After seeing Sicko...I have a question for DU

[JANdad]

Poll question: After seeing Sicko...I have a question for DU

Which type of Healthcare plan would you Support/Like? I myself am for Single-Payer, but it seems that members of DU think it will not happen or that this plan is not was most people want...what say you?

[JANdad]

1. Poll was in response to another thread and a specific

post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1172227#1174220

Sorry mods if I have broken a rule...but would like to explore this with a poll...thanks

[marmar]

2. Universal single payer....

Good riddance to the insurance companies and hospital corporations.... :nopity:

[LeighAnn]

4. I have an appointment on June 27 to get health insurance

I hope the lady calls before she comes over like I asked her to, because I'm going to let her know that I saw Sicko and I no longer care to sample her wares. If she decides to make the trip out, she'll find out in the form of a letter, and maybe a gift certificate to the AMC theater of her choice. I feel sorry for the poor gal, she's going to have to find a new line of work :)

[Warren DeMontague]

10. You shouldn't go without insurance.

Until the system is fixed, it's lunacy to be uninsured if you can help it.

[LeighAnn]

13. I've been uninsured the whole time, that's the problem

I feared seeking treatment for anything until my appendix ruptured, and I got abysmal post-operative care in an HCA hospital that bordered on cruelty. My surgeon wanted me to stay 8 days, they kicked me out after 3. Then I had the pre-existing condition thing against me, and after seeing Sicko I imagine I still do. There's no hope for me medically, unless I find a way to make a lot of money.

I avoided health insurance in the '90s because I felt it was a trap... I knew people on HMOs that couldn't get state of the art care, but my aunt was indigent, and when she got cancer she got the best care I've ever seen before or since. The state's indigent program seemed to work back in the Clinton years. I doubt it does now. At the time of my appendectomy, it was determined that at $800 a month I made too much to qualify for anything. The day that determination was made was the day they booted me out of the hospital.

Now I owe Bill Frist $35,000, which he'll get when I become wealthy, because I'm grateful that they saved my life. But hopefully any future health care needs can be met through free universal coverage. I'm ready for the revolution.

Sorry for the long story!!!

[Warren DeMontague]

19. No, no apologies necessary. I'm sorry for your story. Unfortunately, it's way too common.

It perfectly illustrates why we need a SPHC system. An outrage. The whole "pre-existing condition" thing drives me up the friggin' wall. I've got a severely handicapped 10 year old relative whose parents can't get insurance for less than something like 60-70K a year.

Unfortunately, though, leaving aside what should be done, given the glacial pace at which actual progress seems to take place in this country, I wouldn't think a National SPHC system will be up and running for many, many years. So if you can get reasonable insurance, you should do it. Maybe the pressure around pre-existing conditions has forced some of the companies to become more reasonable. I wouldn't bet on it, but it's probably worth checking out.

[ProudDad]

20. Love to

Where do I get the $600 + per month after paying rent, food, etc. out of my SOcial Security Check???

[TahitiNut]

23. Tell me about it!

... holding my breath for 12 more months. :scared:

[Warren DeMontague]

28. That's where the "if you can help it" comes in. No one is more in favor of a SPHC than me.

Believe me, I know. The system is royally fucked.

My point was only that if she was going to reject insurance coverage to make a statement, that might be a mistake.

[Cerridwen]

3. Single payer, universal and yes that means government run,

controlled and regulated. Yes, it's "socialist" medicine. And, yes, that's what I support.

Medicine and health care should NEVER have been put in the hands of industry. Medical research and discovery should NEVER have been put in a position of making profit. NEVER.


Edit to add: I've not yet seen Sicko but I'm sure it will only strengthen my resolve in my opinions.

[poverlay]

7. It should be "community" based medicine, neighbors taking care of neighbors, families taking care

of families. We have to win the PR war on this one first. Have to.

[Cerridwen]

9. Okay.

As long as we move the insurance industry and the profit motive out of it, we can call it whatever it takes to "sell" it.

People don't mind "socialist" fire departments, I'm not sure why they'd have a problem with "socialist" medicine. But if changing the name means getting the health care, fine with me.

[LoZoccolo]

5. Insurance for all.

Noooooooo way after what we've seen the last few years that I'm going to put my life in the hands of the Republicans.

[JANdad]

16. Waht makes you think

That it will always be republicans?

But then again...are'nt most Insurance co's run by republicans?

[LoZoccolo]

18. It won't always, no.

But wait until, say, stem cell research brings about some good treatments, and then see if the Republicans turn whether or not taxpayers should pay for them into a political football.

Or "why do we have to pay to keep _____ alive?" They could start with something like terrorism suspects or sex offenders, and move on to refusing treatment for other people, like people who dissent against a war or something, people injured in riots.

[ProudDad]

21. The pukes haven't been able

to keep my Social Security check from coming.

They try to kill it, they die.

Same with Single Payer once we get it. NO ONE will want to go back!

[Independent Democrat]

6. We should have a universal system......PERIOD

Health care is a basic human right, especially in a country like America where the corporo-capitalist system is bent on working people to death.

And guess what, the majority of Americans favor increased public spending.....public spending meaning social programs.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3316584

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Single Payer Health Care. Take the insurance companies out of the equation.

One giant pool of insureds, the taxpayers- one giant insurance company, the government. Beholden not to shareholders looking for profit, but to the recipients of care.

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

11. The Chipperback Proposal

I want a single-payer universal health care system built on platform of preventative care, wellness and physical fitness (we're putting PE back into schools. Its a part of my "We're Really Not Gonna Leave A Child Behind" educational programme.)

Now an idea on how will we pay for it...A national "snack tax".
All the junk food. All the candies, the Chips Ahoy, the McDonalds, the soda pop...You wanna eat the junk food....fine, but we're taxing it and putting the money into funding the health service.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Tax high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oil, sure.

Personally, though, I think we could EASILY fund a SPHC system if we straightened out our fucked-up spending priorities. We spend half a trillion a year on the Military/Industrial complex- more than every other nation on Earth COMBINED. Barring an invasion from Zeta Reticuli, I have to wonder if that sort of largesse is really warranted. And we have upwards of $400 Billion so far on Iraq.

Then, yes, we spend $40 Billion a year on a drug war aimed primarily at keeping cancer grannies and folks like Willie Nelson from smoking pot. AND we're paying above and beyond that to fund a massive prison-industrial gravy train so we can remain the number one per capita incarcerator of non-violent offenders in the developed world.

When the societal costs from Alcohol and Nicotine absolutely dwarf the societal costs from weed. And pot is the number one cash crop in many states. Legalize it, tax it, and plow that money into the SPHC kitty along with the taxes from other substances, like booze and cigarettes, that adults indulge in.

Lastly, the money spent on private health insurance in this country- if we took them out of the equation, along with the 20% profit margins they take off the top. All told, if we approached some of these larger issues with a measure of sanity, we could easily pay for a SPHC system IMHO.

[JANdad]

14. Bingo...thank you

[ClassWarfare2008]

27. Don't tax HFCS, eliminate the poison shit.

Let Monsanto and ADM convert their FrankenCorn into ethanol and biodiesel, and keep it out of the food supply.

Half the health problems in this country - especially those related to obesity and diabetes - wouldn't exist without HFCS.

People are healthier in other parts of the world. Even in France where they smoke and eat fatty food all of the time. These over processed poisons we have (which don't exist outside of the North American continent) are the reasons why.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

26. ill health should not be a profit

[JANdad]

15. Self Kicking...

Need some more votes here folks...

[supernova]

17. Insurance for all

as long as the profit motive is taken out of medicine and the emphasis is placed back on patient care for all.

Whether that means single payer or a combo of socialized med and private ins, that is fine with me. But I do want good solid care for everyone, regardless of income.

[LWolf]

22. Other:

Universal, single-payer, not-for-profit heath CARE.

[StudentsMustUniteNow]

24. Single-payer: the only sensible approach n/t

[JANdad]

25. Checking in...