Over 40 mln in U.S. can't afford health care: report

[jcindaville]

According to the US Census Bureau 80% of people without health insurance are working. When you make $9 an hr. how can you afford $300 or $400 a month in health insurance even if your employer pays a little bit of it. And a growing % of available jobs are $10/hr. and under.

It truly is not as simple as 'get a job'. I wish it were... and if everyone 'gets a better job', Dime, who's gonna serve you a double cheeseburger at McDonalds?

True Garth, but is it the goverments responsibility to provide you with health care??

I dont think that was in the constitution.

Americans dont want to take any responsibility, they want the government to fix all of their problems.

If you dont want to make 9 bucks an hour, pay more attention in school, and you might find a better paying job.

The government cant pay for everything

[jcindaville]

Education is free in this country, and no one seems to want more of that

[flarendep1]

The US has the best healthcare in the world, push this bs somewhere else in the world. Maybe you and Michael Moore can move to Cuba to get the best care!! Socialism does not work, every country that has tried it has failed, why follow that blueprint?

[garth]

True Garth, but is it the goverments responsibility to provide you with health care??

I dont think that was in the constitution.

Americans dont want to take any responsibility, they want the government to fix all of their problems.

If you dont want to make 9 bucks an hour, pay more attention in school, and you might find a better paying job.

The government cant pay for everything

I wasn't saying whether it was the government's responsibility or not. I'm not smart enough to have that answer. I was responding to your contention that half of the uninsured are too lazy to work. I do know, however, that there are at least 10 or 12 countries in the world whose governments do take a large responsibility for healthcare and most of those countries have better health indicators than the US and pay one helluva lot less per capita on healthcare.
I do agree with you that part of the answer is personal responsibility for one's health.

[garth]

The US has the best healthcare in the world, push this bs somewhere else in the world. Maybe you and Michael Moore can move to Cuba to get the best care!! Socialism does not work, every country that has tried it has failed, why follow that blueprint?

The US definitely does not have the best health care in the world. They have the most medical technological advances but as far as the system and health outcomes, we're way down on the list.

[jcindaville]

I wasn't saying whether it was the government's responsibility or not. I'm not smart enough to have that answer. I was responding to your contention that half of the uninsured are too lazy to work. I do know, however, that there are at least 10 or 12 countries in the world whose governments do take a large responsibility for healthcare and most of those countries have better health indicators than the US and pay one helluva lot less per capita on healthcare.
I do agree with you that part of the answer is personal responsibility for one's health.

i am not smart enough either Garth, that is for sure.

[10DimeBry]

just wondering. do you all know who is going to pay for this universal health care??? Answer.......everyone in the form of higher taxes. if you like paying high taxes and letting government control your life then go ahead and vote Dem and let see how it shakes out.

[garth]

just wondering. do you all know who is going to pay for this universal health care??? Answer.......everyone in the form of higher taxes. if you like paying high taxes and letting government control your life then go ahead and vote Dem and let see how it shakes out.

We already pay in the form of higher insurance premiums and higher per-unit prices on healthcare services. For example, there is a large number of uninsured individuals who use emergency rooms for their primary care because they can't get into a primary care provider. They don't come until they're really sick (usually). Hospitals eat those costs and jack up the prices for the rest of us who have insurance. How expensive is the ER for primary health care? Very. probably about 20 times as expensive as going to a family physician or a nurse practitioner. I share some of your concerns about burgeoning bureaucracy with government-controlled healthcare. Maybe that's not the answer. When Medicare was enacted as a part of Lyndon Johnson's 'Great Society', doctors and hospitals just used it as a cash cow and that's when health care costs in the Country started on the never-ending upward spiral...but when working people and children can't even get basic healthcare services that's damn sure not right.

[harold_bush]

I know many ppl in england who are under socialized health care and they hate it. say its the worst thing ever. you wait months just to get an appointment to see "A" doctor......not your doctor...just some random doc. and on top of that. if you need surgery.....forget about it....your waiting years. Socialized health care is the worst idea ever. It ranks up there with illegal immigration. I find it disgusting that our country lets ppl who arent even here legally protest in our streets.......

AMEN!

I'm not saying we have the greatest healthcare system, but you are very naive if you think socialized medicine is the answer. As 10Dime states, it is an abolsute nightmare. I have several friends in Canada that say the same thing. A friend of mine injured his shoulder in a fall, and 7 months later he is still waiting for the MRI that has been recommended.

There are reasons why Canadians and other socialized countries are seeing an increase in private practices opening up in their area. People are willing to pay out of their own pockets just to get see in days rather than months. There are also reasons why flocks of people from Canada come to the US and pay for medical care out of their pocket rather than getting that great "free care." The government fucks up everything they do generally speaking, adding another trillion dollar program is hardly the solution. Plus, where is the money going to come from?

Look, there are certain people that just get dealt a bad hand in life, do the best they can, and can't afford healthcare, I get that. But for every one person in that boat, there are easily a thousand more that are just plain irresponsible and could afford healthcare if they were pissing their money away on iPods, cell phones, brand new cars, vacations, etc. Or, the ones that are on welfare, too stupid to use birth control, and have 7 kids with 5 different men, knowing full well they can't even afford to take care of their own sorry ass, let alone kids.

I work in the claims/insurance industry for a major (higher end) hotel company. It sickens me to see how many people are staying in hotels that are ($200, $300, $400 a night) that get injured on our property and DON'T have insurance. The irresponsibility is mind boggling when I see people who drop $2k for a week in a hotel, but "can't afford" health insurance.

[TwoTonTony]

i think if we capped the amount a doctor can be sued for then we would not have OB/GYN's quitting medicine.....Sometimes shit just happens....bad shit.....But the insurance companies pass it on to us......But by the same token there should be some minimal coverage that is affordable.

It also goes to the question of some people (not all) should not be having children if they can not take care of them. I am no genius but it would seem to me if I make 18k a year I should not have more than 1 child......Well, we do not want gov't telling us how many kids we can have.....yet we want them to cover us when we do. You can not have govt both ways. I think if people were fiscally responsible instead of just doing shit...then worrying about the consequences we would be better off.

I would love to have a program where single moms got coverage for a period of time (say 18-24 months) until they got on their feet. But I do not want to be on the hook for their children personally. Seems to me everyone has cell phones, cable tv, ipods......make some hard decisions america.....what is more important tunes or healthcare coverage.

It is not until the citizen has to pay for it do they realize how expensive it is.

[tonynico]

We already pay in the form of higher insurance premiums and higher per-unit prices on healthcare services.

And do you honestly think they will go down if there is socialized medicine? And I would think IF there was a premium decrease, or better odds of less in premiun increases, they will be offset with higher taxes.

[BettorsChat]

just wondering. do you all know who is going to pay for this universal health care??? Answer.......everyone in the form of higher taxes. if you like paying high taxes and letting government control your life then go ahead and vote Dem and let see how it shakes out.

I guess insurance is cheap now

Maybe the richest rich could pay their fair share of taxes. Some have even said that.

[jordanrules23]

I guess insurance is cheap now

Maybe the richest rich could pay their fair share of taxes. Some have even said that.

[TwoTonTony]

I guess insurance is cheap now

Maybe the richest rich could pay their fair share of taxes. Some have even said that.

the wealthiest 10% of americans pay 37% of the taxes
the middle 50% account for 60% of taxes
the lower middle class account for less than 15% of taxes...

i heard this on laura ingram the other night she was quoting from a think tank study......the #'s may be off a % or 2 but it is close........i was shocked.....

[harold_bush]

I guess insurance is cheap now

Maybe the richest rich could pay their fair share of taxes. Some have even said that.

Wow, scary the way people feel about rich people. If we want to look at facts, not opinions, here is some info on who pays taxes.
TwoTonTony, we are trying to make the same point, but your numbers are a good bit off. As amazing as the numbes are that you posted, here are the real numbers.

The top 1% of income earners pay 37% of all taxes.
The top 25% of income earners pay 85% of all taxes.
The top 50% of income earners pay 96.70% of all taxes.
The bottom 50% of income earners pay 3.30% of all taxes.

I'd say the richest rich pay their fair share of taxes. Not even to go into the simple economic argument that tax cuts for the rich stimulate the economy. The truth is the rich make the economy go around. The more discretionary income the rich have, the more they spend. The more they spend, the more product is needed. The more product that is needed, the more workers are needed to produce the product, etc.