Comments on: Are universal healthcare programs working?

By: Judy Buckley

Judy Buckley — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:31:58 +0000

Mike: I do think it’s a right – a moral one, at least. Are you the Mike who said in an earlier post on wellness programs (about people getting fired for lying about smoking) that we are morally required to take care of employees? Then, later in the post, that employer insurance plans are a part of socialism? My impression is that socialism (and communism, it’s more evil brother) are God-less systems and wouldn’t be calling on morality to solve social issues. I’d think the “common good” would be their rallying cry. (Their leaders would, of course, define “common good.” Seems the leaders of those systems do all right for themselves.) As to the free market we were also discussing, it is profit driven and the decisions are made by humans and it’s hard not to think that greed does play a big part in those decisions. Profit is good – more profit is better. That’s human nature, I think. In any case, maybe Americans can come up with an improved version of universal healthcare. We need to think outside the box and see how to fix or avoid flaws.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:28:03 +0000

By the way, my mother-in-law is under the Canadian health care system. She waited a year for her first cancer surgery, and a year for the second one a decade later.

Our system isn’t perfect, but moving toward that kind of system is definitely not progress.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:25:51 +0000

Jenny, the free market HAS spoken and said that employers need to provide healthcare. We provide because it will be hard to retain /recruit the best employees if we don’t.

Judy Buckley, you say “it isn’t listed in the Bill of Rights, but most of us do believe we need it and therefore should have it.” [I can't tell if you agree this statement or not.] Well, most of us believe we “need” a car or believe we “need” to own a home. However, that belief does NOT make it a right. By definition, being in the constitution/BoR/later legislation DOES make it a right.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:08:26 +0000

I can see that many employer who are forced to contribute to this plan will probably compensate by paying their employee’s less. The real answer would be to take the employer out of the system, that’s what causes the free market system to not work. Why should employers have anything to do with a person’s healtcare? Every individual should have their own health insurance and like car insurance, the free market would keep costs regulated. And, when you leave a job you wouldn’t have to wait to get a new health plan, you would have your own.

By: Albert Roark

Albert Roark — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:17:34 +0000

If the government wants universal health care, then have the government open hospitals, have the government pay the doctors and nurses. Do not force it on the private sector, do not make it a mandatory thing. If I do not want health insurance then why should I be forced to take it? Regardless of if it works or not, it will result in the specialized doctors moving away from the area to places that are less restrictive toward their profit margin and will result in longer lines.

And before anyone on either side say something…for every good story about heathcare (universal or private), there is a bad story. The solution is not to force healthcare on everyone, but educate them on how to take better care of themselves. Let the people decide if they want to be part of this system. And if you want to help pay for it, do not increase income taxes, increase sales taxes. This way everyone will be helping pay for the healthcare and will lessen the impact of lobbyist on it.

By: career

career — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:40:35 +0000

Can you provide more information on this? Excellent post though… Highly recommended.

By: thoughtful

thoughtful — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:12:59 +0000

Can you provide more information on this? Excellent post though… Highly recommended.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:16:14 +0000

If you really think socialized medicine will work, talk to someone in Canada and see how they like it. They are taxed to the hilt. and the programs are a joke. Visit a hospital in Canada if you get a chance. Try waiting for 10 to 12 hours to see a doctor. You think it’s bad here? HA HA HA.

By: Judy Buckley

Judy Buckley — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:48:37 +0000

Keith: Isn’t this crazy, not covering the colonoscopy if polyps are found and operated on? Hadn’t heard that before. How else would one know he had a pre-cancerous condition without that procedure? Talk about arbitrary! (On the dental side, I once had a root canal which the insurance said they’d cover, but wouldn’t cover the necessary post that stablizes the tooth. I argued it was needed and part of the treatment, so they agreed to pay it. Do we have to argue everything? Strange.) Frances, you believe health care is not a right. Well, I guess it isn’t listed in the Bill of Rights, but most of us do believe we need it and therefore should have it. Even poor people want to treat problems. Lee, I guess people’s experiences in Canada vary – my friend always said her mother got excellent care there. But another family member, whose mom lived in Wales, didn’t like the government healthcare system at all. Generally, as to the free market, I’m not against it if competition really works to give more choices and reasonable rates. But, human greed often rears its ugly head – big, bigger, biggest pay for the top people, profits being the driving force, not the mission of healthcare, at least in some companies, so we need to find some balance between all government and no government.

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:43:01 +0000

That would be $1 billion not $1 trillion. I see no solutions offered only criticisms of the solutions proposed. How much of the $1 billion is funded by employers vs. tax payers.