How many of you have health insurance?

There just aren't enough resources folks. It isn't cruelty or callousness. A user cited a serious untreatable medical condition, but is alive, typing away at a PC and has medical coverage, but then takes offense at a few obviously insensitive remarks. If you can type, write complete sentences and have internet access, you can make some money. Also, there are plenty of charitable organizations both public and private. If one has a unique health care need and limited resources, one must write letters and bark up trees. Every individual cannot seriously expect Government employees to come knocking at their door everyday asking if they can be of assistance. It's silly to think that, and to accept the alternative is not cruel. It is reality.
I've found physicians are often very understanding and are willing to negotiate and waive fees on an individual case by case basis, but you have to ask. You have to make an effort. Wow. How did expecting people to do what they can for themselves become evil and cruel?
Now, what about State cases? Who is responsible for them? What issues are at stake when tax dollars are spent on wards of the State? What is the purpose of taking care of retarded people without families? Certainly, I'm not suggesting we eliminate retarded people, but seriously asking if the guy with the job that just earns enough to keep him from recieving any significant government assistance should have to pay for the care of wards of the State when his own children may need or even just want all kinds of things to enrich their potential-filled little lives?

- Nate Dray

I am 53 years old and I currently do not have health insurance here in Canada. I am a person who pays attention to what my body is telling me and I use many alternative health care remedies.
The last time I went to a doctor (2+ years ago), my doctor accused me of coming to see him for drugs and I swore that I would never use the medical profession again...I have also had kidney stones that I managed to cure on my own by changing my diet and used the natural cures available from health food stores...no surgery required if you pay attention to the culprit foods that cause kidney stones in some people.
Now if our government here in Canada follows through with the threat to regulate and make it illegal to buy health supplements from health food stores without a prescription I will be in big trouble.
I am a person who does much research into alternate cures and ways to stay healthy despite the poor quality food that comes to the consumer market. I grow much of my food in the summer and have also planted herbs that have healing properties so that I stay healthy and can self cure myself. I thought this was important thing to do as God knows what can happen in the future if we suddenly have our food supply cut off due to a catastrophic event that may occur...We need to be responsible for our own health, understand how our bodies function and not rely on the medical field to do that for us....because if such an event does occur, trust me, you will not have the luxury of running to your doctor for help.

You people are out of your mind. If you want health coverage then get a freaking job. If your on disability then you should be able to get health insurance. If your 25 with three kids and you are to lazy to work then starve and fend for yourself. This country can only give me handouts for so long until we are flat broke.

Yes I do work and I do have health coverage. Cost me $2 a week for single coverage.

Any Government ran health care system will fail for sure. Look at social security.

All i can say is go visit www.lp.org. This is the only way to do things.

reply to post by Astrithr


There is social security for disabled, there is medicare, there is probably other government programs that I do not even know about for people in your situation...

And to Jedi... so I am scum because I do not want to pay for everyone else? Am I also a saint since I also do pay for others through programs like welfare and foodstamps and things of this nature.. through my taxes?

Originally posted by galatea

When I picture Universal Healthcare, I think it would be similar to that as active duty military. Since I am, this will be the best thing in which I have to compare. We pay 26 a month, or that's what comes out of our paychecks for our medical. Now on ships, the medical is not so great and since america isn't a giant ship, I will compare it to shore duty medical.

First, I want to respond to a post that said everyone will go to the doctor for every scratch and clog up appointments. Well, in the navy you have sick call. You have to get up early as heck and wait in a line and they have someone that screens you, if you are really sick, they make a doctors appoinment for you, same day, if you just have a cold they issue you a cold pack, if you have a scratch, well I assume they will give you a bandaid. There, that weeds out unessessary appointments.

You are living a dream if you think it will be run as a military operations. I seriously doubt there will be a "sick call" and a whole town has to go line up and get a checkup.. Each person will want some one on one time with the doctor even for their scratch.

It amazes me that so many intelligent ppl are still thinking black and white. I'm talking about this debate over our current privately run healthcare system and a government run public healthcare system. Why can't we have a system that is seperate from either of these? Is it really out of the realm of possibilities to create a national company that is governed by the ppl. I'm talking about an organization that each individual would pay into based on your income factoring in a cap that put a limit on how much you would pay in. ie. a man making $100,000 a year might pay a montly premium of $450/month for his family to be insured and a homeless man might pay $5/month but each would be able to see a doctor if the need arises and the medications they might need would be distrubuted by the doctor they see. The higher income man might get a new supply of this medication where as the homeless man might get meds redistributed from a supply originally used, then disguarded, but both men would get the treatment they need for their health issues.

I know some of you are thinking, "Well why should I pay more money because the next guy can't get his act together and has to live on the streets?" My answer to that is Because human compassion is what separates us from the damn animals! You don't know the cercumstances that brought that man into his position and all of us are only steps away from being there ourselves.

In our current system the question becomes who gets to live and who gets to die? Right now as it stands the homeless guy has more of a chance at life then a woman with two kids who is working for $10 an hour and can't afford healthcare insurance. If either of these ppl were to get hospitalized the hosp. can apply for the state's welfare program to pay the homeless guy's bill, but the woman makes too much money to qualify for these programs and since she can't afford insurance herself, they will treat her symptoms and send her home. Now this is ok if what both these ppl have is a cold or flu, but what if both of them have cancer? The homeless guy will get treatment because the state will pay (the state being you and I the tax payers) but the woman will not get treatment because she has no way to pay the huge cost's.

If the government takes over healthcare we will pay more money in taxes and I imagine that they'll handle it much like they do medicare where the paperwork involved is so confusing that many Doctors and facilities never get paid for the treatment they provide causing a snowball affect of deceit and fraud. This is all very complicated, I know, but for all of you out there saying "I've got good healthcare so why should I care if you don't" I remind you of this. Many of you have family and friends that don't fit into your secure little world, and if you don't then at least you must know ppl (employees, co workers, etc...) who don't fit into that picure. What about them? Do you really think that your secretary making $10 an hour deserves to die because she can't afford the same insurance you have?

I'm a 29 yr. old who pays $150 per mo. for "health insurance" that doesn't cover anything until I reach my $1500 deductible. It's total and complete crap and I almost wish I'd get a brain tumor just to spite Blue Cross of California.

I don't see how a health insurance system could ever work?
You see if the system is not taking in more than it's paying out, then it will go bankrupt. Therefore, someone will always be paying more than their fair share.

I have a dentist appointment in about a half and hour, I just pay them cash. I go every 6 months like I'm supposed to and hand em a wad of cash when I roll through. Why even deal with insurance? They would still make me pay some of the cost of my visit, plus drain a bunch of money out of my paycheck every month. It actually costs MORE to have insurance unless something catastrophic happens. Paying to have my teeth cleaned and cavities filled is cheaper if I just do it myself!

You know a hundred years ago we didn't have things like social security and universal health care and all this other crap. We had a thing called personal responsibility. This whole issue is telling of modern times. People complain about how inept our government is, yet they want them to take care of all of us. I don't think that was ever the point of the government, to be a mommy.

Originally posted by jedimiller
here's the link.

hillaryclinton.com...

Hillary has said on video that it will be very, very affordable for everyone. If we do the math, 200 dollars is not affordable, 100-not affordable. using logic, one can say it will run under 75 dollars a person. i'm willing to pay that.



[edit on 13-5-2008 by jedimiller]

Your government runs everything now in the US.. so much so that it's taken a life of it's own and sustaining itself on the life and blood of its citizens not for freedom or safety but due to greed and self preservation....

That aside..

I'm sorry.. but when has a politician actually came through on their promises.. and it takes more then one person to work a "system". So unless she's already got the individuals in place with a format to follow that would ensure "x" amount of payments.. she and others are just pulling numbers from the dark side only to give a "false" sense of security.

And when these promises are not met... in what % would a normal citizen expect those in power to answer for false promises? What "guarantees" are there that they will follow through?

I am 53, lost my health care in 2003.
I live in New Jersey, rates went from 320 dollars per month to over 850 dollars per month in 3 years.
I had to file personal bankruptcy and do not own house or car.
Was born in this country and have worked since i was 13yrs old and can not afford to get sick. GREAT COUNTRY!

I've seen teh VA hospitals, and I've seen public housing. If public healthcare is treated like, or managed anything like that, count me out.

This country has been towing along those who cannot or will not take care of themselves for a very long time now, and all we have gotten for it is more have nots and cannots who do not have the skills to be a productive member of society.

If you take away all of the incentives to a productive society, then society will eventually cease to be productive. What next tax, subsidized cars for people not able or not willing to pay. Or this trend lately talking about government intervention in home mortgage foreclosure. We sure would not want someones self esteem be damaged because they cannot live in a house with a pool and a picket fence.

Living beyond your means is not a right.

Pay your own way.

Don't be a looser and expect me or anyone else to fit the bill for someone elses inability to take care of themselves.

You have certain rights, and one of the prices of living in a free society is the right to fail.

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
I am 53, lost my health care in 2003.
I live in New Jersey, rates went from 320 dollars per month to over 850 dollars per month in 3 years.
I had to file personal bankruptcy and do not own house or car.
Was born in this country and have worked since i was 13yrs old and can not afford to get sick. GREAT COUNTRY!

Here Here! Many of us are in the same position. I've been working since I was 12 and at 45 can't afford insurance. I've been through school so it's not about being too lazy to get more education for all you ppl out there who think we all get the same choices and oportunities. I get paid a good wage, but because of the increasing cost of living and being a single parent, I can't afford it. I struggle from month to month just to pay the basics rent, food, transportation, etc... healthcare insurance is just not in the cards for some of us.

We babyboomers were warned about this a few years back though, we were told that the current healthcare system wouldn't support the babyboomers when it came time for us to be concerned about aging health issues. The question is what are we going to do about it now? It's great to discuss the controversies, but without taking action it's all just rederick. So in my earlier post I presented my idea, what is some of your ideas?

Habeus corpeus is what I want, not so called universal health care. We used to have habeus corpeus in this country, then a couple of years ago we lost it so we could better fight the "War on Terror".

Habeus corpeus is a right we don't have in the USA, but free or cheap health care is not a right.

Originally posted by mother_jung
This country has been towing along those who cannot or will not take care of themselves for a very long time now, and all we have gotten for it is more have nots and cannots who do not have the skills to be a productive member of society.

These kinds of comments always make the hairs on my neck stand up with chills. We're talking about healthcare in this forum. Are you telling me that my life is not worth as much as yours because you can afford to pay and I can't? I wonder what any children you have will think about that, when they are at the age where they are still too young to afford it themselves and yet considered an adult so Mommy/Daddy can't carry them on their insurance anymore?

What ppl like you conveniently forget is that there are very productive ppl in our society that are working more then one job and still can't afford the rising cost's of health insurance. Do those ppl deserve to get progressively more sick or even die because they don't make what you do?

In your way of thinking where is the line drawn? When current healthcare becomes so expensive that even you can't afford it anymore then do you deserve to die so that the guy making more then you do doesn't have to pay?

This is the problem with the "Don't bother me with your needs, you lazy bum!" attitude. All of us have a place on the ladder, and there will always be someone with more then you have who will not want to share. It's not a perfect world and ppl are not all born with the same life circumstances. There are plenty of natural resources to take care of us all if we'd just stop wasting it with greed and selfishness.

I'm 26 and I have full health coverage for me and my wife/life partner. I get it through work and my company is very into helping their employees.

However, I wouldn't mind paying an additional $20 per month so that dying children can have health coverage without having their parents break their backs at work instead of being at their child's side.

Hell, I spend that much money on beer in a week.

I do not have health insurance, and have not since 1996.....when I was laid off from the last job I've had that came with benefits. The insurance company 'offered' me a chance to continue my insurance at the rate of nearly $400 per mo. That was too rich for my budget since my next job paid $7.50 per hr.

My husband had health insurance till he was 'let go' after being injured on the job in '04. His insurance company generously offered him a chance to continue his coverage for a bit over $400 per month......

So we would be able to get health insurance for about $9600 a year......a real deal considering our combined income is about $20,000.....mostly from his workman's comp benefits......as we understand it, if he qualifies for SS disability, he will get some coverage after a year....

And before anyone suggests that we are a couple of leeches on productive society, let me say.......we have not been to the emergency room for any free treatment. The only times we've seen a medical doc during this time, we have paid up front.....tho we usually have not been able to get the prescriptions filled, and forget the tests they suggest!

Originally posted by enchantress62


These kinds of comments always make the hairs on my neck stand up with chills. We're talking about healthcare in this forum. Are you telling me that my life is not worth as much as yours because you can afford to pay and I can't? I wonder what any children you have will think about that, when they are at the age where they are still too young to afford it themselves and yet considered an adult so Mommy/Daddy can't carry them on their insurance anymore?

What ppl like you conveniently forget is that there are very productive ppl in our society that are working more then one job and still can't afford the rising cost's of health insurance. Do those ppl deserve to get progressively more sick or even die because they don't make what you do?

In your way of thinking where is the line drawn? When current healthcare becomes so expensive that even you can't afford it anymore then do you deserve to die so that the guy making more then you do doesn't have to pay?

This is the problem with the "Don't bother me with your needs, you lazy bum!" attitude. All of us have a place on the ladder, and there will always be someone with more then you have who will not want to share. It's not a perfect world and ppl are not all born with the same life circumstances. There are plenty of natural resources to take care of us all if we'd just stop wasting it with greed and selfishness.

First off, I do not think that my life is worth any more/ or less than anyone else. As I stated here, post by mother_jung
, I had cancer, I did not have insurance, I had two surgeries and a year and a half of cancer treatment. I made payments, I averaged about $35k a year net pay while paying them off. My bill was over $70,000, I only owe just over $4000 now. I had to make sacrifices to pay these bills. I did not have cable tv or high speed internet. But I did pay my own way. I was personally responsible for myself.

If health care became to expensive for me I would still not ask for someone with more means than me to give me something of theirs just because I dont have it.

I draw the line at forcing someone else to pay for me.

I am 32 have had insurance sine I was 18 and through my parents before that, always through my job, now with a kid it is one of my top priorities. Crap I even have health insurance on my pets lol. But I think there is a need for some sort of universal health care, if only to help reduce costs for some and help others. I pay about 150 every two weeks for family insurance, 25 co pay, 50 emergency room. I recently got a bill for 50K for a visit my wife had insurance stepped up like a champ.

We do pay for health care right now with our taxes its called medi care, would universal health care replace that and then add another 20 bucks? because from what medicare takes out, 20 bucks a person wont be enough to cover everyone.

(though i would pay another 20 bucks if in the long run it lowered my rates some or it only went to children, working mothers etc. people who deserve it and need it , not like a lot of people on welfare. people soak that system dry lazy b@stards.

reply to post by Aaron_Justin


Yes, well, the OP asked about $20, so that's the figure I used. And obviously there are no easy answers here. But I guess what I should have said was that I would not mind contributing to universal health care as long as I have the means to do so- as far as how much per month or per year I would be willing to do so would depend on my finances at the time.

And I would like to see my taxes go to things like health care, real education for our youth, infrastructure rebuilding, and things that can make this country better (and my future probably non-existent social security that I have been paying into for years now). Instead my taxes pay off the interest rate the Fed charges us, or go toward a war to control oil in which people are dying, soldiers and civilians, and no one is benefitting from except a few multi-national corporations.