Health Care???

[Buck]

With 50 million Americans without health insurance and the rest suffering a health care system with ever soaring costs what is your answer to the problem???

Unless you advocate keeping the current system please give your opinion as to what needs to be done to create a fair and equitable health care program for all Americans......

[Jabber Jaws]

I wish I could answer that...I will really need to sit and think for awhile on that one.

For starters, the healthcare costs need to be reined in. I can buy 500 aspirin, maybe even 1000, for what hospitals charge for one, ridiculous. Until something is in place, I think the rx costs need reined in drastically. Some people could afford to pay $10 for a rx but not the $100 or more they charge now. If they put a stop to companies running ads, they could offer cheaper drugs. I will hush for now until I think about it some more.

[Banter]

We have a fair system. Certainly not perfect, but fair. And yes, I know I will get flamed for this statement, but I feel our system is fair.
Some people can pay out of pocket for their healthcare, and that's OK for those who can.
Others purchase health insurance - some for regular healthcare, some just for catastrophic care. It can be expensive, but it's a personal choice, and some plans are much more reasonable than others.
Then there is that segment of society that can't afford to buy insurance or to pay for services. We have a vast system of Medicare/MedicAid that assists these people.
Yes, some people have terrible problems getting help for pre-existing conditions, etc. This is certainly not perfect, but it is being addressed slowly.
99% of our population falls into one of the categories named, though, and if you have to pay a co-pay or something like that, that's not unfair. The constitution does not give you the "right" to free healthcare, especially when that includes much of the unnecessary stuff people just want.
I went without insurance for a few years just because I thought it was too expensive, and I made too much for welfare assistance. But it was a stupid gamble.I work harder and set my priorities differently now, though. It was a choice I made.(Choice - as Buck loves to stress - is important.) I now pay for family insurance and feel happy to have it. And I do not CHOOSE to work even harder to provide free pills to those who don't want to set their priorities on their family's health.

No, the system isn't perfect, but it IS fair.

[Banter]

Guess my comment wasn't really on-topic, because Buck said to "give your opinion as to what needs to be done to create a fair and equitable health care program for all American."
Here's my suggestion:
1. Do not provide free healthcare to those who are not US citizens.
2. Do not provide Medicare for anyone who is not willing to be a partner in their own health.
This involves not smoking or taking unprescribed drugs, and this has two separate purposes. If the person is paying for cigarettes and drugs, he has the money for healthcare but has "poor priorities!" And secondly, that person is not willing to take any responsibility to be a partner in his own health, and it's frankly throwing money down a hole to pay for such a person's medical assistance.

No, this is not a compassionate approach in many people's eyes. Some people feel that if anyone posesses anything, he should have to share it. And that's the problem. There are fewer and fewer of us suckers that actually do bother to earn something, and more and more people who have learned at Daddy's knee how to use the system.

[Shelley]

Jabber Jaws wrote:

I wish I could answer that...I will really need to sit and think for awhile on that one.
For starters, the healthcare costs need to be reined in. I can buy 500 aspirin, maybe even 1000, for what hospitals charge for one, ridiculous. Until something is in place, I think the rx costs need reined in drastically. Some people could afford to pay $10 for a rx but not the $100 or more they charge now. If they put a stop to companies running ads, they could offer cheaper drugs. I will hush for now until I think about it some more.

Actually, JJ, you should be able to but THOUSANDS of aspirin for the price you pay while you are hospitalized. You aren't paying for the pill. You are paying for a licensed professional to prescribe it, to make certain it is what it should be, to administer it, to monitor its effects, etc.
Imagine what your personal cost would be to hire a doctor to come give you the Rx, hire a healthcare worker to bring it to you in bed, etc.
Healthcare is the process and the people, not the pill.

[Buck]

Let' say you pay a monthly premium for health insurance and your neighbor dont'.....you both are in a accident and rushed to the hospital....you both will be treated the same....you pay for your care and the taxpayer pickes up your neighbors bill......What is fair about that???

Illiegal aliens are not getting government health care....that is a urban legend

I do agree with your concept of "taking responsibility for your own health" but how to we accomplish that?
Blood tests to see who is using tabacco, alchol, drugs.....or to see who is eating healthy????

At present there is a large percentage of the American populations which are not contributing to the cost of their haelth care.....if the taxpayer is to fund health care then why should the taxpayer have to pay an additional premium for health insarance???

Everyone should pay for health care

Banter wrote:

Guess my comment wasn't really on-topic, because Buck said to "give your opinion as to what needs to be done to create a fair and equitable health care program for all American."
Here's my suggestion:
1. Do not provide free healthcare to those who are not US citizens.
2. Do not provide Medicare for anyone who is not willing to be a partner in their own health.
This involves not smoking or taking unprescribed drugs, and this has two separate purposes. If the person is paying for cigarettes and drugs, he has the money for healthcare but has "poor priorities!" And secondly, that person is not willing to take any responsibility to be a partner in his own health, and it's frankly throwing money down a hole to pay for such a person's medical assistance.
No, this is not a compassionate approach in many people's eyes. Some people feel that if anyone posesses anything, he should have to share it. And that's the problem. There are fewer and fewer of us suckers that actually do bother to earn something, and more and more people who have learned at Daddy's knee how to use the system.

[Jabber Jaws]

Whether illegals are actually getting gov. health care, I would have to research on that but I do know they are getting free medical care. So much so, that some hosp. have complained to the gov. about it. I read a story a year or two ago about an illegal, don't remember where he was from, wasn't Mexico or where the hosp. was but the guy had to have a very major surgery. They ultimately saved his life. His bill was already in the hundreds of thousands and the hosp. had him stabilized and wanted to fly him back, at their expense, to his country for them to treat him. They already knew they were eating the cost of his stay. The gov. refused to let them fly him back. The guy still had several more weeks to spend in the hosp. We all know who paid for that stay.

I have read several stories about illegals going to the hosp. and they never pay and how is the hosp. going to make them? I do believe that treating illegals is partly helping to break the system.

[Sandy]

Buck wrote:

Illiegal aliens are not getting government health care....that is a urban legend

<quoted text>

You're wrong.
The American Hospital Association reports that their member facilities provided $21 billion in uncompensated health-care services last year, with undocumented aliens making up 43% of that total. That’s over nine billion dollars lost to illegal aliens.
Keep in mind that these figures underestimate even the medical costs of low skilled immigrants because millions of illegals were granted citizenship through amnesty, and a large portion of them are uninsured. Also, the costs above do not include costs at government clinics and private practices or the costs of the US citizen children who are born in the United States to illegal aliens whose parents use Medicaid and other government programs to pay their health care.

[Buck]

Hospitals are required by law to treat and stabilize emergency medical conditions regardless of race, creed, or national origin....although the ER is used by many as "health care" it was not set up to be primary routine maintenance health care....And the majority using it as such are not illegal aliens....and the 21 billion you quote is a drop in the bucket of a trillion dollar health care system where the taxpayer ultimately picks up the tab for those wihtout health care.....

Under a universal health care program even illegal aliens would be required to contribute a percent of their wages if they are working.....

Illiegals dont have health care in the US...
A pregnant illegal will get medicad only thru the birth of the baby and the baby will be eligible for medicaid until 19 if the parents are under income limits since the baby is now a US citizen...

Illegal aliens are another new thread altogether but we are all illegals since the American indian was the original occupant of the Americas.....

Sandy wrote:

<quoted text>
You're wrong.
The American Hospital Association reports that their member facilities provided $21 billion in uncompensated health-care services last year, with undocumented aliens making up 43% of that total. That’s over nine billion dollars lost to illegal aliens.
Keep in mind that these figures underestimate even the medical costs of low skilled immigrants because millions of illegals were granted citizenship through amnesty, and a large portion of them are uninsured. Also, the costs above do not include costs at government clinics and private practices or the costs of the US citizen children who are born in the United States to illegal aliens whose parents use Medicaid and other government programs to pay their health care.

[Bailey]

Buck wrote:

... we are all illegals since the American indian was the original occupant of the Americas.....
<quoted text>

Anyone born here to parents who were born here is a legal resident. Your assertion (that all except American Indians are illegal) is untrue.

[Green Hornet 007]

Sandy wrote:

<quoted text>
You're wrong.
The American Hospital Association reports that their member facilities provided $21 billion in uncompensated health-care services last year, with undocumented aliens making up 43% of that total. That’s over nine billion dollars lost to illegal aliens.
Keep in mind that these figures underestimate even the medical costs of low skilled immigrants because millions of illegals were granted citizenship through amnesty, and a large portion of them are uninsured. Also, the costs above do not include costs at government clinics and private practices or the costs of the US citizen children who are born in the United States to illegal aliens whose parents use Medicaid and other government programs to pay their health care.

Glad to see your figures.I know of a news report that said that some of the hospitals near the border may go bankrupt because of taking care of illegal aliens.I still have not heard of a "good" alternative to any program that is not similar to Canada.

[Michelle Dalton]

Shelley wrote:

<quoted text>
Actually, JJ, you should be able to but THOUSANDS of aspirin for the price you pay while you are hospitalized. You aren't paying for the pill. You are paying for a licensed professional to prescribe it, to make certain it is what it should be, to administer it, to monitor its effects, etc.
Imagine what your personal cost would be to hire a doctor to come give you the Rx, hire a healthcare worker to bring it to you in bed, etc.
Healthcare is the process and the people, not the pill.

You are correct. My doctor ordered me up a mammogram due to turning 40. When it showed a tumor, I was sent to my regular doctor to tell me what I already knew. Then I was set up with a Cancer Doctor, who set me up with a women's center. I went to the women's center to find out that they already had all they needed. I bet I was charged for that. Then I went to the Cancer Doctor that same day for him to tell me that I will be going back to the women's center for a biopsy. Bet I was charged for that. I went and had the biopsy, which of course I was charged for. Then had to meet with the cancer Doctor again to get the results, which I was already told about over the phone. Bet I got charged for that visit as well. But I was smart...I planned my follow up with my Reg doc and my yearly exam in the same visit. I'd say that saved me what...$75.00.

That to me is not fair. We have insurance thru my husbands work. But the deductable is so high that all the cost will still come out of our pocket.

[Buck]

So the pilgrims came to American but only their children are/were legal residents???

Bailey wrote:

<quoted text>
Anyone born here to parents who were born here is a legal resident. Your assertion (that all except American Indians are illegal) is untrue.