Universal Health Care Part II

This is my second blog on universal healthcare. It is largely representative of my own opinions but I will also throw in some facts. This is after having seen the movie "Sicko." I will present some of the opposing questions and arguments people have about healthcare provided by the government. I will refute those with my own opinions and other facts I have attained.


People against it, especially politicians, will say that you don't want the government telling you who your doctor is. I have United Healthcare and they already tell me whom my doctor can be when they say who is in my network and who is out of my network. When I had to go to the chiropractor last year they told me there was only one place to go. Yet there was a chiropractor office withing sight of the one I was told to see. But that office was "out of my network." What is the difference between our current system and a government universal healthcare system? Oh yeah, the govt universal system is free. I almost forgot.

Others would say how will we pay for all of this. People against the universal system say our taxes would go through the roof. Our taxes definitely would go up for the first few years while those of us who have neglected our heal for so long begin to go back to doctors, dentists, etc and catch up on our good health. After a few years of this the taxing rates and policy could be scaled back to normal levels. Most people today with employer health insurance pay about 9-10% of their checks anyway. Others pay almost 3% to medicare. Now studies have shown that if a 9% tax were levied on ALL employers, even the ones who don't offer health insurance for their employees, and the medicare tax was paid into the universal healthcare system we would have the funds right there for financing universal healthcare for everyone. This wouldnt punish the rich like some might lead you to believe. Noone would have to give up a few more dollars so that a man, woman or child less well off can have healthcare....oh no...God forbid we do something for those less fortunate. Instead this system would punish those employers who don't offer insurance by them pay the 9% tax anyway. Remember, the employers pay, not the employees.

People say why should I pay for people too lazy to work and get insurance for themselves. Well, in case you didnt know, this might be the land of opportunity but its also the land of the haves and the you cant have any's. Not to mention you are already paying for these people. As Bush so eloquently put it when someone asked him if all children should have free health insurance, "They can go to an emergency room." This is true, they or anyone else in this country, including illegal immigrants can be treated in an emergency room. Who pays for this? You do. The US pays about 60% of healthcare costs already. And look at the horrendous system we have to show for it. I think it's a crying shame about how many of who do have insurance are unsatisfied with it and how much we have to pay for copays and premiums. Yet even with these high prices we pay there are still 45 million people in this country without insurance. Where does all the excess money go? Read on..

We are overcharged for everything in our current medical system. The pill producing companies trick doctors into giving us meds we don't need. They rush drugs into production before adequate testing and put us in jeopardy. These companies charge us about 50% more than they charge the Canadian government for the exact same drugs. Then again, the Canadian citizens don't pay anything anyway. How can our leaders allow this obvious manipulation? Probably because they are in on it. The drug companies and insurance companies lobby them to vote and influence decisions their way. The CEO's get millions and sometimes billions of dollars in salaries. For what? Finding out ways to convince us we are getting value on a pill they made for 10 cents, sold to the doctor for $10 each and they in turn prescribed them to us for $200 a bottle. We must hold our politicians accountable. They got us into this mess many years ago. This isnt a bash on republicans, everyone seems to have a price tag. We cant trust them with our money, how can we trust them with our medicine. At least universal healthcare would stop this idiotic bribery.

What people like me are asking the government to do isnt to spend much more money than it already does. They spend plenty anyway, they just spend it wrong. I am asking you to elect leaders who will spend it wisely on healthcare. A universal healthcare system is better for everyone. This is America for crying out loud. Think of the $600+ billion we have spent on this war. Think of that in real everyday dollars and think of how many lives we could have saved and greatly improved here in the US.

This country has the wealth and technology to make health care a right. Polls have shown a majority of you want universal healthcare over the current system. The problem is getting our elected officials to serve us for a change instead of the corporations who finance their elections. Politicians who say that universal healthcare wont work are ignorant of the fact that it does work well in every advanced country in the world. The ones who say we cant afford it are lying. Honestly, can you afford not to have it? If you are serious about wanting to reduce the costs of healthcare, for yourself and others, you don't try to make the poor pay more money they already don't have. You find a way that works for everyone. You don't let these "trust the free market" drones mislead you about what is best for YOU.

What should you do? Im glad you asked. ...

They are OUR elected officials. We can elect to replace them. Corporate money controls their policies on this issue. They are in almost every commercial break we see on television for almost every channel. That is why you see little of these debates going on in the networks. After all, the commercials pay for the t.v. time we get. But don't forget who rules the airwaves. Thats right...you do, I do, we all do. They are public airwaves. We can tell our elected officials how we feel by contacting them. We can tell the networks also. But one thing is for sure, until we speak up, loud and clear, we will continue to fund our own deathbed.

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