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People DIE waiting for the NHS? Who? I have never known anyone that has happened to - not even a friend of a friend of a friend.
I'm sure it HAS happened, but very much doubt that this is a regular occurance.
People may have to wait for an operation which can be very annoying (and Brits love to complain about it), but people needing urgent care are not left to DIE. Come on, be realistic.
Taxes are absurd in the UK? Really? My taxes were less there than they are here. Especially when you factor in property tax which is SO much less in the UK than anywhere I've lived over here. In most cases it's less than a tenth of what we pay here.
I think it's great that everyone has health care if they need it, but they can also choose excellent private care. You will never go bankrupt in one of these countries because you don't have the right insurance, yet you can still have fantastic health care if you want it.
2: How many of those who are against universal health care have lived in a country WITH universal health care? If so where? What was your experience?
2B: If your above answer was 'yes':were your taxes dramatically higher than your current taxes?
3: How many of you have a serious illness or have a close family member with a serious illness?
4: How many of you have lost jobs that have left you without health insurance even for a short period?
5: How many of you have watched Michael Moore's; Sicko? I know lots of people love to hate Michael Moore so I'm not looking for posts bashing Michael Moore - just wondering if you watched Sicko.
6: Have any of you filed bankruptcy due to unforseen medical expenses (either with or without health insurance).
7: ** I MADE UP THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES** Do you consider yourself to be 'rich'(household income $200,000/year plus), 'middle class'(household income $50,000 - $200,000/ year) or 'poor'(houshold income under $50,000/ year)? Do these sound like fair categorizations?
1-Leaning against it - Federal government is way too corrupt.
2-(very) limited experience with Canada - it is a breath of fresh air to not worry about it.
3-inc.
4-inc.
5-Watched it...
6-inc.
7-middle class
I can't answer it... incomplete. Haven't lost a job, filed for bankruptcy due to high a medical bill nor have had a family member with a serious illness.
That's a typical response that demonizes people who disagree. We're always greedy racist warmongers.
First, it's fine to be one of the takers when someone else is paying the bill.
Second, I paid more than $40K in federal taxes last year and my employer provided me with excellent health insurance that met all my needs. Why should I be forced to change, or pay for both the gov't system and my current system?
Third, there are many in our society, who by their own actions, don't deserve to have services provided to them free of charge, paid for by others who work hard. Among these people are criminals (including illegal aliens who by definintion are criminals), drug addicts, unwed and teen mothers who get pregnant and can't support their children or the care they need. People need to take personal responsibility and not rely on the government and other taxpayers to foot the bill for their own stupidity and irresponsibility. Now there are some who are in temporary need or through no fault of their own need govt services. There are already a myriad of programs to help and service those people.
Just 3 posts after my bet......I won. This is an example of what I was saying. You got yours and to hell with the rest of us. Sad.
I thought it would be interesting to do a kind of poll. : )
1: Are you For or Against universal health care?
I am for a single payer system
2: How many of those who are against universal health care have lived in a country WITH universal health care? If so where? What was your experience?
I grew up in Germany and lived there until I was 29. Never had a problem with my health care, saw whichever doctor I liked. Only paid about a $1.50 co-pay for some prescription drugs, many were free. Those fees have gone up and my mother now complains about the HUGE $5 fee, LOL.
2B: If your above answer was 'yes':were your taxes dramatically higher than your current taxes?
Our payroll taxes were higher and the VAT tax, but as someone else mentioned, property taxes are much, much lower. A friend of mine pays under $100 a year in property tax, I had to double check when she told me, she couldn't believe what we pay. I would be happy to pay more for a good retirement system and good health care. 3: How many of you have a serious illness or have a close family member with a serious illness?
My father, in Germany, health insurance paid for everything, he had lung cancer and died, because he was diagnosed when the cancer was already spread throughout his body. 4: How many of you have lost jobs that have left you without health insurance even for a short period?
Luckily it has happened yet, doesn't mean it won't in the future...scary thought.
5: How many of you have watched Michael Moore's; Sicko? I know lots of people love to hate Michael Moore so I'm not looking for posts bashing Michael Moore - just wondering if you watched Sicko.
It's in my Netflix queue. 6: Have any of you filed bankruptcy due to unforseen medical expenses (either with or without health insurance).
No
7: ** I MADE UP THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES** Do you consider yourself to be 'rich'(household income $200,000/year plus), 'middle class'(household income $50,000 - $200,000/ year) or 'poor'(houshold income under $50,000/ year)? Do these sound like fair categorizations?
lower end of your middle class category
I am just wondering how the answers to these questions effect people's opinions.
I didn't think much about health insurance until my husband was laid off. Never crossed my mind before that. Now it does.
__________________
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
I think the current system of health care in this country seems quite acceptable to most people. In the case of those poor, unfortunate people who are uninsured and run up massive medical bills, simply let them as usual go on declaring bankuptcy to take care of such bills. It's as simple as that.
I do think getting these discount medical clinics that only charge around $50.00 a visit need to be more common place. My most recent visit to a regular medical clinic to get strep throat treated costed $120. That's outrageous!! That medical clinic is gonna price itself out of business yet!
Again - this doesn't seem to me to just be about the people who are uninsured if 75% of bankruptcy due to health reasons were filed by people WHO HAD HEALTH INSURANCE.
The current health insurance scheme in the US terrifies me, and we have insurance and cash in the bank.
If you are middle class or even quite wealthy, own your own home and have no debt, if you get a serious illness not covered by your insurance then you can end up homeless.
How is this defendable by anyone?
Again - this doesn't seem to me to just be about the people who are uninsured if 75% of bankruptcy due to health reasons were filed by people WHO HAD HEALTH INSURANCE.
The current health insurance scheme in the US terrifies me, and we have insurance and cash in the bank.
If you are middle class or even quite wealthy, own your own home and have no debt, if you get a serious illness not covered by your insurance then you can end up homeless.
How is this defendable by anyone?
Hey, I'm in the same boat... moved from old Europe to "prosperous" US.
Yes, IF your illness isn't "in the contract", they won't pay for it... in that case, medications, surgeries etc. can cost you 100s of THOUSANDS $.
MANY people end homeless because of medical care... read into my thread
about poverty in US and crime.
Social system in the US is a joke! People work until they drop dead... many of them. Tell me, where in continetal Europe do people work 3+ jobs to make ends meet?? NOWHERE.
When i pay medical care, childcare, university etc. i'm FAR worse off than i would be in Europe.
Median us salary is barely 31 000$, that's 20 000euros. This is low.
I'm FOR Universal system, THERE can be private insurance too, BUT the basic system should kick in to insure everyone.
I don't know if people here know how MUCH infant death rate is in US? How US system is ranked in world? BOTTOM of western nations.
US system is THE MOST expensive in the world, however, it is the worst system in the western world.
Check US infant death rates, LIFE expectancy tables, DEATH from common illnesses etc. You'll see how US fares.
MOST people with good private coverage will support it until they get really SICK, and they get refused for coverage. Why? Insurance houses hire people to FIND every way possible to spend AS little money as possible on insurance claims. That means THEIR task is to **** you up, and let you pay for all that. YOur money goes as multi million dollar bonus pool to CEOs... NOT on your care.
I'm in favor a government 'organized' health plan where people can get health coverage but under a 'sliding scale' arrangement, where you pay according to your income. It should be prevention based, especially for children. I see it as more of a place of last resort to keep people from being uninsured, but certainly not covering stomach stapling, nose jobs and breast augmentations...
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