Posted on 09/04/2009 8:27:12 AM PDT by CMoran325
Edited on 09/04/2009 8:48:23 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
For many people (and yes I’m jumping to conclusions and making sweeping generalizations here) “No one should die because they can’t afford health care” is the weasel way of saying “I want someone else to pay for it” without sounding like a panhandler. So, take what follows with a grain of salt, OK?
On that note, someone’s Facebook status said:
No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.
No one should die just because they were born in sub-Saharan Africa, either. But they do. Doesn’t make it fair, but it happens. For every “poor” or underprivileged Westerner complaining about their lack of “health care” (NB: even the poorest Americans have access to better health care than, I would venture to guess, 85% of the earth’s population has ever had), there are a million people living on $1 and a cup of rice each day — so cry me a fucking river.
Every one of us will die at the crossroads of some particular circumstances, time, and place.
Some of us die in our sleep. Some of us are merely in “the wrong place at the wrong time.” Some of us will die because the technology to cure what ails us has not yet been invented. Some of us will die because we made poor choices that presently impact our ability to care for ourselves. And some of us will die unfortunately through no direct fault of our own, because we can’t afford to pay for the technology that does exist.
To lament the fact that some people die under seemingly inopportune circumstances is folly; it ignores the lion’s share of the equation. Financial circumstances are a scapegoat, because at nearly any time and place where the individual isn’t DOA, a change in financial circumstances might forestall death for a few hours, days, weeks, or months.
You’ll get no arguments from me, if you say that “health care is too expensive”: blame the AMA cartel, the FDA, blame “Big Insurance”, etc. But National Healthcare is healthcare fascism, the insurers want guaranteed profits, guaranteed customers for life, and Uncle Sam to pay the bills. They want to sell you your own welfare.
You’ll get no arguments from me, if you say that “the system” needs to be reformed: specifically it needs to not be a system at all. People aren’t permitted under the law to care for themselves or to arrange for the care of others. Or because the consumer is not the customer, and the customer enjoys certain tax privileges that the consumer does not, etc. Or because people have been conditioned to believe that “insurance” should pay for an annual check-up and dental exams and all sorts of other routine maintenance instead of just providing for accidents and serious illnesses.
The problem is that health care, medicine, long term care, etc., is damned expensive. Government is the problem in health care, which keeps it unaffordable.
Asking or forcing others to pay the costs which you can’t afford will do nothing to actually solve that problem, it just shifts the burden, [expletive deleted] up someone else’s life circumstances, exacerbating the problem for the future.
No one should die because they can afford health insurance but are not allowed to get treated by the government.
Exactly! Looking at the examples set by other countries with primarily or wholly socialized systems we find the health care system bankrupting economies. Taxes have skyrocketed and the system is overloaded to the point that standard care available on a weeks notice in America takes months in other countries. The solution there (England - Canada - etc.) has been to ration care and develop cost based formulas, metrics, and matrices to determine what care is allowed. People die every day in these countries that would survive longer in America through coverage available under private insurance, medicare, and medicaid. This decision making model is part of the plan the liberals have for America - it is called the IMAC - look it up - it's in all of the bills and President Obama has discussed it at length himself.
We should not force the American people into a failed model that allows people to die every day under circumstances that would constitute malpractice under our current system. (Where are the tort lawyers on this one? Think of the money the John Edwards' of this land will be losing when the govt. exempts themselves from liability tort!)
In short - yes, no one should die because they can't afford health care - and we should not allow the American people to die because we forced them into a failed system that our nation cannot afford.
“No one should die because the government-run ‘single payer’ healthcare runs out of money.”
Yup, along the same lines I love the reply Bush gave to the reporter who was attacking Bush’s tax cuts. Bush said: “If you feel you are not paying enough, send in more than is due”. Again, I think there was no reply.
Everybody dies, even people like Ted Kennedy with all-expenses-paid health care.
Of course, in this country we have already decided that nobody should die for lack of food, so we have food banks and food stamps and welfare.
And we decided that nobody should die for lack of shelter, so we have subsidized housing, and shelters, and welfare.
and we have ALREADY decided that nobody should die for lack of access to health care, so we have free clinics, and laws requiring emergency rooms to treat patients.
However, the only way a person can get health care treatment is if another human being gives it. Shelter and food are things, which while produced by humans, are removed from the specific requirement that a human provide the item (meaning we can pay builders to build a shelter, without them having to put up with putting people in the shelter).
With health care, in order to guarantee health care, you must enslave doctors to provide the health care, or enslave others to work to earn money to pay the doctors to provide health care.
The only true rights are those that do not depend on government being able to force others to pay taxes.
IF everybody lost their jobs tomorrow, so there were no taxes being paid, I would still have my right to speech, to religion, to owning a gun.
But nobody would have the “right” to health care, since there would be no money to pay for it — unless we enslaved doctors to provide it without pay.
I just ask them to name me one government “social justice” program that’s ever actually succeeded, and why they think this one won’t be like all the rest. They generally move on to different subjects like the weather.
I responded by donating to the charity care fund at a local hospital. Interestingly NO ONE that posted this mamby-pamby feel good message followed my lead. Frankly, if helping the poor were such a priority, people would find a way to help them.
I followed up with a liberal friend about this and it devolved to “What if’s” After some probing, the situation she used was created by poor, selfish, and/or emotional decision making.
This was my reply on FB to that silly post:
What’s with the robo-posting “No one should die...” nonsense? Nobody in America dies because they can’t afford care-it’s never happened in modern history. Anyone can change jobs, and no insurance requirement can stop you. Nobody needs to go broke because they get sick, as health care providers give free/discounted care endlessly. Govt. owes us nothing besides liberty. Health care/insurance is not a right.
Unless you are Michelle Obama. She managed to help her hospital figure out how to do that, by pushing the non-payers onto other hospitals.
You can go to the ER even if you are not an American citizen...even if you are there for flu sytems. You can use an ER like a doctor visit...My son broke his arm a few years back and we waited 4 hours to see a doctor while the ER was flooded with parents of children that had no more than a fever and cough.
My son eventually got seen, probably should of had surgery to repair the break at the growth plate at the time.
It was on Labor Day weekend and the ortho surgeon was not available so he got a splint and they put him in a cast on Monday for 8 weeks..He ended up with a club arm that cannot be fully stretched out and can never be repaired even though we tried through surgery twice. I have great private insurance! I cannot imagine what it would be like if the government held my policy.
No one should die because they can't stop drinking themselves to death.
No one should die because they can't stop overdosing on illegal drugs.
No one should die because they can't stop driving like idiots.
No one should die because they can't stop shooting at policemen, the US Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, National Guard or Coast Guard.
No one should die because they can't stop the urge to be a suicide bomber.
No one should die because they can't stop trying to steal my hard earned money away from me.
Well, actually, yes they should!
"...grateful nobody can be denied emergency care in the US, and that Medicaid is already in place for those who can't afford the cost."
sure we could add how ineffective Medicaid is..but i want the clean fast rebuttal right now...
Almost everyone can agree. I know the assumption is universal health care but it is almost a truism. In our country it would be hard to find anyone who knows someone who has died because they did not have healthcare. Bankrupt? Sure.
It reminds me of all these leftist bumperstickers I see that could easily be read as conservative.
Practice Preemptive Peace - We did. We invaded Iraq and destroyed their ability to fund terrorists and build wmd’s.
COEXIST - which I assume is aimed at Christians. Christianity is all about coexistence. However, if you choose not to believe, you are going to hell, which is an afterlife consequence, not a real world consequence.
And so on.
Instead they should die the death of a thousand bureacrats.
Instead they should die because the govenment death panel says so?
Instead they should die because it is too expensive to keep them alive?
Instead they should die because they have a duty to die? (to save $$$$$)
Instead they should die “for the children.”
No one here DOES die for lack of health insurance. If they don’t WANT care, they can die at home. But be that sa it may, he HAVE HEalth care, and no one is refused care dependant on their ability to pay for it.
Now it it is some sort of elective... yea.
If you want to treat some sort of cancer, you may not be able to afford the expense of it. That is NOT a right. No one has a right to ANY health care. You have a right to PAY for it if you want it.
No one in the US including illegal immigrants, is denied care. If you can’t pay for the XYZ special treatment you want, that is more or less YOUR problem, NOT society’s.
What an excellent piece. Thank you for linking to it!
(I love it when someone can turn the tables by framing issues in that manner!)
I just logged into my FB, and one of my friends posted this gem:
[I] believe[s] that nobody should ever have to pay for anything! Nobody should ever be sad! I’m hungry. The govt should make me a sandwich. If you like sandwiches post this as your status.
This will be my new status for today. :) “P”, you rock!
It is sort of like the Department of Energy, which was created to get the US off of Oil in the late 70’s, thanks Jimmah.... and look at how well THAT has worked. Ummmhum. Exactly.
How do we respond to the woman who said her mother died because insurance company would not pay for her cancer drugs and died during the Michael Steele town hall meeting? How to advocate for freedom and for health care reform without looking like the heartless b@strds as what you previously said.
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