Are they serious? Trying to "get around" the Constitution by pulling something like this???? House may try to pass Senate health-care bill without voting on it Slaughter House Rules - WSJ.com
A Canadian's point of view We're pretty happy with our health care here in Canada. At least the majority of people are. Chances are we have to wait longer to see a specialist than Americans. But if your condition is serious there's no waiting. And for some reason our prescriptions are cheaper? If you watch FOX News you'd think the America was going to fall apart with the passing of your health bill. IMHO, the media is full of crap these days and FOX is the worst of the lot. "Fair and balanced"...lol! Yeah, right! You have about 35 million people not insured right now in America. That's about the entire population of Canada. People with pre-existing conditions are denied insurance or have to pay ridiculous amounts for it. Many families have to go bankrupt after paying for a serious illness. Mahatma Ghandi said, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." Churchill said that you measure the degree of civilization of a society by how it treats its weakest members. Truman said a society will be judged by how it treats its weakest members. I'm not a "bleeding heart". I know that some people abuse the system. That is their moral issue. Ours is to ensure that every citizen is cared for the way we would want to be cared for ourselves. I wish you all good health and the security of knowing that you will be properly looked after if and when your health fails.
Well said Brewster, unfortunately you will find that the issue of healthcare is probably the most polarizing one you can find today. I too like the health care we recieve in Canada and would hate to loose it. It saddens me to see people, specifically Sean Hannity, on Fox News demonize a publicly administered health care system. Michael Moor goes too far the other way, romanticizing the issue too much. But I think that just seems to be how significant issues are played out in the USA and more and more in Canada as well. I would only ask our American friends to ask a Canadian, Brit etc. who live with 'socialized' medicine as to the pros and cons. We don't get to see the specialists as often, which is bad, but we also would never be asked to sell a home or cash in life savings to afford a necessary surgery or treatment.
We've had free healthcare here in the UK for years and years. We pay what they call national insurance in our wages. Don't understand the American system to be honest but from an outsiders point of view it seems if your poor then your shagged basically and you'll get little or no healthcare.
Sorry guys, but the exact opposite is true. Those on public assistance have always had FREE health care. They can, and do go to emergency rooms all over the US and it doesn't cost them a dime. It is brutal on the taxpayers, but all the druggies, drunks are taken care of as are the ones who just can't afford health care. The issue here wasn't even health care, but rather health insurance. That is what Obama was after. Unfortunately you are getting your info from the opposite of Fox, but rather the left wing media. Their distortion is every bit as severe as that of Fox. Obama got exactly what he was after with what will be the nationalization of the health insurance industry. Health care stocks have skyrocketed since Obama got his bill. Why? It's ripoff time for the taxpayers. We will be paying for this for many, many generations.
In this case, "FREE" is very much a relative term. Consider an age-old principle... "There is no such thing as a free lunch." We are paying for it. We will pay for it. Many of the larger states are bankrupt already with deficits of their own...now having to deal with mandates from the central government to fund more "free" coverage for a larger number of citizenry. Free for you means more taxes from me and my employer. My employer is struggling to stay in the black due to the economy...less of our patients have dental coverage due to their employers cutting costs, and some have even lost their jobs. So they put their oral needs on the backburner. How does one resolve the general problem? Foster an atmosphere that promotes economic growth and encourages more employment. By raising taxes on the remaining employers/employees our health care "crisis" will expand to other areas.
Well said. There are many myths and falsehoods about health care reform. People are not dying in the streets for a lack of healthcare or healthcare insurance in the USA. By law, no one can be turned away at a hospital for lack of health insurance. The poor and elderly are eligible for “free” healthcare through taxpayer funded Medicare/Medicaid programs. I posted this before in another thread and I think it’s worth reading again: How much of the federal budget goes towards Social Welfare programs and safety nets for the poor, elderly, and disabled? The facts are that over 52% of the Federal budget goes to pay for Social Security, Three health insurance programs — Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Safety net programs! Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go? — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities The total cost of American Social Welfare programs = $1.529 TRILLION!!! In comparison, the Defense and international security in 2008 was only 21% ($188 billion in 2008) of the national budget. The total also includes the cost of supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the federal government admits that a staggering $60 billion is stolen from tax payers through Medicare scams every year. Some experts believe the number is more than twice that. So now, what we really need is more Government social entitlement programs that waste taxpayer money and increase the National debt so future generations must work harder to pay it off????
Yeah the press over here seems to be very pro Obama so we probably get a distorted view of reality. We've always paid for our free health service through our national insurance contibutions which all workers have taken out of their pay by the goverment. They are talking about charging obese people and drugies etc if they require treatment which could have been avoided if they looked after themselves which I think is great. Why should I pay some 30+ stone fat bloke to have special treatment just because he's decided to eat himself to death. Let them die I say.
Oh nice....LOL It's a slippery slope determining eligibility based on lifestyle choices. It opens the door to the government dictating how you live your life. How about "high risk" lifestyles like skiers. Should we fix their broken legs because they were "dumb enough" to hurtling down the side of a mountain? Sky divers? Scuba divers? Wilderness hikers? Then the next step is genetic diagnosis. You don't get covered because you are predisposed to some illness in the future.
Very good point Brewster. Where do you draw the line? I don't have an answer for that. I do think, however, that lifestyle choices (not the kind some of you are thinking) such as smoking, drugs, etc. should have some consequences for the cost of their future care. If you can afford smokes and drugs you should be able to afford more expensive health insurance.