Free Health Coverage

[Catamount]

I just want to say that can we please enter the 21st century already and get a health care plan passed by congress?

Can you please make it a single payer plan, based on the one in Australia?

I have written about this continually and don't understand why no one listens to me.

Of course it may be that I don't have enough readers yet--but just in case somebody new reads this--here's how it works -- basically!

Everybody has free basic health care, and there are also insurance companies if you want to use them. They are good if you want a private room in a hospital or you want have multiple boob jobs for purely cosmetic reasons, and so on and so forth.

Admittedly I haven't lived there for 19 years, but both my kids are there now and they've never complained about the cost of anything medical, and although there my be other reasons for private health insurance, there are many free services available.

I have heard consistently over the years how this could never work here--because there are so many more of us here, but if you divide us into the states and give each the same template and federal support to kick it off, I don't see any good reason for it to fail.

All those folks who are against it don't need to use the system as they can keep to their own paying systems.

I may be over simplifying--but I thinks this will work better than anything else, because it would encourage small (minute) business owners like me -- to grow and employ people, which could never happen if I have to cough up health coverage.

[wartrace]

1. Nothing is free. Please explain free health insurance. n/t

[Catamount]

2. I made a mistake it's Free health coverage!

Sorry

[Patchuli]

4. But who pays for the coverage? Taxes? nt

[terisan]

6. I agree. Health care coverage should be tax-based. nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. I so agree!!! nt

[alexandria]

5. You think health care is expensive,wait till we get it for free. eom

[terisan]

7. The current system causes people without health insurance to pay more to make up

for the low reimbursement to providers by insurers. Self payers get billed outrageous amounts and when they can't pay are sued or they get pressured to put health care charges on credit cards and then cannot keep up with payments.

[Catamount]

9. It was never a problem for me or anyone else I know of.

I lived there for 30 years and originally we had a similar system to the one here in the USA, but when we changed our government from "liberal" (conservative-over there)to Labor--they introduced the new tax based system.
There was never a noticeable difference in the amount of taxes I paid--and I've never had much money anyway--so it was a wonderful change, and the best thing about it--you can sleep at night without freaking out with worries about getting sick or ill--which in itself is healthier!

When I had my last child I almost died--he almost died and I we both had extensive treatments for months--he had to stay for 4--and all it cost me was about $500--because I'd wanted a particular gynecologist--who only practiced in private, everything else including my hysterectomy, transfusions etc. was covered.

Of course here in WA we also had a pretty good system called Basic Health--but it's income based and if one has a good year, it becomes too expensive.

[ZRB]

11. K+R

I happen to be a Medicare Card holder here in Australia, and I have to agree that it brings a kind of peace of mind that would be...foreign...in the USA, no pun intended. I have lived in both countries and can't recommend an Australia-style system enough. Great post!

[Catamount]

12. Nice to be backed up --thanks!

[tavalon]

14. Even with almost any health insurance here, you would have paid at least 10 times, likely 100 times

that here. I think the only one that would have been around what you paid is Microsoft.

[Catamount]

15. I know - I heard somebody tell his story on....

the Ron Reagan show today, of how he fell of his motor bike on the weekend and broke his arm--nothing else was wrong--he spent 1 night in the hospital and it cost him $28.000.00!

How can anyone afford that--even if you have money!
Ouch!

[tavalon]

13. No, it will be cheaper because we won't have the twin leeches:

Big Pharma and Big Insurance. It will make a substantial difference.

[midnight]

8. Yes we can. But we can't have two wars going and bailing out

the banks. Our priorities need to shift.

[Catamount]

10. Too true!

But if we fight for it we can make it happen!

[cosmik debris]

16. How many Senators will vote for your program?

It takes 60 Senators to pass such a program. Do you have the support of 60 Senators?

Proposing legislation that can not pass may be good politics, but it is bad leadership.

We need to agree to a program that we CAN enact.

[Catamount]

17. I have only contacted my senators, the White House

and I signed countless partitions saying just what I said here.

But I heard good news..just a while ago --that being that-- John Conyers has now been invited to the meeting at the WH to represent his single payer program.
This was due to all the pressure bought about by all of us who are fighting for this, as he is the only one really on our side , since most of the other people involved were insiders of the existing health care programs, and insurance companies.