We can stop with the sophomoric arguments--the SC already settled this, health care is separate and extraordinary as stated by the court, we all will get sick at some point, we all don't have to drive a car or buy a home. Unless we want to go all Solyent Green with poor/sick people, we are obligated to "pick up the chalk" as an earlier poster asked.
Government does provide food and food assistance along with charities--we don't let people starve in the wealthiest nation that has ever existed.
Your argument appears to be contradictory. Something that is 'separate and extraordinary' is something that not everyone needs, but is a special need, that is out of the ordinary and separate from ordinary needs, and that therefore not everyone should have to pay for.
I can predict when my own finances can afford it. You and the government can't. If wanting everyone to pay for their own health care is "mooching", then I guess I'm a moocher. Are you being sanctimonious? Yes, you are advocating for that. What you're ALSO advocating against is the right of the individual to have control over what and when they can make decisions for themselves. BigDog had a good point. Everyone needs food. What skin do you have in that game to insure all are provided for?
tell it to Chief Justice Roberts, I don't need to make the argument because the court did. Separate from the regular insurance paradigm because while everyone may not need to get a car, we will all get sick.
Yea I mean it's not like the government provides food stamps or lunches to kids at public school. It's sad but with some families in such horrible states of poverty, lunch time is the only meal some kids in the ****ing United States get. But we should remove that to trim the fat on our debt! We need throw more tax subsidies at big businesses under the guise of job creation instead and focus more towards military funding. That's the ticket!
Frankly more than what is being taken out my pay check if we want to continue Medicare. I am young enough to where privatization wouldn't be a big deal for me. However, you maybe surprised at how many of your countrymen don't have personal responsibility and will be relying on medicare and SSN. It's those 45 and up that may not like privatization.
I don't understand why you are saying it is yes and no. I mean there is no question that longer lived people cost more per year of life than an unhealthy/shorter lived person. I mean in your last sentence we are both acknowledging that end of life care is what drives up the costs. Maybe I'm being dense and missing something. I'm not 100% sure what you are getting at in your second sentence, but I do agree that the over-medication of America certainly drives up healthcare costs. The drugs given for the conditions you listed are almost never as effective as simple changes to lifestyle. A bit of every few days and a reasonable diet is almost always more effective than drugs in dealing with those conditions.
It's not that "old age" by itself is that is expensive, it's that we subsidize too much on end of life. There's a point where medicare/medicaid/private insurance needs to stop paying, and the individual/family needs to take over. It's sad, but there comes a point where you have to say good bye. Except, most folks aren't willingly to be healthier by dieting and exercising.
Humana knows the Republicans don't have a plan. They could do fixes in the existing law....instead of trying to come up with something different. The Republicans now realize that coming up with a plan that covers the same things as Obamacare.....is not easy. Not without leaving millions uninsured.
The things being covered is one of the flaws of the PPACA, and should not be slavishly duplicated in any replacement. People with pre-existing conditions should not have the same insurance options at the same prices as healthy people. Different demographic groups with different expected healthcare costs should not be mandated to have the same premiums (for example, men and women). Getting rid of these ridiculous requirements, as well as the individual mandate and the employer mandate, would go a long way to fixing the system. Let insurance be insurance. Alongside this, make a parallel system of free, government run clinics that any citizen (maybe even any person) can use at no charge. These clinics would provide a basic minimum level of care, to be determined by congress or some entity appointed by congress. This should require a Constitutional amendment, but is no MORE unconstitutional than the PPACA. Once the free clinics are in place, you can remove the rule that hospitals are required to treat everyone that shows up regardless of ability to pay. That is one way we can start driving healthcare costs down.
That is the misnomer for health insurance. It isn't health insurance it is healthcare. Who is going to pay for these free clinics? If you have a pre existing condition who is going to cover you its almost a guaranteed loss? BTW the you are pretty much describing the insurance system before Obamacare and costs were still going through the roof.
The changes from the old system that would be intended to control costs would be that the uninsured are shifted from expensive emergency rooms into the second tier free clinics (which the taxpayers would be paying for). Those with pre-existing conditions would have to either pay out of pocket, buy into high-risk pools, or rely on the limited care provided at the free clinics.
Agreed. As someone with a pre-existing condition I definitely am not in favor of cutting that out of coverage. With proper coverage and diligence I can lead a a very healthy life and have very limited secondary effects. Without proper coverage, I will lose my sight, limbs, and life over a relatively short period of time. It is incredibly treatable in my case, and those effects are preventable. I understand that it is a losing proposition to cover pre-existing conditions for insurance companies. But it's a losing proposition for people to not provide the best available care to people with pre-existing conditions. I will choose people over insurance companies every single time. I think we need to take profit out of healthcare, and not worry about propping up insurance companies.
If you have cancer, diabetes, or host of other diseases you literally will not be able to afford treatment.
