I feel that as a person gets older that someone needs to step in to help them. They work hard all of their lives and raise their families.

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In my opinion, health care should be nationalized for all American citizens — that means every legal American. That doesn’t mean illegal immigrants of any kind.

It works in other countries and it is the right thing to do. I know housewives — for instance — whose husbands have retired and are left unprotected (with no health & hospitalization anymore) because they are younger and not of age to retire. This seems like a big problem. Not to mention people between jobs who couldn’t afford Cobra. People who are of low income. And the children. Let’s do the right thing here in America. Insure all legal citizens.

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Not by the government, when the government steps in we have more red tape than needed.

Nationalistic? Perhaps if we knew how to keep the health industry honest and fair. As well as the people who need help. That really need the help and not assistance by monetary means unless prosthetics or wheel chairs that may be covered but not available through the regular health process.

Hard to say how it should be put together, but it has to be done on a third-grade level for all to understand. No hidden meanings or definitions…

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Health care threatens to bankrupt itself because of three major contributing factors:

1. Health providers are overcharging patients and overcharging the working poor most of all. A recent charge of mine for a health screening was billed at over $3000. The insurance company accepted $793 as payment in full. Imagine if I was not fortunate enough to have insurance! If I were part of the working poor, I would have had to pay $2200 more for the same discounted service. Some Government force needs to stop such greed.

2. Lawyers are creating mountains out of molehills and ultimately driving health costs sky high.

3. Insurance companies don’t have those big shiny buildings because they are charging too little for health premiums.

Ultimately, we have to get greed out of the medical business.

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I think the governor of West Virginia is right to recommend giving part of the overcharge back to the patient. If more states would adopt similar policies, then medical facilities and insurance companies might realize someone is watching and clean up their business.

It is a business right?

Not a bad one when they get the best of both worlds, 1. treated as a business, for the people that can pay, and 2. taking tax payers money for others that can’t.

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Good to see common sense still exists out there.

1. No medical care for those who ‘break into our country’.

2. Government is inefficient as an administrator. No government involvement except to monitor as needed.

3. Get insurance under control — get rid of ambulance chasers (can you believe one of them actually wants to run for president –and to show you his egomanical honesty he will brush his wife aside to assuage his need for more power)

4. Our society is at total cross purposes, we sell fat junk, people get fat and then they have big med costs. Provide incentives for those that can to be healthy, stay healthy. .

5. Get rid of all the paperwork and middlemen in the medical practice. Let doctors practice medicine not administration.

Cheers,
Anthony

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I believe we have two choices: government health insurance or compulsory health insurance by employers during employment and later in retirement. However, compulsory health insurance by employers does not in and by itself guarantee health insurance since today, many large companies are filling for Chapter 11 and eliminating the health insurance and retiree pension plans that include health insurance.

For example, take a company like General Motors or Ford which have a very large population of retired employees with more coming over the next ten years. At some point, the number of retirees will exceed the number of workers and that in and by itself tends to make a company look at Chapter 11 as the way out.

Then there is Wal-Mart, company that does everything possible to limit health coverage to employees by reducing hours, shifting schedules, etc., which raises the question, how can these low income employees afford health insurance?

Therefore, I believe that all companies should pay for each and every employee into a government sponsored health care program that would cover anyone legally within the United State of America or its so called territories.

A US citizen living abroad

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I believe that a fully funded, government-backed health care system is doomed to fail from the start.

Look at the VA system where Congress allows the traditional beuracrocy to be the norm where disabled vets have a hard time getting to see a doctor.

Look at the Canadian system where they are starting to allow for private practice doctors and health insurance.

One of the bigger problems that I see is that people would rather buy wants such as nicer cars and large tvs than take care of their more pressing needs such as health care or other types of insurance.

There are ways to get coverage that doesn’t cost as much as COBRA’s. The reason that COBRA’s are so expensive is that you are paying what the company is subsidizing for better coverage. I know of younger people who had just catastrophic health coverage.

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We all chuckled at the little guy from Texas who paid for his own campaign for President a few years ago, but he said that NAFTA would result in a “big sucking sound” as business left the US for Mexico and it would do little to help either country… he was correct there, and his suggestions for universal health care bear looking at a second time. His suggestions was pilot programs in certain cities in certain states until what was workable could be documented… then an expanded program, and a second look, long before a nationwide attempt was even considered.

As in most things, if it works, NO PROBLEM, but what if it DOES NOT! This is not a place where the luxury of saying we tried, is salve for the wound. What will be left if it doesn’t… for how much, and who will independent insurance writers be willing to cover?

The government infrastructure that this may entail
is difficult to imagine. We could not dispense funds to cover short-term needs of people effected by a hurricane and not suffer rapid fraud… any guess about trying to cover insurance claims? Medicare reimbursements were a
nightmare for years until it settled to minor problems as the everyday occurrence currently.

Government’s place in health care should be one of legislating a level playing field, holding pricing at profitable levels for providers, not having those insured pay high prices for services and hence high premiums for coverage to offset the non-payment by users have no coverage
of medical services.

Countless emergency rooms are closed because the uninsured know where to get no-cost care for common ailments, because they cannot be turned away. The losses sustained could not be covered by the hospital and the physicians working there. How do you propose to cover those who do not and/or will not work; those who chafe at being asked for a government agency issued state ID proving who they are prior to voting? How will you account for and cover the “disadvantaged masses” the liberals charge as discriminated against when asked for some sort of ID to vote? Wanna bet they could get their disadvantaged back-sides to some agency to get a card that gets them free medical care.

When in your memory was a government-mandated program that provided a service as opposed to one policing public policy/law a success? Why do you think this will be different?

The argument is not about the need for some universal health care… the argument is who and how to do it.

Remember, NOTHING PREDICTS THE FUTURE LIKE THE PAST.

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Health coverage should not ever be mandated by the government. Each and every citizen has the right and the responsibility for his own health care and children being the responsibility of their parents.

If health care has become too expensive, just look to the government, not for the solution, but as the source of the problem, through covert and overt taxes, regulation of medical personnel and policies, and welfare costs such as Medicaid and Medicare.

If we are ever to have cost-effective health care, it can only come through private enterprise without the strangling of government interference.

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In order to maintain a safer and harmonious society, there must be a well-planned health care in place.

Estimating the high number of elderly by the year 2030, a mandatory regulation must be introduced by all governments within the capabilities of the younger generation or the productive part of the society from now on in association with the insurance and the state run health care institutions. This must be mandatory for all the business community, either private or Public.

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We need affordable health care for every one in the U.S.A. and the governor’s responsibility to make sure we have affordable health care. The GOV works for us the pople, the GOV needs to do right by the pople when we get sick and need to go to the Dr. but can’t afford. How is it respons. I pay tax?

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Yes, health care should be mandated by govt. We are, I think, the only industrialized 1st-world country that allows this.

Universal would be cheaper than the uninsured using ERs as clinics. We would be more productive. Also, in trade negotiations health care, ecology, labor issues and those other things businesses operating in the U.S. must take into consideration should be addressed.

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