Daily Kos

View Story | 11 comments

  •  If your point, as you state in your diary (1+ / 0-)

    Recommended by:
    Mike Erwin

    is healthcare, and not health insurance, then you should not have a problem. We have the best healthcare in the world. That's not the problem. Cost and accessability are.

    And the period from the 50's through the 70's you fondly recall, was for profit. Always has been. The doctor you work for makes a profit. If you can't, why invest all the time and money going to medical school? You can't begrudge doctors a profit. Take that away and you'll have no doctors at all. Not a good outcome.

    And as much as I would like to agree with you, I seriously doubt the founding fathers would agree that it is the role of government to provide free healthcare to every citizen (or non citizen for that matter). In fact, they would likely argue the opposite. The founding fathers believed in a small and limited federal government.

    But you raise a good point in the 50's to 70's comment. Back then the government had not over regulated the industry as it does now. Before the advent of health insurance, people paid cash, and were price sensitive. They shopped around. Now, the government tells them what kind of insurance they have to buy. You can't buy a policy for what you want covered. You can only by a policy for what the government tells you HAS to be covered.

    I say tell the government to let me choose. What's wrong with that?

    by NoBigGovernment on Sat Dec 15, 2007 at 01:47:25 PM PDT

    •  Actually, what I would like to see (0+ / 0-)

      is single-payer, not-for-profit catastophic healthcare from the government, and pay-as-you go for primary care doctor visits and a moderate amount of prescription drugs in a calendar year (above a certain dollar amount, based on your last three years income, the cost of prescription drugs should be classified as 'catastrophic').

      I, even at my $10 an hour clerical position, can afford (and have done so without healthcare insurance for a decade) to pay to see a doctor a couple of times a year, and to buy any presciption drugs I need.  

      But a single major visit to an ER or a chronic healthcare issue like COPD, hip replacement, Cardiac By-pass or an oncology issue would bankrupt me into losing my largest asset - my home.  It has been happening to your fellow citizens for a number of years now, just check out the bankruptcy diaries here on dKos as they relate to healthcare, it will open your eyes.

      Besides, the preamble notwithstanding, it is in the government's best interest to promote the general Welfare, to keep the citizenry healthy enough to remain active tax-payers.

      Si, se puede cambiar~~Yes, we can change~~Obama '08

      by Angie in WA State on Sat Dec 15, 2007 at 01:58:59 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  Interesting twist (1+ / 0-)

        Recommended by:
        Angie in WA State

        I hadn't thought about it, but the idea of not-for-profit catastrophic healthcare from the government is very attractive.  However, I don't see how you make that work.  Would there be a different health care system once the costs got too high?  Seems like it would in fact have to be insurance.  But I still see advantages with that.

        If I could rest assured that, no matter how high the bills, the government would pay for everything past a certain point,  I'd have no interest whatsoever in buying health insurance.   Wonder how that would affect the for-profit companies?

        I am become Man, the destroyer of worlds

        by tle on Sat Dec 15, 2007 at 04:17:13 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

    •  Well We Have Often Had the Best Spacecraft Too (1+ / 0-)

      Recommended by:
      sima

      but there's no conceivable way that everyone could ever have had a ride.

      I think we have limited access to family doctors. I bet till I see proven otherwise, that we have a significant undersupply of much of that "finest" care.

      Otherwise with 15-20% of the population sitting out, we should be awash in jokes about idle doctors and empty beds.

      We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy.... --ML King "Beyond Vietnam"

      by Gooserock on Sat Dec 15, 2007 at 02:44:27 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  What Did an MRI Cost in the 50's? nt (0+ / 0-)

      We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy.... --ML King "Beyond Vietnam"

      by Gooserock on Sat Dec 15, 2007 at 02:45:25 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  My point exactly! Thanks. (0+ / 0-)

        An MRI is a wonderful example of a profit motive. You think you would have that machine if there was no profit in its sale or use?

        But why should you be forced to buy an insurance policy that provides for an MRI if you don't want to? Or acupuncture, or aroma therapy?

        You shouldn't.

        by NoBigGovernment on Sat Dec 15, 2007 at 02:50:06 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

View Story | 11 comments