I think those who are covered with medicaid are not being counted as uninsured. So the uninsured are those who are above the poverty line, but still carry no insurance, so we have to pay it for them. Something wrong with this picture.
a) No insurance, no treatment (this is not acceptable in our society)
b) Make minimum health insurance, for at least for catastrophic illnesses, mandatory (the government already carries the insurance for the "destitute" -- medicaid)(People who drive have to carry car insurance in most states, I think -- so why not health insurance?)
c) ????
d) ????
PS. Before someone starts on the "it's all the fault of the illegal aliens" song. Sure, that is a problem and they contribute to the problem, but MOST uninsured people are NOT illegal aliens. Note the numbers: they say 45 million people are uninsured.
Seriously, I do think some drastic measures need to be taken, but not sure what.
So please post any ideas you have.
I personally tend towards b), much as I don't like the government to tell people to have to carry insurance, but I don't see any alternative for more people expecting the rest of us to pick up the tabs for them, because other things are more important for them in their budget, than health insurance.
Too bad they don't (won't) break it down into legals and illegals.
We cannot refuse service to the underinsured, but they have to pay back the money they owe. If they cannot, we should force them into labor. Sort of like indentured servitude.
My friend, this is nothing compared to what the prescription drug bill will be. George Bush pulled a number on that one by adding trillions to our debt. I am not sure how to properly say in pleasant company about his degree of misguidedness.
That's a better deal than I get, plus I also have to pay for the insurance myself.
So, what exactly are these deadbeats complaining about?
How is this costing families in some states up to $2000? Health insurance shouldn't be going up, because no insurance company is paying the debt of an uninsured person. Is the government paying the hospitals to make up for the debt of the uninsured? How is this $2000 coming from families?
And how much of that is supporting illegal immigrants...
I'm not insured, but I don't add a dime to anyone else's premiums (other than by inference, in that I decline to buy in to this scam) - I pay for my medical care in cash.
You don't seem to accept the county hospital that is open to anyone without health insurance. Simply give people without insurance minimal care and put them back on the street. Ease their immediate symptoms, do not test for underlying symptoms, no preventative care either.
This is not unlike what is done today with various health plans. Some people get more care than others. Lets hear from some admitting nurses what happens to people with minmal health care policies Vs the expensive full care policies? Why not let the uninsureds accept the responsibility that they will end up with minimal health care?
I know of a homeless man on medicare who got a quadruple by pass. I am not sure this makes any sense unless this was a training surgery for the med students?
I heard on the news last night that GM adds $1,500 to the price of each car they make to cover the health insurance they provide to their employees.
Health insurance has gotten WAY out of hand. Solution? In my opinion, there could be a number of underlying issues...from the cost of outrageous law suits to illegal aliens. There isn't an easy answer...
The only thing wrong with that theory is that if govt forces everyone to have health insurance, then welfare will skyrocket for food stamps because people will be taking money out of their grocery budget to cover the premium.
I agree, something needs to be done about this, but what? Between this and the high cost of fuel and even the increase in groceries and necessities, regular hardworking people are going under fast.
I'm amazed at the news lately about Hollywood wondering why people aren't going to the movies anymore. My answer.... hmmmm, let's see, spend $20 for movie at the theater OR spend $6.00 for dvd rental at home and still have $$ left for milk and bread and gas.... hard choice huh?
I agree. I just turned 30, self employed, and have not had health insurance for at least 7 years. I am in good physical shape, eat reasonable, etc. The cost for me as a single guy is arounr $400/month. I never use the doctors and wish they would offer a catastrophe plan.
The working poor can't afford private medical insurance. A family would need a third job just for that.
I won't argue that hospitals should turn away people who are uninsured if they really need help, but several times when I have been in the emergency room for one reason or another I've noticed a lot of people who don't really belong there, with what seem to be minor or imaginary problems. I doubt they would be there if they didn't know it was free.
We owe a lot of this to the tort lawyers. Set some limits on them and a lot of hospital expenses could be slashed.
How is it that a family can get private health insurance in Australia for at most $2,700 US per year, yet it is so expensive here? Something doesn't add up.
I don't know how they arrived at their 45 million people without insurance figure, but I suspect they are including Medicaid figures. My sister is on Medicaid, and technically each month she has no insurance until her card arrives in the mail. I suspect they are using technicalities like this to inflate their numbers. If I recall a recent report held the number of truly uninsured at under 20 million.
Medicare and Medicaid are notorious for paying less than the true cost of service, and then retroactively changing the rules and refusing to pay for past services because they had not been processed using the new retroactive rules. These losses do get passed on as higher charges to paying and insured customers. I think this is what they are actually referring to but did not want to actually come out and say.
This number is wildly over inflated. Also, one of the ways that they come up with wildly over inflated numbers and try to justify them as real is as follows.
Any person who goes without health insurance coverage for 1 day counts as "uninsured."
So, if you change jobs and your health insurance coverage between employer A and employer B has a gap of 1 day, you are considered uninsured.
The government has no authority to insure everyone or to require that everyone have insurance. Medical costs began their spiral upward in the era when Medicare started and insurance became near universal. As will inevitably happen, when people no longer paid for health care, they used the system more and more, pushing costs upwards. We would have been far better off with a pay as you go system, but that ship has sailed.
What now? 1) Send illegals back with only enough care to ensure that they survive, but deport every illegal who turns up in one of our hospitals. 2) Provide only minimal care to the uninsured. 3) Let people know the real cost, not the cost after insurance, of their health care. Let them know what they are paying for the uninsured. Let them know what they are paying for illegals.
Above all, we cannot become Canada.
Don't be gullible. We were told the same about auto insurance in California. We were told that insurance rates would go down if we passed the mandatory insurance law. We passed it. They lied. Insurance went up the instant it became law.
...
Around 1900, America had charity hospitals, poor houses where the indigent and down-on-their-luck lived and industries for the blind and disabled. They were paid for by charitable contributions from local citizens.
I'd guess with all the regulations, high taxes and liberals, such institutions would be impossible today.
Hillary Health Care!
The MSM is creating "news" stories directly from hillary's press releases.