Monday, May 28, 2012

Please Help Stop Universal Health Care - A Case Against Government Run Universal Health Care

By Susan Colorado Friday, July 17, 2009

The Obama Administration claims that Universal Health Care would provide for those that do not have health care now.  But the facts are that not a single group, class, or economic bracket in the United States of America, including illegal immigrants, can claim that this right has been denied them. The poor in America are already serviced remarkably (though inefficiently) by massive government programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

Emergency rooms in both public and private hospitals will attend to anyone in urgent need. Most of the  people who do not have health insurance are middle class Americans who have opted out, on their own accord, of purchasing it because of other financial priorities. Is this ideal? No, it's not . But we do not live in an ideal world and the freedom to establish our own financial priorities, as good or bad as they may be, is also a right that must be protected.  In addition, the Universal Healthcare will be forced upon every American citizen - this is not a RIGHT - it's a law.  An unjust one at that. 

 

Universal Healthcare will mean a downgrade in care for US Citizens.  Take a look at what has happened in other countries where there is universal government-run health care.  People in Canada have to wait months to get a CT scan, let alone a diagnosis.  They have to wait years in line for surgery.  Talk to the people in Detroit.  Canadians come over to the United States to pay cash for health care rather than wait in line in Canada.  Family pets can get better care in Canada than humans!  People from all over the world come to the US to get health care.  Ever wonder why that is?  Because we have it good here, brother.  We've got it good.  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence......

 

If the government takes over healthcare, they will dictate who gets what procedure at what point in their illness, who gets what medication, etc.  Do you really want that?  Do you really want your health, your very vitality run by the government?  Think about how wasteful and slow government agencies in existence today operate.  How long do you wait at the DMV?  How many pages is the tax code?  How long does it take you to process any form related to the government?  Do you really want your health in their hands? 

 

Ask any doctor or nurse or healthcare provider what they think about Universal Healthcare.  I bet you'll get an earful - not in support of the proposition.

 

 

With the government taking over healthcare what will be the impetus for pharmaceutical companies and other entrepreneurs to do research and development on new medication and procedures that are waiting to be discovered?  None.  Government will dictate costs caps and protocols for every medical condition.  Incentives for new drugs, new cures, new tests, etc. will go away.  No new cures.  What would be migraneurs do without the new innovations we've experienced that have given us relief over the past few years?  There will be few and far between new innovations with the government involved.

7/17/09 9:12pm

I am Canadian, my boyfriend is Canadian and a large portion of my family is Canadian.  Canadians love their healthcare (yes, that is a generalization).  There are problems with it, but they appear to me to be the same problems as in the States (I live in California).  Middle class Canadians don't go bankrupt because of health care costs.  When they hear about this, they are shocked.  I believe the #1 or #2 reason that people go bankrupt in the U.S. is because of health care.  Also, many American companies have moved to Canada to avoid paying the huge health care costs.  This is going to further hurt our economy.  I like my health care (Kaiser), but I also have to acknowledge the people who cannot afford it.  Small business accounts for most of the employed people in this country, and many of them simply cannot afford the $2,000/month it costs to cover a family (that's what a family costs where I work - and it's not great insurance - Blue Shield - deductibles + large co-pays).  I feel that health care is a right, not a privilege.

 

Anyway, I know where you are coming from - the Canadian and American systems have HUGE problems, but I feel that when people in the States bash the Canadian health care system, they are mis-informed.

7/17/09 11:41pm

Have you actually read the bills? I don't think so, or you wouldn't be so upset. They do NOT call for government-run universal healthcare. Current insurance plans and companies would stay in place. There would be one government-run option. ONE.

 

Please, go read. I don't think you'll be as upset after you do.

 

Shalom,

Abi

7/20/09 1:22pm

Those who have current healthcare insurance, sure, they'll be able to keep it, UNDER CERTAIN, VERY SPECIFIC CONDITIONS.  The proponents of the bill are not telling you everything.  HR 3200, Section 102 is titled "Protecting the Choice to keep Current Coverage".  Read that section.  Actually you'll have to read inbetween the lines.  If in any way your current coverage changes, for example, your co-pay changes, or you now have 25 visits per year to the chiropractor instead of 30, then, you have to go to the new system.  Bye bye old insurance.

 

Former Lieutenant governor of NewYork, a health care proponent, who cares about peoples health FIRST, explains it here, along with some other very interesting information everyone should listen to. Please take the time to listen to this.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w4f04zrF2s

 

 

In ADDITION, an article in the Investor's Business Daily supports the fact that you really won't be able to continue your current coverage under your employer as the Obama Administration would like you to think.  Here's a summary:

 

--------------------------------- 

Investor's Business Daily reviewed H.R. 3200, the healthcare bill, a 1,018-page bill, and sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee when it stumbled upon the following segment listed under "Protecting the Choice to Keep Current Coverage," in the "Limitation on Enrollment" section on Page 16:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

"So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised - with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers," Investor's Business Daily reported.

 

Opponents of the health care plan have argued that government-subsidized coverage will mean the death of the private insurance market.  IBD warns that employers may stop providing private plans and instead opt for Washington's coverage when tempted by a public option that is 30 percent to 40 percent cheaper than existing premiums.

According to the report, The Lewin Group has estimated that 120 million or more may lose group coverage at their places of employment and be forced to accept the government option - leaving private insurance companies with less than 50 million customers.

___________________________________________________

 

 

Again, I submit, the legislature as currently written is not in our country's best interest.  Something else must be done.  Or maybe nothing at all.

 

Susan Colorado

 

 

 

 

Anonymous
Anonymous
7/26/09 12:23pm

Have I actually read the bills? No. And SADLY and disgustingly neither will many members of Congress read them either. But that's beside the point. Please tell me what Government run projects or programs are or have been successful? NONE. Neither will Universal Health Care. This is NOT about the people. This is about arrogant Obama and his Admin. I'm 41 years old and in good health. I CHOSE not to carry insurance. And by God, I have every right to make that choice. How dare Obama and his Admin. try to take away my rights! His polls are sinking faster than any other President's polls have in history. And as long as he continues in the direction that he is going, they will keep on sinking. Change??? NOPE, just another change of address. And hopefully sooner than later. The DNC screwed up big time when they decided that Obama would be a better "puppet" than Hillary. And that is sad.

Anonymous
Anonymous
7/26/09 12:35pm

Oh, man! People like you are great. Talk about puppets? People who go around like taking like this are true puppets of congress. No Presdient can accomplish anything, not really. Congress holds all the power. So, when it looks like a President has too much influence in Congress, those who oppose whatever he's trying to do ramp up the rhetoric, and people like you do their work for them.

 

Thanks for the laugh, Puppet! Sit back and let other people pull your strings, fool.

Anonymous
Anonymous
8/12/09 10:47pm

Actually, you are the fool! You should take a grammar class or re-read what you post...idiot!

Anonymous
Anonymous
8/12/09 10:36pm

Why would anyone want the government involved in their health care decisions? I am totally against this health care proposal!

Anonymous
Lloyd
2/12/10 8:41pm

I am a Canadian and proud of our univeral health care system.  You are correct that waiting time for MRI's can run close to a year if the urgency of the test is not articulated by the doctor.  However, if you are willing to pay for a private MRI in Alberta that is fine and there is no wait time.  You would pay about $500 for the test.  Most Canadians waiting for the public MRI's choose to wait instead of paying the money.  I Alberta the average wait time for a hip replacement is 6 months from the time you see an Orthopedic doctor and the wait time for the specialist is about 6 months. 

A friend had liver cancer and she received the surgery within a month.  Wait times usually depend on the urgency of each case.

 

I believe that health care is a birth right for all Canadians and we all pay in taxes for this right.

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By Susan Colorado— Last Modified: 11/25/10, First Published: 07/17/09