Recently it was projected by the federal government that by the year 2017, one out of every five dollars spent in the US will be on healthcare. What do you think about our current health care situation? Does everyone have a right to health care? Do we need "universal" health care? What should we do? Are you worried about it? How do you feel about it?
5 comments:
Right now I'm ticked off at health care. The price of it has gone up so substantially over the past few years it is really starting to kill us. Let's just go ahead and say the number, roughly $800 a month for my husband and i and our 4 kids!!! That is a house payment!!!! On top of that it doesn't even cover 100%. Our baby was sitll 2 grand, 20 bucks for doctors visits. I had to fork out $45 for an allergy prescription. If the company you work for doesn't have really good benefits then buying your own will literally suck you dry!!! Anyways, there has got to be a better way. If we can afford as a nation (which we can't but pretend we can) to throw tons of illegitimate children and there familys on medicaid, food stamps and who knows what other gov't funded programs who never work (except for the system) then why is it that we can't afford a better way for people like us who contribute to society to find reasonable, reliable health care. This has really been an issue for my husband and I since he stopped working for the banks which have wonderful benefits. I don't have the solution but my purse is definitely feeling the strain and is longing for some answers.
The other day, I had to go to the Child Support Office in Arizona. When I entered the office, there were about 3 other people in the room. I waited behind the glass, while this old man just talked on the phone (without acknowledging me). Finally, he handed me a fifty-five thousand page packet that I needed to fill out and did not give me any further instructions.
Forty five minutes later (I'm still filling out this packet), and I hear my name called. The receptionist (a woman who was never visible to anyone who came into the office) handed me THE EXACT SAME PACKET! She told me that I'd be better off going home to fill it out. Then, I could bring it back in, but they wouldn't be able to get back to me on it for about four months.
I got into my car, turned on NPR, and they were discussing nationalized health care. I couldn't help but draw the association between the Child Support Office and the idea of Nationalized health care. I laughed out loud, and thought PLEASE NO!!!!
However, we DO need health care prices to go down. I say that we make health insurance MANDITORY, and we privatize it - like Auto Insurance. Then, HMO's will be forced to be competitive, and we won't lose the benefits of having the advanced medicine that we DO enjoy.
All I know is this:
1). I don't have any insurance right now b/c we can't afford it thru Ronnie's work or a seperate policy. It's just too expensive for me!!
2). My boys both have Medicaid right now and I had pregnancy Medicaid when they were born. If it weren't for that-we'd owe the Drs. and hospitals like $100,000+ in expenses b/c of the circumstances they were born in. We didn't (and still don't) pay a dime for anything-in Dr. bills. Thank heavens for that!!
I don't know if universal healthcare is the answer, but something seriously needs to be done. Esp living in NC where health insurance is way too much. (At least what I've found anyways).
Don't get me wrong-it's not that Ronnie and I can't afford to live-it's just that we can't afford insurance for me on top of everything else we have. Thank heavens I'm in good health and my kids are taken care of with Medicaid. And Ronnie gets his insurance for next to nothing thru his work.
I just hope and pray that something is done sooner, rather than later.
I just wanted to clarify from my comment up above that not in anyway do I think that medicaid is a bad thing. My 3rd kid was born on it because my husband lost his job and then in august of 07' with the mortgage industry collapsing he was layed off. The very first thing that I did was go put my kids on medicaid. I don't have a problem with people using the system for what it is there for. I have a problem with people abusing it. I do think that Catania's idea will work but the government doing something quickly and efficiently just doesn't seem to happen. Like I said before, I don't know what the answers are. I just know that it is so completly unaffordable.
I do think this is such a complicated issue. But I don't think everyone deserves free medical care. Erick's cousin who is a doctor said that some people will go to the emergency room for a cold or because they are constipated. I went to the ER about two years ago and it was around four thousand bucks, but we had and still have insurance, so we just paid our deductible. I can't believe how much insurance costs, but we are blessed to be able to afford it. I think a big problem is that if some people don't have to pay anything then they'll go to the doctor or ER for anything. I think if everyone had to pay something then they would think twice before spending four thousand dollars of tax money because they haven't had a bowl movement!
But considering what a wonderful job the federal government does with everything it puts its hand into, my guess is that we'll end up paying more and getting a lot less than what we are promised.
I also think that if we are going to allow illegal immigrants into our country, or provide them some kind of legal status, they should be required to pay for an insurance policy, or they go home. I think this would relieve a lot of stress on the health care industry.
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