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Old 02-01-2012, 12:22 PM
 
3,423 posts, read 3,214,960 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whogo View Post
My health insurance covers me when I travel out of the country.
My guess is that would be a private insurance policy, one that you pay a premium for. Am I right?
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Old 02-01-2012, 12:29 PM
 
78,432 posts, read 60,613,724 times
Reputation: 49733
Quote:
Originally Posted by KUchief25 View Post
Like you've been trying to point out somebody has to pay for the irresponsible who aren't insured. They still get healthcare but when the bill comes just walk away and leave it to others. To them it's free like everything else. Nothing is free somebody has to pay for it. In the wonderful utopian world of flying kites and singing kum ba ya all will be free.
Yep, and the aspect of mandatory insurance is actually a positive part of Obamacare for just such a reason. I know you are a staunch rep but it's something you should think about in terms of the plan having at least some decent features.
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Old 02-01-2012, 12:35 PM
 
4,098 posts, read 7,108,082 times
Reputation: 5682
Default Iconic skier's death points out U.S. health gap

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ringwielder View Post
I am from the UK and live here in the USA. Although there are problems with the National Health Service in the UK, I would take it any day over the nightmare healthcare is here in the US. I have come across so many people with horror stories about the healthcare system here.

A woman I worked with had treatment for cancer. She worked as a waitress and the place she worked at did not provide insurance. She told me she was paying $50 per paycheck for the rest of her life as she had racked up over $200,000 of treatment costs.

A husband and wife ran a small store in my town and she informed me that they both had serious health issues. She said that they basically ran the store to pay their overheads and their health insurance which for them as a self-employed couple amounted to around $27,000 per year. She told me that the stress and worry about health costs had contributed to her bad health.

My stepson is covered on his fathers insurance. About a year after he had had some treatment for an injury to his hand, his mother and I received a bill of $1000 because his father was refusing to pay and as next of kin, his mother had become liable!

I also find the lack of compassion or kindness among many right wing minded people a strange disconnect from the fact that many of them are Christians, supposedly following Christ and his model.
I am sure there were some freeloaders at the feeding of the 5000 or the Sermon on the Mount, but did Christ means test them, or did he care for the poor without judgment?

In what is supposed to be the most civilized country in the world, I believe in this 21st century that each citizen should have the right to education and healthcare. America's healthcare may be the best in the world but thats of no use if people cant or wont access it because of the fear of losing everything else.

So, who in your eyes should have paid for the waitresses healthcare? Is her employer obligated to pay for her insurance? No, he is not. It is her obligation to pay for her own health insurance. If the healthcare is so good in the UK, then that is where you should be living. Compassion and kindness have nothing to do with it, I want to spend the money I make on what I want to spend it on. I don't choose to give it away to someone who doesn't want to work or pay for their own needs. I pay for my own health insurance, and if someone else can't pay for their own, that is not one of my problems, nor are they going to make it one of my problems.

I too believe each citizen should have the right to education and healthcare, but only if they are willing to pay for it themselves. Nobody has a God given right to anything except free air, and if the government could figure out a way to tax free air, they would be doing it.
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Old 02-01-2012, 01:02 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, B.C., Canada
11,155 posts, read 29,323,086 times
Reputation: 5480
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nite Ryder View Post
So, who in your eyes should have paid for the waitresses healthcare? Is her employer obligated to pay for her insurance? No, he is not. It is her obligation to pay for her own health insurance. If the healthcare is so good in the UK, then that is where you should be living. Compassion and kindness have nothing to do with it, I want to spend the money I make on what I want to spend it on. I don't choose to give it away to someone who doesn't want to work or pay for their own needs. I pay for my own health insurance, and if someone else can't pay for their own, that is not one of my problems, nor are they going to make it one of my problems.

I too believe each citizen should have the right to education and healthcare, but only if they are willing to pay for it themselves. Nobody has a God given right to anything except free air, and if the government could figure out a way to tax free air, they would be doing it.
We do pay for it in Canada by paying Higher Taxes it is something we all agree on.

Everyone should have the right to A decent Education and acess to decent Healthcare no matter how Rich or how poor they are...

Everyone is treated the same here as there is no Class warfare here..It is First come First Serve...

The whole point of our Healthcare system is to prevent people from getting sick or ill in the first place...
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Old 02-01-2012, 01:03 PM
 
3,244 posts, read 7,449,469 times
Reputation: 1604
Quote:
Originally Posted by lionking View Post
The Saudi prince comes here because he is the top elite who will never know the burdon of wondering how to pay for something and doing without. Which means America defines the importance of life by how much money they have by the way you are defending the current system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, Not really.
I spent a few months in the last year or so with a good friend of mine, here in the states, who happens to be a Saudi prince. Really nice guy. I am going there in April for a little while.
The quality of health care in Saudi is excellent. They come here because it is the best health care you can get (depending on your malady).

If you think the US medical system is too expensive, you can always go to Mexico or South America, and get treated there. (it may be cheaper, but better is a matter of debate.)

I am not defending the current system. I just believe that you should not have to pay for my medical issues, as I should not have to pay for yours. You can apply this philosophy to almost anything.

I don't understand this sense of entitlement. Other than what is stated in the Constitution and Bill or Rights, you aren't owed anything, and you really aren't owed it at other peoples' expense.

Geez... maybe we can expand this. Many people need a car to get to work, to be productive members of society. Let's start another program, called 'Obamacar', where everyone is entitled to a free car to go to work. Then we can expand it to "Obamahouse', 'Obamacollegeeducation' and 'Obamavacation'. All we have to do is tax people to death, and then print lots of money.
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Old 02-01-2012, 01:11 PM
 
3,423 posts, read 3,214,960 times
Reputation: 3321
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nite Ryder View Post
So, who in your eyes should have paid for the waitresses healthcare? Is her employer obligated to pay for her insurance? No, he is not. It is her obligation to pay for her own health insurance. If the healthcare is so good in the UK, then that is where you should be living. Compassion and kindness have nothing to do with it, I want to spend the money I make on what I want to spend it on. I don't choose to give it away to someone who doesn't want to work or pay for their own needs. I pay for my own health insurance, and if someone else can't pay for their own, that is not one of my problems, nor are they going to make it one of my problems.

I too believe each citizen should have the right to education and healthcare, but only if they are willing to pay for it themselves. Nobody has a God given right to anything except free air, and if the government could figure out a way to tax free air, they would be doing it.
Using that logic, you don't have a right to a job. You don't have a right to your house. You don't have a right to any property. You just have a right to suck air (and not necessarily clean air, either), forget about water or food, or being healthy. Except, oh wait...

You do. And so does every other citizen in this country. I suspect that if our fathers who fought in the last world war had had your attitude, we'd all be singing the German equivalent of kumbaya right about now.
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Old 02-01-2012, 01:13 PM
 
4,098 posts, read 7,108,082 times
Reputation: 5682
Default Iconic skier's death points out U.S. health gap

Quote:
Originally Posted by orogenicman View Post
Right, it's the 12 million illegal immigrants (many of whom actually work for a living) who are at fault, not the 47 million Americans who don't have insurance because they can't afford it. What was I thinking???

I would have to agree with you, you probably wasn't thinking. The 47 million who don't have insurance, don't want to pay for it, they choose not to 'afford' it. A large percentage of them can afford most of what they need, and most of what they have. Knowing that a hospital will treat them even if they don't have insurance, takes insurance off the want list. Many of the illegals do work, but most of them don't pay taxes or have insurance.
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Old 02-01-2012, 01:18 PM
 
Location: Long Island
32,816 posts, read 19,488,320 times
Reputation: 9618
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finn_Jarber View Post
Fly them over??? The accident happened in Utah, not in Spain, and no one is saying US is obligated to do anything, the article simple points out the differences between the systems between different countries. Very few countries send out half million dollar bills for hospital visits.
but there still was a service provided that has to be paid for by someone
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Old 02-01-2012, 01:20 PM
 
3,423 posts, read 3,214,960 times
Reputation: 3321
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperSparkle928 View Post
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, Not really.
I spent a few months in the last year or so with a good friend of mine, here in the states, who happens to be a Saudi prince. Really nice guy. I am going there in April for a little while.
The quality of health care in Saudi is excellent. They come here because it is the best health care you can get (depending on your malady).

If you think the US medical system is too expensive, you can always go to Mexico or South America, and get treated there. (it may be cheaper, but better is a matter of debate.)

I am not defending the current system. I just believe that you should not have to pay for my medical issues, as I should not have to pay for yours. You can apply this philosophy to almost anything.

I don't understand this sense of entitlement. Other than what is stated in the Constitution and Bill or Rights, you aren't owed anything, and you really aren't owed it at other peoples' expense.

Geez... maybe we can expand this. Many people need a car to get to work, to be productive members of society. Let's start another program, called 'Obamacar', where everyone is entitled to a free car to go to work. Then we can expand it to "Obamahouse', 'Obamacollegeeducation' and 'Obamavacation'. All we have to do is tax people to death, and then print lots of money.
The fact is that this entire country, it's entire history, was paid for at the expense of others. Shall I start a list? The fact is when it gets to the point where 100 million people can't afford health insurance, stop going to the doctor because they can't afford it, and then an epidemic sweeps through through the population, everyone will pay dearly for it. You and I pay for it one way or another. Like it or not, that's the way it is. Like education and many other issues, the health of its citizens IS the responsibility of the government, and is a serious national security issue. Ask the Pentagon. They understand that a sick army is a losing army. Likewise, a sick nation is a weak one. Can we really afford a go-it-alone policy with regard to healthcare? I don't hardly believe we can.
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Old 02-01-2012, 01:31 PM
 
8,631 posts, read 9,139,445 times
Reputation: 5990
Medical care in the US is the most expensive, not to mention the cost of medicines. For profit insurance is what one needs now to afford the cost. Unless, of course, you are native American, a veteran, a retiree, a former worker who is disabled, someone on welfare. The cost of this insurance has absolutely skyrocketed. Many employers who can deduct the cost of employee provided health insurance has dropped this benefit altogether because the cost has out-shined the benefit. In most cases one can not deduct the cost of independent health insurance on their taxes. Many plans have huge co-pays and deductibles. And the big kicker, many insurance companies have built in to their policies "outs" to bow out of treating the policy holder for many many reasons. Many plans have contracts with participating doctors who give them incentives (HMOs) in what kind of conditions to avoid (not treat). I could go on and on. This mess needs to be fixed in order for the American economy to recover. For those who are young and healthy and think this is not an issue, it is one of the largest economic issues of the land, make no mistake. It is the largest elephant in the room and two out of three can't or don't want to see it.
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