other part i have high lighted, its really not that hard at all to get the job. the hard part is trying to juggle kids around a work schedule. the united states went from family owned business', that knew all about the employees and their families. to big corporate entities, mostly owned and operated by multi millionaires. who don't give a rats ass about me or my family. in the grand scheme of things, when an insurance company can dictate to anyone in the medical field what the costs should be, something is seriously wrong with that system

I know managed care organizations get a bad rap, and the story you'll hear in the news about how they just about kill someone because of their policies definitely is scary. But I'm here to tell you, from a hospital's standpoint (in case you didn't know I work in the finance office at a health system), that if the HMOs weren't trying to dictate cost management to us, none of our administrators would put pressure on the physicians and nursing staff to get the patient out of the hospital. Patients would sit and sit and sit in hospital beds, costing insurance companies even more money, which would just end up getting passed onto you and everyone else in the form of even higher premiums. Not to mention more beds would be taken up, and in some parts of the country (like Philadelphia) hospitals are already at capacity. Then we'd have people needing a bed in a hospital with no beds available.

The healthcare issue is real easy for people to just say "we need a change." But nobody can come up with a good solution. The reason for that is the problems are ridiculously complicated. It's not nearly as easy as saying "we need a change" or "our system is broken."