i agree, this is no contest. for millions of people it is the potential difference between life and death. for the rest of us its a raise in taxes (if we make enough). and then for those with no insurance who absolutely do not want it...it could be somewhere near a 6000 dollar bill annually for the minimum basic coverage.
i think there's a huge question for this issue. either you think the healthcare system needs a huge overhaul or not. all details aside, sab, do you think the insurance companies are the holders of life and death and do they abuse their power? if you think that it is fine the way it is, then you and i have nothing more to talk about on this subject.
the problem with allowing competition over state lines to help decrease cost is this: (this is also the problem with Mr Reagan's "trickle down" theory that was successful in the 80's) corporate america's only concern is their profit margin. when you have a few companies controlling a huge industry like insurance healthcare, they have a potential monopoly and get away with everything they do. in my opinion, current insurance companies are the biggest problem in the healthcare industry. a few basic regulations could go a long way to fixing this problem (unfortunately, you must then have people to police these regulations).
now, some people think this will break the industry (check out the profit margins and see what you think). so, now we have to give them more customers to increase their potential for profit (a smaller more modest profit per customer but larger overall dollar amount due to increase in customers). along comes your "public" option (which obama plainly said in an earlier address that he was open to better solutions, however "some" other democrats refuse to go along without it), which isnt much different than many industries already have, they pool together and form an "alliance" or "association" which allows them to get lower prices due to a group rate (which is why big corporations can give better insurance to their employees than little mom and pop companies). but because the government is involved, it becomes an evil plot to take over the country.
but wait...who are these new customers going to be? the very poor already have medicaid, so we arent talking about them. most businesses that can afford insurance provide it for their employees (this isnt neccessarily true but lets pretend it is) so we arent talking about them. who the hell are we talking about then?
we are "mostly" talking about people who work at mcdonalds, convenience stores, and walmart. the people who make 7 to 10 dollars an hour. they may be offered insurance at their company but the company covers almost nothing and so they would be spending half their monthly income for insurance. this is often single mothers who have no job skills (or sissy boys who cant handle a blister).
we are also talking about "self employed". people who go contractor to make more money to do similar work that would pay less working for another company. this is where i would have been in the earlier parts of my life, as a housing contractor and as a cable contractor. hard working people who have extra expenses and very little job security.
so...we have an imperfect system. to fix one thing, you must change something else. i firmly believe that the current system is so flawed that we must start complely over (along with the welfare system).
now, there is many other points to the reform. each an important point in solving our current problems, but i dont think they are near as controversial.
i do not want socialism. i do not hate the republican party (i share many beliefs with them). i dont love the democratic party (i agree with many parts and disagree with other parts). i love america. and after all that, i still want healthcare reform.
Re: All this and..................
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