Well my dear friends...since we did so very well with our little "discussion" about depression, perhaps we can try a more formal debate. Feel free to get on your soapbox and say what you feel but do refrain from personal attacks and expressions of disrespect or I will have to open a can of whoop ass on ya!
One topic I have been pondering lately is one of health care. This is especially pertinent now because of the political atmosphere and it is personally pertinent to me because this year I know I will have this dang disease, Multiple Sclerosis, for the rest of my life.
I will pose some questions here and then a pose the issue for debate.
1. Is healthcare a big issue for you and will it be a deciding factor for who you vote for? (in the US)
2. Define Universal Healthcare as you understand it. If you live in a country other than the U.S. please tell us how your healthcare system works and if you like it or not.
3. Do you feel the current system of healthcare in the United States is working? If not, what would you like to see done to change it?
and lastly for debate...
Are you for or against a universal healthcare system for us in the United States? Why or why not?
One topic I have been pondering lately is one of health care. This is especially pertinent now because of the political atmosphere and it is personally pertinent to me because this year I know I will have this dang disease, Multiple Sclerosis, for the rest of my life.
I will pose some questions here and then a pose the issue for debate.
1. Is healthcare a big issue for you and will it be a deciding factor for who you vote for? (in the US)
2. Define Universal Healthcare as you understand it. If you live in a country other than the U.S. please tell us how your healthcare system works and if you like it or not.
3. Do you feel the current system of healthcare in the United States is working? If not, what would you like to see done to change it?
and lastly for debate...
Are you for or against a universal healthcare system for us in the United States? Why or why not?
23 comments:
Hah! My wife and I were discussing this just this morning.
Against. As a self-employed individual who gets slaughtered by taxes every year, and whose wife gets our medical benefits as part of her benefits package (and little else for working her ass off more and being compensated less every year that passes), I don't feel like paying for everyone else's health care too.
Enough is enough. I work my ass off for what little we have. I see a huge swath of the population that needs to get off the dole and start working their asses off too.
I know, I'm evil like that.
i'm a canuck, so you can take it from there... but i understand hillarious clintstone has flip-flopped on the issue, over and over
as for the others, i have not heard much of how they stand on universal health care
all i know is: ours needs fixing, now!
Bring on a universal health care for the average American Joe and his family.
I'm all for it and it will be a major deciding factor in who I choose as a candidate.
In response to Mark, as someone married to someone who owns an insurance agency, let me remind you that insurance is a shared risk process. "Everyone" is already paying into it so that when "one" of us get sick the money is there to provide care.
I'm sick of the conservative prattle about not having to participate in the social processes.
No man is an island, get used to helping the rest of us pay for things like roads, schools, health care and the very infrastructure that makes America the city on the hill it is.
My wife won't participate in the Health Care insurance game as it exists right now.
She will not even offer it to her clients.
It does not work and it is not providing adequate care for anyone.
You should listen to someone in the insurance business talk about the real issues instead of parroting the same old lame arguments of morons like Rush Limbaugh.
Thank god the selfish days of the Republican grouses are coming to an end.
Again, I mean what I say in the most loving manner.
Any insult, injury or perceived slight by any individual is unintended and does not necessarily reflect the intentions of DirkStar.
(Unless you are Mark, in which case any ire you feel is purely intended.)
in answer to my own questions...i will choose a candidate who is willing to change this horrific system we have here. something has to change and now.
i am thinking people mean different things when they do talk about "universal health care" and i would love to hear a good working definition of the term.
as i do understand the term in the simplest of measures...yes indeed...i am for health care for everyone. most of us are just a step away from being uninsured.
Universal health care = Every man woman and child receives adequate, fair and impartial health care from cradle to grave.
The rich republican bastards are not the only people entitled to quality of life and the treatments necessary to maintaining it.
Hey, its what all the congressmen and women have access to.
Why are "we the people" denied the very care those who represent us are entitled to receive?
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mark...
The corrupt, greedy, war-mongering sleaze-balls who pass themselves off as compassionate conservatives are milking their health care benefits to the limit while "we the people" pay for it.
Chaney alone has received far more than his fair share of medical care and procedures while in office.
Bastards...
Merelyme...so much has gone on since my last visit. So much to comment on.
Let me begin by saying a little about depression.
I do believe that depression is higher in "westernized" countries (yes, Japan is one of them although they are geographically in the east) When the focus of life is on receiving "all of your needs and some of your wants" one will find a greater sense of contentment. In countries built in consumerism through capitalism, they exist and grow through turning your wants into needs. When you desire more and more you become as hungry ghosts with large bellies and small mouths. You can't possibly shovel it all in fast enough. Depressing, huh?
But there IS another, clinical side to depression aside from nature/nurture and learned behavior. There is genetically linked depression that can be traced through family trees.
....As for healthcare, Mark...I agree that none of us wants to pay for another's healthcare..but that is what we are doing when we pay top notch premiums for all of those employed by the Federal Government. The Politicians have it made. The New Deal, if properly implemented would fund healthcare in greater equaniminty. The insurance companies are the only business that I know of that can project a percentage growth in the next fiscal year and when they fail to reach it can claim it as a loss. How they expect growth when all we see is growing debt?
What about a straight tax. If the little guy and the mid level guy has to tighten the belt in a united effort to help the United States, how is it that at the same time the big guys are letting their belts out? Shouldn't we share the burdens equally?
In the very successful Ben & Jerrys ice cream company, the percentage of profit/loss was shared. If the boss received a 10% raise, milk mixer did too.
The current politicians are looking at either a mandated or quasi-mandated health insurance plan. That doesn't really help share the burden or make the playing field equal.
But you really, really can't fight city hall unless you have the big balls of an Andrew Jackson or an FDR. It is not in the cards. There is too much power within the walls of healthcare, insurance and prescription drugs. So we will have a nipple propped into our mouths to appease us for a time.
But it will be a band aid on a festering wound.
I was just reading articles relating to the topic last night and this morning. In this report, Not So Good at Preventing Premature Death talks about that the United States ranks last in preventable deaths in all industrialized countries like Canada, France, Japan, and Australia.
I am thankful that I have good health, dental and vision insurances to cover all of my needs. I had to pay most of my hearing care costs (i.e. for 2hearing-aids that costs up to $5,000), care, maintenance and batteries.
I have MS and realized that having MS is expensive when obtaining treatments to slow down the progression of MS.
In the last few years, I have been realizing that United States are not really for the people but money, politics and big bucks CEOs. That reminds me that I need to find that quote about Health Insurance Co's CEO's wealth. I am going to post it in my blog shortly when I find it.
Jim
Very important and sensitive topic. It can be changed but there is so much money and so many lobbyists in place to keep the status quo, that only some extreme act could change it. Even if we went to a universal plan, the extreme wealthy would still have their private docs in some sort of private beck and call practice.
My last neuro stopped accepting the usual BS/BS and United ploicies. It was costing him too much time and money to collect waht was his due.
"Feel free to get on your soapbox and say what you feel but do refrain from personal attacks and expressions of disrespect or I will have to open a can of whoop ass on ya!"
Dirk would do well to read the rules of engagement next time.
Here's one link regarding the ex-CEO of UnitedHealth, William McGuire, whose total stock options had been valued at over $1 billion.
Ex-UnitedHealth CEO cut a $600 million deal
yes as hostess here... a gentle reminder to keep comments free of personal attack.
Tim - Sounds like we are in agreement. I think it should be an evenly shared burden. I am not in favor of the fatcats making out, and that was not reflected in my remarks nor am I a Rush Limbaugh parroting Republican, my detractor's uninformed opinion notwithstanding.
I just don't feel like being asked, as a middle class American struggling to make ends meet to subsidize more social programs than I already do.
Before digging into my own thoughts, there are some excellent examples here of what makes the 'healthcare debate' so difficult.
mark says..."As a self-employed individual who gets slaughtered by taxes every year, and whose wife gets our medical benefits as part of her benefits package (and little else for working her ass off more and being compensated less every year that passes), I don't feel like paying for everyone else's health care too."
I, too, am self-employed and what is important here is that Mark gets health insurance through his wife's employer-sponsored program. Positives for Mark include access to a group-policy which likely has good benefits. It is unknown what percentage of the premiums the wife's employer pays. However, both the employer and Mark's wife do not pay medicare/fica/social security taxes on that amount.
This represents the people who work a particular job (whether they like it or not) to keep health insurance benefits. These folks (not Mark specifically) often feel the financial walls closing in and do not want to be forced to give up any more of their hard-earned money to cover someone else who just needs to get a better job (offering health insurance.)
jim says..."I am thankful that I have good health, dental and vision insurances to cover all of my needs. I had to pay most of my hearing care costs (i.e. for 2hearing-aids that costs up to $5,000), care, maintenance and batteries. I have MS and realized that having MS is expensive when obtaining treatments to slow down the progression of MS."
Jim is extremely fortunate, with health, vision, AND dental insurance. [I've never had vision or dental insurance.] The cost of his hearing aids and associated costs can be tax-deductible. He must also have excellent drug coverage if his MS treatments are paid by insurance without speakable cost to him. More power to ya Jim, I've not been as fortunate.
It sounds as though Jim is insulated against some of the most difficult healthcare costs. But also that he is aware of some of the issues surrounding the financial aspects of the 'healthcare system' at large.
tim says..."The current politicians are looking at either a mandated or quasi-mandated health insurance plan. That doesn't really help share the burden or make the playing field equal."
Believe it or not, health insurance does not actually equal health care. Simply having health insurance does nothing to address costs, incentives, or benefits.
The 'healthcare crisis' is really an 'economic crisis' for far too many Americans.
mark - No one has asked you to "subsidize" anything.
You misuse a word to make it appear as if you are being put upon more than the rest of us.
You are taxed no more nor no less than anyone else in this country.
You simply choose to complain more about your contribution more than others choose to do.
Some of us do not mind contributing to the greater good of our fellow man and woman.
We do not find it to be a burden to share...
1. Yes, healthcare is a big issue for me and does influence how I listen to the candidates positions. However, if I had not developed MS, discovered that I do not have excellent insurance, and subsequently found out that safety-nets (public and private) are designed with gigantic holes which catch far too many.
2. The phrase 'universal healthcare' is used by some to refer to a single-payer, national health system. Dennis Kucinich is the lone presidental candidate to favor this approach, but that doesn't mean he's the only congressman in favor of national healthcare.
Universal healthcare is also used to describe any scheme (public, private, or joint public/private) which attempts to provide access to healthcare to everyone. But this depends on what exactly is being used to prove access...is it basic insurance...is it more community clinics...is it mandates, tax credits, or subsidies?
The questions remain who is paying, who will be paid, and what amounts will be paid?
3. I was blissfully ignorant regarding many of the problems 3 years ago. I believe the current system works well for some, but has enormous room for sincere reform and change.
I believe there is much truth to this statement: "There is too much power within the walls of healthcare, insurance and prescription drugs."
What changes? Well, that's bigger than one comment box can hold. :)
One last thing before I call it a night. Go read Graham at Over my Med Body! who has some realistic ideas regarding healthcare in the U.S.
http://www.grahamazon.com/2008/01/lets-stage-a-sit-in/
Healthcare is a big issue and will factor in my decision on who I'll vote for.
What gets me is that I have better healthcare in most respects than every working person I know. That is just plain wrong.
Universal = everyone
Why can't one of the richest nations in the world make sure its' citizens stay healthy? Oh right, greed and corruption!
No it is not working! People who work hard can't cover their family's insurance. There are people calling 911 from an emergency room because they aren't getting treatment, and dying. We are something like 37th IN THE WORLD when it comes to the health of our citizens.
Bring on universal heathcare! It is long overdue!
PS There will be an award for you at my place tomorrow.
We are only as strong as our weakest link.
Universal health care is like sex:
Everybody needs it, but not everybody wants to give it, those who have it already are healthier and happier, it may be HARD to get, but anything worth havng is HARD. If we do not care for each others needs than GOING DOWN we will pay for it. CEO's--$$can't buy you love, BUTT it can buy your other needs. ewwwy, I feel so Cartman-dirty.
The nice thing about paying for universal health care with tax money is that the people who make ninety percent of the money foot ninety percent of the bill.
Of course the rich are going to hate that. But that's how percentages work, they should argue with god about math and physics if the don't like it, and let us get our teeth fixed and see a doctor that they would think is decent enough for their selves or their family to go to.
=D
Dirk - You should try having a little more respect for Merelyme's desire to keep the personal attacks out of your commentary.
You're welcome, however, to continue with your profanity-laden e-mails to me however.
Have a nice life.
Ooh, my face is red after re-reading one little statement I wrote last night. I strongly do not believe in the "just get a better job" theory. That was supposed to be in quotes.
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