Why America Needs Universal Healthcare

Hi

I am pretty much a right wing Canadian...which would make me a Democrat in the States...I run my own company and employ 30 people. I tell you this, so as readers you will know I am not a socialist and do have a job.

In Ontario, the employer pays the "Health Tax". This is based on a percentage - under 2% - of the total payroll. Even though this costs my bottom line - I am good with this as it ensures that those not working - children, seniors, disabled etc do not directly pay taxes for their health. It is a cost of doing business.

Thats the funding formula - now to the delivery of services. Yup - its not perfect - but I thank God we have universal health care. I dont want to think of any citizen unable to afford health care - or to worry and make choices of whether they should buy groceries or take their kid to the doctor.
My wls was covered - my brothers kidney transplant ( two of them) was covered - my visit to the doctor for a cut/scrape/cold/yearly physical and all assorted sundry are covered. Yes - If i have a non-life threatening condition - I may wait for some time for a specialist- and I may be in discomfort while waiting.
But if I really need the system it works quickly and efficiently. My family and I have experienced this time and again.

I love the states, I think you are the most generous kind nation and always provide help and assistance to other countries when asked. If you asked 100 Canadians about our health care system - we might ***** about something but I guarantee you 9 1/2 out of 10 would tell you it is the best thing about our country.

Good luck with your country's debate

Barb

Well said! 

Well said Barb!

Just curious and have always wondered about the US health care...
I'm a stay at home mom hopefuly for the next couple of years, my husbands is an unemployed truck driver... so if one of us got sick what would happen...
As for meds in Quebec if your unemployed the Provincial gouvernement helps and copays a percentage of your prescription and if your on social assistanceor pension then it's free.  What about the US?

In the U.S if one of you got sick while not covered under insurance you would be facing financial ruin.  You could go to the emergency room and they could not turn you away for treatment, but then you would get a bill for the services.  If you can't pay, then your credit is shot.   You could possibly be looking at bankruptcy. The provider that isn't getting paid by you, of course, passes those expenses along to the consumers who DO have health insurance.

Of course, what if your husband was working and got sick, and could no longer work?  His health insurance (through his employer) would go away, or increase to a prohibitively expensive extensive rate (COBRA) once he left his job.  

But it would serve your lazy ass right cuz you're not working, donchaknow!  You should not expect a handout (like you would if you called the fire department or the police in an emergency) because the snotty taxpayers that ARE working would rather drop bombs on other countries and stuff than take care of our own.   (Really, it's just that we're all being manipulated by the insurance industry because they stand to go out of business if government gets its hands in the health care).

Heck, in Quebec if you don't have private insurance to cover medication it's obligatory to have the gov't plan! And I certainly won't complain, when we lost our coverage, one of my meds went from being $48 to $6!

 to me, it is a moral issue.

how can we, as a nation, stand by and watch (and let) people who are uninsured get sick and die - just because they don't have the money to pay for it.  

universal health care is a human right.   just like clean water, safe food to eat, and shelter.  basic human right. 

it galls me to see right wing extremists compare our administration to Nazis. what???

the far right zealots are getting frothed up by completely untrue rhetoric.  if they so strongly believed in god and country - how can they so easily dismiss their fellow american?   just for a few more dollars in their own pockets to spend on **** at walmart?

i have been inside the red tape of trying to get 5 different insurance companies to pay for my wls for over 6 years.  i had at least 10 doctors write letters of necessity.  in the mean time, my health, my knees broke down, my anxiety increased.  i weighed 420 lbs before i went in.  i had a pituitary tumor that caused much of the weight that i gained and kept me from losing. 

i finally had no choice but to self-pay for my surgery.  to the tune of $25,000.  i had to mortgage my house - to save my life.  AND I HAVE INSURANCE- A GREAT JOB AND PAY A ****LOAD OF TAXES!

in the current state of affairs, going forward, because my insurance denied me and i was a self-pay, i've set myself up for having a 'pre-existing condition' and risking getting denied for any healthcare going forward - from my insurance that i have through my employer that i know our company pays big money for.  

it is a ridiculous system.  and anyone who is against universal healthcare is simply uninformed or frankly in my opinion, unamerican.  we MUST care for all our citizens.  it is moral issue - not a financial issue - not a political issue - it is a constitutional american issue. 

Letting the un- and under-insured get sick and die...it's what Jesus would do, right?

If the Christians ALONE would band together and do what Christ would do (support health care for everyone) then this would be a done deal.

I suppose it's JUST so hard to walk the walk when Fox News, Glenn Beck
www.youtube.com/watch and Rush, etc. are telling you otherwise cause really, would they lie?

-Cyn

I agree with everything you said.

Especially this...

universal health care is a human right.   just like clean water, safe food to eat, and shelter.  basic human right. 


I too ,  have a good job,   insurance,  and pay a ton of taxes.   I own a home,  I pay school taxes and have no children.  Do I complain about it?   No...because hopefully one of these kids that is going to school on my tax dollar will find a cure for cancer or something else.   Or make the world better in some way.

Yet I had to self pay for a surgery that I needed.   I was diabetic,  high blood pressure,  depressed...I could go on and on.

So one of you people that oppose health care reform...explain to me how that is right. 

But since you are taken care of...I guess it really doesn't matter does it?   Jerks. 

Lets simplify things:  Attached is a link to a necrotising fascitius survivors stories.  This is a flesh eating bacteria that effectively lives in our bodies in peaceful colonies.  Occasionally (mostly post operatively) it gets into our tissue and eats us alive with gangrene.  This should hit home as we are ALL post op or going to be on this forum thus this is a possible outcome.  Read through and find out what happens to an average Joe who gets this!! Read until the end and find out how many insured people still have a home to live in? This little gem made me furious and incensed that the heath care industry could attack the ill for being cost heavy.  BLOWS MY MIND!
www.nnff.org/nnff_survivors.htm