They (the government) has an idea on how to pay for....

Absolutely wrong. There are "groups" that get coverage all the time, the exact groups you mentioned. There are even retirement packages and 401k's for carpenters, contractors, laborers etc.

 

What's the percentage of that 40 million who could afford health care, but choose not to pay for it so they can have a newer car or a bigger TV, etc?
A lot of people don't pay for insurance they can afford, especially young people.
Free health care is a great way to drive up medical costs. When you don't pay for the service, you don't worry about wasting money, you can take your kid to the doctor for a useless visit when he has a cold and it won't cost you anything.
Free anything guarantees waste.
And btw, I don't have health insurance anymore, and you can bet your ass I question every dime the doctors want me to spend.

 

When I was paying for insurance out of pocket for 5 people I would have gladly taken the European(Swedish) health care system.

 

and their astronomical taxes?

 

For me during 2005 it would have cost less to pay the Swedish taxes then what I spent only on healthcare premiums ,deductibles and copays

 

If healthcare goes free... youre going to see alot of otherwise talented medical staff (all areas) go into another field.
You know I dont give a shit about who cant afford healthcare or who needs it.
Has anyone ever been to a medicade/care facility? Its a zoo!

Besides the fact that some dumbass that doesnt have insurance and immediately needs it insults those that have the foresight to pay for coverage or work a job they cant stand for insurance.

 

Well then why don't you live in Sweden? That wasn't a "if you don't like it get out" but just a question. People keep saying they want the U.S. system for just about everything to be like countries in europe but yet they won't move to europe to take advantage of those programs...............I wonder why that is.

 

Yes, but what about the year leading to 2005 and the years since? Would it have been worth it during those years when you did not have a need?

 

When I came here 10 years ago I was single and had planned to stay for 6 month to a year, now I am married have 4 kids and 2 dogs so change of plans....
If I hadn't meet my wife who knows where i would be, but most likely not here or in Sweden

We do hope to move back during this year if I can find a good positions with the company I currently work for

The move we are hoping to do this year is not due to that I don't like it here, with a restless soul it is time for a change and we want the kids to have the opportunity so see more of the world. After a few years in Sweden we might move back here or somewhere else to try something new.

 

Well somebody has to say it...


Why do you have four kids and two dogs if you can't afford health coverage?

Your decisions should affect your wallet, not mine. So thank you for making me subsidize your overzealous breeding and the costs of rearing and providing health care for your brood. Here I sit with no health insurance coverage, taking no "public assistance", and no kids that anyone has successfully petitioned the court to prove that is mine leeching off the general population.

I do hope your family is healthy, and I hope you rethink what "responsibility" actually means.

 

when I was single and healthy probably not, just as i thought it sucked when I was younger and single in Sweden paying the taxes for what I thought i was getting nothing for. now older and hopefully wiser I do thing national healthcare is a good Idea and I don't mind paying the taxes to support it, is it perfect absolutely not but in my opinion it is better then the system currently here.
I believe if a healtcare reform is done correctly there is great chance that you can end up with something that is superior to what most European countries have and what you have currently. a hybrid public and private type setup

 

And you're just the a$$hole to make it happen.

 

I didn't say I could not afford it, I payed for it (it sucked) but none else subsidized it for me
My kids have always have had helacare coverage depending on where me or my wife have worked either employer provided or purchased privately by us
I said it did cost me more then the taxes i Sweden would have been that year.
so please don attack me on something you have no clue about

 

I can tell you that my company just went through this. The healthcare costs are totally out of control. Every year for the past 5 years we have recieved between a 8 - 12% increase in our healthcare plan cost. Earlier this year when it was time to renew..guess what - 18% this time. So we had to go shopping and we did find a company that would match what we were paying the previous year.

My compnay pays for 50% of my plan (single) and i still end up paying about $200 a month out of pocket. For the family plans it is much much more. And while i can afford the $200 and would never think of dropping my helath insurance - some of the people that work for me..just cant afford the $500 a month payment and still survive. Not only that - it is a huge burden on the company to pay %50 of all the premiums. I am certainly not for nationalization of the healthcare system...but someting needs to be done to get the costs under control.

 

Insurance will do nothing to contain cost.

 

Well, then, my apologies for my assumption. Thank you for actually being a responsible parent, sadly you're more the exception than the rule.

While you are welcome to be comfortable with subsidizing others' health care, I am not. The health care system here, while pretty much fucked up, at least still has the teensiest glimmer of free market capitalism in it. I would much rather see that free marketing come back into play vs. completely socializing the medical system. I don't see "conventional" doctors, don't take pharmaceuticals, and see no need to pay for the privilege for others to do so. I take care of myself and ask no one to do without so I can get little blue pills for fun and Rogaine for fur. I have a HUGE problem with the AMA side of the medical community and their insistence on pushing pills down people's throats, needles into their veins, and scalpels through their flesh for any ailment from a sniffle to a stroke. So, I've "opted-out" of the system, and since I am NOT a part of it, and refuse straight-up to be a part of it, I also refuse to be its benefactor.

 

Well if i understand the current system correctly...

An insurance company from texas cannot compete with a company from PA. If it was made so that all the helathcare companies could compete nationwide with no boundires...i think you might see a dramatic reduction in premiums. Right now there just is not enough competition.

maybe I'm mistaken on how things work though.....

 

...until you, or a loved one, gets seriously sick.

(as much as I agree with you on the pill pusher part)

 

Do you really think that will happen? I don't.

 

So that's why my best friend's grandparents moved from Germany to the US because they liked that medical care so much better over there. They moved here... got the heart surgery... recovered... then moved back.

Calling bullshit on that one.