Posted on 08/18/2009 3:54:55 AM PDT by The Duke
The recent, fierce debates over health care reform have given reason to pause and ponder those aspects of health care in our nation that I would like to see changed. As does virtually everyone, I know far too many fine and deserving people who are ill-served (or not served at all) by our health care system as it currently exists.
And, for those conservatives advocating that our current system is just fine, I would point out that our practice of linking health care to ones employer is itself a distortion of free market capitalism.
And so I listen to the words of our orator-and-chief, and some of those words do resonate with my own wish to see a more sane health care system implemented in our nation.
And then I snap back to my senses, not unlike Frodo Baggins after almost having succumbed to the temptation of the Ring of Power, and I cast my eyes about at those who are the advocates for the change being considered.
I see a President of questionable background telling Americans to shut their mouths on the issue a President who provides a web site that encourages Americans to snitch on fellow Americans who disagree with his policies. I see a President who enlists the aide of union thugs to act as heavies at political rallies (a practice formerly confined to the leaders of communist nations).
I see a Speaker of the House who labels regular Americans as Nazis, and treats our military with contempt.
I see liberal Democrats who have, in pursuit of personal power, trashed the nations economy.
I see tax cheats and recipients of corrupt financial shenanigans being elevated to the highest offices in the land.
There is almost certainly plenty of room for improving America, and I hope to see those improvements in the future.
But a person would have to be crazy to trust these clowns with that job!
I believe we all realise that Health care needs some work.
In this country we have so many people who feel that the world owes them a living. The Jiminy Cricket types who think when they need health care it’s up to someone else to provide it for them. They want health care to be a right, but they dont want to pay for it.They want me to pay for it for them. These are the people screaming for the Public Option.Looking for another freebie, paid for by Americans who are already paying through the nose.
I pay for my health care , have paid all my life . The Government made my primary , Medicare, when I turned 65. I didnt ask the Government to do that, they did it. I had my same Blue-Cross,Blue -shield, and I still do, but the government put me on Medicare. Now they say they cannot afford it. How in the name of all that is holy do they expect to add everyone of all ages to a program like Medicare if they cannot pay for Medicare.?
The answer is they ration it. They take my medical plans and trash them to give Jiminy Cricket his health care,because Jiminy is young and I am old . Jiminy hasnt worked a day in his life to pay for this care and probably wont work after he gets it, but they give him health care while denying me services.
Do I want to see Jimny suffer without health care. I do not, but Jiminy made his bed. I dont want Democrats buying Jiminy’s vote with my health care.
Very, very true. Employer supplied Healthcare Insurance was the original "foot in the door" for socialized medicine. We are now seeing how that "foot in the door" is playing out. The Libs never give up and they are willing to work strategies that may take decades to run their course.
I'm sure that many Freepers are too young to remember when there was no such think as Health Insurance. That was the 50's and it was a pretty good time. You went to doctor like you went to the store. You bought his time and you paid your own bill. Just like the grocery store. Just like Walmart.
You see, I think we need to chat about it. I am one of those millions without “real health insurance.” I can't afford the kind with all the bells and whistles, so I have a simple catastrophic plan. Will it be enough if I need? I hope so. I know the battles I had with insurance companies on behalf of my Mom & Dad, so we'll see.
What I have found? I can afford to pay for my own routine care. My situation forces my doctor to have a conversation with me about my health and the tests WE decide to run. What is needed, what is just in case, what is CYA vs. what is ordered up. WE are partners in my health care decisions, there is no middleman.
This bill, that the liberals want to pass, would make my situation illegal. They would be very content to take away my ability to hold an honest conversation with my doctor about my health and give that conversation to some bureaucratic board. So what testing etc. I would normally discuss and pay for is now up to a government employee to determine?
No thank you. I'll keep my “poor situation” over your bureaucratic offer.
It's not "our" practice. Companies did that early in the 20th Century to attract better skilled workers. So, yes, it is a part of the free market.
I really can't stand stand people who have to find ways to equivocate both sides of an argument.
Were your assertion true then we would be seeing insurance offered by non-government organizations such as churches. Image the group discount the Catholics, Baptists, etc could command(!)
If I'm not mistaken, health insurance was virtually nonexistent through the 1950s and into the 60s. A change in the tax laws at some point during that time allowed companies to start deducting some portion (unsure how much) of the insurance premiums paid for their employees from their corporate taxes.
Free market, perhaps, but not without a significant impetus from a government action.
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