Then payments get adjusted to what he or she can afford. If worse comes to worse and they are very poor, they will be on government health insurance. There are flaws, but it's not that they have to pay SOMETHING. Be mindful of that kind of thinking. SOmeone has to pay for it, so it's never going to be free.

Indeed sir

You ladies could learn a lot from this man...

There is almost never anything completely good or completely evil. These don't exist in their purist form in this world. There are only sades of grey.

I would wonder if this gentleman has insurance... and does not know how it works for those who don't. Sounds like it.. there is no sliding scale for an emergency room visit... not from my own experience.
Anyway... just a mess isn't it

Many, many people don't have money to put aside. They are living paycheck to paycheck.

Wow, that is so neat to hear. What a blessing.

Nope, no sliding fee scale for an ER visit. I have read that it costs more when you don't have insurance. Insurance companies make deals with the hospitals - like a group rate thing.

Nope, no sliding fee scale for an ER visit. I have read that it costs more when you don't have insurance. Insurance companies make deals with the hospitals - a group rate.

You assume too much. I never said there was a sliding scale for an ER visit. But there is a sliding scale for ER payments. You can also make deals with hospitals. But it involves, *Gasp*, taking initiative to talk and bargain. And the reason they ask such a high price to begin with (here's another kicker), is government run healthcare programs. Hmmmm... Be careful not to adobt the mentality that if you don't have to deal with it personally, the problem doesn't exist.

I still stand behind my whole point, which i doubt many will argue with; It is more important for us to do this right than it is for us to do this now. Get me?

People can still get healthcare. There is no doubting that. The system isn't perfect. It's full of holes and flaws. The solve-all answer is not some government run, universal program. Name one thing the government has done RIGHT that hasn't benefited congress...

Cause and affect. When it comes to the BIG picture, think with your brains first, then your heart. If you don't, you make problems worse, which leads to more heartache. "The road to hell was paved with good intentions."

George Will ABC news June 2009 "This Week"

"Fourteen million of them are already eligible for other government programs and haven’t signed up. Ten million are in households with household incomes of $75,000 a year and could afford it if they wanted to.

Furthermore, an enormous number in that 47 million are not American citizens. Sixty percent of the uninsured in San Francisco are not citizens."

20 million illegals...so fugg em' !!...now we're down to 25 million...of which 1/2...are 20 somethings or...people who earn $50, 60, 70 thousand a year...and are opting out...who don't want healthcare...look...90% of Americans are happy with their healthcare...if he wants to insure the 15 million who don't have it...then be my guess...otherwise...leave mine alone !!!!!!!

Link please.

you do the leg work...

heres one...

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_illegals_healthcare/2009/07/19/237484.html

heres another...

The widely claimed number of uninsured Americans is dishonest and misleading. A study released by the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) on June 23, 2009 shows that 43 percent of the claimed 47 million uninsured Americans can afford medical insurance and elect to remain “voluntarily uninsured.”

At least 18 million of the uninsured are under the age of 35 and earn more than enough to purchase health insurance that would cost less than $100 per month. Many of the uninsured qualify for health care coverage through SCHIP, Medicaid or other existing government programs but for whatever reason, about 11 million simply refuse to take advantage of these taxpayer-funded programs. About 2 million of the remaining Americans receive health care as inmates in our prison system since they use jail, penitentiary or prison mailing addresses. Many of the remaining uninsured would never obtain insurance even if it were offered; they are illegal residents, prostitutes and drug addicts. All of these residents currently receive good medical care in emergency rooms or free clinics.

The actual number of Americans who desire and cannot obtain health insurance is estimated to be about 8 million. By law, emergency rooms must provide health care to patients; not differentiating between legal or illegal and these patients receive the same high quality health care as those who have insurance. Being without health insurance does not mean being without health care.

and another...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/06/26/how_to_lie_with_statistics_--_again_97189.html

Claim: Many of the uninsured are not U.S. citizens.

Fact: About 9.7 million of the uninsured are immigrants, both legal and illegal. The National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation estimates that 5.6 million of these are undocumented, but there are no hard data on that – NIHCM stresses that "the CPS does not collect information on legal status among non-citizens." Immigrants, especially new immigrants, are more likely to be uninsured than citizens. They are also less likely than citizens to use expensive emergency care, according to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation.


http://www.factcheck.org/politics/the_real_uninsured.html

What about bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US. Putting prisoners on a payroll at minumum wage which will keep profits in the business owners pockets, reduce our dependancy upon other countries, and simultaneously force the inmates to pay for their own imprisonment.



Take that money(60,000 a year times the number of inmates) and put it to better use, such as this topic has concerns with.



Ding, ding, ding...

Using my heart has worked well for me...
you do your thing I'll do mine

The road to hell is paved with good intentions is a stupid quote.
Everything starts with intentions

I believe you took the metaphor of "hell" out of context.

That's an interesting idea. There are so many women not receiving child support because the man is in prison. Those paychecks could help pay child support. That, in turn, will help the women get off of state aid, if they are on it. It will also teach the inmates a skill which can be put onto a resume.