How can liberals or conservatives begin to pass a health care plan that meets the needs of millions of people?

As a covered American with a minimal fee for prescriptions and a yearly deductible of under $1000.00 my care is not in question .

As a former government employee I have the best of care , prior military service and then working for a government sub-contractor making 6 figures annually my family is well covered .



My neighbor is a local plumbing contractor who is paying well over $10,000. per family for similar care .



We discussed why this is and decided that my costs are paid with taxes and his are paid by fee's charged for services to the local community .

We came to the conclusion that those least able to afford health care are working people earning low wages who often wait longer to seek care because of the expense they would pay with high deductibles designed to keep insurance costs down .



So how do we address the needs of the many while 1/3 of the work force are government employee's such as teachers at all levels , police at all levels and defence department workers , as well as local government all have excellent coverage ,while millions of working people making coffee , digging ditches and providing services we all enjoy like flipping burgers and cleaning hotel rooms all languish in poverty , paid low wages and benefits making them a burden on government ?????????????

Since we need or want these services , then how do we justify such wages that do not allow ordinary working people to earn enough to

pay for their needs and care .

in apartments or shared living conditions as a result of low wages , socialism is born and then who is to blame . Conservatives who like to profit from the working class or the working class who demand equal treatment ????How can liberals or conservatives begin to pass a health care plan that meets the needs of millions of people?
I'm in the same place you are --- with adequate health care.



But some of my friends are not. And what they have chosen to do until something shakes out in some government program is to take out catastrophic health care... i.e., that they can handle the first $5000 or so per year, and it will kick in after that. The problem of course is to find a company who has a contract that you can read and understand!!!!! (the fine print, you know???)



One commentator on PBS Newshour last week stated that these health care contracts are written at grade 23 in language. That rather eliminates a run of the mill high school graduate with simple, and average command of this language. Unfair. And these people think they have coverage, and do not.



In case it hasn't dawned upon you, this is no constitutional republic, as the conservatives would have you believe. This is a capitalist oligarchy, in ever sense of the word.... the means of production held by the few. Robber Barons, just like in the 1880's. (But that's another issue.)



And I'd suggest to you that socialized medicine is at every level already in this country---just not for many of our citizens... military, government, my school program, all senators, Medicare. and they work perfectly fine. Problem is that for profit insurance companies are just that....';for profit';..and somehow the radical right wingers have made sure that it just will scare the socks off of any American dumb enough to listen... and they are indeed dumb. We haven't given kids in public schools a decent education in two generations................



And you have no idea the waste, I promise. My ex was an MD. He got a kickback for every script he wrote for Vioxx, Zelnorm Welbutrin, and any other new drug a company was trying to market... and there were dozens, and dozens of them !!!!! (and he wrote a lot of them) and we had dinners paid for by the drug companies in which we had any wine we wished, and could bring another couple.



Drug reps showed up two to four times a week with lunch for his entire office....4 docs and 10 office workers. Tell me what carry out for 14 people would cost??? And it is perfectly legal... under advertising expenses.



As well, gallons of blood was drawn multitudes of times and sent to a lab he and others had financial interests in... waste, waste waste, and $$$$ in his pocket...



Other countries have socialized medicine. In Italy, for example, the programs are tiered..... if you were a citizen, with a job, you were in one category, and an injured tourist, you were in another.



We have all been soooo hammered that a socialistic system is a bad thing... news. It isn't. We have socialized Fire departments, Socialized Police, Socialized roads for everyone, socialized school systems where taxes pay for schools whether you have a kid in one or now..........we all pay into it these with our taxes, and we all benefit.



And if you didn't know, 25% of all bankruptcies are caused by medical debt.



This isn't to say that medical care is free... Medicare isn't cheap, and there are ';donut holes'; in the drug plans where the patient is responsible for all the med costs until a certain yearly amount is met, and then the program again kicks in.



It isn't perfect, but it is far better than what a senior could get out there in the ';for profit'; industry.



As an interesting example. Approx 15 years ago, 3 people in my district came down with expensive life threatening cancers. (read $$$$ out of the company's income.)



All of us were insured by Blue Cross at the time. At the end of that year, that company dropped our district!!!!!!



All above is true, hon, I promise.



EDIT: Just as an observance, did you notice the truly poor spelling and sentence structure of your respondents? We even have a spell checker. And these poor folks are going to read a contract????? At grade 23 level? Doubtful. And as one of their teachers, I am soooooo sorry.How can liberals or conservatives begin to pass a health care plan that meets the needs of millions of people?
Because 90% of the wealth is in the hands of the top 1%.



Because the entire system is stupid and if designed properly could be easily affordable.



Because we have to. If we keep going the way we are, we'll be destroyed by our own debt.
they wont be able to even if it and lets pray it does not pass millions will not still be insured
That's why we elect people.
Simple - single-payer system, with premiums based upon income, and benefits that provide all with yearly exams, medications/procedures and coverage for catastrophic illness/injury
What country are you from? We don't want to think this hard in America. It's easier just to pick a side and shout.

No easy answers, thats for sure. But at least when theres a Democrat in the white house the subject gets brought up, instead of swept under the rug.
if your conclusion is that the objective is 'equal treatment', then socialism is the only way -- outcomes for most are measurably equal even though economic growth and opportunity are squashed under the boots of the police.



now, if you like to discuss ';fair'; and the rights of those who earn to spend as they see fit ... then we're talking about something different.
1. there is NOTHING wrong with pursuing PROFITS... it is the SOLE reason we have world-leading research/development and techniques.



2. ONLY A FOOL would opt to allow he Feds to run ANYTHING NEW after the way they've destroyed EVERYTHING else they have ever taken control over. That's just basic LOGIC and INTELLIGENCE.
The people who caused the problem are not the ones to correct it. They just need to open up all markets to all insurance companies and competition will lower prices.



Did you ever stop to think that if millions of jobs hadn't gone overseas and millions of foreigners weren't imported to take American jobs then Americans would have jobs that do provide insurance?



There is medicaid for the poor.
conservative can't help health care reform. The only truly new ideas [the right] has come up with in the last twenty years are (1) supply side economics, which is a way of redistributing the wealth upward toward those who already have more than they know what to do with, and (2) creationism, which is a parallel idea for redistributing ignorance out from its fundamentalist strongholds to those who know more than they need to.
You will be able to keep your low cost healthcare - just like any other person with a Union or government (or other) job.

People who are now paying $10,000 a year, like I was before I left the US for that reason, will be able to switch to public option if they so desire.

BUT the newest Republican is to LIMIT severely the number and kind of people who can join - so basically we can already kiss that goodbye.
so you are blaming conservatives for people who were never to intelligent in the first place. nice.so if they skipped school,did drugs,dropped out and never pursued a higher plateau in life it's our fault.lol.that has to be one of the most ignorant facts of the day!
They not only need health care, lets give them homes, cars, vacations, free food too. Just because someone needs something, is it the responsibility of the government to provide it?
The fact of the matter is that wages are dependant on the economic value of the work performed.



In effect: minimum skills = minimum wage.



We cannot get any of those people out of poverty. The only people who can do this is themselves. In fact - providing them with free healthcare removes another incentitive for those people to improve themselves and gain marketible skills.



Another issue is that the purpose of any subsidy is to increase the amount of something. Agricultural subsidies increase the amount of food produced. Educational subsidies increase the number of college graduates.



An subsidising poverty produces more poor people.



I have no problem with helping somebody get themselves out of poverty - but I demand that this be assistance for them to improve themselves, not just another handout.
They can't. But it makes a great campaign promise.
Easy, page 425 section E. of Obama Care plan. Read it.