Canada's single payer health system.

[CCTAU 3,355]

As long as there is a United States right next door to pick up the slack. Here's another vision of our future under the dim health care fantasy:

[CCTAU 3,355]

Hey. It works in the US too. Just look at Mass.

Link

Hey. But at least it's CHANGE.

[Auburn85 434]

[RunInRed 16,528]

Every time I ask this I never get an answer: What is your solution to the healthcare "dilemma" (i.e., uninsured americans, under-insured americans, rising healthcare costs, etc.) we face in this country? What is McCain's plan? Or do you just want to keep on doing what we've been doing?

[Auburn85 434]

what would i do?

i'd eliminate the income tax so that people can better afford health insurance

[BamaGrad03 0]

Every time I ask this I never get an answer: What is your solution to the healthcare "dilemma" (i.e., uninsured americans, under-insured americans, rising healthcare costs, etc.) we face in this country? What is McCain's plan? Or do you just want to keep on doing what we've been doing?

Just because we don't have an IMMEDIATE answer that satisfies you, doesn't make "Free healthcare for everybody" the answer.

Many uninsured Americans are that way by choice. They choose to afford themselves other non-essential items in lieu of insuring themselves...they may be healthy and don't deem it needed, or maybe they'd just rather have the big screen TV. Healthcare costs are rising, but much of it is self inflicted. We are a society of overweight smokers who can't put the beer down. That isn't going away regardless of who is running healthcare.

But I sure as s*** don't want my option of private healthcare taken away from me. You dodged my question the other day, so I'll ask it again. Since the other socialized healthcare nations say it's not the way to go...and urge us not to do it...why do you think it's the answer?

At what point are Americans responsible for their OWN healthcare? As it stands, if you don't have healthcare, but you have an emergency situation...you are still taken care of in this country. But what happens when people get health insurance who then go to the doctor for every sniffle and sneeze...who otherwise wouldn't have? Will that back up the system so much that we have to wait 6 months for an MRI?

Because that's what they have in Canada.

Name me ONE section of business that the government runs better than the private sector.

[RunInRed 16,528]

"Free healthcare for everybody?" I must have missed that part of Obama's plan. Everything I read focuses on cost reduction through efficiencies, self-responsibility, and expanding not limiting your options. Have you even read Obama's plan for healthcare or are you just spewing the typical Republican knee-jerk reaction to a problem they have no solution for?

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

[CCTAU 3,355]

Just like socialism...It hasn't worked before because nobody like the great achmed has tried it yet.

Everybody in this country has health care. Just not everybody has health care insurance. Anybody can walk into a government funded hospital and get treated. The problem is that nobody wants to have to pay for insurance in order see a doctor when you are sick.

I already told you my solution but you are too stupid to remember.

Open up clinics funded by the government and staffed with nurses and PAs that can write scripts for common ailments. Make these clinics very low cost. NOT FREE. Free gets abused. Going to the doctor should never be free. Even in the early days of this country it was not free. Hell, people are so sorry now they wouldn't even bring a chicken in if that was acceptable like it used to be.

YOU, RiR, and those like you are the problem with the US. You want it free/almost free and you want the gubment (somebody else) to pay for it.

Achmed's plan is nothing more than what this post was started with. Anytime government gets involved, people must look for an alternative...or risk dieing.

People in this country used to have pride..now they are turning into handout dims.

[au2004ece 30]

Every time I ask this I never get an answer: What is your solution to the healthcare "dilemma" (i.e., uninsured americans, under-insured americans, rising healthcare costs, etc.) we face in this country? What is McCain's plan? Or do you just want to keep on doing what we've been doing?

I'm fine with continuing to build on the 83% of Americans that have health care in the current system.

And by the way, Healthcare is NOT a right.

[au2004ece 30]

When did healthcare become a right? It's not in the constitution.

[au2004ece 30]

"Free healthcare for everybody?" I must have missed that part of Obama's plan. Everything I read focuses on cost reduction through efficiencies, self-responsibility, and expanding not limiting your options. Have you even read Obama's plan for healthcare or are you just spewing the typical Republican knee-jerk reaction to a problem they have no solution for?

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

So where is the part about raising taxes to pay for that? Oh wait, that doesn't matter to somebody that would vote for a democrat. They don't pay taxes anyway.

[RunInRed 16,528]

"Free healthcare for everybody?" I must have missed that part of Obama's plan. Everything I read focuses on cost reduction through efficiencies, self-responsibility, and expanding not limiting your options. Have you even read Obama's plan for healthcare or are you just spewing the typical Republican knee-jerk reaction to a problem they have no solution for?

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

So where is the part about raising taxes to pay for that? Oh wait, that doesn't matter to somebody that would vote for a democrat. They don't pay taxes anyway.

And since you make over 250k you will be the only one affected by this "tax increase."

[Auburn85 434]

how much is obama looking to expand SCHIP?

will it expand to about the same income threshold that was put forth in legislation not long ago?

on page 3 the piece states: "Rising costs are alos a burden to employers, especially small businesses, which are increasingly unable to provide health insurance coverage for their employees and remain competitive."

then, on page 4-5 it states: " Employers that do not offer meaningful coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality healthcare coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll towards the cost of the national plan."

this is sounding like how employers pay Social Security.

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/socialsecurity/

he wants to raise the cap of social security. this means these same businesses will have to pay in more for Social Security, along with what they already pay into Social Secuirty, and then, Obama wants them to pay a percentage of payroll towards health insurance? Is this correct?

i'll admit i didn't sit back and read word for word. I did get the crux of it.

[RunInRed 16,528]

Just like socialism...It hasn't worked before because nobody like the great achmed has tried it yet.

Everybody in this country has health care. Just not everybody has health care insurance. Anybody can walk into a government funded hospital and get treated. The problem is that nobody wants to have to pay for insurance in order see a doctor when you are sick.

I already told you my solution but you are too stupid to remember.

Open up clinics funded by the government and staffed with nurses and PAs that can write scripts for common ailments. Make these clinics very low cost. NOT FREE. Free gets abused. Going to the doctor should never be free. Even in the early days of this country it was not free. Hell, people are so sorry now they wouldn't even bring a chicken in if that was acceptable like it used to be.

YOU, RiR, and those like you are the problem with the US. You want it free/almost free and you want the gubment (somebody else) to pay for it.

Achmed's plan is nothing more than what this post was started with. Anytime government gets involved, people must look for an alternative...or risk dieing.

People in this country used to have pride..now they are turning into handout dims.

Open low cost clinics on every corner...well at least you have an idea...which is more than McCain. I need more details on your plan though before I would be able to give a full opinion. Who is going to pay for these clinics? What do you do if people still can't afford these low cost services? How does this help reduce rising healthcare costs for the individuals who currently have healthcare and for businesses who subsidize a lot of these costs? What's the difference between these clinics you suggest and some of the Government funded clinics that already exist? Can people pursue abortion optioins at your clinics?

[Auburn85 434]

When did healthcare become a right? It's not in the constitution.

it became a right when some democrats said so. plus, we have the people in the pic. it became a right to some when costs increased. it became a right probably when a college aged kid in the transition of being dropped from their parents insurance and while looking for a job in the real world, got sick or got in a wreck without insurance and is now having to pay for the services.

the rhetoric for healthcare rights is now right up there with some people having the right to be bailed out of a mortgage they couldn't afford to begin with.

[BamaGrad03 0]

"Free healthcare for everybody?" I must have missed that part of Obama's plan. Everything I read focuses on cost reduction through efficiencies, self-responsibility, and expanding not limiting your options. Have you even read Obama's plan for healthcare or are you just spewing the typical Republican knee-jerk reaction to a problem they have no solution for?

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

I have studied Obama's approach. And to be honest, it's one of the main reasons I hope he beats Hillary. Her proposal is archaic and overtly socialist. My concern with Obama's plans lie in the "who's going to pay for it" arena. But the fact that he isn't trying to eliminate private healthcare all together is at least encouraging.

One question I have is why do people keep making 25 the age limit that folks are considered "children" and must be covered?

[aumd03 2]

Every time I ask this I never get an answer: What is your solution to the healthcare "dilemma" (i.e., uninsured americans, under-insured americans, rising healthcare costs, etc.) we face in this country? What is McCain's plan? Or do you just want to keep on doing what we've been doing?

Just because we don't have an IMMEDIATE answer that satisfies you, doesn't make "Free healthcare for everybody" the answer.

Many uninsured Americans are that way by choice. They choose to afford themselves other non-essential items in lieu of insuring themselves...they may be healthy and don't deem it needed, or maybe they'd just rather have the big screen TV. Healthcare costs are rising, but much of it is self inflicted. We are a society of overweight smokers who can't put the beer down. That isn't going away regardless of who is running healthcare.

But I sure as s*** don't want my option of private healthcare taken away from me. You dodged my question the other day, so I'll ask it again. Since the other socialized healthcare nations say it's not the way to go...and urge us not to do it...why do you think it's the answer?

At what point are Americans responsible for their OWN healthcare? As it stands, if you don't have healthcare, but you have an emergency situation...you are still taken care of in this country. But what happens when people get health insurance who then go to the doctor for every sniffle and sneeze...who otherwise wouldn't have? Will that back up the system so much that we have to wait 6 months for an MRI?

Because that's what they have in Canada.

Name me ONE section of business that the government runs better than the private sector.

Bamagrad hit the nail on the head. I routinely have patients that tell me they can't afford their $20 a month medicine, but they whip out a new cell phone and text away. Its about priorities. There is a real problem with entitlement in this country. The only ones entitled to anything are those that can pay for it. You can have anything you want in this country as long as you have the money. Health care isn't a right. And people have a right ot health care in an emergency as it stands. For example, I recently had a patient that needed to be discharged to a nursing home. His family kept balking because they "didn't like the nursing home" although they had no money to pay for one. Only after a week and a half and the hospital serving them with papers notifying them they would be personally responsible for expenses after the following day did they agree to have the patient transfered. He probably accumulated a $120K bill during that extended stay.

If we just had coverage for medicines it would make a huge difference. Physicians fees are just a drop in the bucket. Drug costs are where the real costs are found. But healthcare is different than any other business. We cannot impose care on anyone to make it efficient. We can't force preventative medicine.

[au2004ece 30]

"Free healthcare for everybody?" I must have missed that part of Obama's plan. Everything I read focuses on cost reduction through efficiencies, self-responsibility, and expanding not limiting your options. Have you even read Obama's plan for healthcare or are you just spewing the typical Republican knee-jerk reaction to a problem they have no solution for?

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

So where is the part about raising taxes to pay for that? Oh wait, that doesn't matter to somebody that would vote for a democrat. They don't pay taxes anyway.

And since you make over 250k you will be the only one affected by this "tax increase."

I don't make 250k (my point is that I'm not part of the welfare class), but either way I know my taxes will go up more because of an Obama victory and this policy of his is one of the reasons.

Why should I be FORCED to pay for somebody else's healthcare? Shouldn't I have the choice to be charitable or not? Why are they ENTITLED to having me pay for them?

[arnaldoabru 11]

Just like socialism...It hasn't worked before because nobody like the great achmed has tried it yet.

Everybody in this country has health care. Just not everybody has health care insurance. Anybody can walk into a government funded hospital and get treated. The problem is that nobody wants to have to pay for insurance in order see a doctor when you are sick.

I already told you my solution but you are too stupid to remember.

Open up clinics funded by the government and staffed with nurses and PAs that can write scripts for common ailments. Make these clinics very low cost. NOT FREE. Free gets abused. Going to the doctor should never be free. Even in the early days of this country it was not free. Hell, people are so sorry now they wouldn't even bring a chicken in if that was acceptable like it used to be.

YOU, RiR, and those like you are the problem with the US. You want it free/almost free and you want the gubment (somebody else) to pay for it.

Achmed's plan is nothing more than what this post was started with. Anytime government gets involved, people must look for an alternative...or risk dieing.

People in this country used to have pride..now they are turning into handout dims.

How far a walk is it, to these free government hospitals. And if they are sick do you think they could walk that far?

[BamaGrad03 0]

Just like socialism...It hasn't worked before because nobody like the great achmed has tried it yet.

Everybody in this country has health care. Just not everybody has health care insurance. Anybody can walk into a government funded hospital and get treated. The problem is that nobody wants to have to pay for insurance in order see a doctor when you are sick.

I already told you my solution but you are too stupid to remember.

Open up clinics funded by the government and staffed with nurses and PAs that can write scripts for common ailments. Make these clinics very low cost. NOT FREE. Free gets abused. Going to the doctor should never be free. Even in the early days of this country it was not free. Hell, people are so sorry now they wouldn't even bring a chicken in if that was acceptable like it used to be.

YOU, RiR, and those like you are the problem with the US. You want it free/almost free and you want the gubment (somebody else) to pay for it.

Achmed's plan is nothing more than what this post was started with. Anytime government gets involved, people must look for an alternative...or risk dieing.

People in this country used to have pride..now they are turning into handout dims.

How far a walk is it, to these free government hospitals. And if they are sick do you think they could walk that far?

Wow, you're right.

I guess every american is entitled to their own car too...paid for by taxpayers of course.

[RunInRed 16,528]

"Free healthcare for everybody?" I must have missed that part of Obama's plan. Everything I read focuses on cost reduction through efficiencies, self-responsibility, and expanding not limiting your options. Have you even read Obama's plan for healthcare or are you just spewing the typical Republican knee-jerk reaction to a problem they have no solution for?

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

So where is the part about raising taxes to pay for that? Oh wait, that doesn't matter to somebody that would vote for a democrat. They don't pay taxes anyway.

And since you make over 250k you will be the only one affected by this "tax increase."

I don't make 250k (my point is that I'm not part of the welfare class), but either way I know my taxes will go up more because of an Obama victory and this policy of his is one of the reasons.

Why should I be FORCED to pay for somebody else's healthcare? Shouldn't I have the choice to be charitable or not? Why are they ENTITLED to having me pay for them?

So how are figuring your taxes are going up? Who knows, if healthcare cost are reduced, you might even pay less...radical thought, egh?

On a side note, I don't support the war strategy in Iraq but it still cost us all $300M+/day. But of course, all our taxes stay low b/c Bush just whips out the old American credit card he got from the Chinese to pay for it all.

[lukeduke 8]

And you don't think reducing healthcare costs has a negative side as well...as in, less money for drug trials, research, etc.

[au2004ece 30]

"Free healthcare for everybody?" I must have missed that part of Obama's plan. Everything I read focuses on cost reduction through efficiencies, self-responsibility, and expanding not limiting your options. Have you even read Obama's plan for healthcare or are you just spewing the typical Republican knee-jerk reaction to a problem they have no solution for?

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

So where is the part about raising taxes to pay for that? Oh wait, that doesn't matter to somebody that would vote for a democrat. They don't pay taxes anyway.

And since you make over 250k you will be the only one affected by this "tax increase."

I don't make 250k (my point is that I'm not part of the welfare class), but either way I know my taxes will go up more because of an Obama victory and this policy of his is one of the reasons.

Why should I be FORCED to pay for somebody else's healthcare? Shouldn't I have the choice to be charitable or not? Why are they ENTITLED to having me pay for them?

So how are figuring your taxes are going up? Who knows, if healthcare cost are reduced, you might even pay less...radical thought, egh?

On a side note, I don't support the war strategy in Iraq but it still cost us all $300M+/day. But of course, all our taxes stay low b/c Bush just whips out the old American credit card he got from the Chinese to pay for it all.

Healthcare costs will not be reduced unless we remove the incentive for people to work in the healthcare industry by lowering the amount of money that doctors, pharmacists, and healthcare companies can make. This would create problems with healthcare quality.

But for my point, it doesn't matter if healthcare costs are reduced because the government (taxpayers) will be paying more of the bill than they are now. That's what I mean by our taxes going up. When the government pays for something that they have not paid for in the past, that means they need more revenue from taxes at some point.

You seem to understand that there is a problem with spending money you don't have when it comes to Iraq, but not when it comes to healthcare. When we use our "credit card from the Chinese", this only postpones the tax increases. Taxes will be higher in the future because of Iraq and because of this healthcare mess if Obama or Clinton get their way. Even if we have huge surpluses in the future to cover our past debt, because we have the extra debt we won't be able to have a decrease in taxes. Therefore, because of the debt, the taxes will be higher than they would have been.

Nobody answered these questions:

Why should I be FORCED to pay for somebody else's healthcare? Shouldn't I have the choice to be charitable or not? Why are they ENTITLED to having me pay for them?

[CCTAU 3,355]

Just like socialism...It hasn't worked before because nobody like the great achmed has tried it yet.

Everybody in this country has health care. Just not everybody has health care insurance. Anybody can walk into a government funded hospital and get treated. The problem is that nobody wants to have to pay for insurance in order see a doctor when you are sick.

I already told you my solution but you are too stupid to remember.

Open up clinics funded by the government and staffed with nurses and PAs that can write scripts for common ailments. Make these clinics very low cost. NOT FREE. Free gets abused. Going to the doctor should never be free. Even in the early days of this country it was not free. Hell, people are so sorry now they wouldn't even bring a chicken in if that was acceptable like it used to be.

YOU, RiR, and those like you are the problem with the US. You want it free/almost free and you want the gubment (somebody else) to pay for it.

Achmed's plan is nothing more than what this post was started with. Anytime government gets involved, people must look for an alternative...or risk dieing.

People in this country used to have pride..now they are turning into handout dims.

Open low cost clinics on every corner...well at least you have an idea...which is more than McCain. I need more details on your plan though before I would be able to give a full opinion. Who is going to pay for these clinics? What do you do if people still can't afford these low cost services? How does this help reduce rising healthcare costs for the individuals who currently have healthcare and for businesses who subsidize a lot of these costs? What's the difference between these clinics you suggest and some of the Government funded clinics that already exist? Can people pursue abortion optioins at your clinics?

Hey, dumbass. Read much? No doctors=no abortions. These are wellness clinics. All you people bitch about is free/cheap doctor visits. But now you want to include catastrophic in there as well. I thought that we wanted all the poor folks to be able to go to the doctor when dey babies is sick? These clinics would be just like the health departments...only they could diagnose and prescribe medicine for common ailments.

People who currently have healthcare can continue to pay and go to their doctor as they currently do. Those who don't want to pay can wait in line at the clinic like everyone else. That's called free enterprise. Healthcare insurance is a privilege in this country, not a right.

Apparently many dims are very healthy people. because if they really had something wrong with them and had to choose a doctor wisely, they wold see that doctor does not = doctor. Some are better than others. And it makes a big damn difference when they have you cut open and are doing delicate work. The emergency rooms are full of poor folks who want to see a doctor for the flu. If we can eliminate this, we can eliminate a huge expense in the health industry. We would have to make these clinics litigation free. No-one could sue for a mis-diagnosis. If you think you have cancer, don't go to the doc-in-the-box. Medicine today has become such that many common ailments, flu, strep, etc. can be easily detected by a trained PA or RN. These individuals cost WAY less than doctors. If we can utilize this type of resource, we can leave the healthcare insurance industry alone. Many doctors would have time to focus on the more sever cases and would not have to run folks through like cattle. These clinics can be government and locally funded. The low cost fees can pay for the workers. If you make them litigation free, you would be surprised at how many hospitals and companies would contribute.

[RunInRed 16,528]

Just like socialism...It hasn't worked before because nobody like the great achmed has tried it yet.

Everybody in this country has health care. Just not everybody has health care insurance. Anybody can walk into a government funded hospital and get treated. The problem is that nobody wants to have to pay for insurance in order see a doctor when you are sick.

I already told you my solution but you are too stupid to remember.

Open up clinics funded by the government and staffed with nurses and PAs that can write scripts for common ailments. Make these clinics very low cost. NOT FREE. Free gets abused. Going to the doctor should never be free. Even in the early days of this country it was not free. Hell, people are so sorry now they wouldn't even bring a chicken in if that was acceptable like it used to be.

YOU, RiR, and those like you are the problem with the US. You want it free/almost free and you want the gubment (somebody else) to pay for it.

Achmed's plan is nothing more than what this post was started with. Anytime government gets involved, people must look for an alternative...or risk dieing.

People in this country used to have pride..now they are turning into handout dims.

Open low cost clinics on every corner...well at least you have an idea...which is more than McCain. I need more details on your plan though before I would be able to give a full opinion. Who is going to pay for these clinics? What do you do if people still can't afford these low cost services? How does this help reduce rising healthcare costs for the individuals who currently have healthcare and for businesses who subsidize a lot of these costs? What's the difference between these clinics you suggest and some of the Government funded clinics that already exist? Can people pursue abortion optioins at your clinics?

Hey, dumbass. Read much? No doctors=no abortions. These are wellness clinics. All you people bitch about is free/cheap doctor visits. But now you want to include catastrophic in there as well. I thought that we wanted all the poor folks to be able to go to the doctor when dey babies is sick? These clinics would be just like the health departments...only they could diagnose and prescribe medicine for common ailments.

People who currently have healthcare can continue to pay and go to their doctor as they currently do. Those who don't want to pay can wait in line at the clinic like everyone else. That's called free enterprise. Healthcare insurance is a privilege in this country, not a right.

Apparently many dims are very healthy people. because if they really had something wrong with them and had to choose a doctor wisely, they wold see that doctor does not = doctor. Some are better than others. And it makes a big damn difference when they have you cut open and are doing delicate work. The emergency rooms are full of poor folks who want to see a doctor for the flu. If we can eliminate this, we can eliminate a huge expense in the health industry. We would have to make these clinics litigation free. No-one could sue for a mis-diagnosis. If you think you have cancer, don't go to the doc-in-the-box. Medicine today has become such that many common ailments, flu, strep, etc. can be easily detected by a trained PA or RN. These individuals cost WAY less than doctors. If we can utilize this type of resource, we can leave the healthcare insurance industry alone. Many doctors would have time to focus on the more sever cases and would not have to run folks through like cattle. These clinics can be government and locally funded. The low cost fees can pay for the workers. If you make them litigation free, you would be surprised at how many hospitals and companies would contribute.

Chill on the abortion thing...it was a jab at the complexity of this "clinic" option. Why would you not want these wellness clinics to be opened by the Private sector (e.g., Well Spot)? Not sure this sounds like much of a comprehensive answer as we already have these wellness clinics where people pay for their services from RNs/PAs.

http://www.wellspot.com/