I am 23, an American Citizen with government run health care.

reply to post by redhatty

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Sounds as if you need some 'chill' and 'humility' pills. Just handing you some of the advice you're more than willing to dish out for FREE .. as long as it doesn't cost YOU and of YOUR tax dollars.


Gee, hope you're covered for unemployment

Hope you're covered for those life-incidents that leave people flat broke

Hope your insurance doesn't bottom and disappear

Hope your KIDS can afford private health care when they're adult and popping out kids of their own and losing their jobs and losing their shirt in divorce or when they drink and drive and cause a bad accident and have the pants sued off them or if they're caught with drugs on their person and have to pay tens of thousands in legal fees to keep their backsides out of jail.


Or do you live entirely in the present. All is well with your world right now

and that allows you to spit on those for whom life has not always been

peachy.


Guess what ? Life has a way of bringing those with attitudes like yours to their knees

In fact, life LOVES doing it


Better insure yourself for everything.

And please .. if you EVER dip into the tax dollars of those other 300 million Americans, for whatever reason

hope you'll have the honesty to remember those posts of yours up there


and hope you hide your face in shame and mumble 'I'm so sorry' into your hands, in a closed room, where no one can witness your shame


You know what they say .. yes, you know ... pride before the fall.

It used to be on the snakes and ladders boards, years ago, to teach kids about life.

Guess you never played snakes and ladders. Never fell ? Means you're overdue for a big fall then, doesn't it.

Make sure you don't use one cent of anyone's tax dollars on your climb back up. Thanks.

reply to post by redhatty

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The upshot of karma is that she doesn't require your belief to manifest herself ...

To the OP:

I was once blackmailed by my doctor that in order to get more pain medication for a herniated disc (L5) I had to commit to surgery. I told him to stuff it.

I sympathize with your situation and thank god you had access to healthcare. Thousands of people die needlessly every year because they don't have the privilege of this basic human right. It's a freakin' disgrace is what it is. And whilst others may sit here and pontificate on their ideal people are dying as we speak. Yet watch how fast a "personal responsibility" ideologue runs for state assistance if he/she is sick and broke.

[edit on 15 Aug 2009 by schrodingers dog]

reply to post by ohioriver

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Over the years, well the ten years or so I've been politically aware, there are two simple aspects of "socialized" health care that have been prevalent in the media. Maybe they're two shades of the same colour, but

a) health care is constantly at teh top of the list for must haves. It wins elections and people just aren't willing to let go of it. It helps, imo, that a certain patriotic duty is implied with it's continuance.
b)there is a certain fear of privatized health care. I've heard the term "two tier" about a hundred thousand times. I think we're of the mind that if it aint broke, don't fix it.

It is hard however, to compare the two countries when the percentage of tax dollars towards different things are almost totally in contrast. Like, i'm pretty sure our income tax pays for health care, or at least a portion of it, and provinces pay the rest.
apparently down there all your taxes go towards the war and paying off your debt so i don't understand where the money would come from, unless premiums already being paid would be guaranteed to be reduced under the obamaplan.

Yes I do believe it is, many hard working people will be taxed even more to provide for the health care of people who take NO PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for why they need to see the doctor in the first place.

People who don't produce, who don't in fact PAY taxes, but get full refunds and "earned income credits" yet still can't honestly realize that they are leeching off the americans who DO produce and take personal responsibility for themselves and their own.




Complete strawman argument. Attack the messenger because you don't like the message.

No I do NOT go to church at all, I don't believe in organized religion. If treatment in a military hospital while on active duty counts, that would be the only public assistance I have ever received.

No I do not own a business, I work for a large corporation and I trade on the stock market for extra income. I pay taxes quarterly on my trading income, as well as yearly on my employment income.

I pay my bills, have a savings account, support my kids, and have never asked for nor received charity, though I HAVE helped many people who needed it along the way in my life, as well as done many hours of volunteer work.

How about you?

reply to post by iamjesusphish

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I've been unemployed for 8 months.. I make nothing.. I collect nothing from the government.. and I am on no state-funded program to speak of. So your little claim of "ohh but I don't make enough money" doesn't work .. I still manage to pay my health care, because I was responsible and have an HSA.

The fact that you are using Medicaid and STILL you're demanding MORE coverage that would require MORE taxes just for YOU ... I find that astonishing.

i do have to give you credit though, you at least have a job, and want a better job. keep your head up, you will get there.

I am not going to get into the whole good, bad, right, wrong aspect of this, I am simply going to vent my concerns. I work in the Medical field, and I have dealt with Medicare and Medicaid a lot. Neither of them impresses me. Medicaid in particular dumps almost the entire amount of the cost back on the provider, and expects them to render services free or near free. I have seen Medicaid pay as little as $10 dollars on a service that cost the company hundreds of dollars to perform. Medical companies would have to either sacrifice the level of care to third world standards, or completely shut down if Medicaid suddenly is extended to everyone in this country.

My second concern is that my company will dispose of my good insurance once that there is “free” coverage to replace that insurance. Meaning that even though I am entitle to good insurance, I will now only have insurance that covers basic minimal medical needs.

Oh, by the way, to all the folks out there who saw that movie “sicko” and think that Socialized medicine is the way to go. I talked with an American who lived in France, about this subject, and he was scared to death that we would go to a similar system of socialized medicine. He told me that he got a toothache, and was told that it would take up to 6 months to be seen by a dentist over there. If this come to fruition over here, expect to see even worse wait times to get the crappy minimal service that you will end up receiving under this system.

Well, to all of you who begrudge a tiny fraction of your tiny or non existant tax dollars being used to provide health care for other Americans


TOUGH


don't like it .. move.


Anyone would think the whiners were in the top tax bracket, lol

YOUR tax dollars


give it a break

reply to post by defcon5

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And my chief concern is...

Look at how bad Medicaid and Medicare is....

Now imagine the entire health industry relied ONLY on Medicaid and Medicare..........

Point made?

I don't trust the government has the ability to run a health care system at all .. and I don't want to see us stuck paying a huge new tax to fund this beast that no one truly benefits from.

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reply to post by defcon5

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If you're part of a union, you pay dues towards optional things like dentistry and elective surgeries. Or for example in alberta there is a program called blue cross, the premiums of which are reliant on your income. I think france is at the extreme of things, like, don't they have a four day work week or something? And government workers get an obscene amount of money for doing basically nothing?
The key is socializing things that are necessities, and no, pain killers aren't a right in canada unless one pays extra premiums into "blue cross" or the like.

reply to post by St Vaast

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It's a unicorn defecating skittles...



So ... what you're saying is.. you want the Middle Class to pay up, or get out? How very American of you?

It's more or less been proven that Medicaid and Medicare ad 60% to EVERYONE's health costs. You being paid for during your recovery, that's fine...but why are you still being covered? That's a problem I have with medicare and medicaid. People who don't need it leech from it, people who do actually need it should not have access to it. Since you are recovered from your addiction and can actually work, your medicare should then be revoked and you should pay for your own. Everyone should have access to healthcare, not everyone should have access to health insurance...I don't know why insurance became so big anyhow. You need insurance for major things, not a doctors visit...that's bull#. Your car insurance doesn't cover your oil change, and your health insurance shouldn't cover your checkup.

[edit on 15-8-2009 by yellowcard]

reply to post by St Vaast

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Oh St Vaast, as a member of ATS you should be well aware of the term "skittles for everyone"

It refers the the empty promises of the .gov to provide "skittles" for everyone.

How it is supposed to be so pretty and bright to have the .gov provide you with everything you want & need.

Be very careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Only it won't be what you really wanted once you have (and are stuck) with it. Then it's too late to cry in the streets "BUT I DIDN'T KNOW"

reply to post by heyo

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Some states have special Blue Cross/Anthem plans for lower income families, I know PA is heavy into Blue Cross subsidiaries and such. Other states have other programs.. but it should be left to the States, not the Federal Government.

reply to post by Rockpuck

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Au contraire ! How very American of YOU !

Laid out above for all to see


pretty sad

How many hours of work a week do you demand that I devote to contributing to people's expenses?

reply to post by yellowcard

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If you remove Health Insurance, you could easily fix many issues.. like the spiraling inflation of health care costs.. but you couldn't charge as much, or hospitals would be empty, and health care jobs would pay much less than they do.. and the investment powers of the insurance companies would wipe out a huge portion of wall street not to mention our Federal Government (Insurance companies are among the largest holders of national debt..)

Over the years of lax regulation we unknowingly put ourselves in a precarious situation .. Reforming Insurance companies practices would be the best way to start..

And the Federal government should allow insurance companies to compete across state lines...that's not even in the bill...and that's a big one.

The problem with medical insurance, generally is this.


Governemnt ---> $$$$ (Tax incentives) ----> Your Boss ---> $$$$ ---> Your Insurance Company -----> $$$$ ---> Your doctor





YOU