Why do so many okies not carry auto or health insurance? (violent crime, unemployment)

[StillwaterTownie]

I didn't have health insurance when I was in my 20s, because I didn't expect to need it. I was right. My visits to the doctor when necessary were not numerous and never led to considerable expense.

[stiffnecked]

It's not the governments job to be in, run or provide health care. This country was never founded upon the princples that government should be the end all that cures all. What's next? Where will it stop? People need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for themselves. If I wanted to be a citizen of a socialist country I'd move to one.

[swake]

Originally Posted by stiffnecked

It's not the governments job to be in, run or provide health care. This country was never founded upon the princples that government should be the end all that cures all. What's next? Where will it stop? People need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for themselves. If I wanted to be a citizen of a socialist country I'd move to one.

So the entire rest of the developed world is socialist?

Here's a map of the places that DO have universal healthcare:


Here's a list of the countries with the highest life expectancy, the US is 38th!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ife_expectancy

And that's despite the fact that we spend more than any other country on healthcare, by far. $8000 per capita, the highest in the world. 2nd and 3rd are Switzerland and Norway, which spend about $5000 per person and yet are able to cover everyone and are 3rd and 15th in life expectancy.

Last, I have shown over and over that expanding healthcare saves money and lives, and it simply doesn't matter because all you can see is Socialism. Despite the fact that the government already controls and pays for 40% of the healthcare spending in this country.

So what is your plan, other than being against socialism, to control costs and improve healthcare, because the system we have today is broken.

[swake]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

I didn't have health insurance when I was in my 20s, because I didn't expect to need it. I was right. My visits to the doctor when necessary were not numerous and never led to considerable expense.

So you were lucky.

If you had gotten truly sick the rest of us would have been stuck with the cost of your care because you "didn't expect to need it (insurance)".

I don't expect to get in a car accident, should I have auto insurance?

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

I didn't have health insurance when I was in my 20s, because I didn't expect to need it. I was right. My visits to the doctor when necessary were not numerous and never led to considerable expense.

What is your point? I have been paying for home and auto insurance for decades and rarely use it. But it makes sense to have it just in case and it makes it cheaper for everybody. Unless you live in OK and half the people don't carry ins.

It’s the same reason it’s smart to get life insurance when you are young rather than wondering why it’s so much to get a policy when you turn 50.

What's with the anti government mentality there? I think it's obvious that if there was a state that could use a little gov intervention, it might be OK. They don’t seem to have a clue on how to take care of things themselves at the individual level.

We make good money and have very cheap job funded health care. Trust me, a national health care system will not benefit us and certainly will cost us more. But I think we would all be better off if more (or all) people had insurance. Too many people can’t get health care in one of the most developed and affluent counties on the planet. That’s messed up.

[okcpulse]

Consider this, kcmo. Oklahoma was never always anti-government. When you dig deep into this state's political and social past, you will find that Oklahoma was a moderate-to-Democratic state. What happened? During the oil bust in the 1980s, the Democrat-controlled legislature ran the state into the ground instead of finding ways to bolster the economy by improving quality of life, education and providing incentives for jobs to move to the state.

Instead, the legislature decided to raise taxes on demand. They hiked the corporate tax rate, state sales tax rate, and for a while, motorists were paying annual excise taxes on cars at the time of their annual registration, all of which went to the general fund and barely any towards the state highway system. At the same time, while the state was losing population and the income levels were dropping (this happened between 1983 and 1988), government expanded on stagnant revenues which spread tax dollars thin. Meanwhile, the federal government reduced the amount of federal dollars on transportation. Then there was scandal after scandal in the state government. That forced a dramatic shift to the Republican party in the 1990s and the state had to do some damage control. Unfortunately, the Republican party has gone hard core recently, and what they are doing is not helping their cause.

What happened during the oil bust left Oklahomans jaded. The Feds were no help, so why bother? Oklahoma City leaders, all non-partisan, took it upon themselves to improve OKCs quality of life and education and created programs to make the city attractive for jobs, and it has been working beyond our expectations. What is happening in OKC is separate from whats happening in the state. But it takes leadership that cares. Even the private community has been very much involved. Just putting this out there for what it's worth.

[fiberpills]

Originally Posted by swake

...So what is your plan, other than being against socialism, to control costs and improve healthcare, because the system we have today is broken.

I don't mean to interject into your debate with the other guy, but I would like to see more competition among health insurance companies. Open up state lines, make them compete just like with car insurance.

As far as I'm concerned, any mandate by the govt to force individuals to purchase insurance is mostly evidence of politicians getting favors from lobbyists. As a restaurant, I'd love it if the City of OKC gave tax breaks or incentives to citizens to visit my shop.. of course I'd have to convince someone at City Hall to do this for me.

Let's just purge Congress every 10 years. I don't trust a single one of those corrupt, lazy mouth breathers to tell me how to live my life.

[Howest2008]

Originally Posted by kcmo

This is in today's Washington Post.

Health insurance mandate faces huge resistance in Oklahoma - The Washington Post

20-30% of the population does not carry auto insurance . Seriously? Does that mean that everybody else pays through the roof?

1 in 5 do not have health insurance. Yet people are aggressively against the idea of a national health care system?

I know I said I won't post in the ok forums any more but this is a different topic than what OKC offers as a city and kind of concerning to me.

I have never thought much about OK, but the more research I do about the place, the more I think the state has a lot of issues.

Read the comments on that article. If you dare.

Do Not Have The Deep Pockets ..to keep up with the cost of insurance.....

[Howest2008]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I drive 50k miles a year and TX is the only place I have been hit by an uninsured motorist. It was quite annoying to say the least.

According to this TX is 27th and OK is 3rd.

Most Expensive, Cheapest States for Car Insurance - DailyFinance

So everybody else does pay for it. OK is more expensive than Maryland and even DC!

That article was about ' cost of insurance ' not total amount of uninsured drivers....

[StillwaterTownie]

A lot of Oklahomans are too poor to buy car and health insurance and are willing to risk the chances from not having any.

Speaking of hail storms, Dallas had at least one pretty bad one last year.