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Does our health care need to be universal for everyone?

This story on CNN.com related to the Universal Health Care debate was awfully poignant. Click on the pictures of not only the doctor, but of the patient who died. I have heard this kind of story often when I worked, and I am glad to see a doctor is putting it out there. That kind of thing doesn't happen very often, this doctor must be a really good guy.

Comments:
I just can't figure out why the Republicans keep fighting against National Health Care. It is a case of the people who have tons of money and the poor classes or have "nots".

I have costly insurance and still I put off going to the doctor because it doesn't cover very much and I end up paying a lot just to go. It is not anything like it used to be. Just because you have "regular" insurance, doesn't mean you are taken care of....so, imagine how it is if you can't afford any kind of insurance.

We had a taste of this health care crisis when my daughter suddenly was without

insurance for a few months and it was very hard to get her on insurance again. The thought of something happening in the meantime to our daughter without being enrolled in an insurance plan was very scary. Without insurance it could wipe you out financially.  And, health insurance companies do not pay for anything that happened in the last year, called a pre-existing condition. The insurance may be useless for at least a year.

The richer get richer in money and health insurance, while the working class get screwed.
-SM, OK

Voting Class Theory on Healthcare
I have a theory about our health care crisis.  It relates to my "voting classes" theory.

A lot of the voting classes already have health insurance.  They're afraid that their access to health care will be limited if EVERYBODY has health insurance.  They've been fed horror stories about waiting times to see a doctor in countries with socialized health care and they're afraid they might have to wait weeks to see a doctor to treat the wart on their nose because somebody's skin cancer takes priority. 

Not that our country doesn't ration health care, we most certainly do and it's a very cruel system of rationing.  We ration health care according to ability to pay instead of the seriousness of your illness.  Some people like that just fine.

As long as the have not’s vote less than the haves, we're going to see politicians foot-dragging on the issue. 
-Rosie, FL

A lot of crazy talk on heath care as always.   I worked even in high school such as mopping floors at a grocery, and all of the time since.   My health care costs are going up exponentially.  And you guys keep promoting communism/socialism heath care as some cure-all.  You are wrong.

The class question -should those that never hardly worked or don't work get the same health care as those that pay for it?  A one size health care for all is not possible or affordable and discriminates against people that work hard for their money. 

Mexicans flooding into the US love all this national healthcare talk.  Just me, but when my McDonalds is 100% Spanish speaking Mexicans (job discrimination against white/black), and other restaurants/businesses are similar, and they speak Spanish all of the time with English speaking folks all around  -- just part of the rude, better than you attitude of Mexicans.  Not completely their fault though -America politics is prejudiced for Mexicans.

But it makes for a lot of political crap news.  What is complete heath care?  There are treatments out there that go past 100,000 in heartbeat (consumer/taxpayer/someone/ will pay the bill), what healthcare is legitimate? (Diet stuff, body/face surg/ Viagra), --some communist/socialist cure-all for healthcare is more of a political/news blog than truth in news.  Heath care is not that easily defined.

I can't believe anyone would take the side of communist/socialist/dictator philosophy on almost every issue out there -- after Cuba people have lived in poverty (and had horrible healthcare) for the last 50 years under Castro. 
-Jeb, OK

You are so wrong about this issue on healthcare.  I am not sure you really grasp the idea of socialized medicine. Seems as though you see it as some commie red thing. Why the heck should the health and well being of people be a for profit experience?

Privatizing health care has created all the problems we have now. Take the profit out of the equation and we will have a system that is fair for everyone. They do it very successfully in Europe and the Scandinavian countries. I will pay 50 percent in taxes to take capitalism out of healthcare and education.
-Brighton, CA

Well, I agree that we should not be insuring illegals.....I can't afford it....
my reasoning is, if the very poor on welfare are going to get it free....why not all of us...why should I pay for health care when the illegals and very poor get it free.

In other words, the rich can afford good health care, the very poor get it free and "we" the working class have to pay for everybody.....there should be a system for regular health care to help the common man keep from going bankrupt when something happens.  Health care costs are tripled in the last few years and is our biggest costs to survive so something has to be done.
-Samerah, NM

You all make mostly good points.  The salaries that the executives get and the profits that the private health insurance companies get would go a long way to covering a lot of people.

The thing about it that gets me, in addition to the unfairness of our health care system is that conservatives always talk about taxes but never seem to complain about prices.  The price of health insurance, even if you have an employer plan (as we still do, we're covered as retirees), is quite a lot.  I bet that our health care costs would NOT go up appreciably if we were paying taxes instead of premiums.

Your situation with your daughter is something that happens all the time.  Kids rarely get that sick but that lag period between the family coverage and the point where the kid can be insured on their own is really scary for a lot of parents.  There's no excuse for that kind of situation or waiting period with our health care system.

The thing about Castro is that you can take a little bit of good from every economic system.  Rejecting national health plans because Castro likes them is as foolish as throwing out the baby with the bath water.
-LiveReal Moderator

Health care debate continued here.