Nobody is denied health care, it just isn’t free.
The issue is and always has been health insurance.
I believe instead of trying to find ridiculous ways to somehow have expensive health care become magically “free”, or get everyone covered by so-called “universal coverage” that will cost many of us in huge taxes, that the cost of health care itself be affordable.
The sad fact is there is plenty of money and with tort reform and other issues addressed, there could be a system of reasonably priced effective private insurance with free clinics and emergency care for the very poor.
But as long as we are all taxed to death with huge chunks coming out of our paychecks- money that could be paying off personal debt, paying for health care, etc, instead the government wastes billions and billions of dollars every year. If I had the money I’d run a full page ad in every paper and rip congress a new one over what they are doing with our money. Maybe it would wake up enough people to make something happen.
I am also bothered by an insurance industry that seems at odds with a person’s best interests- perhaps it should be more like an employee-owned business where groups can pool money for effective coverage, rather than a company whose best interest as a company is to not pay claims in order to be more profitable.
I would be happy if universal coverage was combined with tort reform. the legal system is our only recourse in a free market economy. i don’t want the government to deal with the problem of doctor incompetence.
remember, the AMA is a big leftie union worse than many.
So true.
I had major medical issues and was caught without health insurance. I was never denied any treatment, emergency or otherwise. They realize that few can afford to pay tens of thousands out of pocket, so they’ll let you pay so much a month based on your income. In addition, almost all of the specialists had major self-pay discounts if you paid for each visit on the day you went. Some of the testing facilities were the same way. I think I actually got better (and more complete) care from some of the docs because I was self-pay.
Point is, there’s always the ER for those who have emergencies, and very few regular docs or specialists are going to refuse to see you for day-to-day stuff as long as you pay your bills.