feedback for "Primer: Health Care"

1. When Obama says that "the government" will pay for a baby's health care, I am assuming he is also meaning for babies of parents that are not legal citizens? That will just provide more reason for people to come to American illegally just to have a child. Although things in our health care system need more checks and balances, I do NOT agree that "the government" (i.e. MY tax dollars) should go to people who just "can't afford" health care. I made sure to get a job that provided health care before I decided to have a family. The more we give to people for free, the more they will take it. This will not help the economy grow. I would like to see regulation with malpractice suits. Lawsuits are a huge reason health care is so expensive.

   posted by : KT on 10/21/2008 at 8:22 PM Flag For Abuse

2. KT, I'm sorry to hear your selfish thinking. You do realize that America is the only highly industrialized nation in the world without a more inclusive system of health care. Why don't we just privatize police officers or fire fighters. If you can afford it, they'll help you. And if someone's poor, firefighters won't show up at your house. Do you not realize that withholding care from a child (or an adult) is the same thing as keeping help away when someone needs it. Why don't you research what other countries do and stop thinking of your salery as your money? Part of your salary goes to keep our country strong--our military, our teachers AND our people. Any less is negligent and shameful. My husband and I have money. And we would gladly share some of it to make our country better.

   posted by : CO_Mama on 10/21/2008 at 10:52 PM Flag For Abuse

3. I don't like the idea of the government running anything. Most of the officials in government can't even run their own lives, the idea that they can run a health care system is absurd. It's a recipe for disaster and an open book for politics to be involved where they shouldn't be. I say small steps like opening up competition for insurance would be better than revamping the whole system and leaving it all up to chance for somebody later down the line having to spend a fortune to fix it all again. Socialism bites, that's not what our country was founded on, leave the government out!

   posted by : Mom in LA on 10/22/2008 at 8:32 AM Flag For Abuse

4. We already have competition for insurance. There are a variety of health plans to choose from, and all of them COST A LOT, which is why we have 45 million uninsured people (and many more who are underinsured).
   
   Mom in LA: Hey, let's not have a government at all, with your logic!
   
   People who are so scared of socialism need to wake up. Do you even know what it is? It's a system that advocates "collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods." What do you think the $700 billion bailout of the financial sector is???? The federal government (and us, the taxpayers) now have an ownership stake in a number of HUGE BANKS. What do you think Social Security is? What do you think Medicare and Medicaid are? They are social programs--paid for through taxes and administered (however poorly) by the government and designed to fill in the gaps left by our capitalist system. As a cost of doing business in this country, your employer has to PAY INTO SOCIAL SECURITY--as do you as the employee. Why do you think the Republican administration pushed so hard for privatization of SS? Because it would mean that employers would no longer have to pay into it!!!!
   
   Privatizing healthcare (further) is not the answer. My insurance costs over $17,000 a year (it's part of my benefits package) for my family. John McCain's $5000 tax credit isn't going to get me very far. Think about the current economic crisis--we're going to see even more people losing their insurance.
   
   Who pays the cost for the uninsured to get care? Hint: it's people with insurance.
   
   Moving to a single-payer system may not be a perfect answer to the current problems, but what we're doing now obviously isn't working.
   *rant over.*

   posted by : katydidmama on 10/22/2008 at 3:18 PM Flag For Abuse

5. The numbers are clearly on Obama's side. McCain's plan isn't feasible (at least the parts that he or his VP choice have been able or willing to articulate). Neither are socialism. Something MUST be done. No one wants to give free handouts of our own money to slackers, but most Americans who do not have health insurance (my family does, through a combination of luck and our own hard work to attain jobs with insurance) are not lay-abouts. Most are working - hard - and still can't get it. Not having insurance in this country means you're screwed. Go Obama.

   posted by : mrb on 10/22/2008 at 4:53 PM Flag For Abuse

6. There is a difference in giving my "selfish" tax dollars to police officers that are helping to make our whole country a better place and giving it to help people that "just can't afford it." WOW what a nice luxury. To just be able to say we can't afford something and the government step in to take care of it. It frustrates me because it embodies the idea that our government should help all of those in need all the time. I DON'T agree with many of the already federally funded programs that are out there. I do agree in taking care of myself and continually bettering myself for the benefit of this country and my family. Health care HAS gotten outrageous and more people need access to it, but I feel like the problem lies more in the drug industry, the malpractice suits, and the fact that employers don't want to pay for good insurance.
   
   I think that the term "socialism" is being used to mean different things... The idea that a government will take from the rich and give to the poor is what most of us mean when we use the term socialism. Why bother trying to make a successful business when the government will just decide that I have made too much and then proceed to spread my wealth around. CO Mama's statement, "stop thinking of your salary as your money" is EXACTLY what scares us about this way of thinking. I work long and hard and am very good at my job. I just don't like that the idea that it's NOT my money... why not? why are we so against people making money?? It does not upset me one bit that someone out there is a billionaire. It's great that he helps people as much as he does, but it's HIS money. He should not have to spend so much of it in the way the GOVERNMENT sees fit. He should help the country how he wants to. And if he doesn't, well, then that is his right.
   
   And I agree with Mom in LA... the government is not especially great at running things, i.e. Fannie Mae. I am a teacher so I work for the government (yes and take a small amount of tax money as salary... this is not what we mean by socialism) and it takes FOREVER for a child with a possible disability to be tested. Usually from deciding to test a child to having him placed in the right class takes over a YEAR. I DO NOT want that to happen to me when I need to see a doctor and get treated. I agree with Mom in LA, they should work on fixing the problems that we have instead of reinventing.
   
   I guess it boils down to just different opinions on what is good for the country. I just don't like the idea of government stepping in to do EVERYTHING. If the government gives, it can also take away... that is too scary for me.

   posted by : KT on 10/22/2008 at 9:37 PM Flag For Abuse

7. I work long hours at a media job and I'm permanently terrified that I will wake up one day to find my job gone. My husband works but does not have a health plan through his job. Without my employer coverage, it will cost me thousands of dollars a month to insure my family, meaning I wouldn't be able to afford it. Even with my employer health plan, which is generous, I pay more than $500 a month per family member. The idea that my child might not be able to see the doctor because of my job situation is absurd and tragic. I am glad to finally see the government talk about health care as a right, not a privilege. I like the comparisons to auto insurance: everyone is required to have it because it keeps everyone safe. I don't need the government to pay for everything, but I believe that my child has a right to health coverage. And I certainly don't think that it's the first step to socialism.

   posted by : stillpayingoffcollege on 10/23/2008 at 10:37 AM Flag For Abuse

8. Having a healthy society will benefit our country. Having children who are healthy enough to learn and contribute to society will benefit our society. Do you know that most bankruptcies in our countries are caused by people who did not have enough money to pay for health related issues after an accident, a disease like cancer, diabetes, etc. We are not talking about slackers who don't work and sit around so they don't deserve health insurance. We're talking about working class people--in jobs that help our economy--but they can't afford health insurance. There are 9 million children in the United States who don't have health insurance. One quarter of those children have parents who have health insurance--but they can't afford it for their children. Why are you so scared of fixing something that is broken? Why are we so anxious to bring democracy to other countries when our own American children are dying?

   posted by : CO_Mama on 10/23/2008 at 2:45 PM Flag For Abuse

9. I gew up working class in NYC and am now living in Europe. While my parents still struggle to afford their necessary medications and my father plans to work until he dies in order to keep their small family afloat, and my sibling and cousins don't have health insurance at all, I know that I can access almost any type of medical service for free and my medications are only $15 a month. If I need to see a doctor, I can; if I need to see a therapist, I can; if I need medication, I can afford it. For this I pay about $200 a month in National Insurance, which is the salary-based charge taken out of every working adult's paycheck (pre-tax) - when I only made a couple of hundred dollars a month, it was about $20. Bargain. There isn't much of a waiting list, and there is far more accountability - when I'm sick, I see a doctor the same day, and if I need a check-up or follow-up I get one. I get notified about my cervical screenings, I get whatever tests I need. Those people I know who've had more complicated procedures are happy with the timescale and quality of care they're received. And if I were to lose my job, or become sick long-term, I'd still be covered just as well as I am now. How much do my parents spend in premiums every month, plus topups for visits and their medications? What would happen if my dad lost his job, or died first, or became incapacitated? They'd be sh*t outta luck, that's what.
   
   We choose the democracy we own, as we choose the government we have. In Europe health care is considered a fundamental right. Why owning a gun is entrenched is the consitution but you're left to fend for yourself if you get shot by one, is lost on me. It's not just kids, or the elderly, who deserve health coverage. WE ALL DESERVE HEALTH COVERAGE. If you don't believe that, you pretty much believe not all of us deserve to live, in my opinion.

   posted by : AintMovingBack on 10/24/2008 at 8:48 AM Flag For Abuse

10. As someone who lives in Canada, the US looks completely insane. I had to deal with repeated bladder infections and undergo tests to make sure it wasn't being caused by something more serious then bacteria which involved several specialists and a trip to the hospital. What did it cost me? NOTHING. I was work as an intern at the time, just out of school and could barely afford the antibiotics.
    
    I don't know why anyone would willingly move to the states purely based on your abysmal health care. Whenever people go on about how patriotic they are and how much they love their country I hear shades of an abused spouse talking about how wonderful things are.

    posted by : erni on 10/28/2008 at 3:40 PM Flag For Abuse