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In Salem, and elsewhere in the young United States, merchant mariners thus appeared at the customhouse in search of "a passport to the hospital." In 1799 the federal government established these hospitals, or marine hospitals, in most ports throughout the country to care for sick and disabled merchant mariners. The government financed the hospitals by a tax on sailors’ monthly wages. As ships returned to port, customs officials collected the marine hospital tax and forwarded it to the federal Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. The Treasury then distributed these funds to customs officials to hire doctors and nurses to care for merchant mariners. In larger ports, such as Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans, the federal government operated its own hospitals. Throughout the nineteenth century the marine hospitals grew westward with the nation. By 1900 the hospitals had treated hundreds of thousands of merchant mariners.
Following the Civil War American Civil War The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States.... , public outcry and scandal surrounded the Marine Hospital Fund. In 1869, Dr. John Shaw Billings John Shaw Billings John Shaw Billings was a librarian and surgeon best known as the modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office of the Army and as the creator of the New York Public Library.... --a prominent Army surgeon--was appointed to head an investigation of the Marine Hospital Fund. Dr. Billings found the hospital fund to be inadequate and completely unorganized. In 1871, the Marine Hospital Fund was formally reorganized as the Marine Hospital Service, under the direction of Dr. John Maynard Woodworth. Dr. Woodworth was appointed to the Service as "Supervising Surgeon." He reorganized the service into a disciplined organization based on his experience in the Union Army as a surgeon. Dr. Woodworth required his physicians to be a mobile work force stationed where the service was in need, and he mandated the daily wear uniforms. This eventually led to the creation of the modern-day Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Public Health Service Commissioned Corps The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is the federal uniformed service of the United States Public Health Service consisting of only commissioned officers, and is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States.... . Dr. Woodworth, using Army-style heraldry, created the Marine Hospital Service fouled anchor and caduceus Caduceus The caduceus is typically depicted as a short herald's Staff entwined by two Serpent in the form of a double helix, and sometimes is surmounted by wings.... seal which is used to this day by the Public Health Service. In 1873, Dr. Woodworth’s title was changed to "Supervising Surgeon General," a forerunner of the modern-day office of Surgeon General of the United States Surgeon General of the United States The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the Federal government of the United States.... .
As the nation grew, the scope of Marine Hospital Service's scope of duties grew to include domestic and foreign quarantine and other national public health functions. In 1902, the Marine Hospital Service was renamed the "Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service." In 1912, the name of the service was changed to the Public Health Service to encompass its diverse and changing mission. Over time, the hospitals of the service were also expanded to include research and prevention work as well as the care of patients. Aside from merchant seamen, members of the military Military A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force .... , immigrants, Native Americans Native Americans in the United States Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii.... , other federal beneficiaries, and people affected by chronic and epidemic Epidemic In epidemiology, an infection that is epidemic appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is "expected," based on recent experience .... diseases found a source for health care in the PHS and its hospitals
During the Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the only president to resign the office.... administration, funding was cut to the PHS hospitals program and many of these institutions closed or were turned over to local public health offices. Eight survived as federal institutions until the early 1980s, when further budget cuts put an end to their funding. Some, such as the one in Savannah, Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution.... , continued as outpatient low-income health clinics up to 2003 while others, such as the large hospital in San Francisco on the grounds of the US Army Presidio Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.... , were diverted to other Federal and military uses. In the case of the Presidio, the PHS Hospital was used as a site for language training for military officers in the late 1980s.
Workers who work for small companies are also more at risk, because those companies are less likely to be able to offer insurance to their employees. Only 52 percent of companies with less than 10 workers offer their employees health insurance, while 99 percent of firms with more than 200 employees do, according to a 2004 Kaiser Foundation study of employer health benefits. "The profile of the uninsured has not really changed much since we've been studying it," said Paul Fronstin, a senior research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, who's been examining data on the uninsured for more than 15 years. "It's low income workers, it's people in the labor force or associated with someone in the labor force, and it's disproportionately tied to people who work in small businesses." Age
What really drives the U.S. economy? No, it is not war. Small business -- firms with fewer than 500 employees -- drives the U.S. economy by providing jobs for over half of the nation's private workforce. The latest figures from the SBA show that small businesses with fewer than 20 employees increased employment by 853,074 during 2001-2002.
Originally posted by TheAftermath
What part of the Constitution states the government may use public funds for healthcare?
Please spare me the misguided general welfare clause argument as no court has ever affirmed that OPINION.
Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by TheAftermath
But even those with coverage are not gaurenteed healtcare. How many people thought the were covered and the insurance said nope!
There are many people, who like myself, had health insurance and was going broke. I spent 9k last year just on coverage alone. between copays and what insurance didn't cover, we paid 12-15k a year on health insurance. At the beginning of the year they jacked it up 150 a month and tried to pretend it wouldn't affect us. My husband almost punched the guy.
50% of bankruptcies are over medical costs.
18,000 people die each year from being uninsured.
Seniors have to decide between life keeping medicine or food. Many of them vets.
Someone may correct me on this, but I think insurance companies have remained pretty stable or untouched through this recession. To have that much money must be lovely.
Their costs in recent years has increased 5X the national inflation.
[edit on 7-8-2009 by nixie_nox]
Originally posted by TheAftermath
reply to post by 297GT
Human rights.......
How about my human rights?
How about my right to not have money taken from me to pay for you?
Originally posted by nixie_nox
The last I heard there were 5 bills, LOL.
I think it is a problem of, pick my bill! That is just my guess.
Originally posted by TheAftermath
Please spare me the misguided general welfare clause argument as no court has ever affirmed that OPINION.