You know what I think is so damned sad?

[Frangible]

Health care in this nation is abysmal, and the ranks of the uninsured are swelling rapidly. We CAN change this, we CAN have decent health care.

Yet... people don't care enough to vote for it! Even the people who are directly affected by it! Less than half of America votes. At the latest local election here yesterday, we had 22% voter turnout!

What is wrong with people? Why can't they even stand up and help themselves?

Sigh.

[evil_orange_cat]

1. I feel your pain

yes, it's so frustrating to see that things are bad, but people are too apathetic to do anything about it...

[NicoleM]

2. Off-year elections

always have low turnout. And I doubt that there were many elections yesterday in which health care was the primary issue.

I just found out that a medication I need costs $117 per month before insurance. I pay $38 a month, and I had no idea insurance was picking up that much of the tab. If we didn't have good insurance, I just wouldn't take it. A lot of people who are losing their jobs are also finding out exactly what health care costs when you aren't lucky enough to have good insurance.

Heath care will be a huge issue in the next election, especially since every Dem has a health care plan AFAIK, and we all know how much George has done for health care reform.

[NoMoreRedInk]

3. It's a tough sell because the people who'll pay for it already have it....

It seems like we'd be able to motivate enough of those that don't to make a difference, though.

We have to make a better case for the universal appeal of universal healthcare, even to those that already have insurance.

[Yupster]

4. My opinion

Universal Insurance will pass when businesses get on board.

That means universal insurance paid for by general tax revenues.

Businesses will love that because it will lower their costs and make them more competitive especialy with foreign businesses.

Many workers will not go along with a plan that they think will hurt their business and that means a plan that is paid for by a new business tax.

That's why I think Carol Mosley-Braun's proposal is so superior to Kucinich's plan.

[ubercake]

5. Devil's Advocate

Pardon me for playing devil's advocate...

Want to lower those prescription drug costs? Eliminate the FDA and mandated insurance coverage for prescription drugs. It costs approximately 500 million dollars to approve a drug and get it to market. This has to be recouped some way. Also, when the drug companies can charge the costs of prescription drugs to multi-billion dollar insurance companies rather than individuals they are more likely to inflate the costs of the drugs. Claritin is a case in point. Before it went over-the-counter Schering-Plough was charging $80/month to the insurance companies for a 30 day supply. Now that it has been made OTC and consumers MUST pay for it out of pocket the 30 day supply price fell to below $15. Generic Claritin can be had for less than $10 for a 30 day supply.

"Many workers will not go along with a plan that they think will hurt their business and that means a plan that is paid for by a new business tax."

How will this not hurt the business? Businesses will be forced to layoff workers and reduce other benefits in order to afford the massive tax increase. If you assume that the tax increase is passed on to the consumer then that means that the low income earners of the world are forced to pay greater costs for the things they need. I think it will do more harm than good.

Universal insurance will drive up the costs of health care when doctors realize that they can charge exorbitant fees to the insurance companies which in turn will cause rates to skyrocket as they are doing now.

[newyawker99]

8. Hi ubercake!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[spooky3]

9. Did anyone catch the Governor of Minnesota on NPR?

He is a Republican who articulately described the state's plan to obtain prescription drugs from Canada at the much lower prices paid by Canadians. He cited evidence that US citizens are paying much higher prices than Canadians, Western Europeans, Australians and other well-heeled cultures (who have what you might call "universal insurance") because of a variety of complex factors, including the fact that the US does not regulate or negotiate price controls. In a sense, as he put it, when you squeeze jello, more comes out the other side, and it's time for Americans to stop paying what others refuse to pay. Americans are paying the world's R&D costs (in addition to directly funding pharmaceutical research through government basic research, NIH grants to universities, etc.) AND many other costs (e.g., high executive salaries, advertising). The "universal insurance" system is not the cause nor the system that inherently grants permission to charge high prices.

[WindRavenX]

6. With the money we have to * for Iraq...

Our health care system could have been radically improved. But instead we used it to kill more people..rather ironic.
Of all the industralized nations, we have hte worst health care. Truly a great sin.

[ubercake]

7. How So?

"Our health care system could have been radically improved."

How so?

[CBHagman]

10. I think many people simply accept the status quo.

I've grown up believing that having health insurance is not the norm but the exception. What a shock it was to go to Europe and find out what a priority health insurance was (and how low fees were at the university, but that's another thread).

At any rate, we are more or less encouraged to let corporations run things here. We're encouraged to be passive.

And there's a big problem with the with a sort of "stick to the devil you know" philosophy in this country. People fear change, and they've been told that changes to the health care system will result in rationing, etc. I've seen people hold their noses and vote for the same candidates they've complained about for years. When I asked why they didn't support the other guy, they hemmed and hawed about his support for unions or the like.

We are encouraged to be sheep or perhaps lemmings.