Please give me a few more details on your idea for subsidized/guaranteed insurance. I have done quite a bit of thinking in the past on that and other ideas and of all the ones I have looked at, MSA’s w/disaster insurance make the most sense to me. I like the idea of paying out of pocket (tax free) for all small expenditures under $1500. (Yes Jaques, if you are still there, I know that is a life savings for some people and we are not talking about them. They still qualify for SCHIP under the CURRENT rules). That gives me the option of negotiating with my doctor for a fair price and stops people from clogging up the system with stubbed toes. Let’s face it, the thing that everyone fears is losing their house and life savings to a $500,000 cancer treatment bill. But that is not where the majority of insurance payouts are. They are paid out for the little crap that people waste doctors time on. That is why the socialist model fails so completely – it is free so why not use it any time we want?
Disaster insurance that protects people from losing everything can be had for around $2,000/year and the other $5,000 that you or your employer are paying currently goes into a tax free medical savings account that gains interest and, if you stay healthy and don’t use it, can be treated as a retirement account.

Everybody is taking care of? How? Are you on (illegal)drugs or something? Do you live in the US?

Yes Jaques, that is a fact, not my opinion. Please feel free to do some checking. It is well documented.

Why pay for insurance if everybody is taken care of anyway, sounds like a ‘communist’ Cuba system to me.

Because I believe in choice and not leaching off the system.

Well, okay – Patriot, believe in whatever you believe but, no offence, I’m done with your point of view on health care. We differ too much.

I agree, I don’t think there is a middle ground between people who have the faith in their fellow countrymen to pull themselves up if given half a chance, and people who think everyone is so helpless that they need the government to micromanage their existence.

now it’s the complete opposite, we ask the government to do everything dang thing for us except wipe our butts..sure that is next.

Marc, that used to be one of my favorite sayings also until I remodeled my bathroom and, on inspection, found that my toilet did not meet federal “gallon per flush” standards. You don’t have to wait any longer for the government to monitor your butt wiping.

are you kidding Jacques??? ever hear how much money is lost in hospitals by people who come in for service and never or can’t pay?????? ever hear of that? patriot is right, anyone who is sick in this country can go into a emergency room and be treated. now if you are talking about a cradle to grave government nanny state then yeah I don’t want that……read our founding documents…we have gotten so far from what this country was set out to do, the federal gov has WAY overstepped is duties and role. …..please answer me this: why with the proven mismanagement government has with OUR money, why on god’s green earth would you dare trust them with your healthcare????? why would a sane person do that? the road to the good life very simple: stay in school, don’t have 5 kids before you are 18, go to college with loans or grants, get out and get a decent job and you will move up the ladder, that’s how we all do it….all good companies will offer some type of heath coverage, that still exists.! this is called a free market..but please why should the government be trusted after the awful mess of social security?? our health care will turn into the complete wasteful mess SS has become..no government controlled health for me…no one even commented on my earlier proposal to have insurance companies have to take you. then have the gov. subsidize your premiums for a few years if you can’t pay them…simple and no nanny state. man what has happened to this strong country??? It used to be a point of pride to never ask the government for anything. Make it on your own, rugged spirit that carved this land into the tower of industrial strength it is..all from nothing but sweat and inventiveness….now it’s the complete opposite, we ask the government to do everything dang thing for us except wipe our butts..sure that is next.

Why pay for insurance if everybody is taken care of anyway, sounds like a ‘communist’ Cuba system to me.

Well, okay – Patriot, believe in whatever you believe but, no offence, I’m done with your point of view on health care. We differ too much.

50 million Americans are uninsured. What about them? If you don’t agree with the number, okay – fill in your own number, that’s not the most important thing.

If you had read an earlier post, you would have seen that I already answered that question. No person – legal or otherwise – is denied health care. Please stop confusing health care and health insurance. Everyone is taken care of. The difference is that the socialist system takes away choice. For those who truly can not afford to pay their own way, it is absolutely the citizenry’s responsibility to help. Societies will invariably crumble if the truly helpless are ignored. But the socialist model is wasteful and inefficient for those that can afford it. The system that is being proposed here moves 1 in 3 people off private insurance and on to the government system. Why should I have to pay for someone who is making twice as much as I am but chooses to spend his money on drugs or expensive cars?

50 million Americans are uninsured. What about them? If you don’t agree with the number, okay – fill in your own number, that’s not the most important thing.

But still what about them? Do you have an answer? An Idea? Something?

What about all those people who can’t afford health care?

They all should get a job can’t be the answer, because most people don’t get the benefits. And how do you want to pay $700 and up a month on a low paid job income when you have a wife and two kids?

So, if you’ve an answer I’m genuinely interested. What I see here is conservatives bashing liberal ideas but I don’t see any conservative solutions or answers to the problem. Because it’s a problem or isn’t it.

And about other countries, Europe: I’m not saying it’s paradise there – because it isn’t. But they do a damn better job in taking care of each other.

People in a modern civilized society should take care of the weakest and poorest. And it makes you feel good – helping others.

The rest of the free world is wrong and you, conservatives, are right! Have fun with your health care (when you’re out of a job… when your 65..)

That is the fundamental difference in thinking between liberals and conservatives. Liberals think people are incapable of caring for themselves while conservatives believe that decision making should be left to the individual. Again, I have always provided for my family and am quite adequately prepared for the future (but thanks for your concern), while the government has never failed to let me down, make me wait in line, and shaft me with red tape.
Funny how the US economy is sinking into the sewer as we move towards socialism – more social security/medicare/medicaid/hillary care, and yet even Canada and England are considering moving back towards allowing some private insurance and private pay clinics. France is trying to increase the work week and the former Soviet block countries have embraced the flat tax and are enjoying an economic boom that everyone is allowed to participate in.

First of all I was working when I had both of my children for a whopping $8.00 an hour but had medical coverage which paid for my maternity expenses. I am not one of those women who keep having more and more kids either. I have two boys and would love to one day have that little girl that my heart has always desired but know that I cannot afford it so I went on ahead and had a tubal ligation to keep us from ending up in even a deeper hole.

After the second child my husband lost the job he had at the time due to layoffs and had struggled to find another one but took what he could get to keep food on the table. And in case you hadn’t noticed, $8.00 an hour will not pay for childcare in this country.

Childcare is extremely and ridiculously expensive so it just made more sense to quit my job and stay home with the boys. The month after I quit my job, I enrolled in college classes to work on getting an education so that I could eventually have a degree and get a better paying job. Not to mention making me a good role model for my children. In the meantime my husband is still working for a company that does not offer medical benefits. He is a glazier and because the turnover rate is so high in that field most glass companies won’t provide medical benefits. My husband has a GED and that is his highest education level. I already have two years of college under my belt. Another two years and I have my bachelors degree.

At this time he is still trying to find a better job but since he is the only one bringing in income at the moment then it’s not like he can take time off to go job hunting. I don’t think there is anything wrong with having my boys on medicaid while I work on getting my education. Like I said…I’ve paid taxes before as have my parents and my husband. So I don’t feel the least bit guilty for using the system for a couple of years while I get up on my feet. What else do you presume I do? Have my children go without healthcare?