Absolutely.
I believe health care is a right, not a privilege.
Until the US joins the rest of the industrialized world in offering universal health care to its citizens, it scarcely has the right to call itself a first-world nation.
Even a lot of developing nations have national health care programs.
It's pitiful that some of our uninsured 9-11 heroes had to travel to Cuba to receive medical treatment for conditions sustained as a result of the 9-11 attacks.
Thank heavens Cuba, unlike their own country, was happy to offer the much-needed medical care.

No one has the right to the labor of others.

__________________


To tax the larger incomes at a higher percentage than the smaller, is to lay a tax on industry and economy; to impose a penalty on people for having worked harder and saved more than their neighbors. ~ John Stuart Mill

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Talk to some of the people on those other 'wonderfully universal' healthcare plans, see what they have to say about wait times for certain proceedures or major illness care. Not so rosy when you see it from the inside.

What 'developing nations' do you refer to? Considering the amount of US involvement in most 'developing nations' and the amount of health care most receive, well, it's an abomination.

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"Try and fathom the hypocrisy of a Government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured, but not everyone must prove they are a citizen".

I guess that's why you get to drive to work on roads that I pay for with my tax dollars.
Guess that's why if you summon the fire department, EMTs, or police, they'll come, and you don't have to pay them.



Any time an uninsured person needs medical care- or even if they're just bored and feel like doing so for sh!ts and giggles- they can walk into any hospital emergency room and be examined and treated for whatever malady they claim to be suffering from, all without paying a dime.
Yeah, supposedly they'll be billed later, but if they don't pay the bill, nothing happens. They don't even have to produce ID in order to receive treatment. They can give a fake name, fake address and phone number, everything.
So yes, we all do in fact have the "right" to receive free treatment, even here in the US, and all poor and uninsured people who don't qualify for Medicaid do so. You're retarded if you think they're just going to sit at home in agony and die of medical neglect because they're uninsured, because you don't believe they deserve medical care. They'll go to the hospital when they're sick, just like everybody else, regardless of whether you think they should.
This is a very, very expensive option for society, compared to providing them with a way to be seen in a clinical setting for minor ailments.
In my state, over one in four people are uninsured (the highest rate in the nation). That's a lot of damn people using the ER as a walk-in clinic. It would be far more cost-efficient if we provided an actual walk-in clinic where they could get free treatment for their sore throats and sniffles, and saved the Emergency Room for actual emergencies.
But since conservatives are against that option, that's fine. The uninsured can just keep using the ER for free, and we'll all keep paying for it. Doesn't bother me any, as long as everybody's getting the medical treatment they need.

Obamacare 'pass it to see what is in it' has a mutitude of verbal potholes in it, right down to the financial aspect. It provides no ease in regards to actual access points, so we will continue to pay for those who use the ER as a doctors visit, it forces insurance companies to jack everybodys rates to cover those with PE conditions, and to find the end-runs around the rules.

It is not healthcare reform by any stretch of the imagination, it is mandating the purchase of goods and services. Insurance is nothing but a method of payment, which has also forced a illusionary 'bubble' on the cost of medical care and pharmacueticals.

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"Try and fathom the hypocrisy of a Government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured, but not everyone must prove they are a citizen".

Did you know that there ARE fees for Fire/EMT/Ambulance services? They are usually sliding scale, but they do exist.

Roads are infrasctructure, and are paid for by a variety of taxes, paid mostly by the trucking industry.

So, 'we' already paid for your children's K-12 education, along with everyone elses children.

Why do you insist that you are entitled to any more of what I worked for?

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"Try and fathom the hypocrisy of a Government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured, but not everyone must prove they are a citizen".

I have never heard of that. In fact I have heard just the opposite... that Cuba's healthcare system is far inferior to that of the USA's. I don't believe that uninsured '9/11 heroes' travel to Cuba for medical treatment. Sounds like bunk to me. Do you take in what you hear from Michael Moore as the gospel truth? He has a bad habit of leaving a lot of truth out of what he says.

Then watch Sicko. It's all about- among other things, Michael Moore taking a boatload of uninsured 9-11 rescue workers to Cuba for medical treatment.

Cuba has an excellent healthcare system.
According to the WHO, both their median lifespan and their infant and maternal mortality rates are superior to ours. What better indicators are there of how well a health care system is working?

Further, Cuba is generous with their health care. When Hurricane Katrina struck, Cuba offered to send 8,000 doctors and a fully equipped field hospital to New Orleans. President Bush refused their offer. It's painful to think how many lives might've been saved, if he'd made a different choice.

I don't need to rely on Moore for information about being uninsured. My husband is uninsured, as are two of my three children. I was uninsured myself for my entire adult life, up until a couple of years ago.
Moore's got it right.

I drove an ambulance. We sent bills.

And those services aren't rights. You don't have a RIGHT to have someone come put out a fire at your house. You don't have a RIGHT to have someone come pick your ass up if you're dying. You don't have a RIGHT to roads. None of those things are rights.

NO ONE has the RIGHT to the labor of others.

And that shouldn't be the case unless the hospital chooses to do that.

Who said anything about them not going to the hospital? I wasn't insured most of my life, I assure you I went to the doctor and hospital every time I needed to. I needed no one's permission. I had complete access. And, I paid all of the bills.

One doesn't need insurance to get medical care. Far from it.

They only use the ER as a "walk in clinic" because they see it as "free". You really think that's EVER going to stop as long as we force ERs to take in patients no matter what? People abuse it because we've set up the system so that they can. You want to set up the system even MORE for such abuse.

We cannot provide on demand medical treatment "for free" for everyone in this country. It will have to be rationed if it's "universal healthcare". It will HAVE to be. Because there's not enough money in this country to pay for on demand medical costs for every person in this country. There just isn't. So, what you want is rationed care. What you want is long wait times. What you want are limited prescriptions. Dental procedures without pain meds like in the UK. Doctors deciding who gets that surgery and who doesn't, based on age, status, productivity, etc. What you want is the government having a vested interested in our health, so they can forbid us from eating or drinking certain things, so they can mandate exercise, so they can ban foods, drinks, and activities that could possibly cause harm. What you want is a nightmare that I want absolutely no part of.

I think it's much simpler, much easier, and much MUCH more moral for individuals to be responsible for their own choices.

I have no problem with some sort of government program as long as I can opt out of using it, and thus opt out of paying for it. I'd rather be responsible for my own care, get what I need when I need it, and not be restricted by the government. I'd rather be responsible and more liberated, as opposed to irresponsible and confined, constricted by the government. I'd rather have GOOD care, than have to settle for whatever the **** the govt decides I deserve.

__________________


To tax the larger incomes at a higher percentage than the smaller, is to lay a tax on industry and economy; to impose a penalty on people for having worked harder and saved more than their neighbors. ~ John Stuart Mill

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Success Freaks

You do realize that this medical care you tout in Cuba is only available to a select percentage of the people, right? The vast majority are forced to go to **** places that no one in this country would recognize as a "hospital".

__________________


To tax the larger incomes at a higher percentage than the smaller, is to lay a tax on industry and economy; to impose a penalty on people for having worked harder and saved more than their neighbors. ~ John Stuart Mill

Gypsy Soul Memories
Scuba Diver Life
Success Freaks